June 13, 2016. Gounod, Stravinsky and a Stamitz. Charles Gounod and Igor Stravinsky were born this week, and also Johann Stamitz (père), a Czech-German composer, and the popular Norwegian, Edvard Grieg. Johann Stamitz had two sons, Carl and Anton, Carl being probably the better known of the three, but Johann’s talent shouldn’t be underrated. He was born Jan Václav Stamic (he Germanized the name later in his life) on June 18th or 19th of 1717 in a small town in Bohemia. After studying at the University of Prague he embarked on a career of violin virtuoso. Sometime around 1741 Stamitz was hired by the Mannheim court, which at the time had one of the best orchestras in Germany. Stamitz started as a violinist, then was promoted to the position of Concertmaster and eventually the music director. Stamitz’s responsibilities were to compose orchestral music and conduct; under him the orchestra developed into the most famous ensemble in the world. Some years later the 18-year old Mozart would marvel at their precision and technique. In 1754 Stamitz traveled to Paris and stayed there for a year. In Paris he performed at the Concert Spirituel, the first public concert series in history (the performances took place at the Tuileries Palace, which was burned down during the days of the Paris Commune in 1871). Stamitz returned to Mannheim in the fall of 1755. He died less than two years later at the age of 39. Stamitz composed 58 symphonies and is considered the founding father of the “Mannheim School” of composition, which influenced many composers, including Haydn and Mozart. Here’s one of his symphonies, in A major "Frühling" (“Spring”). Virtuosi di Praga are conducted by Oldřich Vlček.
Charles Gounod was born on June 17th of 1818. He’s rightfully famous for his opera Faust, but he also composed 11 other operas, though none of them at the level of Faust. One of the first operas, Sapho from 1851, was written for his friend, soprano Pauline Viardo, who had recently triumphed in Meyerbeer’s Le prophète. The opera wasn’t successful commercially, but established Gounod as one of the leading young composers. Sapho isn’t staged often these days but some arias are lovely. Here’s the aria Ô ma lyre immortelle in the performance by the wonderful French singer, a soprano-turned-mezzo, Régine Crespin. And of course Je veux vivre from Roméo et Juliette remains popular to this day. Here it is sung by another French singer, the soprano Natalie Dessay.
Also on June 17th but of 1882 Igor Stravinsky was born. We celebrate him every year, and mention him more often than any other composer of the 20th century. Last year we explored Le Baiser de la Fée, his ballet from 1927, commissioned by Ida Rubinstein. At the same time Stravinsky was working on another ballet, Apollo (or Apollon musagète). The commission came from an unusual source, the US Library of Congress. In 1928, Apollo was choreographed first by Adolph Bolm (Ruth Page was one of the muses); that production was quickly forgotten. The same year, the 24-year-old George Balanchine, working for Diagilev’s Ballets Russe, staged Apollo in Paris; the costumes were designed by Coco Chanel, Stravinsky conducted. Apollo became one of his most popular neoclassical pieces. Here it is, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Robert Craft. Robert Craft, a writer and conductor who died a half a year ago, on November 10th of 2015, was one of the people closest to Stravinsky. He recorded practically all of Stravinsky’s orchestral music and wrote several books about the composer, including Conversations with Igor Stravinsky.
Gounod, Stravinsky and a Stamitz, 2016
June 13, 2016. Gounod, Stravinsky and a Stamitz. Charles Gounod and Igor Stravinsky were born this week, and also Johann Stamitz (père), a Czech-German composer, and the popular Norwegian, Edvard Grieg. Johann Stamitz had two sons, Carl and Anton, Carl being probably the better known of the three, but Johann’s talent shouldn’t be underrated. He was born
Jan Václav Stamic (he Germanized the name later in his life) on June 18th or 19th of 1717 in a small town in Bohemia. After studying at the University of Prague he embarked on a career of violin virtuoso. Sometime around 1741 Stamitz was hired by the Mannheim court, which at the time had one of the best orchestras in Germany. Stamitz started as a violinist, then was promoted to the position of Concertmaster and eventually the music director. Stamitz’s responsibilities were to compose orchestral music and conduct; under him the orchestra developed into the most famous ensemble in the world. Some years later the 18-year old Mozart would marvel at their precision and technique. In 1754 Stamitz traveled to Paris and stayed there for a year. In Paris he performed at the Concert Spirituel, the first public concert series in history (the performances took place at the Tuileries Palace, which was burned down during the days of the Paris Commune in 1871). Stamitz returned to Mannheim in the fall of 1755. He died less than two years later at the age of 39. Stamitz composed 58 symphonies and is considered the founding father of the “Mannheim School” of composition, which influenced many composers, including Haydn and Mozart. Here’s one of his symphonies, in A major "Frühling" (“Spring”). Virtuosi di Praga are conducted by Oldřich Vlček.
Charles Gounod was born on June 17th of 1818. He’s rightfully famous for his opera Faust, but he also composed 11 other operas, though none of them at the level of Faust. One of the first operas, Sapho from 1851, was written for his friend, soprano Pauline Viardo, who had recently triumphed in Meyerbeer’s Le prophète. The opera wasn’t successful commercially, but established Gounod as one of the leading young composers. Sapho isn’t staged often these days but some arias are lovely. Here’s the aria Ô ma lyre immortelle in the performance by the wonderful French singer, a soprano-turned-mezzo, Régine Crespin. And of course Je veux vivre from Roméo et Juliette remains popular to this day. Here it is sung by another French singer, the soprano Natalie Dessay.
Also on June 17th but of 1882 Igor Stravinsky was born. We celebrate him every year, and mention him more often than any other composer of the 20th century. Last year we explored Le Baiser de la Fée, his ballet from 1927, commissioned by Ida Rubinstein. At the same time Stravinsky was working on another ballet, Apollo (or Apollon musagète). The commission came from an unusual source, the US Library of Congress. In 1928, Apollo was choreographed first by Adolph Bolm (Ruth Page was one of the muses); that production was quickly forgotten. The same year, the 24-year-old George Balanchine, working for Diagilev’s Ballets Russe, staged Apollo in Paris; the costumes were designed by Coco Chanel, Stravinsky conducted. Apollo became one of his most popular neoclassical pieces. Here it is, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Robert Craft. Robert Craft, a writer and conductor who died a half a year ago, on November 10th of 2015, was one of the people closest to Stravinsky. He recorded practically all of Stravinsky’s orchestral music and wrote several books about the composer, including Conversations with Igor Stravinsky.