INSPIRATIONS: MARY STUART, QUEEN OF SCOTS - DECEMBER 8, 1542 - FEBRUARY 8, 1587 feat. Did You Know?

Marie (Mary) Stuart, Queen of Scots

As Scotland recognizes the birth of it’s 16th century monarch, Queen Mary Stuart - born this December day in 1542 at the Heathered Isles’ Linlithgow Palace, Unraveling Musical Myths takes a look back at the ill-fated rulers only true stronghold in the annals of British history: her impressive post-mortal foray into the world of symphonic muses.

Queen Mary’s tragic life and all-too-brief “reign” (if one could even call it that in the era of ruling noble factions in Scotland) has been covered extensively on this blog. You may find background on this notorious femme fatale by perusing the archives.

In brief: the young, hapless Queen, who attempted rule by matters of heart over matters of state was internationally reviled over the course of her blink-of-an-eye reign, save for the French King, Henri II and his sickly son, the dauphin François who Mary was all but forced into wedding after England’s tyrannical Henry VIII set siege on Scotland (a violent period of British history known as "The Rough Wooing") in an effort to kidnap the young royal and force a betrothal to his only legitimate son, the future king of England Edward VI - which forced Marie de Guise (mother to the queen) to make a marriage pact for her daughter with François – and in effect with France – in exchange for exile and for a French military presence in Scotland to help the nation defend themselves against the troublesome English. Detested by the French Queen Regent and conspirateur Catherine de Medici, Mary would be swiftly ousted from Court following the unexpected premature death of King François by inner ear infection in 1560.

No longer Queen Consort of France, Mary sought to regain control over her native Scotland and chose to retreat there. It would be a disaster right from the beginning. The Queen had just but set foot on terra firma after a stormy crossing at sea when the young Catholic ruler was met - rather rudely -  by the Protestant leader John Knox, who loudly chastised the Queen and cursed her very arrival on Scotland. This was not the Catholic Scotland of her youth – this was a country in the midst of a Religious Reformation.

^[1]Wedded bliss? A smug portrait of Lord Darnley, flanked by Mary.
Lord Darnley was born Henry Stuart - making the former Consort King
first cousin to Mary.

One disastrous marriage later to the consort king Lord Darnley^[1] – a highly vainglorious, narcissistic lout sent to the Island by Mary’s cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England - and the persistent ruler would find herself embroiled in a series of diabolical plots – both as victim and as alleged manipulatrice – that would prove to be her undoing.

First, her close confidant and alleged lover, the luteist David Rizzo is executed in front of the Queen by her jealous husband after Mary shocks the nation by appointing him – a commoner - Secretary For Relations With France. It seemed Lord Darnley had political aspirations of the highest degree and would stoop to any level in order to overthrow his wife, disinherit her child (the future "Union King," James VI and I), and secure for himself the Scottish throne (including accusing Mary of a treasonous affair and alleging the child she presently carried in utero to be the illegitimate spawn of a humble musician – hardly fit to be a future King).

Lord Darnley would pay dearly for his transgressions when Mary – and her very real lover – the Scottish Lord James Hepburn (the Earl of Bothwell), successfully launched an almost aborted coup d’état by first attempting to blow the king up as he slept, and, when that failed, by chasing him down and throttling him to death. As enraged nobles - all of whom carried their own political aspirations - sought to imprison and execute the Queen and Lord Bothwell for the heinous murder of Lord Darnley, Mary once more sought exile – this time sailing South, to England, where she rightfully possessed an heirship to the English Royal Throne via the female line of Tudors (Margaret, sister to Henry VIII was Mary’s grandmother through her marriage to the Scottish King James V – Mary’s grandfather). 

Mary's only surviving son, James Stuart may have come
out the winner in an ages old battle for the British
Throne, yet his coronation would prove him to
be undoubtedly the son of the hapless Queen Mary
when it was announced that the newly-minted King
would receive his Coronation in the midst of a plague
that was busy decimating Europe. The "Union King"
as a result would receive none of the royal 
festivities traditionally granted to Kings to mark the
historical occasion. It seemed the so called
"Stuart curse" (coined during his 
mothers reign) preceded him to the throne.

England itself was embroiled in a religious revolution, and those remaining Catholics who felt themselves thwarted by the Queen and punished for their worship were engaged in countless plots to overthrow the Protestant Elizabeth – a "usurper" of the English throne once declared by King Henry VIII himself (Elizabeth’s father and England’s former king) to have been a bastard child - and place who they felt was the “rightful” Queen on the English throne: Mary Stuart. Mary herself famously became involved in several of these plots – how deeply involved remains hotly contested depending on which side of the United Kingdom one hails. In any event, the former Queen would be subjected to a show trial, promptly found guilty, and, after much hesitation, beheaded by an executioner in Elizabeth’s employ.

In a cruel twist of irony (or as a matter of just desserts – which ever be your pleasure) Mary’s son, James, who had been raised English – and Protestant – would effortlessly accomplish what Henry VIII had sought to accomplish during his so-called "Rough Wooing" some sixty years earlier, and what Lord Henry Darnley sought to steal from Mary, and what Mary herself ultimately sacrificed her life for whilst trying to become: the heir presumptive of a United England. After Elizabeth died bearing no offspring in March of 1603, a middle-aged James automatically secured for himself the throne of both England and Scotland, simultaneously establishing the Stuart dynasty - and bringing together the two millenia-old enemy nations under one Monarch, efectively setting the stage for what would eventually bceome The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, realized in 1801.**

Mary's only surviving child (she tragically miscarried twins whilst in prison) would reign gloriously over the British Empire as James I of England and James VI of Scotland.

Mary’s fascinating life and tragic death have spawned countless biographies, plays, biopics – even a television series. Her many failed exploits are the stuff of legend. The classical music sphere knows her best as a scorned coquette in maestro Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda (click here to listen to “Mary’s” famous aria “Quando de Luce Rosea”)

...but  Did You Know?

Queen Mary Stuart was also honored in the form of Lieder?

Both megalithic composers Richard Wagner and Robert Schumann (who used the Queen’s own writings as his libretti) were just a few of the many famous and revered musicians to have set the fateful Queen’s life to music.

Listen below to Herr Wagner’s “Les Adieux de Marie Staurt: Adieu, charmant pays de France" (The Farewell of Mary Stuart: Goodbye, my beloved country of France”) [left] followed by Schumann’s five-song collection “Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart” (Poems of Queen Mary Stuart, or Mary Stuart Songs (colloquially)), for voice & piano (Op. 135) [right]:

 
 
Learn more about these lieder (external links):

“Les Adieux de Marie Staurt: Adieu, charmant pays de France" 

• Background at All Music
• Lyrics and Translation - at Lieder.net

“Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart”

• Background at All Music
• Lyrics and Translation at Lieder.net

Footnotes:

**Whilst this Union, known as The Union of the Crowns, would unify the England and Scotland under one Monarch through James's ascension to the throne, both countries remained separate nations with separate parliaments. This crucial inheritance, however, must not be downplayed, as it set the stage for a Single Sovereign State under Queen Anne in 1707, herself ironically the last Monarch of the House of Stuart. 

 

Thus, James' ascension was a pivotal step in the future creation of the United Kingdom, as the future Queen Anne's Acts of Union in 1707 effectively abolished the parliament of England and Scotland, uniting the nations to create a new, single parliament, henceforth known as Great Britain, which would be established in Westminster. 

 

Throughout Anne's reign, she was also Monarch of the Kingdom of Ireland, however it continued to maintain its own parliament, whilst remaining subordinate to the parliament of Great Britain in London. As all of the Queens 11 heirs pre-deceased her, and with the clear directive established in the a document dubbed the Acts of Settlement created in 1701, which stipulated a ban on all remaining Catholic Stuarts for eligibility to the throne during the still contentious Reformation era, the third, final stage of the creation the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was established in 1801 under George III from the House of Hanover, which unified the Kingdom of Ireland into Great Britain, abolishing the former's parliament, thus joining England and Scotland under one Monarch.

 

The ties to the House of Stuart remained, not only through predecessors who set the stage for this monumental event, but also through bloodline, as George III was a direct descendant of the House of Stuart through his ancestor George I, the first son of Sofia of Hanover (George was therefore grandfather to James VI/I). Simply put, due to Queen Anne's lack of heirs, not to mention the caveat in the 1701 Act of Succession, which would have bypassed all remaining Catholic Suarts for eligibility to the throne during the contentious Reformation era, the house of Hanover never would have acceded to the throne were it not for the Stuart family lineage, and the implantation of James VI/I, son of Mary Queen of Scots, to the throne of England.

-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

TODAY IN CLASSICAL MUSIC HISTORY – DECEMBER 8, 1915: FINLAND DECLARES HOMEGROWN COMPOSER’S BIRTHDAY A NATIONAL HOLIDAY: “SIBELIUS DAY” | QUOTE OF THE DAY

Jean Sibelius in 1918.

Today’s Quote of the Day comes to us from the personal diary of early twentieth century Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, concerning the creation of the national treasure’s much ballyhooed 5th Symphony. With a healthy modicum of unabashed self-praise, he writes:

"It is as if God Almighty had thrown down pieces of a mosaic for heaven’s floor and asked me to find out what was the original pattern."

Sibelius, a beloved Finnish icon, had been commissioned by his own Government to compose music for his 50th birthday, which fell on December 8, 1915 - both as a means to mark the joyous occasion and to serve as the official theme for the newly created national holiday named in his honor: “Sibelius Day.”

The Fifth, which premiered on the eve of Sibelius Day, and was conducted by the composer himself, (leading the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra), would mark a pivotal change in orchestral style for the birthday boy as more and more radical and dissonant music began to take center stage under prolific composers like Stravinsky and Schoenberg - so much so that Sibelius wrote three different versions of the work (only the first and last, and a small portion of the second survive).

The final, and most frequently performed version of the 5th Symphony premiered November 24, 1919, again with the HPO and with Sibelius at the helm.

Listen to the Official Music for Sibelius Day below. Conducted by Finnish maestro Jukka-Pekka Saraste.


Learn more about the 5th Symphony and it’s composer:

• at NPR.org
   

-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

HATE CHRISTMAS CAROLS? YOU'RE IN GOOD COMPANY: OLIVER CROMWELL'S BAN ON CHRISTMAS feat. Did You Know?

It’s that time of year again: when even going about one's daily routine – shopping for groceries and sundries, driving to work, returning from work, unwinding in front of a radio or TV – one's ears are assaulted by the seemingly never ending incessant drone of the "popular" Christmas carol: classic Christmas carols, pop Christmas carols, jazz Christmas carols, country Christmas carols, rock n’ roll Christmas carols…it’s enough to drive a person stark raving mad!

If, like me, you find the overabundant display of musical good cheer especially grating on the psyche, you may take some guilty pleasure in knowing that you are far from alone in your Grinch-like behavior:

Did You Know?

…that the performing of Christmas carols was outright banned in England during the mid-17th century?

In fact, the entire Christmas season, complete with all of its festive trappings – singing included - would be strictly prohibited under threat of a hefty fine under Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell’s Puritan leadership. To carol door to door or in the street meant to don the dress of an outlaw.

For millennia, the carol had been an omnipresent force in Europe at feastings and to mark momentous occasions – such as the Winter Solstice – however it wouldn’t be until the year 129 (Anno Domini) that the secular themed carol adopted religious overtones when the so-called pagan tune “Angel’s hymn” was decreed a sacred trapping for use at Christmas after a Bishop living in Rome at the time used it for his Church Services. It would be here that the carol’s association with the Birth of Christ would find its genesis, and from here that the carol would soon be profligated across Europe -  in the form of musical accompaniment for so called Nativity plays, first introduced to Christian Europe by the Saint Francis of Assisi.

By the middle ages, the ‘wassailer’ was born: groups of singers who would bring to homes the word of the Lord, via door-to-door a capella performance of the Christmas Carol. It seemed this rather festive, community-inclusive pastime was becoming all the rage across the continent.

One of many "Publick Notices" prominently displayed on theater and tavern
doors in Cromwell's England. This one states: "The observation of Christmas
having been deemed a Sacrilege, the exchanging of gifts and greetings, dressing
in fine clothing, feasting and similar Satanical practices are hereby FORBIDDEN
with the offender liable to a fine of FIVE SHILLINGS."

Not every Christian could count themselves fans of this seemingly unyielding musical trend, however. In 1644 England, the Puritan leader and Statesman Oliver Cromwell would issue a parliamentary ban on the Christmas festival – caroling included – under the threat of a having to pay a sizable (at the time) sum to the government in the form of a fine. The ban included not only the act of caroling, but also of feasting, adorning one’s home or proprietorship with the sinful trappings of holly or ivy – even the hanging of mistletoe was strictly verboten. Theaters hosting Christmas themed pantomimes and taverns serving Christmas ale were shuttered for the season, and “Publick Notice” placards took the place of the “Open for Business” signage formerly proudly displayed on the doors of local neighborhood haunts.

The Grinch who (literally) stole Christmas: Statesman Oliver Cromwell

To sing, or perform any of the strictly forbidden tidings, meant one was not only breaking the law, but, according to Cromwell’s Puritan beliefs, meant unlawfully practicing “popish” ritual through displaying an overzealous dictation of “Christ’s Mass.” Such sinful eccentricity had to be silenced in order to preserve the core Christian beliefs of Puritan England. By 1647, Long Parliament had all but abolished Christmas itself.

It would not be until the restoration of the English Monarchy in 1660 – which effectively overturned legislation from Cromwell’s reign – that the Christmas festival – complete with holly, mistletoe – and yes, caroling – would be made legal for public consumption. Although caroling did indeed continue (in occulto, by outlaws of the chorus) in Puritan England, it could not compare to the right to perform freely – in public, and in the private homes of many who shared the Christmas Spirit.

Did You Know?

Schirra's harmonica by Hohner, now on display at the
National Air and Space Museum, "Apollo to the Moon" Exhibition.

The popular carol “Jingle Bells” was never intended to represent Christmas? The famous tune was first published in the USA in 1857 under the title “A One Horse Open Sleigh.” The sleigh mentioned, however, was not Santa’s. It belonged to a boy who enjoyed the pastime of sled racing – and impressing young girls along the way!

Jingle Bells would become synonymous with Christmas, and the “sleigh” with Santa thanks in part to two astronauts of the American National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), who famously horrified mission control at Houston one week before Christmas in 1965 (December 16) when Gemini 6 astronaut Tom Stafford radioed the following message about an Unidentified Flying Object:

“Roger, Houston, Gemini VII, this is Gemini VI. We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, up in a polar orbit. He's in a very low trajectory traveling from north to south and has a very high climbing ratio. It looks like it might even be a ... Very low. Looks like he might be going to reenter soon. Stand by one ... You might just let me try to pick up that thing."

He then played for mission control a recording of Jingle Bells, courtesy of fellow astronaut on board Wally Schirra, who performed the popular tune on harmonica..making the famous carol the first ever song to be played live from space.

Now that's what I call a festive carol.

Audio from Gemini VI can be heard below.



-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

MOZART 225: COMPOSERS REMEMBER ICONIC MAESTRO - JANUARY 27, 1756 - DECEMBER 5, 1791

Collage by Rose.

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."

Czech composer Antonín Dvořák: "Mozart is sweet sunshine."

Antonín Dvořák

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 composer Franz 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 composer Gioachino Rossini: “Beethoven I take twice a week, Haydn four times, Mozart everyday!”

German composer Richard Strauss: “The most perfect melodic shapes are found in Mozart; he has the lightness of touch which is the true objective ...”

Russian composer Pyotr 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 conductor Georg 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 physicist Albert 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 conductor Leonard 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:

• Life, Times, Struggles and Triumphs of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (archives)
  

-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

TODAY IN CLASSICAL MUSIC HISTORY - DECEMBER 4, 1920: FATHER-SON COLLABORATION RECEIVES RARE SIMULTANEOUS DOUBLE PREMIERE: KORNGOLD’S DIE TOTE STADT feat. Did You Know?

Erich Wolfgang Korngold

It was on this December day in 1920 that Austrian composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold debuted his 3-act opera Die Tote Stadt (The Dead City) in eodem tempore at Hamburg’s Stadttheater^[1] and the Theater in der Glockengasse^[2] in Cologne, Germany - a rare occasion for any composer of note - made possible thanks in part to the smashing success of Erich’s previous two operas (Der Ring des Polykrate and Violanta), and the rumored subject matter of the work itself (the bereaved overcoming grief). 

Die Tote Stadt would premiere just after the fallout from WWI, and audiences and fans of the composer were only too eager to see exaggerated visions of themselves on stage in what they must have felt was a safe and dignified way to cope with their own losses and begin to deal their own anger and grief.

Erich penned the libretto for Die Tote Stadt alongside his father Julius under the pseudonym Paul Schott after the father Korngold was approached with both subject matter and a request to create an opera by the Austrian playwright and close friend Siegfried Trebitsch, who had recently translated for the stage Belgian writer Georges Rodenbach’s play (an adaptation of the latters own novel Bruges-la-Morte (The dead [city of] Bruges) into German and wished to see the famously sordid tale take on an operatic format.

Julius would present the idea to Erich, for which he received a most favorable reception, and the two would sit to pen the libretto for the opera, based largely on Rodenbach’s original story, which tells of a bereaved widower, so overcome by grief, he falls into a state of depressed stagnation – rarely leaving his house, afraid to part - even for a moment - with the relics his beloved left behind: her letters, her clothes – even a lock of hair...

 A young Erich, right, flanked by his mother and
 father, Julius Korngold (far left).

that is until he meets Marietta – a dead ringer (pun intended) for his young wife Marie, and takes her home with him in an effort to assuage the many requests of his good friend Frank, who urges the broken widower to move on. The young seductress only serves to further confuse the emotions of the widower Paul - a crime for which she will pay the ultimate price: in both novel and opera, fate is rendered most unkind to poor Marietta (Jane Scott in the novel), who winds up throttled to death (thankfully for the young coquette the Korngolds' version of her murder takes place in one of the widowers’ twisted visions).

Die Tote Stadt would prove to be an even greater success than Erich’s previous two revered operas, and would be performed at the most prestigious opera houses across the globe in an impressively short time span of just under two years following its unprecedented double premiere in Germany in 1920.

The opera – and it’s standout aria "Glück das mir verblieb" - sung by both Marietta (as a means to seduce Paul in the opera’s first act), and by the widower himself as he reminisces over his “Temple of Memories” in the concluding act – remain a global favorite, even surviving a forced hiatus in it’s homeland and in annexed Austria (Erich's place of birth) during and after the second world war when the opera – and it’s Jewish composer - were labeled “degenerate music” by the ruling Nazi Régime.

Die Tote Stadt would not be revived in Austria until 1967, when it premiered at the Vienna Volksoper.

Fortunately for fans of Korngold around the globe, it would prove to be a mainstay in the worldwide operatic repertoire. 

Enjoy below a stunning rendition of Glück das mir verblieb by the Flemish tenor Jozef Sterkens (sung in Dutch):


Did You Know?

Georges Rodenbach’s Bruges-la-morte, first published in 1892, is notable for being the first book of fiction to be illustrated with photographs. The 35 half-tone reproduction prints were supplied by Paris image banks J. Lévy & Co. and Neurdein Frères. Curiously, the photographs would disappear from later editions until the late twentieth century, when they appeared, in full, in a 1998 edition.

It is widely lauded amongst literary circles for being the “archetypal” Symbolist novel.

Read Rodenbach's epic work at for free at Project Gutenberg:

• Bruges-la-morte (en Français)

Footnotes:

^[1]Conducted by Egon Pollak
^[2]Conducted by Otto Klemperer

-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

FOR THOSE WHO DARE TO DREAM FANTASTICAL DREAMS: FORMER FLOOR SWEEPER TURNED MODERN OPERA DIVA ANNA NETREBKO SET TO INTRODUCE TO THE WORLD ALL-NEW TRIO AT LONG-AWAITED CANADIAN DEBUT

It will be a dream come true for some lucky Torontonians – 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 Eyazov and famed Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky at 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’s Don 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. The dynamic diva is now one of opera’s most highly demanded leading ladies at prestigious theaters across the globe.

A small reminder for those who dare to dream fantastical dreams!

Purchase tickets for the April 25, 2017 debut concert at Showoneproductions.ca.

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):


-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

IN CASE YOU MISSED YESTERDAY’S STRAVINSKY WORLD PREMIERE…

Russian composer Igor Stravinsky

Mustn't you fret! Folks over at medici.tv will have the full video available (viewable free of charge after a quick registration) for the next 18 days.

Esteemed maestro and Championer of the Stravinsky cause in Russia Valery Gergiev, as usual, delivered a powerful, impassioned performance of Igor Stravinsky’s long lost Pogrebal'naya Pesnya (Funeral Song) December 2nd to worldwide raving reviews.

Thanks to a somewhat lengthy introduction to the world première, held yesterday in St. Petersburg, we now know the fine details of how this discovery came to light – and the story of it’s re-birth, as regaled by the Head of the Restoration Team for the lost work Natalya Alexandra Braginskaya (who spoke through an interpreter) - and the story of it's history, is, I dare say, as moving and as heroic as Stravinsky’s music itself.

The Funeral Song, we are reminded, was penned in 1908 by Stravinsky as a loving tribute to his recently expired mentor and friend, fellow Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – to bid his former music teacher a fare thee well – and also, we are told, to bid adieu to Stravinsky’s now consummated phase of life as a mere pupil, and to bravely greet hello to an all new, freely independent phase of life as the composer ventured his first steps into the great unknown.

But it was the story of how Stravinsky’s prized Pogrebal'naya Pesnya was made preserved for over a century, surviving air raids, fires and other casualties of Revolutionary and civil war (by children of the St. Petersburg Conservatoire, no less) that seemed to share – if not hog – yesterday’s introductory spotlight.

From Braginskaya:

“…the Funeral Song is not only [part of] [St.] Petersburg but also [part of the] Conservatoire..it was in the building of the first Russian Conservatoire, located in theater square, in house no. 3. Now it is under reconstruction – but it was the building where this work of art was performed for the first, and the only time. It was there that the manuscript survived the war and blockade, and after the siege… After the air bombing, Conservatoire girls and boys that had not been evacuated – they spent time on the roof and they de-mined the bombs, saving the building from fires. Here, [in house number] 3, on the epoch of combating Cosmopolitanism, this manuscript was sentenced to liquidation – it was supposed to be written off but still it remained untouched. And it was there, in the summer of 2015, that it was discovered when the building of the conservatoire [had] [re]moved [it] from there, and it was then, that thanks to the initiative of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the historical building was closed for reconstruction.. that happened for the first time in 120 years of its existence, and it was the effort of the Conservatoire that the musical score of the Funeral Song was restored.”

Below you will find video of yesterday’s concert – however I strongly urge the reader to view the performance - with introduction - in its entirety at Medici.tv. Click here to go there now. 

