Above: The former residence of Giuseppe Verdi, the "Villa Verdi" at S. Agata
The former residence of the iconic opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (presently a public museum at Sant'Agata in Northern Italy) has launched a last-minute crowdfunding campaign in the hopes of securing sufficient finances to begin what the museum has described as a "drastic" restoration on the home, which has been left severely damaged due to the infiltration of water.
The villa-museum is host to the personal possessions of the composer, who purchased the property in 1848, designed its expansion, and once complete, lived within the residence from 1851 to the year of his death in 1901.
First performance of Verdi's iconic Requiem,
first performed in the church of San Marco
in Milan on 22 May 1874, conducted by
the maestro himself.
Among the property preserved within include the Viennese Fritz piano on which Verdi composedIl TrovatoreandLa Traviata,and the gloves worn by the composer to conduct his famous Requiem Mass for the for Italian poet Alessandro Manzonion the occasion of its premiere in Milan in 1874. In fact, virtually every item contained within the residence has been left untouched by the composers' descendants, who have personally financed and maintained the structure, leaving the home - and the contents within it - exactly as Verdi had left it. This is not the first time water damage has effected the museum at Sant'Agata. The descendants Verdi came under fire last spring when Director for the Archives of Ministry of Cultural Heritage,Gino Famiglietti accused the heirs of having been negligible in their conservation efforts, claiming unsuitable levels of environmental moisture had caused damage to the structure due to a damp atmosphere. The row resulted in a stand off over the return of archival material which had been sent off from the museum to Parma for digitization.
The composer's heirs cite the cessation of public entrance fees (resulting from the museum's closure due to the ongoing pandemic) as a major factor in their current state of financial affairs. The state mandated closure has put a strain on the heirs' budget, who note that they finance the museum independently - devoid of government assistance. Should funds not be met, the heirs Verdi forewarn, the temporary closure of Villa Verdi to the public may become permanent.
from the fundraiser website:
"Dear Verdi lover, Villa Verdi in Sant’Agata di Villanova sull’Arda in the province of Piacenza is the home where Maestro Giuseppe Verdi lived for more than 50 years. Here you can breathe in his music, his life, and his spirit.
In his last will and testament, Giuseppe Verdi wrote,“I compel that the garden and my family house in Sant’Agata be kept in its current state.”And thanks to his heirs, the Carrara Verdi family, this is still the case.
Verdi proudly sits in his prized garden at Sant'Agata, accompanied by his family and friends,
including the Bohemian soprano (and alleged inamorata of the composer), Teresa Stolz (rear L)
Unfortunately, it has always been only the family that has taken care of it, without the least help from the Italian government, which has made many promises, but never kept them. The Villa needs serious renovation, and the unexpected absence of visitors caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has not helped. With the lack of the entrance fee to the museum, it risks being permanently closed to the public. A unique place, it helps us understand everything about the most performed Italian composer in the world. Before having to make a drastic decision, the management of the museum has thought to ask for help. If you also hold this little but important piece of the cultural patrimony of Italy close to your heart we ask you to make a donation to our crowdfunding. For anyone who knows the music of “Va pensiero” from Nabucco or the carefree Brindisi for La traviata, let us give back a little of what the Maestro has left to all of us as our heritage. The Music and this house are for everyone: as always, “Viva Verdi”.
Above: Verdi'sgreat-great grandson, Angiolo Carrara Verdi describes the damage to the residence, issues appeal to public for financial aid to assist in urgent restoration.
Those wishing to donate may join the fundraiser by clicking here*, and/or by contacting museum staff at 0523830000 or via email at info@villaverdi.org.
Incentives are available for fixed donations (see fundraiser site for details).
Researchers at the University of Catania in Sicily believe they have revealed the 'true face' of the city's former star resident, 18th century Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini following a joint study at the institution between two in-house research groups: that of Department of Electric, Electronic and Informatic Engineering and the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.
Excerpt from study published in "Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage" vol. 17 e00144
showing the processes of subject verification using a 3D mesh of the wax mask made from an extant mould by Giordano (a) against the portrait by D'Agata (b). (C and D) are an overlay and projection, respectively.
. The study, dubbed "A method for similarity assessment between death masks and portraits through linear projection: the case of Vincenzo Bellini" sought to identify the closest likeness to the composer among a set of 14 known portraits of Bellini (each of them quite different - some vastly - due to both artistic and social conventions at the time of execution and/or the artist's technique), against a wax three-dimensional "death mask" formed by artist Salvo Giordanofrom a hitherto undiscovered mould presently housed in Catania's Bellini museum. The mask had previously undergone its own round of scientific scrutiny alongside two other known masks of Bellini, and had been designated the most representative of its subject. It was thus used as a reference for a morphometric comparison with the paintings.
