October 9, 2017.Verdi, Saint-Saens and more.The great Italian opera composerGiuseppe Verdi was born on this day – or maybe on the following day, October 10th, as we only know that he was baptized on the 11th – in 1813, in Roncole, a small village in the province of Parma.The “national composer” of Italy, Verdi created 25 operas.Not all of them are staged today, but the majority represent the absolute best in the opera repertory.Verdi’s musical genius came into full force when he was approaching 40: just in three years he created three operas which haven’t left the stages of major theaters since their premiers: Rigoletto, first staged in La Fenice in Venice in March of 1851, Il Trovatore, premiered in Rome in 1853, and La Traviata, also in La Fenice in March of 1853.There is so much music in Rigoletto that it could fill several operas: every one of its three acts has something memorable, from Addio, addio and Caro nome in Act I, to Cortigiani, vil razza dannata, Tutte le feste al tempioi and Sì! Vendetta, tremenda vendetta!in Act II, to the ever popular La donna è mobile and the famous quartet Bella figlia dell’amore in Act III and so much more.A fitting tribute to Verdi would be to play the complete Rigoletto, but of course it’s not practical.Instead, we’ll play two excerpts, first, the duet Tutte le feste al tempio (Each holy day, in church) from Act II, with Maria Callas as Gilda and the great baritone Titto Gobbi as Rigoletto; Tullio Serafin conducting the La Scala orchestra in this 1955 recording (here).Then comesBella figlia dell’amore, withLuciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland, Leo Nucci and Isola Jones.Riccardo Chailly conducts the Metropolitan Opera (here).
Camille Saint-Saëns was also born on this day, in 1835.A prolific composer, Saint-Saëns lived a long life: he died in 1921, three years after Debussy.While he had major melodic talent, he was a composer of conservative tastes; his music was rather conventional from the beginning; by the end of his life it sounded quite dated.Saint-Saëns wrote in many genres: orchestral music (his Third “Organ” Symphony is still popular), five piano concertos (the Second is regularly performed), three violin concertos, one concerto for the cello, and several operas, one of which, Samson and Dalilah is still staged quite often.We can “compare and contrast” it with Rigoletto: here’s Dalilah’s aria, performed by Maria Callas in 1961, the same Callas as we heard in Tutte le feste.By then her voice was not the same; still, it’s a lovely performance, and so is the music.Georges Prêtre conducts The French National Radio Orchestra.
One of the greatest pianists of his generation, Evgeny Kissin was born on October 10th of 1971 in Moscow.He entered the Gnessin Music School at the age of 6.His first, and, amazingly, only teacher was Anna Kantor.He was 10 when he publicly played his first piano concerto (Mozart’s Twentieth); at the age of 12 he played Chopin’s First and Second concertos at the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory.In 1988 he famously played Tchaikovsky’s First with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic.He made his American debut in 1990, a year later he moved to New York.In the subsequent years he also lived in London and Paris, and, since marrying his childhood friend Karina Arzumanova, he moved to Prague.Here he plays Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.2 in G Minor Op.16. Vladimir Ashkenazy conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Verdi and more, 0217
October 9, 2017. Verdi, Saint-Saens and more. The great Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi was born on this day – or maybe on the following day, October 10th, as we only know that
he was baptized on the 11th – in 1813, in Roncole, a small village in the province of Parma. The “national composer” of Italy, Verdi created 25 operas. Not all of them are staged today, but the majority represent the absolute best in the opera repertory. Verdi’s musical genius came into full force when he was approaching 40: just in three years he created three operas which haven’t left the stages of major theaters since their premiers: Rigoletto, first staged in La Fenice in Venice in March of 1851, Il Trovatore, premiered in Rome in 1853, and La Traviata, also in La Fenice in March of 1853. There is so much music in Rigoletto that it could fill several operas: every one of its three acts has something memorable, from Addio, addio and Caro nome in Act I, to Cortigiani, vil razza dannata, Tutte le feste al tempioi and Sì! Vendetta, tremenda vendetta! in Act II, to the ever popular La donna è mobile and the famous quartet Bella figlia dell’amore in Act III and so much more. A fitting tribute to Verdi would be to play the complete Rigoletto, but of course it’s not practical. Instead, we’ll play two excerpts, first, the duet Tutte le feste al tempio (Each holy day, in church) from Act II, with Maria Callas as Gilda and the great baritone Titto Gobbi as Rigoletto; Tullio Serafin conducting the La Scala orchestra in this 1955 recording (here). Then comes Bella figlia dell’amore, with Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland, Leo Nucci and Isola Jones. Riccardo Chailly conducts the Metropolitan Opera (here).
Camille Saint-Saëns was also born on this day, in 1835. A prolific composer, Saint-Saëns lived a long life: he died in 1921, three years after Debussy. While he had major melodic talent, he was a composer of conservative tastes; his music was rather conventional from the beginning; by the end of his life it sounded quite dated. Saint-Saëns wrote in many genres: orchestral music (his Third “Organ” Symphony is still popular), five piano concertos (the Second is regularly performed), three violin concertos, one concerto for the cello, and several operas, one of which, Samson and Dalilah is still staged quite often. We can “compare and contrast” it with Rigoletto: here’s Dalilah’s aria, performed by Maria Callas in 1961, the same Callas as we heard in Tutte le feste. By then her voice was not the same; still, it’s a lovely performance, and so is the music. Georges Prêtre conducts The French National Radio Orchestra.
One of the greatest pianists of his generation, Evgeny Kissin was born on October 10th of 1971 in Moscow. He entered the Gnessin Music School at the age of 6. His first, and, amazingly, only teacher was Anna Kantor. He was 10 when he publicly played his first piano concerto (Mozart’s Twentieth); at the age of 12 he played Chopin’s First and Second concertos at the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory. In 1988 he famously played Tchaikovsky’s First with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. He made his American debut in 1990, a year later he moved to New York. In the subsequent years he also lived in London and Paris, and, since marrying his childhood friend Karina Arzumanova, he moved to Prague. Here he plays Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.2 in G Minor Op.16. Vladimir Ashkenazy conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra.