This little-known (in modern times) Spanish composer was the delight of 18th century aristocracy and left an indelible artistic footprint across Europe with his selection of ballets in Naples, a slew of opera buffas in Vienna (which he composed with texts from one of the most prolific and beloved librettists of the period, Lorenzo da Ponte (of Mozart fame)) all of which were ravishing triumphs, and finally Martín y Soler would earn a lifetime post at the Court of Catherine the Great at St Petersburg, in 'European Russia', where he would even collaborate on his 1789 Russian-language opera “The Unfortunate Hero Kosmetovich” with the Empress herself, who co-wrote the libretto for the work in a jested affront to her cousin, the reigning King of Sweden, Gustav III. This opera in particular was such a resounding success amongst the Imperial rulers, it is said the Great Princes Alexander and Konstantin could recite the opera from memory alone!
Martín y Soler’s time spent in Vienna was especially fruitful. Later dubbed the “Valencian Mozart”, this contemporary of Wolfgang Mozart and Antonio Salieri and other famed composers of the period (the likes of Joseph Haydn and Christoph Gluck) worked both in tandem, and in competition with, the present era’s most well known artists of the classical period. Although posterity has seen to it that the works of this prolific and immensely talented composer would fade into relative obscurity, Vicente arguably saw more success in the latter part of the 18th century than that of his operatic counterpart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, when his operas “Una Cosa Rara” and “Il Burbero di Buon Cuore”, both of which premiered at Vienna’s Burgtheater within ten months of eachother, outshone Mozart’s epic opera buffa “Le Nozze di Figaro” which would premier in that same year, and which also shared da Ponte as librettist (compare Martín y Soler’s “Una Cosa Rara”, which had it’s premiere in mid November of 1786 and would be shown a whopping 78 times in Vienna, with Mozart’s "Le Nozze di Figaro", which premiered less than six months after Cosa Rara in May with a total of only 9 performances in Austria’s Capital that year).
Catherine the Great, Russia's longest ruling Leader.
Whilst Mozart was still petitioning the Emperor of Austria, Joseph II for a court appointment and brooding over the lack of Imperial support (he would not achieve his much sought after post at the Viennese court until over a year later, at the end of 1787 - as Court Composer, and even then, only to fill the void left by the passing of Christoph Willibald Gluck in November that year, who had previously held the position), Martín y Soler was already making friends in high places. Fresh off the heels of his success with Una Cosa Rara, Vicente would quite rapidly (comparatively speaking) find himself in Russia in late 1788, under the direct employment of another Imperial Ruler in the Empress Catherine the Great. It had taken Wolfgang Mozart some six years to accomplish his goal of a steady post and employment at Court (since his arrival in Vienna in March of 1781, following Joseph II’s accession as ruler of the Habsburg lands following the death of Holy Roman Empress and Archduchess of Austria Maria Theresa). Vicente Martín y Soler had accomplished his tenure to Royalty in less than half that time with scant effort on his part: his works were so valued amongst the European aristocracy, he had actually been summoned to the Russian Court where he held the title Mozart had so long fought for (and that his father Leopold had been fighting for since his son’s first foray into music as a young wunderkind back in Salzburg): "Court Composer "– a title and position Martín y Soler would hold until his death some 18 years later, on January 30, 1806. It’s high time we rescue this once-beloved composer from the abysmal depths of Western Classical Music Obscurity and place him back amongst the blinding light where he so rightfully belongs. Listen below to the delightful aria "Dolce mi parve un di" from Una Cosa Rara, (this beautiful aria was originally sung by Nancy Storace, the doyenne of 18th century Sopranos).[1] The opera in full is available on youtube and is well worth a listen. If the music in the work sounds familiar, it is with good reason. Mozart would later pay tribute to Martín y Soler in 1787 with his opera Don Giovanni, in which Wolfgang would quote[2]music from Una Cosa Rara at the end of his opera in the ensemble aria “O quanto in sì bel giubilo”.
*Una Cosa Rara is quite significant in yet another way: it featured one of the first stagings in Vienna of a new form of sound and dance at the end of the second act of the opera, in which Martín y Soler had included a short, two-couple waltz - something entirely new to Viennese audiences. It was by all accounts, received most exuberantly amongst operatic circles and Martín y Soler himself would go on to be credited with introducing the waltz to the Austrian Capital (an attribution that would later be adopted - and made famous by - Johann Strauss II in the 19th century).
[1]Storace was much admired for her vocal prowess amongst the leading composers of the period. She had both song and roles written exclusively for her, and would be cast as the first “Susanna” in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.
[2]“Quoting” could imply the direct sampling of music from another compositional source (another artist), by musical theme or in whole; it could also imply a theme on which another composer would perform variations. A composer could also, and often would, “quote” from himself in addition to, or exclusive of, the works of other artists.
OTHER LESSER KNOWN (in modern times) COMPOSERS, CONSIDERED HIGHLY REGARDED IN THEIR DAY (despite what wikipedia says!)
Composer & Pianist Muzio Clementi.
Muzio Clementi,who had abirthday this January 24th,was an immensely well respected composer, pianist and conductor of his day – he was considered to be second only in talent and genius to the internationally celebrated Joseph Haydn, who is still considered one of the greatest musical minds to have ever walked this planet to this very day. Clementi’s travels would place him among the world's leading musical spheres, where he would find himself in much esteemed company, performing for the Royal likes of the Archduchess and future Queen Consort to the throne of France, one Marie Antoinette during a visit to Paris in 1780 whilst on his European Tour; and at the Imperial Court of Vienna, where he would perform alongside Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for the French Queen's brother, the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II of Austria.
Clementi was also an astutely skilled pianist. His innovations on the instrument would influence many contemporaneous and later composers of note that you will almost certainly recognize by name: Giacomo Meyerbeer and Ludwig van Beethoven, just to mention a few.
Certainly, if we can attribute much glory and fanfare to the prolific and mesmerizing works of Meyerbeer and Beethoven, it is seems only right to pay homage to their objet d'inspiration, Muzio Clementi: the spark who lit the flame.
Buon compleanno maestro!
Famed Pianist Vladimir Horowitz plays Clementi's (then) famous Sonata no. V(video 1 of 3).
Composer Vincenzo Righini.
VINCENZO RIGHINI– Let’s set the record straight on this one. Despite being incorrectly cast as an unoriginal thief, this one time Italian choirboy, one time successful tenor (even holding the distinction of membership in the Bustelli Opera troupe in Prague) and eventual composer was highly regarded in Vienna as both a composer and singing teacher and as director of the Austrian Capital’s Italian Opera. He would also serve as Kapellmeister in Mainz and Berlin, and would be appointed the same post of the court theatre in 1811. As we have already seen with Martín y Soler and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, ‘borrowing’ music from other artists, in particular amongst contemporaries, was a well-known practice of the period, and was generally considered to be a high honorand achievement for the sampled musician. There exist plenty of works in all eras of classical music where composers draw on, perform variations on, or directly sample from (including from the works of Righini himself) the compositions of previous or contemporaneous artists whose music they admired. Righini could count amongst his supporters and peers many of the Classical period’s most noted Composers and performers, even securing for himself a placement amongst Western Classical Music’s elite with a performance of his cantata Il Natale D’Apollo at the highly exclusive Tonkünstler-Societät (the Society of Musicians), a privately run organization founded by Florian Gassmann (the same teacher who had brought Antonio Salieri to the Viennese Court of Emperor Joseph II in 1766) in the effort to support ‘musicians and their families’, and which boasted the works of such well-loved composers as Felix Mendelssohn and Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf and was host to such prolific clientele as Antonio Salieri, Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It’s famed and wealthy patrons included many persons of aristocracy, including the Empress Maria Theresa. Righini also shares abirthday this month of January,he was born in Bologna on January 22, just five days before Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in 1756. What an era!
Buon compleanno!
Listen below to the exquisite "Ombra Dolente" from Righini's cantata "Il Natale D'Apollo". This is one of my absolute favorite pieces from this period.21st century soprano and coloratura diva Diana Damrau can be credited with helping to bring the works of this often overlooked Composer back to the forefront of the mind and ears of modern classical era aficionados.
Franz Xaver Mozart by Josef Kriehuber, 1844
Young Franz Xaver was just four months old
when his father died in December 1791. Called "Wolfgang" by his mother Constanze, he toured
with the moniker 'W A Mozart Jr.' The title of
this likeness is "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart."
TheNational Library of the Czech Republic has recently acquired a rare, handwritten letter penned byFranz Xaver Wolfgang, Mozart's youngest son. The letter, dated 12 August, 1842, is believed to have been written by Franz - himself a pianist and composer, called "Wolfgang" by his parents - to a member of the Salzburg Mozarteum Committee. The 178 year-old document had previously been in the possession of the family of the Czech illustrator and Mozart collector Vojtěch Kubašta until it was purchased earlier this month by the library for 290,000 CZK. Once the autograph has undergone restoration, it will be digitized for the general public to access. According toMartin Kocanda, the Director General at the National Library, the original document had only been previously mentioned once before in a reference guide, however the correct whereabouts of the autograph had been unknown to researchers until now. The letter joins the so-called"Mozarts Denkmal in seinen Werken 1837" (The Mozart Memorial in His Works)housed in the National Library - an invaluable collection of manuscripts, printed historical critical press and sheet music, archival documents related to the life of Mozart Sr., and, most notably, four letters obtained in 1845 from the collection of Morovian-Austrian music researcher and collector Alois Fuchs, penned by Franz' famous father, Wolfgang Amadè, his grandparents Leopold and Anna Maria, and his mother Constanze. Until now, autographs from Wolfgang's youngest son were missing from the collection. In the document seen below, Franz discusses his participation in the inaugural concert at Salzburg for the newly established Mozarteum (during which he performed), as he compares the new museum founded in the birthplace of his late father with the older Mozart Memorial at Prague, established in the city's historic Klementinum (Clementinum) complex in 1837.
Click on image to enlarge | Franz Xaver's letter (pre-restoration), National Library of Prague
Franz' father was a noted fan of the baroque library at Prague's Klementinum. In a jubilant exchange between Wolfgang Amadè (then in the Czech capital for the premiere of his Symphony in D major) and his confidant in Vienna, Court Chancellery worker Gottfried von Jacquin, Mozart Sr. mentions visiting the complex alongside his beloved Constanze. In a letter dated 15 January, 1787, Mozart describes meeting"Father Ungar"(Karl Ralph Ungar, director of the Klementinum Library) at 11 a.m. for a"thorough inspection of the Imperial Library."The result of this visit led Mozart to exclaim to his good friend back in Vienna,"our eyes were nearly popping out of our heads!"
The baroque library at the historic Klementinum complex at Prague | Photo: BrunoDelzant, CC BY 2.0
A bust of the composer, executed by sculptor Emanuel Max now sits close to the entrance of the Klementinum's exquisite Mirror Chapel (a favored venue for classical concerts in Prague, many of which perform the maestro's music) commemorating the master's visit.
The Mozart Memorial collection (Denkmal) presently housed in the complex would become the first of its kind in relation to the composer. Established in 1837, its founders aimed at further promoting the late maestro's music both within and beyond Prague, whilst simultaneously highlighting Mozart's close association with the city. In the same exchange with Jacquin, Mozart enthusiastically describes the city's reception of Le Nozze di Figaro, which had recently received its Prague premiere in late 1786. Following an outing to the Breitfield Ball, he regales, with much bemusement,
"I saw...with the greatest pleasure, all these people flying about with such delight to the music of my "Figaro," transformed into quadrilles and waltzes...here nothing is talked of but "Figaro," nothing played but "Figaro," nothing whistled or sung but "Figaro," no opera so crowded as "Figaro," nothing but "Figaro..."
Above: Mozart's letter to Gottfried von Jacquin appears on page 217 of The Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), vol. II.
Mozart was beloved by the citizens of Prague - Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Le Nozze di Figaro were both idolized by the music loving public. It was here, following the success of the latter, that the composer received a commission from impresario Pasquale Boldoni's Prague Opera company for a new opera buffa following the maestro's success with Figaro. The opera: Don Giovanni. Prague would also play host to the premiere of Mozart's final opera, La clemenza di Tito, which the maestro himself conducted on the occasion of the work's premiere on 6 September 1791 at the still-standing Estates Theatre. The Czech capital would also be first to provide a customary Mass for the Dead for the late icon following his untimely passing. A memorial service would be held at the Church of St. Nicholas on 14th December, 1791 with Bohemian composer Antonio Rosetti (Anton Rösler) providing a "Requiem for Mozart," re-fashioned from his Requiem in E flat, composed to mark the death of the Princess of Oettingen-Wallerstein in 1776:
An account of the memorial printed in the Prager Oberpostamts-zeitung on 17 December 1791 and a near-identical article subsequently run in Vienna's Wiener Zeitung on 24 December 1791 (the latter of which is quoted below) may serve as a testament to the consternation felt by the citizens of Prague following the death of their beloved idol:
"The Friends of Music in Prague, on the 14th inst. and in the Small Side parish church of St Niklas, performed solemn obsequies for Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart, Kapellmeister and Hofkomponist, who died here on the 5th. This ceremony had been arranged by the Prague Orchestra of the National Theatre, under the direction of Hr. Joseph Strobach, and all Prague's well-known musicians took part in it. On the appointed day the bells of the parish church were rung for half an hour; almost the entire city streamed thither, so that the Wälsche Platz could not hold the coaches, nor the church (which is, moreover, big enough to hold nearly 4,000 people) the admirers of the dead artist. The Requiem was by Kapellmeister Rössler, it was admirably performed by 120 of the leading musicians, first among whom was the well-loved singer Mad. Duscheck. In the middle of the church stood a finely illuminated catafalque; 3 choirs of drums and trumpets sounded forth with muffled tones; the parish priest, Herr Rudolph Fischer, read the Mass; 12 boys from the Small Side Gymnasium carried torches, wore mourning-crapes draped diagonally across one shoulder, and bore white cloths in their hands; solemn silence lay all about, and a thousand tears flowed in poignant memory of the artist who through [his] harmonies so often turned all hearts to the liveliest feelings."
