June 3, 2013.Robert Schumann and more.One of the greatest Romantic composers, Robert Schumann was born on June 8, 1810 in Zwickau, Saxony.Schumann is central to modern music, especially the piano repertory, and we wrote about him and featured his music many times (our library contains more than 200 recordings of his music).Schumann was also highly creative as a critic, and practically invented the genre of “programmatic” music.All of his early compositions were for the piano, but he started writing for other instruments later in his career.Schumann turned out to be an extraordinary songwriter, second probably only to Schubert.He composed the cycle Dichterliebe (The Poet's Love) in 1840.It consists of 16 songs, the texts to which come from Heinrich Heine’s Lyrisches Intermezzo.The cycle was dedicated to the great German soprano Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, so we know that Schumann intended it for a female voice.The music was too good to be passed up by the male singers though, and is performed by them at least as often.The great German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau recorded Dichterliebe several times, among his collaborators were Vladimir Horowitz and Alfred Brendel.So did the French baritone Gérard Souzay (we recently heard him exquisitely singing an aria from Lully’s Cadmus et Hermione).The tenors Peter Schreier and, closer to our times, Ian Bostridge made memorable recordings as well.The famed Lotte Lehmann recorded the cycle with the conductor Bruno Walter at the piano in 1940; several years later Walter accompany Kathleen Ferrier in yet another recording.One of the very best, at least in our opinion, is the recording made by the great German tenor Fritz Wunderlich.Accompanied by Hubert Giesen, Wunderlich made this recording in October and November of 1965 and July 1966, just two months before his untimely death at the age of 36.It was too difficult to select "favorite" sections, so here it is, in its entirely.
Several other composers were born around this date, and we’ll write more about them at a later date, but here are two of them: the peripatetic Scott, Georg Muffat was born on June 1, 1653 in Savoy.Here is his Sonata No. 2 in G minor from the set known as Armonico Tributo.Composed in Rome, Armonico was clearly influenced by Arcangelo Corelli, whom Muffat met while staying in the city.The Sonata is performed by Ensemble 415, Chiara Banchini conducting.A century and a half later, also on June 1 but of 1804, Mikhail Glinka, "the father of Russian classical music," was born.Like Muffat, he was influenced by the Italians, but had enough of his own original talent to produce operas that are staged even today, and not just in Russia.Here is his Overture to the 1842 opera Ruslan and Lyudmila.The recording was made by Evgeny Mravinsky and his famed Leningrad Philharmonic in concert in 1965.It’s probably the speediest rendition of the Overture in the recording history, but the strings manage to play (practically) every note.
Robert Schumann and more, 2013
June 3, 2013. Robert Schumann and more. One of the greatest Romantic composers, Robert Schumann was born on June 8, 1810 in Zwickau, Saxony. Schumann is central to modern music, especially the piano repertory, and we wrote about him and featured his music many times (our library contains more than 200 recordings of his music).
Schumann was also highly creative as a critic, and practically invented the genre of “programmatic” music. All of his early compositions were for the piano, but he started writing for other instruments later in his career. Schumann turned out to be an extraordinary songwriter, second probably only to Schubert. He composed the cycle Dichterliebe (The Poet's Love) in 1840. It consists of 16 songs, the texts to which come from Heinrich Heine’s Lyrisches Intermezzo. The cycle was dedicated to the great German soprano Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, so we know that Schumann intended it for a female voice. The music was too good to be passed up by the male singers though, and is performed by them at least as often. The great German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau recorded Dichterliebe several times, among his collaborators were Vladimir Horowitz and Alfred Brendel. So did the French baritone Gérard Souzay (we recently heard him exquisitely singing an aria from Lully’s Cadmus et Hermione). The tenors Peter Schreier and, closer to our times, Ian Bostridge made memorable recordings as well. The famed Lotte Lehmann recorded the cycle with the conductor Bruno Walter at the piano in 1940; several years later Walter accompany Kathleen Ferrier in yet another recording. One of the very best, at least in our opinion, is the recording made by the great German tenor Fritz Wunderlich. Accompanied by Hubert Giesen, Wunderlich made this recording in October and November of 1965 and July 1966, just two months before his untimely death at the age of 36. It was too difficult to select "favorite" sections, so here it is, in its entirely.
Several other composers were born around this date, and we’ll write more about them at a later date, but here are two of them: the peripatetic Scott, Georg Muffat was born on June 1, 1653 in Savoy. Here is his Sonata No. 2 in G minor from the set known as Armonico Tributo. Composed in Rome, Armonico was clearly influenced by Arcangelo Corelli, whom Muffat met while staying in the city. The Sonata is performed by Ensemble 415, Chiara Banchini conducting. A century and a half later, also on June 1 but of 1804, Mikhail Glinka, "the father of Russian classical music," was born. Like Muffat, he was influenced by the Italians, but had enough of his own original talent to produce operas that are staged even today, and not just in Russia. Here is his Overture to the 1842 opera Ruslan and Lyudmila. The recording was made by Evgeny Mravinsky and his famed Leningrad Philharmonic in concert in 1965. It’s probably the speediest rendition of the Overture in the recording history, but the strings manage to play (practically) every note.