October 14, 2019.Karl Richter.A noted German composer Alexander von Zemlinsky was born on October 14th of 1871.Here’s our entry from six years ago. We think that the brief aside at the end of it, about the painter who created Zemlinky’s portrait, is quite fascinating and characteristic of the pre-Great War Viennese society.Luca Marenzio, the Italian composer of the late Renaissance active in Rome and Ferrara, was born on October 18th of 1553.Here’s a madrigal Solo et pensoso i più deserti campi, a setting of Petrarch’s poem, by Marenzio.It’s performed by the ensemble La Venexiana, Claudio Cavina conducting.And here is our previous entry on this wonderful composer.Also, the great Soviet pianist Emil Gilels was born on October 19th of 1916.Here is his 1972 recordings of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, Waldstein.Read more about Gilels here.
Listening to Karl Richter’s recordings of Bach’s St. Matthew and St. John Passions soon after they were released in 1960s was a revelation.That was before the “historically-informer” and “authentic” performances became modish, and Richter’s taut, brisk tempos and the focused sound of both the chorus and the orchestra felt very fresh.They still do, we think: just listen to how he propels the introductory chorus of Bach’s St. John’s Passion, Herr, unser Herrscher, dessen Ruhm in allen Landen herrlich ist! (Lord, our Lord, whose glory is magnificent in all the earth!).Karl Richter, German organist, harpsichordist and conductor, was born on October 15th of 1926 in Plauen, Saxony.He studied in Dresden and in Leipzig, both cities associated with Johann Sebastian Bach.His musical career started in the German Democratic Republic: in 1949 he was appointed organist in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig.He made a number of organ and harpsichord recordings; he was even awarded GDR prizes.In 1951 he defected from the GDR to West Germany; soon after he was offered the position of organist and cantor at St. Mark's Church in Munich.He accepted and also taught at the Musikhochschule, one of Germany’s best conservatories.A couple of years later Richter formed the Heinrich-Schütz-Kreis (Heinrich-Schütz-Circle), a vocal ensemble which he eventually developed into the Munich Bach Choir and Orchestra, one of the finest interpreters of German baroque music.With the Bach Choir and Orchestra, he performed around the world; from 1965 till 1980 he regularly conducted and played in the US; in 1968 he came to the Soviet Union with a series of sensational concerts.His recordings were numerous: most of Bach’s symphonic and choral works, including more than 100 cantatas were put on LPs.Richter’s repertoire was broad: with his Bach ensemble he performed and recorded music of Heinrich Schütz, George Frideric Handel, Mozart and Beethoven.Karl Richter died of a heart attack on February 15th of 1981 in Munich.He was 54.
Karl Richter, 2019
October 14, 2019. Karl Richter. A noted German composer Alexander von Zemlinsky was born on October 14th of 1871. Here’s our entry from six years ago. We think that the brief aside at the end of it, about the painter who created Zemlinky’s portrait, is quite fascinating and characteristic of the pre-Great War Viennese society. Luca Marenzio, the Italian composer of the late Renaissance active in Rome and Ferrara, was born on October 18th of 1553. Here’s a madrigal Solo et pensoso i più deserti campi, a setting of Petrarch’s poem, by Marenzio. It’s performed by the ensemble La Venexiana, Claudio Cavina conducting. And here is our previous entry on this wonderful composer. Also, the great Soviet pianist Emil Gilels was born on October 19th of 1916. Here is his 1972 recordings of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, Waldstein. Read more about Gilels here.