*author's note: (Johann/Jan) Joseph Strobach (1731-94), Kapellmeister of Count Nostitz' National Theatre, director of music at the Lesser Town Parish Church of St. Nicholas and confidante of Mozart. Strobach, who was in charge of the memorial, was tasked with selecting an already complete, fitting Requiem (as Mozart had only perished nine days prior to the service) for the memorial. He selected the well-loved Requiem of his good friend, Rosetti (Rösler/Rössler), of which he had previous conducting experience, and may have included his own Benedictus and Agnus Dei to the service. Thus, Rosetti's Requiem in E flat, previously composed in 1776 to mark the death of the Princess of Oettingen-Wallerstein, was (re)premiered at the Church of St. Nicholas as a Requiem for Mozart. Strobach had previously conducted the Prague productions of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro at the city's Estates Theater, in addition to performances of Don Giovanni and La clemenza di Tito. Mozart would have undoubtedly approved of the conductor serving as regens chori - he heaped praise upon Strobach in a since-lost letter of gratitude.
Madame "Duscheck" refers to the famous soprano and dear friend of Mozart, Josepha Duschek (1754–1824). Wolfgang composed for her the recitative and aria "Ah, lo previdi," K. 272, and wrote the concert aria "Bella mia fiamma, addio," K. 528 at her request.
The memorial at the Parish Church of St. Nicholas wasn't the only tribute paid to Wolfgang by the citizens of Prague following the maestro's death. The Czech capital would go on to cement its place in scholarly history when it became the first European city to publish a biography on Herr Mozart - Franz Xaver Niemetschek's"Leben des K. K. Kapellmeisters Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart" (pub. 1798).
Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart in 1825
Franz Xaver "Wolfgang" Mozart was instrumental in preserving the legacy of his late father? Long before the Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation was founded by the town's citizens in 1880, it's root organization, the “Dom-Musik-Verein und Mozarteum” (Cathedral Music Society and Mozarteum) found its genesis in the city on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the death of Wolfgang Amadè Mozart in 1841. The music society was formed on behalf of the shared efforts of local music aficionados in Salzburg who sought to honor their hometown hero by hosting concerts, seeing to the education of young musicians, and, most notably, by preserving the manuscripts, original instruments, family correspondence, portraiture and the library of the maestro - all of which had been generously bequeathed to the association by Franz Xaver upon his death in 1844 (a gesture which was repeated upon the death of the last member of the Mozart family line, Franz' brother Karl Thomas, in 1858). Thanks to the younger Mozart's invaluable donation and to the citizens of Salzburg, the niche society would blossom into three separate institutions: the Mozarteum Orchestra (aided by Franz' brother Karl Thomas and mother, Constanze), the Mozarteum Music School (presently a University), and the Mozarteum Foundation. Some 190 original letters penned by Wolfgang Amadè Mozart (including 370 authored by Leopold Mozart) make up the Mozarteum's collection, in addition to over 100 autograph manuscripts (sketches, drafts and original scores) of Mozart's music. The Bibliotheca Mozartiana contains some 35,000 titles and is the most substantial Mozart library in the world.
