April 8, 2019. Giuseppe Tartini was born on this day in 1692 in Pirano, Republic of Venice (now Piran, Slovenia).He studied at the university of Padua, where it seems he spent most of his time on fencing.In 1710, he married one Elisabetta Premazore, a woman two years his elder who, unfortunately for Tartini, was a favorite of the local bishop, Cardinal Giorgio Cornaro.The Cardinal accused Tartini of abducting Elisabetta, and, to avoid prosecution, Tartini fled to the monastery of San Francesco in Assisi.There he started playing the violin, amazingly late for a future virtuoso.He left the monastery around 1714, played for a while with the Ancona opera orchestra, and heard the famous Francesco Veracini perform in Venice.That episode affected him greatly, as he felt that his playing was inferior.He spent the next two years practicing, greatly improving his skills.In 1721 he was made Maestro di Cappella at the famous Basilica di Sant'Antonio in Padua.In 1723, in a midst of another scandal (Tartini was accused of fathering an illegitimate child) he left for Prague, where he stayed for three years under the auspices of the Kinskys, a noble Czech family.He returned to Padua in 1726 and organized a violin school, probably the most famous one of its time.Students came to the “school of the nations” from all of Europe.Around the same time Tartini published his first volume of compositions containing violin sonatas and concertos.He continued to compose through the years, although later in his life he concentrated more on theoretical works. He continued to live in Padua and died there on February 26th of 1770.
Tartini owned several Stradivari violins, one of which he passed on to his student Salvini, who in turn gave it to the Polish virtuoso violinist Karol Lipiński.As the story goes, sometime around 1817, in Milan, the young Lipiński played for Salvini.After the performance was over, Salvini asked for Lipiński’s violin and, to Lipiński’s horror, smashed it to pieces.He then handed the dumbstruck Lipiński a different violin and said that it is “a gift from me, and, simultaneously, as a commemoration of Tartini.”That was one of Tartini’s Stradivari, one of the best violins the master ever made; it is now known as the “Lipinski Stradivari.”The story of the violin almost ended in tragedy: some time ago, an anonymous donor lent it to Frank Almond, the concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony orchestra; on January 27th of 2014, after a concert, Almond was attacked by a stun gun and the violin was stolen.An international recovery effort was immediately organized, and one week later, the suspects, a man and a woman, were arrested.The violin was recovered three days later.
Here’s Tartini’s best known piece, the famous Devil’s Trills sonata.Itzhak Perlman is at his best (in 1977); Samuel Sanders is on the piano.
One of the greatest tenors of the 20th century, Franco Corelli, was also born on this day in 1921 in Ancona, where Tartini played in an orchestra after leaving the Assisi monastery.Corelli had the voice of incomparable beauty, remarkable power and clarity.Even though Corelli had several voice teachers, he mostly taught himself, imitating great singers of the past.He made his operatic debut in 1951 in Spoleto, singing José in Carmen.From 1954 to 1965 he sang at La Scala. In 1957 he made a sensational debut in the Covent Garden as Cavaradossi.In 1961 he appeared at the Met for the first time, singing Manrico in Il Trovatore (Leonora was Leontine Price).For the following decade, he sung in New York every year, appearing 282 times in 18 different roles.Here is the thrilling aria A te, o cara from the first act of Bellini’s I puritani.Franco Ferraris conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Tartini, Corelli 2019
April 8, 2019. Giuseppe Tartini was born on this day in 1692 in Pirano, Republic of Venice (now Piran, Slovenia). He studied at the university of Padua, where it seems he spent most of his time
on fencing. In 1710, he married one Elisabetta Premazore, a woman two years his elder who, unfortunately for Tartini, was a favorite of the local bishop, Cardinal Giorgio Cornaro. The Cardinal accused Tartini of abducting Elisabetta, and, to avoid prosecution, Tartini fled to the monastery of San Francesco in Assisi. There he started playing the violin, amazingly late for a future virtuoso. He left the monastery around 1714, played for a while with the Ancona opera orchestra, and heard the famous Francesco Veracini perform in Venice. That episode affected him greatly, as he felt that his playing was inferior. He spent the next two years practicing, greatly improving his skills. In 1721 he was made Maestro di Cappella at the famous Basilica di Sant'Antonio in Padua. In 1723, in a midst of another scandal (Tartini was accused of fathering an illegitimate child) he left for Prague, where he stayed for three years under the auspices of the Kinskys, a noble Czech family. He returned to Padua in 1726 and organized a violin school, probably the most famous one of its time. Students came to the “school of the nations” from all of Europe. Around the same time Tartini published his first volume of compositions containing violin sonatas and concertos. He continued to compose through the years, although later in his life he concentrated more on theoretical works. He continued to live in Padua and died there on February 26th of 1770.
Tartini owned several Stradivari violins, one of which he passed on to his student Salvini, who in turn gave it to the Polish virtuoso violinist Karol Lipiński. As the story goes, sometime around 1817, in Milan, the young Lipiński played for Salvini. After the performance was over, Salvini asked for Lipiński’s violin and, to Lipiński’s horror, smashed it to pieces. He then handed the dumbstruck Lipiński a different violin and said that it is “a gift from me, and, simultaneously, as a commemoration of Tartini.” That was one of Tartini’s Stradivari, one of the best violins the master ever made; it is now known as the “Lipinski Stradivari.” The story of the violin almost ended in tragedy: some time ago, an anonymous donor lent it to Frank Almond, the concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony orchestra; on January 27th of 2014, after a concert, Almond was attacked by a stun gun and the violin was stolen. An international recovery effort was immediately organized, and one week later, the suspects, a man and a woman, were arrested. The violin was recovered three days later.
Here’s Tartini’s best known piece, the famous Devil’s Trills sonata. Itzhak Perlman is at his best (in 1977); Samuel Sanders is on the piano.
One of the greatest tenors of the 20th century, Franco Corelli, was also born on this day in 1921 in Ancona, where Tartini played in an orchestra after leaving the Assisi monastery. Corelli had the voice of incomparable beauty, remarkable power and clarity. Even though Corelli had several voice teachers, he mostly taught himself, imitating great singers of the past. He made his operatic debut in 1951 in Spoleto, singing José in Carmen. From 1954 to 1965 he sang at La Scala. In 1957 he made a sensational debut in the Covent Garden as Cavaradossi. In 1961 he appeared at the Met for the first time, singing Manrico in Il Trovatore (Leonora was Leontine Price). For the following decade, he sung in New York every year, appearing 282 times in 18 different roles. Here is the thrilling aria A te, o cara from the first act of Bellini’s I puritani. Franco Ferraris conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra.