This Week in Classical Music: April 4, 2022.Conductors.Five famous conductors were born this week: the Frenchman Pierre Monteux on April 4th of 1875, the German Herbert von Karajan, on April 5th of 1908, the British Adrian Boult on April 8th of 1889, the Hungarian-American Antal Doráti on April 9th of 1906, and the Italian Victor de Sabata on April 10th of 1892.Before we delve into their careers, let us make a non-musical comment: conductors seem to live a long life!Of this group, Boult lived the longest, almost 94 years, de Sabata – the shortest, 75 years.On average, they lived 84 years.Do you know what the life expectancy at birth was around the time when our conductors were born?An astonishingly short 41 years!One could reasonably respond that at that time the child mortality rate was very high, and once one made it past the childhood, he (all our conductors are male) could expect to live a fairly long life.In addition, we have a rather specific selection – conductors – and one doesn’t become a conductor until later in their life, as they all start as pianists, violinists, etc.This is very true, so let’s see what the life expectancy was for a 30-year-old (by that age all our conductors had already chosen their careers) at around 1920.The easily accessed demographics tables tell us it was 37 years, which makes the lifespan of an average person who was born around 1894 and lived at least into his 30s about 67 years.That’s much less than the 84 years that our conductors lived on average.And of course, this group is not exceptional: we recently wrote about Herbert Blomstedt who performs, magnificently, at the age of 94.One of our favorite conductors, Bernard Haitink, died at 92 and worked almost to the end and there are many more examples.We have no idea why it is so, and unfortunately, it’s no help to the rest of us.
Of the group, Karajan clearly is the most famous (we wrote a two-part entry about him a couple year ago, here and here) and Victor de Sabata the least so.So, here’s his story, in brief.De Sabata was born in Triest, an important city in Austria-Hungary, now Trieste in Italy.He started playing the piano at the age of four, at the age of eight his family moved to Milan and he entered the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory there.He studied the piano, the violin (he excelled in both instruments) and composition and graduated cum laude.After graduating, he concentrated on composing (his opera Il macigno was staged in La Scala in 1917) but then, being influenced by Arturo Toscanini, Sabata turned to conducting.He was appointed the conductor of the Monte Carlo Opera in 1918, and while there, got engaged with the Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, playing the symphonic repertoire.In 1930, Sabata succeeded Toscanini as the principal conductor of La Scala and stayed in that position for 20 years.Toscanini and Sabata were friendly for years but then fell out, one of the reasons being that Sabata became rather close to Mussolini, even playing at Villa Torlonia, Mussolini’s residence.Toscanini, on the other hand, was a vehement opponent of the dictator and emigrated from Italy in 1939.That same year de Sabata conducted Tristan und Isolde at the Bayreuth Festival.He also conducted the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras, the premier orchestras of the Nazi regime, and befriended the young party member, Herbert von Karajan.At the end of WWII, de Sabata helped Karajan move to Italy.
We’ll continue with de Sabata and other conductors next week, in the meantime here’s Prelude to Act I and Isolde's Death from Tristan und Isolde, recorded live years later, in 1951.Eileen Farrell is Isolde, Victor de Sabata conducts the New York Philharmonic.
Victor de Sabata, part I, 2022
This Week in Classical Music: April 4, 2022. Conductors. Five famous conductors were born this week: the Frenchman Pierre Monteux on April 4th of 1875, the German Herbert von
Karajan, on April 5th of 1908, the British Adrian Boult on April 8th of 1889, the Hungarian-American Antal Doráti on April 9th of 1906, and the Italian Victor de Sabata on April 10th of 1892. Before we delve into their careers, let us make a non-musical comment: conductors seem to live a long life! Of this group, Boult lived the longest, almost 94 years, de Sabata – the shortest, 75 years. On average, they lived 84 years. Do you know what the life expectancy at birth was around the time when our conductors were born? An astonishingly short 41 years! One could reasonably respond that at that time the child mortality rate was very high, and once one made it past the childhood, he (all our conductors are male) could expect to live a fairly long life. In addition, we have a rather specific selection – conductors – and one doesn’t become a conductor until later in their life, as they all start as pianists, violinists, etc. This is very true, so let’s see what the life expectancy was for a 30-year-old (by that age all our conductors had already chosen their careers) at around 1920. The easily accessed demographics tables tell us it was 37 years, which makes the lifespan of an average person who was born around 1894 and lived at least into his 30s about 67 years. That’s much less than the 84 years that our conductors lived on average. And of course, this group is not exceptional: we recently wrote about Herbert Blomstedt who performs, magnificently, at the age of 94. One of our favorite conductors, Bernard Haitink, died at 92 and worked almost to the end and there are many more examples. We have no idea why it is so, and unfortunately, it’s no help to the rest of us.
Of the group, Karajan clearly is the most famous (we wrote a two-part entry about him a couple year ago, here and here) and Victor de Sabata the least so. So, here’s his story, in brief. De Sabata was born in Triest, an important city in Austria-Hungary, now Trieste in Italy. He started playing the piano at the age of four, at the age of eight his family moved to Milan and he entered the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory there. He studied the piano, the violin (he excelled in both instruments) and composition and graduated cum laude. After graduating, he concentrated on composing (his opera Il macigno was staged in La Scala in 1917) but then, being influenced by Arturo Toscanini, Sabata turned to conducting. He was appointed the conductor of the Monte Carlo Opera in 1918, and while there, got engaged with the Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, playing the symphonic repertoire. In 1930, Sabata succeeded Toscanini as the principal conductor of La Scala and stayed in that position for 20 years. Toscanini and Sabata were friendly for years but then fell out, one of the reasons being that Sabata became rather close to Mussolini, even playing at Villa Torlonia, Mussolini’s residence. Toscanini, on the other hand, was a vehement opponent of the dictator and emigrated from Italy in 1939. That same year de Sabata conducted Tristan und Isolde at the Bayreuth Festival. He also conducted the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras, the premier orchestras of the Nazi regime, and befriended the young party member, Herbert von Karajan. At the end of WWII, de Sabata helped Karajan move to Italy.
We’ll continue with de Sabata and other conductors next week, in the meantime here’s Prelude to Act I and Isolde's Death from Tristan und Isolde, recorded live years later, in 1951. Eileen Farrell is Isolde, Victor de Sabata conducts the New York Philharmonic.