The museum also hosts the Digital Interactive Mozart Edition (DIME) - the definitive online version of Mozart's works. The site continues to be updated in real time, and, once complete, will provide a digital rendering of the composer's entire oeuvre. Whilst the more famous Mozart is celebrated each year in the town of his birth during Salzburg's annual "Mozart Week," the life and music of Franz Xaver - without whose generosity we may have never been made privy to the (often intimate) minutiae of his more famous father's life, as preserved in both letter and manuscript - is honored in the Ukranian city of L’viv, where Franz spent some 30 years of his life (he knew the city as Lemberg). Founded in the Ukraine in 2017, the annual ten-day festival celebrates the music and life of Franz Xaver. Exciting developments concerning Mozart's youngest surviving son continue to be made long after the extinction of the composer's family line. Early next year, music lovers attending the Stiftung Mozarteum in Salzburg will become the first audience in 216 years to hear Franz Xaver's re-discovered cantata for soprano, choir and orchestra, "Auf stimmet eure Saiten" (FXWM I:2), which is scheduled to be performed in the Great Hall on 30 January 2021. The rare work was last heard by the public in 1805.
UPDATE:
According to the newly released programme for Mozart Week, as of the 4th of November, 2020, the premiere for Franz Xaver's cantata, as mentioned immediately above, has been rescheduled for 29 January, 2021 at the Haus für Mozart (House of Mozart Theater) in Salzburg, alongside a recreation of the composers' 1805 debut concert.
Above: Lithograph of Mozart, attr. Joseph Lange, possibly after a lost miniature by the same, as reproduced in the biography by Nissen (uncred.)
As for the more famous Mozart, Franz' father, Wolfgang Amadè, a "94 second, previously unknown" work will receive its world premiere during the week long festival on the 21st of January, 2021 at the Great Hall of the Stiftung Mozarteum, performed by Robert Levin - this, according to tenor Rolando Villazón, director of Mozartwoche.
Unraveling Musical Myths will provide further details on this exciting development as they become available.
For a full list of events and to purchase tickets, visit the Mozarteum website. A complete programme can be found here.
UPDATE #2: The Mozarteum has announced the cancellation of live festivities for Mozart Week in light of the current pandemic, and has indicated the festival will be held online in their stead. For further information and updates, which the museum states is forthcoming, visit the Mozarteum website here.
Below: Mozart's D minor Concerto, (No. 20, K.466), performed by the irreplaceable Soviet pianist Maria Yudina. It was this piece, then well-known in Salzburg, which Franz Xaver performed during the ceremony which marked the unveiling of the city’s Mozart memorial in 1842. It is also the piece referenced by Franz in the recently discovered letter posted above. Maria Yudina's sublime performance of this masterwork (Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra / Sergei Gorchakov) is an Unraveling Musical Myths' personal favorite rendition:
FAST FACTS: Petrograd Conservatory graduate Maria Yudina's (1899-1970) claim to international fame lay not only in her undeniable talent on the keyboard. Devoutly religious, the former classmate of Dmitri Shostakovich bravely defied the Stalinist regime - which imposed state-mandated atheism - by daring to appear on stage with a cross hanging from her neck, interrupting her recitals with readings of Boris Pasternak (author of Doctor Zhivago) and other writers blacklisted by the leader of the Communist Party. Her frequent and vocal rebukes of the regime even caused the Conservatory - where Yudina was employed as an instructor following her graduation - to oust her from the institution in 1930. Despite her interminable admonishments of Stalin and her very public displays of unwavering faith, the Communist ruler counted himself among Yudina's most adoring fans. Said to have been moved to tears after hearing the pianist perform Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 on the radio in 1944 (and unaware he was listening to Yudina perform live), Stalin demanded a recording be delivered to him. Yudina was hastily driven to a studio in the wee hours of the night where she was joined by an impromptu orchestra in order to record the piece. According to former classmate Dmitri Shostakovich, a rather interesting - possibly apocryphal - chain of events would follow. If Russian musicologist Solomon Volkov's controversial Testimonyis to be regarded as an authentic transcription of Shostakovich's memoirs (Volkov is noted by the composer's children, Maxim and Galina Shostakovitch as having acted the role of amanuensis to their famous father), Stalin is said to have rewarded Maria with a gift of 20,000 rubles to show his appreciation for her talent - which she (allegedly) promptly donated to the Russian Orthodox Church. She is said to have written of her intention for the money in a letter to the leader himself: "I thank you for your aid... it I will pray for you day and night and ask the Lord to forgive your great sins before the people and the country. The Lord is merciful and He’ll forgive you. I gave the money to the church that I attend." This account is supported by the eminent writer Daniil Granin, who alleges he too was told the very same account by Shostakovich himself.
