May 7, 2018.Stamitz,Paisiello and more.The unfortunate coincidence of two birthdays, those of Brahms and Tchaikovsky, the former on this day in 1833, the latter – in 1840, creates a perennial conundrum: how to write about two very important composers of the 19th century, so different as to render any comparison meaningless, both deserving multiple entries.Over the years we’ve tried different tacks, such as here, but this year we’ll simply overlook both and write about several other significant musical figures whose birthdays we usually ignore for the sake of the two masters.
Carl Stamitz was born on May 8th, 1745, in Mannheim. His father, Johann, an important early classical composer and violinist, was appointed to the court of the Electoral Palatinate several years prior and was Carl’s first music teacher. The Elector maintained an orchestra that was famous around Europe; Carl joined it at the age of 17. Among the court musicians there were several composers who are now collectively known as Mannheim School. While not very famous nowadays, these composers, and Carl Stamitz among them, influenced both Franz Joseph Haydn, Mozart, and even the young Beethoven. In 1770 Carl left the orchestra and began a career of a traveling virtuoso: he played violin, viola, and viola d'amore.He traveled all around Europe, playing concerts in Paris, London, Saint Petersburg, and many principalities of Germany. Eventually he moved to Jena, and died there, impoverished, in 1801. Here’s Symphony in D-major "La Chasse" written in 1772.London Mozart Players are conducted by Matthias Bamert.
Giovanni Paisiellois one of those composers, who, very popular at their time, are very rarely performed these days.Paisiello was born in a small town of Roccaforzata, in the Taranto province of Apulia on May 9th of 1740.During his long life (he died in Naples on June 5th, 1816) he was a favorite of several monarchs, including Catherine the Great of Russia and Napoleon Bonaparte.Famous for his operas, he contended with such composers as Pergolesi, Cimarosa, and Rossini.When Rossini dared to put to music Le Barbier de Séville, the same Beaumarchais’s play which Paisiello did 30 years earlier, fans of Paisiello created a riot.These days, Rossini’s opera remains one of the most popular in the whole opera repertoire whereas Paisiello’s opera is a rarity.Actually, it’s quite interesting, full of lovely melodies.Here’s proof: the aria Saper bramate, bella il mio nome, from Paisiello’s Il barbiere.Figaro is the wonderful Rolando Panerai, Rosina is sung by the late Graziella Sciutti.Renato Fasano is conducting the Virtuosi di Roma.Stanley Kubrick, the great movie director, also loved this piece: he used it in the gambling scene of his masterpiece, “Barry Lindon.”This puts Paisiello in the company of Handel, Schubert, Bach and Vivbaldi.
And one more word on our Rosina: Graziella Sciutti was renowned for her "soubrette" characters.One of her best was Zerlina in the famous recording of Don Giovanni with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Joan Sutherland, Giuseppe Taddei and Piero Cappuccilli.Here she sings Batti, batti, o bel Masetto. The conductor in that production was Carlo Maria Giulini, who was born on May 9th of 1914.
Three more composers were also born this week.Anatol Liadov, a Russian miniaturist, and two Belle Époque composers, Jules Massenet, the author of many operas, of which Manon and Werther are probably the most famous, and another Frenchman, Gabriel Fauré.We’ll get back to them another time.
Stamitz, Paisiello 2018
May 7, 2018. Stamitz, Paisiello and more. The unfortunate coincidence of two birthdays, those of Brahms and Tchaikovsky, the former on this day in 1833, the latter – in 1840, creates a perennial conundrum: how to write about two very important composers of the 19th century, so different as to render any comparison meaningless, both deserving multiple entries. Over the years we’ve tried different tacks, such as here, but this year we’ll simply overlook both and write about several other significant musical figures whose birthdays we usually ignore for the sake of the two masters.
Carl Stamitz was born on May 8th, 1745, in Mannheim. His father, Johann, an important early classical composer and violinist, was appointed to the court of the Electoral Palatinate several years prior and was Carl’s first music teacher. The Elector maintained an orchestra that was famous around Europe; Carl joined it at the age of 17. Among the court musicians there were several composers who are now collectively known as Mannheim School. While not very famous nowadays, these composers, and Carl Stamitz among them, influenced both Franz Joseph Haydn, Mozart, and even the young Beethoven. In 1770 Carl left the orchestra and began a career of a traveling virtuoso: he played violin, viola, and viola d'amore. He traveled all around Europe, playing concerts in Paris, London, Saint Petersburg, and many principalities of Germany. Eventually he moved to Jena, and died there, impoverished, in 1801. Here’s Symphony in D-major "La Chasse" written in 1772. London Mozart Players are conducted by Matthias Bamert.
Giovanni Paisiellois one of those composers, who, very popular at their time, are very rarely
performed these days. Paisiello was born in a small town of Roccaforzata, in the Taranto province of Apulia on May 9th of 1740. During his long life (he died in Naples on June 5th, 1816) he was a favorite of several monarchs, including Catherine the Great of Russia and Napoleon Bonaparte. Famous for his operas, he contended with such composers as Pergolesi, Cimarosa, and Rossini. When Rossini dared to put to music Le Barbier de Séville, the same Beaumarchais’s play which Paisiello did 30 years earlier, fans of Paisiello created a riot. These days, Rossini’s opera remains one of the most popular in the whole opera repertoire whereas Paisiello’s opera is a rarity. Actually, it’s quite interesting, full of lovely melodies. Here’s proof: the aria Saper bramate, bella il mio nome, from Paisiello’s Il barbiere. Figaro is the wonderful Rolando Panerai, Rosina is sung by the late Graziella Sciutti. Renato Fasano is conducting the Virtuosi di Roma. Stanley Kubrick, the great movie director, also loved this piece: he used it in the gambling scene of his masterpiece, “Barry Lindon.” This puts Paisiello in the company of Handel, Schubert, Bach and Vivbaldi.
And one more word on our Rosina: Graziella Sciutti was renowned for her "soubrette" characters. One of her best was Zerlina in the famous recording of Don Giovanni with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Joan Sutherland, Giuseppe Taddei and Piero Cappuccilli. Here she sings Batti, batti, o bel Masetto. The conductor in that production was Carlo Maria Giulini, who was born on May 9th of 1914.
Three more composers were also born this week. Anatol Liadov, a Russian miniaturist, and two Belle Époque composers, Jules Massenet, the author of many operas, of which Manon and Werther are probably the most famous, and another Frenchman, Gabriel Fauré. We’ll get back to them another time.