Prior to the advent of facial recognition software and the implementation of advanced techniques within the field, identification of known or suspected sitters in portraiture were subject to authentication by 'experts' - the conclusions of which often incited much unresolved debate among scholars. By utilizing an ad-hoc labelling tool developed by the researchers to aid in their study ("Image Marker Pro," now available for download) the two groups are able to posit a closest possible likeness of Bellini - in the portrait by Angelo D'Agata - a copy of which is housed in the University museum (Museo dei Saperi e delle Mirabilia siciliane). It was then merged with the mask made by Giordano using the software.
Above: the IP Lab research group at Catania University analyze a 3D mesh of a wax mask of Bellini against a portrait of the composer painted by an unknown artist.
The lenghty study, printed in the June 2020 issue of the scientific journal Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage (vol. 17) may be read here. It should be noted that the portrait by D'Agata (b. 1842 - c. 1913) was a near-contemporary likeness, having been executed after the maestro's death (b. 1801 - 1835). The researchers at Catania consider this fact to be of "marginal" relevance to their study due to both the previous lack of positive identification of the sitter and the unknown artwork from which it was based, and its agreeable comparison to the "authenticated" death mask (the results of which provide incontrovertible proof that the subject in the portrait is indeed the same individual from whom the mould was cast).
According to the paper published in the scientific journal, a physical 3D reconstruction of Bellini's face, based on the newly fashioned render is forthcoming.
Listen below to one of the true queens of coloratura, Edita Gruberová sing an excerpt from the famous "mad scene" of Elvira in I puritani: the cabaletta, "Vien, diletto, è in ciel la luna" (1991, New York). Commissioned for the Théâtre-Italien, I Puritani was the last of Bellini's nine operas and his final work - he died in September 1835 at the age of 33 as a result of amoebic dysentery, just 8 months after the opera's premiere in Paris.
If you missed out on the live, transcontinental stream of this year's International Shostakovich Days Festival (Gohrisch), you will still have the opportunity to watch a portion of the unique concert online from now through 21 October 2020.
Unable to view the video? See update below.
The unusual recital saw Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeeva(winner of the Chopin Piano Competition 2010) perform on a Hamburg Steinway from the Hotel Albrechtshof in Gohrisch (the very same location where Shostakovich composed his eighth string quartet in 1960), where she "joined," via the world wide web, the great piano virtuoso Daniil Trifonov, who performed on his Fazioli from the music room in his home in Greenwich, Connecticut. The pair were also "joined" in Moscow by the 2015 winner of the city's quadrennial Tchaikovsky Competition, Dmitry Masleev, who performed live from the Russian capital's Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. Together, the trio of musicians performed two known works by Shostakovich (the piano sonata no. 1, and the short piano piece "In the Forest"[1]) and premiered ten newly discovered short piano pieces by the composer which had been recently unearthed in the Shostakovich Archives in Moscow by Russian musicologist Olga Digonskaya.
The works premiered are by and large juvenilia pieces from Shostakovich's pre-teen and adolescent years, composed from as early as age 12 - some of which are eerily reminiscent of Chopin. Whilst Trifonov's recording of the event is no longer available for free public viewing online, music lovers may still watch the performances of both Avdeeva and Masleev (seen above, and available via the links provided below). The virtual recital replaced this year's International Shostakovich Days Festival at Gohrisch (just outside of Dresden, Germany) which had to regroup online due to restrictions resulting from the ongoing pandemic.
The program seen above, with timestamps: (* = world premiere)
Yulianna Avdeeva (from Gohrisch, Hotel Albrechtshof)
Piano Sonata No. 1 op. 12 (1:06) Dmitry Masleev (from Moscow, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall) Composed in 1934:
Drei Fugen (Three Fugues) o. op.* (15:16)
Piano pieces from the years 1918-1920:
Trauermarsch im Gedenken an die Opfer der Revolution (Funeral March in Memory of the Victims of the Revolution)* (21:46)
Nostalgie* (23:12)
Stück in C-Dur* (25:56)
Präludium-Marsch* (29:36)
Bagatelle* (32:02)
Drei Stücke: Menuett – Präludium – Intermezzo* (33:14)
Im Wald (In the Forest) (35:16)
Composed in 1921:
Scherzo op. 1a* (36:59)
Yulianna Avdeeva (from Gohrisch, Hotel Albrechtshof)
Präludium und Fuge cis-Moll* (from a sketch/draft of a Prelude in C Sharp Minor, believed to have been written for the cycle of Preludes and Fugues op 87. Prelude completed by / fugue composed by Krzysztof Meyer) (43:09)
UPDATE - 7 August 2020:The above recital has now entered "country-blocked" status. If you are unable to view the video, you may still access Dmitry Masleev's performance on YouTube (seen below), with a minor order change, beginning with Im Wald (and omitting the Three Fugues and the Scherzo, which have been uploaded to separate videos: Click here for Drei Fugenand here for the Scherzo).