*UPDATE: Pogrebal'naya Pesnya is no longer available on YouTube in either video nor audio. There is, however a promotional video (split into two parts) detailing background information on the work that is well worth a watch (seen below). Those interested in viewing the concert footage will have to visit Medici.tv at the link provided above.


Part II

For more background on this exciting historical discovery, see my original post preceding the concert here at Unraveling Musical Myths by clicking on the article below:

• STRAVINSKY'S "LOST" TRIBUTE TO RIMSKY-KORSAKOV SET TO PREMIER IN RUSSIA FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 107 YEARS - WORLDWIDE LIVESTREAM TO BE MADE AVAILABLE FOR HISTORIC EVENT
   

-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

TODAY IN CLASSICAL MUSIC HISTORY: DECEMBER 2, 1804 - NAPOLEON BONAPARTE DECLARES HIMSELF EMPEROR OF FRANCE IN PARIS, BEETHOVEN VIOLENTLY SCRATCHES OUT DEDICATION TO FORMER IDOL

Napoleon in Coronation Robes, François Gérard, 1805

212 Years ago today, former First Consul Napoleon Buonaparte declared himself Emperor of France in Paris, much to the angry chagrin of one the newly-minted royals' staunchest and most influential supporters in composer Ludwig van Beethoven.

According to legend, the famous “hole” that appears on the autograph of Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony (the Eroica), which appears to have been scratched out with a vitriolic furor on behalf of the Democratic composer, was Beethoven’s way of sticking it to his former political ally in the quest to rid France of Absolute Monarchy and establish in it’s stead a thriving Republic. The hole, now bored into the parchment, would serve as the symbolic assassination of Buonaparte – for it was at that exact location on the manuscript leaf which previously bore a dedication from Beethoven to the man who was then mere First Consul. Beethoven is even said to have called the work his “heroic symphony” when describing the piece.

Close confidante and secretary to Ludwig, Ferdinand Ries described the harrowing incident:

“In 1803 Beethoven composed his third symphony (now known as the Sinfonia Eroica) in Heiligenstadt, a village about one and a half hours from Vienna....In writing this symphony Beethoven had been thinking of Buonaparte, but Buonaparte while he was First Consul. At that time Beethoven had the highest esteem for him and compared him to the greatest consuls of ancient Rome. Not only I, but many of Beethoven¹s closer friends, saw this symphony on his table, beautifully copied in manuscript, with the word "Buonaparte" inscribed at the very top of the title-page and "Luigi van Beethoven" at the very bottom. Whether or how the intervening gap was to be filled out I do not know. I was the first to tell him the news that Buonaparte had declared himself Emperor, whereupon he broke into a rage and exclaimed, "So he is no more than a common mortal! Now, he too will tread under foot all the rights of man, indulge only his ambition; now he will think himself superior to all men, become a tyrant!" Beethoven went to the table, seized the top of the title-page, tore it in half and threw it on the floor. The page was later re-copied and it was only now that the symphony received the title 'Sinfonia Eroica.'."

The famous leaf from Beethoven's Eroica with 'scratched out' dedication to
Emperor Napoleon Buonaparte, c. 1804

Retrospective analysis of this famous historical anecdote offers little clarity as to the veracity of Ries’ claims. Critics of this story are quick to note the fact that it was in fact, by his own admission, Ries himself who was one of the first to approach Beethoven, bearing the news of Buonaparte’s declaration. There also may have been a financial motivating factor between Beethoven and the Austrian Prince Joseph Franz Lobkowitz, who had offered a generous sum to the composer for a dedication to his Highness in lieu of Buonaparte upon learning the knowledge that Beethoven was planning to dedicate future works to influential figures.

In another preserved ‘conversation’ between Ries and publisher Nikolaus Simrock in late October of 1803, the secretary makes note of Lobkowitz’s wishes, whilst also warning Simrock of the Prince’s intention to seek exclusive rights to the work:

"He will sell the symphony to you for 100 Gulden. It is in his estimation the greatest work which he has written until now. Beethoven played it for me recently, and I believe that heaven and earth must have trembled at this performance. He wants very much to dedicate it to Bonaparte; if not, since Lobkowitz wants it for half a year and is willing to give 400 Gulden for it, he will title it Bonaparte."

This particular twist on this two decade-plus tale is given further credence when one notes the fact that, when all was said and scratched, the dedication of Beethoven’s prized 3rd Symphony was inscribed not to Napoleon, but to Prince Lobkowitz - not forsaking the famously sordid and frequent poorly state of Beethoven's financial affairs at the time (worries over the composers' depleting coffers would reach a desperate and tumultuous hilt during this period, when Beethoven was rumored to engage in suicidal fantasy).

Whether fact or fiction, the persistent legend surrounding the notoriously mercurial composer angrily scratching out in protest his endearing tribute to his former friend in Emperor Buonaparte shows no detectable signs of wear, and one shouldn’t be expecting to see any hint of abatement anytime soon.