We continue to ride the wave of modern technology: as Christie’s is set to auction off the first ever series of artworks created solely by Artificial Intelligence algorithm on October 23, and “La Divina,”Maria Callas herself – or at least, her hologram – gears up to serenade the present generation via intimate performances whilst on a world-wide “tour,” another industrious project out of Germany vows to usher the remaining facet of the artistic sphere into the unprecedented realm of the future: the world’s first ever Virtual Reality opera.*The composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The opera: The Marriage of Figaro. Earlier this year, financiers at Berlin’s Avant Première Music + Media Market symposium were presented with an intriguing premise: the development of the world’s first Virtual Reality opera, with a centripetal POV for the viewer. Where spectators of the “Callas” tour will have the unique ability to view their late idol from the perspective of the audience, Pars Media’s pilot project, "360° Figaro"places the viewer center stage, where he, or she will “stand” in the middle of an operatic cast, allowing the user to feel as though they are actually taking part in the performance. The ambitious project is presently under development. It is a collaborative endeavor, with Munich-based production company Pars Media working in conjunction with German record label Arthaus Musik, who have already recordedsoloistsJacquelyn Wagner(as Rosina), Olena Tokar (as Susanna), Matthias Hausmann (as Count Almaviva) andValentina Stadler(as Cherubino) from a studio in Halle (formerly the "Fernsehstudio Halle") on August 21 and 22, 2018. Mozart’s prized opera will be reduced to a series of scenes from the second act of Figaro, garnering a length of nearly 20 minutes. Produced byJan Schmidt-Garre, the reduction promises to be as faithful as possible to the original plot, whilst remaining“understandable in lieu of a larger context.”It will be filmed using a state of the art 360° camera, consisting of the live vocals, with an added feature of binaural sound for headphone wearers, which will serve to greatly enhance the ‘life-like’ experience of being center stage by reproducing incredibly precise directional localization for the user in a virtual "3D" space. 360° Figaro is financed by the state of Saxony-Anhalt and theFraunhofer Institute.
Further updates will be added to Unraveling Musical Myths when a date of launch has been announced.
Listen below – and imagine yourself on stage – to a glorious rendition of “Voi sigor, che giusto siete” from Herr Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro; Böhm, Wiener Staatsoper, Tokyo, 1980):
"In my dreams of Heaven, I always see the great Masters
in a huge hall in which they all reside.
Only Mozart has his own suite."
-Victor Borge
Enjoy below Herr Mozart's "heavenly" duettino, Sull'aria(the Letter Duet) from the third act of Le Nozze di Figaro. Performed by Austrian lyric soprano Gundula Janowitz and soprano Edith Mathis of Lucerne under the baton of maestro Karl Böhm:
Attention bibliophiles and classical music aficionados! My review for Hermann Abert's classicW.A. Mozart (Yale version) can now be found in Reviews by Rose. More reviews coming soon.
"There are works that persist through the passage of time... that permeate the dusty sheath that both binds and separates the past from the present. Works that, when filtered through a retrospective lens, continue to maintain the very essence of a divine-like creation, like the building blocks of an intricately complex monument - a world wonder that has existed though the ages. One that sparks generations of inquiry by those drawn to it’s magnificence, to it’s penetrating and majestic force..inspiring countless scholars to remark upon it’s persisting existence.
Marvels such as these command the historian and layman alike to persist in discovering its secrets to longevity, ever eager to teach subsequent generations. The Egyptians have the pyramids. The British have Stonehenge. Germany – and now the English-speaking world - have Hermann Abert’sW.A. Mozart..."
As the classical music sphere collectively observes the 225th passing of one of it’s foremost geniuses, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,Unraveling Musical Myths pays tribute to the iconic composer through the quotes of other masters of the art form from across the European continent - all of whom revered the young Austrian legend:
Joseph Haydn
Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn to Leopold Mozart (Mozart’s father):"Before God and as an honest man, your son is the greatest composer I know, either personally or by name."
German composer Richard Wagner:"The most tremendous genius raised Mozart above all masters, in all centuries and in all the arts."
German composer Johannes Brahms:"If we cannot write with the beauty of Mozart, let us at least try to write with his purity.”
Polish composer Frédéric Chopin:"Mozart encompasses the entire domain of musical creation."
(Chopin, when speaking of his own death): "Play Mozart in memory of me."
Austrian composerFranz Schubert:"What a picture of a better world you have given us, Mozart!"