Timestamps:
00:00 In the forest (Im Wald)
01:43 Funeral March in the Memory of the Victims of the Revolution*
03:11 Nostalgia*
05:53 Piece in C-Major*
09:34 Prelude-March*
12:00 Bagatelle*
Yulianna's performance from the event (of the Piano Sonata no. 1 only) is likewise available on the platform. View it here.
Footnote:
[1]"Im Wald", performed by Masleev, received its premiere during last year's festival at Gohrisch(on 22 June 2019) by 2017 Arthur Rubinstein silver medalist Daniel Ciobanu. The short piano piece is yet another work from Shostakovich's youth, having been composed in 1919 at the age of 13.
Sketch of Mendelssohn by Carl Müller, 15 September 1842, Frankfurt
Click on image to enlarge
A rare autograph manuscript of Mendelssohn's lied "Im Frühling" ("Ich hör' ein Vöglein locken"), WoO 18[1] has hit the Sotheby's auction block. The manuscript presently up for sale, signed and inscribed by the composer"zu freundlicher Erinnerung Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, London, den 8ten July 1842"diverges "substantially" from the published scores of the work and is unrecorded in the Thematisch-systematisches Werkverzeichnis. The beautifully executed autograph, pictured below, is a must-have in the collection of any Mendelssohn aficionado. The lot (no. 23) is described by the auction house as"2 pages, folio (31.4 x 24.4cm), on a bifolium from an album, 12-stave paper, the 1st page blank."
The starting bid for this item is 17,000 GBP. Those interested must act quickly - the lot closes 14 July at 9:23 AM EDT. Click here to learn more about this item, or to place your bid.
From Sotheby's:
Re-discovered autograph manuscript, Im Frühling" ("Ich hör' ein Vöglein locken"),
WoO 18 by Felix Mendelssohn, author signed, dated London, the 8th July, 1842.
Click on image to enlarge | Sotheby's
"...notated in dark brown (nearly black) ink on up to four 3-stave systems per page, in B-flat major, marked "Andante", with an autograph correction in bar 5, containing a different text for the second verse from that found in the printed scores, together with many changes to the accompaniment in the third verse and differences to the dynamic markings throughout... The text in the second verse is completely different from the published versions, including the printed scores and Alfred Böttger's original poem. Here the text reads: "Und aus dem blauen Flieder ruft ohne Rast und Ruh, ihm tausend Liebeslieder die Braut als Antwort zu". There is a striking harmonic shift to a G major seventh chord, two bars before the final phrase in the voice, earlier than in the editions by Julius Rietz (c.1880) and Max Friedländer. It also contains revisions to the accompaniment in bars 34-35 and 50, and different chords in bars 20, 24, 27 and 31.
Mendelssohn's composing manuscript, now in Krakow, is dated 20 April 1841, but the song was not published until 1846, both as an octavo insert in an edition of Böttger's poems, and by J.J. Ewer of London as "I hear a small Bird calling". It is not known what control the composer exerted over either edition. Klemm of Leipzig published it again as no.1 of Zwei Gesänge, still without opus number, in 1849, after Mendessohn's death. Some but not all of the alterations found in this manuscript are confirmed in a later autograph given to Jenny Lind in 1845... This manuscript is not recorded in the Thematisch-systematisches Werkverzeichnis (2009), ed. R. Wehner: song no. K 107."
Above: Dame Janet Baker sings Mendelssohn's Ich hör' ein Vöglein locken under Daniel Barenboim. Geoffrey Parsons on piano.
Footnote:
[1]Not to be confused with Mendelssohn's 1829 lied of the same name, Im Frühling: Ihr frühlingstrunknen Blumem (12 Lieder for Voice and Piano, Op. 9 no. 4) with text by Johann Gustav Droysen. This manuscript concerns Im Frühling: Ich hör' ein Vöglein locken, WoO 18 from the composer's 1841 2 Songs (no.1) with text by Alfred Böttger, as heard above.
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.