Countless novels, biographies, and biopics have been made to mark this most fascinating historical occasion – one of which can be found in the video below, in BBC’s epic drama “Eroica” by British film and television director Simon Cellan Jones:



-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

IN THE NEWS: SIRIUSXM RADIO HOST AND AUTHOR LAUREN E. RICO JOINS PRESTIGIOUS WQXR feat. Did You Know?

Unraveling Musical Myths is proud to announce Lauren E. Rico’s arrival on the airwaves of New York’s most iconic public radio station for classical music WQXR 105.9 fm.

Rico, who currently hosts SiriusXM’s Symphony Radio Hall is set to join WQXR’s esteemed ranks effective January 3, 2017 in the Tuesday to Friday midnight-5:30 am slot “Overnight Music.”

Click the embedded player below, visit WQXR.org or download the mobile app to stay connected to this champion of the Classical Music cause.

Did You Know?

Lauren has recently expanded her growing empire with an impressive foray into the literary arts. Unraveling Musical Myths recently covered her first opus – one in a multi-part series – Reverie, to a raving review.  

Read it here.

Rhapsody, the second book in the series, (available now for purchase) will be coming to Reviews by Rose here on Unraveling Musical Myths in the New Year.

The third installment of the Reverie series, Requiem, along with a recently announced all new novel “Solo” will follow in turn. Rico made the announcement for the commission of her fourth novel on Thursday, and the author of this blog – and undoubedtly Rico’s adording fanbase – could not be happier for this rising literary star!

Congratulations, Lauren.

-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

BRUCKNER’S THIRD USED BY PHARMA CO. AS INCENTIVE TO ENTICE PHYSICIANS TO HAWK MORPHINE feat. Did You Know?

Call it a Bruckner counter-intuitive mission from the great beyond – as dozens of copies of the troubled 19th century composer’s ill fated third symphony are being shamelessly hawked as a promotional item to physicians in the Netherlands in order to stimulate the signing off of the prescription drug  MS-CONTIN in greater frequencies within the nations booming medical sector.

Long before the days of soda giant Coca-Cola touting it’s use in children as an all-remedy elixir with its healing ingredient cocaine as it’s main selling point (and as a pick-me-up for despondent ladies for the carnal pleasures of men) - and before Bayer's heroin throat lozenge became the troche of choice for the those afflicted with the common cold, morphine was being used as a tonic for every ailment then known to man – from hypertension and anxiety, to being used as a healthy conduit for greasing up the intellectual machinations of constructive-minded men.

*Click image to enlarge* Cocaine-laced Coca-Cola
is advertised to potential consumers as an aphrodisiac
for the betterment and the sexual fulfillment of men.

Why Bruckner has been chosen as psychiatry’s poster boy is uncertain – if one were to aid their projective of “Gekwelde Componisten" – the name of their new line of records - which literally translates to “Tormented Composers," one could certainly find more troubled a composer – Hugo Wolf, for instance, who narrowly survived a suicide and would perish in asylum; Robert Schumann, who spent the better part of his life in and out of them, labeled with countless psychiatric diagnoses by countless analysts – or even Hector Berlioz, who once dressed in drag and boarded a train to Paris in order to murder his lover and himself in the process.

At best, Anton Bruckner was a functioning Obsessive Compulsive, at worst – a non sexual necrophiliac – a highly sensationalized moniker for one who takes great interest in cadaverous anatomy. 

While the premier of Bruckner’s Third certainly wouldn’t be counted among the composer’s top debuts (first performed in Vienna December 16, 1877 to highly negative reviews - it was widely panned in the press, and its premier production even boasted cat-calling and hissing from a heckling audience), and whilst Bruckner was reportedly so traumatized by the public’s reception of his work, he is said to have refrained from composing for a full year – there still remain far better candidates for DAGRA-Pharma’s mission...

DAGRA-Pharma's Bruckner CD

that is, were it still the nineteenth century, and were Morphine still marketed and sold to an unsuspecting public as a sedative. It is 2016, and today the narcotic MS-Contin is used in both emergency and in short to long-term home care for the treatment of moderate to severe pain. It is rarely prescribed for such off-label use, out-leveraged by a vast array of (arguably) safer, more symptom-specific medications that better suit the purported purpose of the drug set forth by the pharmaceutical giant. Its notorious and deleterious side effects of potential addiction and its well established street value for the demi-monde of society have long since been well known.

Which ultimately begs the question – just what exactly is DAGRA-Pharma’s motive in hawking the works of our psychologically challenged composers of yore?

Did You Know?