Franz Schubert
French composer Camille Saint-Saëns:“Give Mozart a fairy tale and he will create without effort an immortal masterpiece.”
Italian composerGioachino Rossini:“Beethoven I take twice a week, Haydn four times, Mozart everyday!”
German composerRichard Strauss:“The most perfect melodic shapes are found in Mozart; he has the lightness of touch which is the true objective ...”
Russian composerPyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky:“Mozart is the highest, the culminating point that beauty has obtained in the sphere of music.”
Adoration for Mozart wasn’t limited only to iconic composers – or to Europe - high ranking (and arguably as equally famous) members of other artistic intelligentsia – from literary geniuses to famous scientific minds, musicians and conductors, all shared a love for the maestro’s illustrious music: German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:“Mozart is a human incarnation of the divine force of creation…a phenomenon like Mozart remains an inexplicable thing.”
Hungarian conductorGeorg Solti:“Mozart makes you believe in God because it cannot be by chance that such a phenomenon arrives into this world and leaves such an unbounded number of unparalleled masterpieces.”
German theoretical physicistAlbert Einstein:“Mozart’s music was so pure that it seemed to have been ever-present in the universe, waiting to be discovered by the master.”
Physicist Albert Einstein considered Mozart "the greatest composer who ever lived"
American violinist and conductor Isaac Stern:“Mozart's music is like an X-ray of your soul - it shows what is there, and what isn't.”
American composer and conductorLeonard Bernstein:"Mozart’s music is constantly escaping from its frame, because it cannot be contained in it."
I will close this post with a modern missive: many composers have waxed poetic on the topic of Mozart - Aaron Copland, in his essay "At The Thought of Mozart" muses upon those who idolized the maestro. Read Copland's thought provoking thinkpiece here.
Enjoy below one of my favorite arias by Herr Mozart, “Porgi Amor” from the late maestro’s epic masterpiece “Le Nozze di Figaro,” as sung by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa in her much lauded role as Countess Rosina Almaviva, performed here at Glyndebourne Festival, 1973. The role of the Countess helped launch the kiwi soprano’s megalithic career after she first appeared as Almaviva at the SantaFe Opera and at Covent Garden in 1971, in which she is said to have “knocked the place flat” after delivering to delighted audiences this beautifully sensitive aria:
Herr Mozart is an Unraveling Musical Myths composer favorite, and as such, is heavily featured on this blog. Peruse the Mozart Archives link below to learn more about this highly influential composer:
This edition ofWeekend at the Movies with Rose showcases the brilliant talent of Dame Kira Te Kanawa, arguably New Zealand’s greatest musical export and undoubtedly one of the leading sopranos of the 20th century.
Kiri Te Kanawa: A Portrait (1991, directed by Nigel Wattis), stars Dame Kanawa herself, in an intimate, in-depth interview with English broadcaster Melvyn Braggin which the superstar soprano discusses her meteoric rise to fame. Topics range from Dame Kanawa’s rough beginnings as an unwanted child put up for adoption (and the subsequent racial turmoil she endured as bi-racial youth of both Maori and European lineage – known as “half-caste” to her classmates), to her “discovery” and vocal tutorship by a local Catholic nun who doubled as a vocal coach (Dame Sister Mary Leo, DBE, RSM); to her jaw dropping debut as Countess Almaviva in Mozart’sLe Nozze di Figaro at Covent Garden in 1971 – a role and performance that transformed the budding diva into an overnight international sensation – and which, according to then-conductor Colin Davis,a performance that“knocked the place flat;”before delving deep into the everyday life of the dynamic diva as the documentary crew follow her around the globe - from New Zealand to San Francisco - capturing the star at her very best: both on stage and behind the scenes in rehearsal, preparing for her role as Countess Madeleine in Richard Strauss'Capriccio.
"A Portrait"not only features exclusive personal footage of Dame Kanawa (including rehearsals under the tutelage of Sister Mary Leo) but also exquisite performances of the highest caliber - including (from George Gershwin’sPorgy and Bess), “Summertime”(incidentally, the only aria - and version of - by Gershwin that I can stomach), and a special open air performance of Francesco Cilea's breathtaking"Io Son L'Umile Ancella"(Adriana Lecouvreur) - the latter filmed by the documentary crew at New Zealand’sTrentham Parkin 1990.
