April 29, 2019.Alessandro Scarlatti, the father of the by now more famous Domenico , was born on May 2nd of 1660 in Palermo.One of the greatest opera composers of the late 17thcentury, he’s not very popular these days, mostly because the specific art form to which he was devoted – the Baroque opera – isn’t very popular.Baroque operas are often long, expensive to stage, and there are not that many voices around that could do justice to their music.No opera can withstand bad singing, neither a Verdi nor a Mozart, but a bad production of a Baroque opera can bore one to tears.On the other hand, listen to the aria Mentr'io godo in dolce oblio, from Il Giardino di Rose: La Santissima Vergine del Rosario, performed by Cecilia Bartoli and Les Musiciens du Louvre.Isn’t it absolutely exquisite?We’ve written about Alessandro on a number of occasions (for example, here and here), so let’s just listen to one of his sacred compositions, the Stabat Mater.Scaraltti wrote three versions of Stabat Mater, this is the latest, from 1724, composed one year before Scarlatti’s death on October 22nd of 1725 (Concerto Italiano is conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini).An interesting historical note: Scarlatti’s Stabat Mater was written for the noble fraternity of the church of S Maria dei Sette Dolori in Naples.Eleven years later, the fraternity ordered a replacement from the 26-year-old but already very ill Giovanni Battista Pergolesi; it turned out to be Pergolesi’s last work.We don’t doubt the quality of Pergolesi’s work, but also think that Alessandro Scarlatti’s Stabat mater is a work of first order.
For a long time, Stabat Mater, a 13th-centry hymn to the Virgin Mary, was almost a requisite composition.During the Renaissance it was set to music by such composers as Josquin des Prez, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Orlando di Lasso; during the Baroque, Domenico Scarlatti and Antonio Vivaldi wrote their versions. Haydn was one of the Classical composers to write a Stabat Mater, Schubert did it twice.Later in the 19th century, Rossini, Liszt, Gounod, Dvořák and Verdi did the same.In the 20th century it was Kodály, Szymanowski, Poulenc, Arvo Pärt and Krzysztof Penderecki’s turn.And there are many more: there is a site dedicated to different versions of Stabat Mater, https://www.stabatmater.info, they list 250 (!) different compositions.The site is very much worth a visit.Here’s Stabat Mater by Lasso, composed in 1585.It’s performed by The Hilliard Ensemble.
Two prominent conductors were born on this day: Thomas Beecham in 1879 and Zubin Mehta in 1936.Beecham was born into a wealthy family, which allowed him to stage operas and create orchestras.Self-taught as a conductor, he debuted in 1902.In 1906 he was invited to the New Symphony Orchestra, a chamber ensemble which he expanded to the size of a symphony orchestra.In 1909 he founded the Beecham Symphony Orchestra.He brought Diagilev’s Ballets Russes to London and premiered five of Richard Strauss’s operas.In 1932 he and his younger colleague Malcolm Sargent founded The London Philharmonic Orchestra, now one of the five permanent London orchestras.He didn’t stop there: in 1946, he founded The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, another of the London Big Five, and conducted it till the end of his life (Beecham died on March 8th of 1961).He was called Britain’s first internationally-renowned conductor; he made a large number of recordings, some excellent; his importance to British music cannot be overestimated.As for, Zubin Mehta, who turned 83 today, he’s still quite active as the music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
Alessandro Scarlatti and Stabat Mater, 2019
April 29, 2019. Alessandro Scarlatti, the father of the by now more famous Domenico , was born on May 2nd of 1660 in Palermo. One of the greatest opera composers of the late 17th.jpg "Alessandro Scarlatti, by Lorenzo Vaccaro, c. 1770")
century, he’s not very popular these days, mostly because the specific art form to which he was devoted – the Baroque opera – isn’t very popular. Baroque operas are often long, expensive to stage, and there are not that many voices around that could do justice to their music. No opera can withstand bad singing, neither a Verdi nor a Mozart, but a bad production of a Baroque opera can bore one to tears. On the other hand, listen to the aria Mentr'io godo in dolce oblio, from Il Giardino di Rose: La Santissima Vergine del Rosario, performed by Cecilia Bartoli and Les Musiciens du Louvre. Isn’t it absolutely exquisite? We’ve written about Alessandro on a number of occasions (for example, here and here), so let’s just listen to one of his sacred compositions, the Stabat Mater. Scaraltti wrote three versions of Stabat Mater, this is the latest, from 1724, composed one year before Scarlatti’s death on October 22nd of 1725 (Concerto Italiano is conducted by Rinaldo Alessandrini). An interesting historical note: Scarlatti’s Stabat Mater was written for the noble fraternity of the church of S Maria dei Sette Dolori in Naples. Eleven years later, the fraternity ordered a replacement from the 26-year-old but already very ill Giovanni Battista Pergolesi; it turned out to be Pergolesi’s last work. We don’t doubt the quality of Pergolesi’s work, but also think that Alessandro Scarlatti’s Stabat mater is a work of first order.
For a long time, Stabat Mater, a 13th-centry hymn to the Virgin Mary, was almost a requisite composition. During the Renaissance it was set to music by such composers as Josquin des Prez, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Orlando di Lasso; during the Baroque, Domenico Scarlatti and Antonio Vivaldi wrote their versions. Haydn was one of the Classical composers to write a Stabat Mater, Schubert did it twice. Later in the 19th century, Rossini, Liszt, Gounod, Dvořák and Verdi did the same. In the 20th century it was Kodály, Szymanowski, Poulenc, Arvo Pärt and Krzysztof Penderecki’s turn. And there are many more: there is a site dedicated to different versions of Stabat Mater, https://www.stabatmater.info, they list 250 (!) different compositions. The site is very much worth a visit. Here’s Stabat Mater by Lasso, composed in 1585. It’s performed by The Hilliard Ensemble.
Two prominent conductors were born on this day: Thomas Beecham in 1879 and Zubin Mehta in 1936. Beecham was born into a wealthy family, which allowed him to stage operas and create orchestras. Self-taught as a conductor, he debuted in 1902. In 1906 he was invited to the New Symphony Orchestra, a chamber ensemble which he expanded to the size of a symphony orchestra. In 1909 he founded the Beecham Symphony Orchestra. He brought Diagilev’s Ballets Russes to London and premiered five of Richard Strauss’s operas. In 1932 he and his younger colleague Malcolm Sargent founded The London Philharmonic Orchestra, now one of the five permanent London orchestras. He didn’t stop there: in 1946, he founded The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, another of the London Big Five, and conducted it till the end of his life (Beecham died on March 8th of 1961). He was called Britain’s first internationally-renowned conductor; he made a large number of recordings, some excellent; his importance to British music cannot be overestimated. As for, Zubin Mehta, who turned 83 today, he’s still quite active as the music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.