Bruckner’s disastrous Third Symphony was lovingly dedicated to the composers “meister” and hero, German Romantic composer Richard Wagner, in whom Bruckner was alleged to have been obsessed. A bashful Bruckner had presented the megolamanic composer with copies of his second and third symphonies during a visit with the maestro in 1873, which he requested of Wagner to choose from among them the piece best suited for a dedication to him. Bruckner’s idol chose the Third, and it is this historical anecdote, and the shame it must have undoubtedly caused poor Bruckner, which may have led to – at least, certainly compounded – the composers “traumatized” state following the disastrous premiere.


Listen below to the adagio from Bruckner’s Symphony No III in D Minor (mvmt. II):


Learn more about "Gekwelde Componisten" by visiting abruckner.com

More posts on mental health (featuring the composers above) at Unraveling Musical Myths:

-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

TODAY IN MOZART HISTORY: DECEMBER 1, 1780 / LETTERS OF NOTE:

Mozart as he would have appeared in 1780.
Detail from portrait by Johann Nepomuk della Croce

It was on this December day in 1780 that the premiere of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s recitative and aria “Wie grausam ist, o Liebe ... Die neugeborne Ros’ entzückt” (The Newly Born Rose is Enchanting), was held. The work was written by the composer some 236 years ago as an insertion aria for the Bavarian dramatist Emanuel Schikaneder for the latters production of hometown writer Johann Gottfried Dyk’s “Le due notti affannose” - an adaptation of Italian playwright Carlo Gozzi’s play by the same name.

Whilst Mozart’s original recitative remains lost to the musical sphere, a single manuscript leaf discovered in 1996 (which would later be acquired by London auctioneer Christie's of London), would detail a 30 bar excerpt of music for the work’s aria. South Korean coloratura soprano Sumi Jo performed the long lost work in Italy’s Teatro Riccardo Zandonai in September of 1998. Her impressive rendition can be heard in the video below.

The Newly Born Rose held it’s premier at the Mozart home in Salzburg December 1, 1780 to much fanfare. Writing to his son, who was on tour in Munich at the time, Leopold Mozart describes the evening’s performance:

“The play for which you composed your aria was performed yesterday- the play was excellent, the house was full, the Archbishop too was present, your aria was well performed and the singer sang it well...”

-Leopold Mozart, Salzburg, December 2, 1780.

The work is numbered in the Köchel catalogue under the designation KV 365a.

Die Neugeborne Ros’ entzückt, as performed by lyric coloratura soprano Sumi Jo:



-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE

QUOTE OF THE DAY: DECEMBER 1, 2016 – LISZT’S FANTASTICAL DREAM BECOMES AN INSTANT REALITY – THE VIENNA DEBUT OF A PIANO PRODIGY

Today’s Quote of the Day comes to us courtesy of the much acclaimed late pianist and composer Franz Liszt as the musician details his express intent to obtain for himself musical immortality:

"My sole ambition as a composer is to hurl my javelin
into the infinite space of the future."

-Franz Liszt

A portrait of a young Franz Liszt

Liszt’s fantastical dream would read like a prophecy granted by a local soothsayer – for it was on this day in 1822 that an 11 year old Franz would make his much celebrated public debut at Vienna’s "Landständischer Saal," performing before an elite faction of both Austrian and Hungarian aristocrats and even the composing-giants Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the young Hungarian's debut would serve as launching pad for the wunderkind’s skyrocket to international fame – labeled by the press as a “little Hercules,” Liszt’s behemoth talents had already been known – and very much prized – by some of Europe’s most powerful political and musical figures of the time: Prince Nicholas Esterházy of Hungary, in whom Liszt’s father, Adam Liszt was employed, would grant the pair extended leave to Vienna to pursue young Franz’s musical ambitions following a private concert for wealthy benefactors which proved to be a smashing success. Once in Vienna, the Italian composer Antonio Salieri (yes, that Antonio Salieri!) was reportedly so bowled over by a private performance by the young prodigy that he offered his services in teaching composition to the boy free of charge, paving the way for Liszt to show off his musical skills to both composers and royals alike.

So revered was the young talent, it is said that Liszt’s entire musical education in Vienna would not be paid out of pocket, but rather fully endorsed and funded by a group of wealthy sponsors in back in Hungary who had been so impressed by the young prodigy when they had first heard him perform in one of his privately held concerts between the tender ages of 9 and 11.

Liszt would also receive piano lessons by the esteemed maestro Carl Czerny, a former pupil of the composers Beethoven and Johann Nepomuk Hummel. 

We know what transpired next: young Franz hurled his javelin into the infinite space of the future.

Enjoy below a delectable performance of Franz Liszt’s “Un Sospiro” from his Trois Études de Concert, s.144 (no. III) as performed by Canadian virtuoso pianist Marc-André Hamelin:


-Rose.

BACK TO HOME PAGE