March 3, 2014. Chopin, Smetana, Vivaldi. Just like last week, we’re running a bit late.We missed the birthday of Frédéric Chopin, who was born on March 1, 1810 (although that’s not definite – he may have been born on February 22nd of that year) and Bedřich Smetana, born March 2nd of 1824.Chopin was born in Żelazowa Wola, a small village about 20 miles west of Warsaw.He started composing at the age of 15 (his opus 1 was a piano Rondo in C minor).Two years later he wrote Variations on "Là ci darem la mano" from Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni (op. 2), the first and one of the very few pieces for piano and orchestra.Robert Schumann heard it in Leipzig four years later, and declared Chopin a genius.Chopin lived in Poland till September of 1831, when he left for Paris, as so many of his compatriots did after Russia repressed the Polish uprising of 1830-31.He hoped to return to Poland once the regime there had changed, but it never happened: Chopin was to live in France for the rest of his short life.In Paris he stayed close to the Polish émigré society (his French was never very good).Very soon he became famous both as a pianist and composer, met all the celebrities of the day and acquired a large number of well-paying students.One of the first compositions Chopin wrote in Paris was his opus 17 consisting of Four Mazurkas.Mazurka is a simple Polish folk dance, which in time was accepted on a ballroom floor, and Chopin’s exquisite piano pieces are just reminiscences of the originals.Here they are, performed by the great Arthur Rubinstein, no. 1, no. 2, no. 3, and probably the most popular in the set, no. 4.Rubinstein recorded these Mazurkas three times, in the 1930, 1950s and in 1965-66.These are the latest recordings.
Bedřich Smetana, the first truly great Czech composer, was born in Litomyšl, a beautiful town of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings.By 1854-55 he was living in Prague and composing mostly for the piano.Then a series of personal tragedies befell him: in July of 1854 his second daughter died of tuberculosis.A year later his eldest daughter died of scarlet fever.Around that time he fourth daughter was born but she also died when she was just one year old.To make things worse, around the same time his wife was diagnosed with tuberculosis, of which she would die three years later.During that terrible period Smetana composed just a few pieces, one of them – a beautiful Piano Trio in G minor.He considered it a tribute to his eldest daughter Bedřiška.Here it is, performed by Carlota Amado, piano, Iason Keramidis, violin, and Vasily Bystroff, cello.
Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice on March 4th, 1678.One of the most influential pieces in Vivaldi’s output was his L'Estro Armonico, op. 3, a collection of 12 concertos for one, two or four violins. The designation of "opus 3" is somewhat misleading: L'Estro Armonico was composed in 1711, and by then Vivaldi had composed dozens of concertos.L'Estro Armonico became very popular all over Europe, so much so that Johann Sebastian Bach reworked no less than six of these concertos: he arranged nos. 3, 9, and 12 for solo keyboard, 8 and 11 were turned into the organ concertos, and concerto number 10, originally for four violins was made into a concerto for four harpsichords, BWV 1065. Here is Vivladi’s original concerto, L'Estro Armonico, Op. 3, no. 10 in B minor for four violins, cello and strings. It is performed by the violinist Viktoria Mullova with the ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini conducting.
Chopin, Smetana, Vivaldi 2014
March 3, 2014. Chopin, Smetana, Vivaldi. Just like last week, we’re running a bit late. We missed the birthday of Frédéric Chopin, who was born on March 1, 1810 (although that’s not definite – he may
have been born on February 22nd of that year) and Bedřich Smetana, born March 2nd of 1824. Chopin was born in Żelazowa Wola, a small village about 20 miles west of Warsaw. He started composing at the age of 15 (his opus 1 was a piano Rondo in C minor). Two years later he wrote Variations on "Là ci darem la mano" from Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni (op. 2), the first and one of the very few pieces for piano and orchestra. Robert Schumann heard it in Leipzig four years later, and declared Chopin a genius. Chopin lived in Poland till September of 1831, when he left for Paris, as so many of his compatriots did after Russia repressed the Polish uprising of 1830-31. He hoped to return to Poland once the regime there had changed, but it never happened: Chopin was to live in France for the rest of his short life. In Paris he stayed close to the Polish émigré society (his French was never very good). Very soon he became famous both as a pianist and composer, met all the celebrities of the day and acquired a large number of well-paying students. One of the first compositions Chopin wrote in Paris was his opus 17 consisting of Four Mazurkas. Mazurka is a simple Polish folk dance, which in time was accepted on a ballroom floor, and Chopin’s exquisite piano pieces are just reminiscences of the originals. Here they are, performed by the great Arthur Rubinstein, no. 1, no. 2, no. 3, and probably the most popular in the set, no. 4. Rubinstein recorded these Mazurkas three times, in the 1930, 1950s and in 1965-66. These are the latest recordings.
Bedřich Smetana, the first truly great Czech composer, was born in Litomyšl, a beautiful town of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings. By 1854-55 he was living in Prague and composing mostly for the piano. Then a series of personal tragedies befell him: in July of 1854 his second daughter died of tuberculosis. A year later his eldest daughter died of scarlet fever. Around that time he fourth daughter was born but she also died when she was just one year old. To make things worse, around the same time his wife was diagnosed with tuberculosis, of which she would die three years later. During that terrible period Smetana composed just a few pieces, one of them – a beautiful Piano Trio in G minor. He considered it a tribute to his eldest daughter Bedřiška. Here it is, performed by Carlota Amado, piano, Iason Keramidis, violin, and Vasily Bystroff, cello.
Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice on March 4th, 1678. One of the most influential pieces in Vivaldi’s output was his L'Estro Armonico, op. 3, a collection of 12 concertos for one, two or four violins. The designation of "opus 3" is somewhat misleading: L'Estro Armonico was composed in 1711, and by then Vivaldi had composed dozens of concertos. L'Estro Armonico became very popular all over Europe, so much so that Johann Sebastian Bach reworked no less than six of these concertos: he arranged nos. 3, 9, and 12 for solo keyboard, 8 and 11 were turned into the organ concertos, and concerto number 10, originally for four violins was made into a concerto for four harpsichords, BWV 1065. Here is Vivladi’s original concerto, L'Estro Armonico, Op. 3, no. 10 in B minor for four violins, cello and strings. It is performed by the violinist Viktoria Mullova with the ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini conducting.