This Week in Classical Music: April 13, 2020.Easter and three pianists. Yesterday was Easter Sunday, the beginning of the Easter Season, and we wish everybody a happy Easter.Around this time we usually play Bach’s music: he wrote some of his greatest pieces for this occasion, such as two complete Passions, the St. John and St. Matthew (his St. Mark’s Passion is lost; it’s assumed by musicologists that it was mostly a “parody,” meaning that Bach recycled some of his previously written music.The St. Luke Passion, previously attributed to Bach, is almost certainly not his own).Bach’s friend Georg Philipp Telemann also wrote a number of Passion Oratorios.They are not well known and aren’t performed as often as Bach’s.While we realize that they are not on the same plane, we find their music much worthy of your attention.Here’s the first section of Telemann’s oratorio Das selige Erwägen des bittern Leidensund Sterbens Jesu Christi (Blessed Contemplation of the Bitter Suffering and Dying of Jesus Christ) – about 20 minutes of music.Ensemble L'arpa festante is conducted by Wolfgang Schäfer.
Artur Schnabel, the great Austrian pianist, was born on April 17th of 1882 in a small town of Lipnik (then Kunzendorf) in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.Today the town is in Poland.His family was Jewish: Schnabel’s birth name was Aaron.When he was two, the family moved to Vienna.At the age of nine Schnabel became a pupil of the famous pianist and pedagogue Theodor Leschetizky who later told Schnabel: “You will never be a pianist; you are a musician.”In 1898 Schnabel moved to Berlin.In his youth, his repertoire was very broad: in addition to his beloved Beethoven, he played other German greats - Mozart, Schubert, Schuman and Brahms.But he also played a lot of Chopin, Liszt and other Romantics.He formed a quartet with the violinist Bronisław Huberman, Paul Hindemith, who was not only a composer but also an excellent violist, and the cellist Gregor Piatigorsky.Later in his career Schnabel narrowed his repertoire, concentrating on Schubert and especially Beethoven.In Beethoven he excelled; no pianist before him, and very few after, played Beethoven with such depth.In 1933 Schnabel emigrated from Germany first to England and then, in 1939, to the US.He mother stayed in Vienna and in 1942, at the age of 83, she was deported to Theresienstadt, where she died two months later.Schnabel, who after the war played in many European countries, never returned to either Austria or Germany.Schnabel was the first pianist to record all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas.Even though one can hear some technical flaws, these recording stand out, even all these years later.As Harold Schonberg, the music critic, said of Schnabel, he was "the man who invented Beethoven.”
Two Soviet pianist, both winners of the Tchaikovsky Competition, were also born this week: Grigory Sokolov in Leningrad on April 18th of 1950 and Mikhail Pletnev in Arkhangelsk on April 14th of 1957.Sokolov won the 1966 Tchaikovsky Competition at the age of 16.Pletnev won his in 1978, at 21.Sokolov emigrated to Europe and developed a cult following there; Pletnev stayed in the Soviet Union and made a brilliant career, both as a pianist and conductor.
The Flagellation, above, was painted in 1516 by the great Italian, Sebastiano del Piombo; it’s based on a drawing by Michelangelo.
Easter 2020
This Week in Classical Music: April 13, 2020. Easter and three pianists. Yesterday was Easter Sunday, the beginning of the Easter Season, and we wish everybody a happy Easter. Around this time we usually play Bach’s music: he wrote some of his greatest pieces for this
occasion, such as two complete Passions, the St. John and St. Matthew (his St. Mark’s Passion is lost; it’s assumed by musicologists that it was mostly a “parody,” meaning that Bach recycled some of his previously written music. The St. Luke Passion, previously attributed to Bach, is almost certainly not his own). Bach’s friend Georg Philipp Telemann also wrote a number of Passion Oratorios. They are not well known and aren’t performed as often as Bach’s. While we realize that they are not on the same plane, we find their music much worthy of your attention. Here’s the first section of Telemann’s oratorio Das selige Erwägen des bittern Leidens und Sterbens Jesu Christi (Blessed Contemplation of the Bitter Suffering and Dying of Jesus Christ) – about 20 minutes of music. Ensemble L'arpa festante is conducted by Wolfgang Schäfer.
Artur Schnabel, the great Austrian pianist, was born on April 17th of 1882 in a small town of Lipnik (then Kunzendorf) in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Today the town is in Poland. His family was Jewish: Schnabel’s birth name was Aaron. When he was two, the family moved to Vienna. At the age of nine Schnabel became a pupil of the famous pianist and pedagogue Theodor Leschetizky who later told Schnabel: “You will never be a pianist; you are a musician.” In 1898 Schnabel moved to Berlin. In his youth, his repertoire was very broad: in addition to his beloved Beethoven, he played other German greats - Mozart, Schubert, Schuman and Brahms. But he also played a lot of Chopin, Liszt and other Romantics. He formed a quartet with the violinist Bronisław Huberman, Paul Hindemith, who was not only a composer but also an excellent violist, and the cellist Gregor Piatigorsky. Later in his career Schnabel narrowed his repertoire, concentrating on Schubert and especially Beethoven. In Beethoven he excelled; no pianist before him, and very few after, played Beethoven with such depth. In 1933 Schnabel emigrated from Germany first to England and then, in 1939, to the US. He mother stayed in Vienna and in 1942, at the age of 83, she was deported to Theresienstadt, where she died two months later. Schnabel, who after the war played in many European countries, never returned to either Austria or Germany. Schnabel was the first pianist to record all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas. Even though one can hear some technical flaws, these recording stand out, even all these years later. As Harold Schonberg, the music critic, said of Schnabel, he was "the man who invented Beethoven.”
Two Soviet pianist, both winners of the Tchaikovsky Competition, were also born this week: Grigory Sokolov in Leningrad on April 18th of 1950 and Mikhail Pletnev in Arkhangelsk on April 14th of 1957. Sokolov won the 1966 Tchaikovsky Competition at the age of 16. Pletnev won his in 1978, at 21. Sokolov emigrated to Europe and developed a cult following there; Pletnev stayed in the Soviet Union and made a brilliant career, both as a pianist and conductor.
The Flagellation, above, was painted in 1516 by the great Italian, Sebastiano del Piombo; it’s based on a drawing by Michelangelo.