This Week in Classical Music: May 8, 2023.A Listless List.A whole bunch of composers were born this week, and none of them inspire us.This may change with time: many of our musical attachments ebb and flow.Let’s list the more interesting names: two Frenchmen, born on the same day, May 12th, three years apart:Jules Massenet in 1842 and Gabriel Fauré in 1845.Massenet is famous (or at least known) for his operas; two of them, Manon and Werther, are staged often.His most popular piece, though, is not vocal: it is Meditation, from his opera Thaïs, for the violin and orchestra.Here it is played by Mischa Elman, at his Russian Romantic best.While Massenet was rather conservative, Fauré, was forward-looking and influenced many composers of the early 20th century.Here is Fauré’s Pavane, performed by the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Simon Rattle.
Carl Stamitz, the eldest son of Johann Stamitz, both prominent representatives of the Mannheim School, was baptized on May 8th of 1745.The American composer and pianist, Louis Moreau Gottschalk was born on that day in 1829 in New Orleans.Even if his music is mostly forgotten, his life was fascinating, and we’ll return to him someday.Giovanni Battista Viotti, an Italian violin virtuoso and composer, was born on May 12th of 1755.Viotti composed 29 violin concertos, some of them still in the active repertory, but we didn’t have a single piece of his in our library.We’re correcting the omission with this performance of his Violin concerto no. 22 with the wonderful Belgian-Romanian violinist Lola Bobesco.Kurt Redel conducts the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz orchestra.Another Italian, Giovanni Paisiello, was born on May 9th of 1740.His most popular opera was Il Barbiere di Siviglia, composed in 1782 with the libretto adapted from Beaumarchais’s play, as was Rossini’s famous masterpiece, written some 36 years later.
Milton Babbitt was one of the most interesting (and difficult) American composers of the 20th century, and we wrote about him here.And speaking of fascinating lives, Arthur Lourié’s certainly was: he was linked, romantically or otherwise, with a good part of the Russian Silver Age artists, from the poet Anna Akhmatova to the painter Sudeikin, to Stravinsky and Vera de Bosset, Stravinsky’s eventual wife.Some of these relationships were rather unconventional; we’ve touched upon them here.
Two conductors were also born this week, Carlo Maria Giulini, on May 9th of 1914, and Otto Klemperer, on May 14th of 1895.Giulini, together with Arturo Toscanini, Victor de Sabata, and Claudio Abbado, was one of the few truly great Italian conductors (we probably should add Giuseppe Sinopoli and Riccardo Muti to the list).During his long career (he died at the age of 91) Giulini was closely associated with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London's Philharmonia, the Vienna Philharmonic, and sever other major ensembles.The number of prominent German 20th-century conductors is much larger, and Otto Klemperer was always considered one of the best.We wrote about him recently here.An interesting note: Giulini’s first instrument was the viola, and as a young man, he played in the orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome.Among the conductors whose music-making affected him the most were the Germans: Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter – and Klemperer.
Listless list, 2023
This Week in Classical Music: May 8, 2023. A Listless List. A whole bunch of composers were born this week, and none of them inspire us. This may change with time: many of our.jpg "Gabriel Fauré, by Sargent")
musical attachments ebb and flow. Let’s list the more interesting names: two Frenchmen, born on the same day, May 12th, three years apart: Jules Massenet in 1842 and Gabriel Fauré in 1845. Massenet is famous (or at least known) for his operas; two of them, Manon and Werther, are staged often. His most popular piece, though, is not vocal: it is Meditation, from his opera Thaïs, for the violin and orchestra. Here it is played by Mischa Elman, at his Russian Romantic best. While Massenet was rather conservative, Fauré, was forward-looking and influenced many composers of the early 20th century. Here is Fauré’s Pavane, performed by the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Simon Rattle.
Carl Stamitz, the eldest son of Johann Stamitz, both prominent representatives of the Mannheim School, was baptized on May 8th of 1745. The American composer and pianist, Louis Moreau Gottschalk was born on that day in 1829 in New Orleans. Even if his music is mostly forgotten, his life was fascinating, and we’ll return to him someday. Giovanni Battista Viotti, an Italian violin virtuoso and composer, was born on May 12th of 1755. Viotti composed 29 violin concertos, some of them still in the active repertory, but we didn’t have a single piece of his in our library. We’re correcting the omission with this performance of his Violin concerto no. 22 with the wonderful Belgian-Romanian violinist Lola Bobesco. Kurt Redel conducts the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz orchestra. Another Italian, Giovanni Paisiello, was born on May 9th of 1740. His most popular opera was Il Barbiere di Siviglia, composed in 1782 with the libretto adapted from Beaumarchais’s play, as was Rossini’s famous masterpiece, written some 36 years later.
Milton Babbitt was one of the most interesting (and difficult) American composers of the 20th century, and we wrote about him here. And speaking of fascinating lives, Arthur Lourié’s certainly was: he was linked, romantically or otherwise, with a good part of the Russian Silver Age artists, from the poet Anna Akhmatova to the painter Sudeikin, to Stravinsky and Vera de Bosset, Stravinsky’s eventual wife. Some of these relationships were rather unconventional; we’ve touched upon them here.
Two conductors were also born this week, Carlo Maria Giulini, on May 9th of 1914, and Otto Klemperer, on May 14th of 1895. Giulini, together with Arturo Toscanini, Victor de Sabata, and Claudio Abbado, was one of the few truly great Italian conductors (we probably should add Giuseppe Sinopoli and Riccardo Muti to the list). During his long career (he died at the age of 91) Giulini was closely associated with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London's Philharmonia, the Vienna Philharmonic, and sever other major ensembles. The number of prominent German 20th-century conductors is much larger, and Otto Klemperer was always considered one of the best. We wrote about him recently here. An interesting note: Giulini’s first instrument was the viola, and as a young man, he played in the orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Among the conductors whose music-making affected him the most were the Germans: Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter – and Klemperer.