The nearly two-hour documentary includes tributes bySir Georg Solti, Dame Joan Sutherland, Richard Bonynge and Jeffrey Tate. Watch it with me below:
The work – a violin concerto - believed to have been the product of a donation by 20th century renowned Canadian violinist Kathleen Parlow is set to debut in Norway as part of the International Musicological Society's annual conference in the summer of 2016. (**NOTE: See "UPDATE" at end of post).
A SONATA IN PRAGUE (A PRODUCT OF LEGENDS):
This month, an exciting and historical debut was held at the Czech Republic's Museum of Musicon Tuesday February 16th 2016. Playing for the first time a collaborative compositional effort by the composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his pop-culture-implied nemesis,Antonio Salieri, harpsichordist Lukáš Vendl was effectively performing a piece that until now existed only as a product of legend. Although the four minute piece - a solo cantata - is scored for soprano accompaniment, Vendl performed as an instrumental soloist before a select group of a dozen or so spectators.[1]
Antonio Salieri
Entitled"Per la Ricuperata Salute di Ofelia" ("For the recovered health of Ophelia"),this piece for harpsichord and soprano (with libretto[2] by 18th century favorite Lorenzo da Ponte), is said to have been originally composed in the year 1785 as a tribute to English soprano Nancy Storace[3] who at various times, held employment under both Mozart and Salieri. The piece was discovered by musicologistTimo Jouko Herrmann in November of 2015 after the library at the Czech Museum of Music in Prague opted to digitize it’s archives, allowing Herrmann to research with greater attention to detail its records whilst perusing the Museums vast database. His original search query was for Antonio Casimir Cartellieri, a possible pupil of Salieri. What returned from his search would be a discovery of epic and ground-breaking proportions. The historic composition was performed this month at the Museum, likely for the first time in over two centuries and is cataloged under the Köchel numberK. 477a.
Listen below to "Per la Ricuperata Salute di Ofelia:"
[1] Asection of two stanzas from the cantata's libretto was also performed, penned by a (currently) unknown composer who contributed as a third author to the historic piece.
[2] details regarding which composer contributed to which stanzas are listed on the Wikipedia page for "Per la Ricuperata Salute di Ofelia"
[3] Storace owed her dedication to the recovery of her voice, which she has lost during an alleged ‘nervous breakdown’. It is unsurprising that both composers would choose to honor her thus: Storace was a classical erafavorite, having worked for both composers and even having earned the coveted first spot as Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. So beloved by the Viennese public was Storace, she even had compositional works created entirely for her.
UPDATE: Listen below to a recording (released by Naxos on February 10, 2017) of Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud performing Halvorsen's "lost" Concerto for Violin and orchestra (Op. 28) alongside the Malmö Symphony Orchestra.
The lively concerto originally held it's 'modern' premiere at Norway's Risør Chamber Music Festival on July 3, 2016 with Kraggerud performing alongside the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra:
It will be a dream come true for some luckyTorontonians– and undoubtedly for Russian soprano Anna Netrebko herself - come next April 25th, when the leading operatic diva is slated to make her long-awaited Canadian debut alongside tenor (and Netrebko’s husband)Yusif Eyazovand famed Russian baritoneDmitri Hvorostovskyat the thriving metropolis’ Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts located in the artistic heart of the city. Anna’s Canadian debut is two times significant as not only will it be the first time the singer has performed in the country, it will also serve as home to the worldwide debut of Netrebko’s newly formed trio, dubbed Trio Magnifico, and as such is a great boon for the COC. The ravishing beauty – as much physically as she has grown vocally – has served as one of Russia’s greatest sensational exports since the early 2000’s after she first appeared at the annual Salzburg festival in Austria and enraptured audiences as Donna Anna in a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’sDon Giovanni. But it was the diva’s humble beginnings that really set hearts on fire when it was revealed the multi-vocal contest winner had been ‘discovered,’ by famed maestro Valery Gergiev in the hallowed halls of St Petersburg’s esteemed Mariinsky Theatre, where the young operatic hopeful had taken up residence sweeping floors – in an effort“to spend a lot of time in the theatre….to watch performances: opera, ballet, concerts.. [and not] have to pay for any of [it].”
Netrebko would make her operatic debut at the Mariinsky in 2002 as Susanna in a production of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro.Thedynamic divais now one of opera’s most highly demanded leading ladies at prestigious theaters across the globe. A small reminder for those whodare to dream fantastical dreams!
Enjoy below one of my favorite live performances by a young Netrebko, singing Antonin Dvořák’s gorgeous aria “Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém” (Song to the Moon):
