1821
The stability for Europe sought at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 is coming undone. Following Serb rebellions against Ottoman rule in previous years, the Greeks in March rise simultaneously against Ottoman rule, including in Macedonia, Crete and Cyprus. The Turks respond by hanging the Patriarch of Constantinople, Gregorios V. The Greeks liberate the Peloponnesian Peninsula in September. There, in the city of Tripolitsa, a center of Turkish authority, Muslims in the thousands are massacred for three days and nights.
1821 Napoleon Bonaparte dies at the age of fifty-one under British authority on the island of St. Helena, the reported cause: stomach cancer. The English poet, John Keats, dies of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-six • A treaty is signed between the United States and the declining power of Spain. The US buys Florida for 5 million dollars, money the US government gives to US citizens with claims against Spain. Spain receives an established line separating the US from its territory in North America • Caracas falls to Bolivar's force. Venezuela is now free of Spanish rule. Peru and Mexico declare independence. In Guatemala independence is declared for its provinces: Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, San Salvador and Chiapas • Michael Faraday, son of a blacksmith, has overcome the conceit of aristocrats and, as a scientist, has been promoted in Britain's Royal Institution. His interest in a unified force in nature and work in electro-magnetism produces the foundation for electric motors and contributes to what will be "field theory" in modern physics, which includes its most basic formula: E=MC2
1822
A member of Portugal's royal family is in power in Brazil. He has lifted duties paid on the importation of books, abolished censorship and ordered the teaching of law at the universities of Sáo Paula and Olinda. His rule is being challenged from Portugal, and from his royal palace he declares "Independence or death!" At the age of 24 he his proclaimed Emperor of Brazil: Pedro I • Officials of the American Colonization society have purchased a strip of land they call Christopolis, at Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Coast in western Africa. Eighty-six freed blacks have arrived • In Vienna the accordion is invented • In Britain, fewer crimes are capital offenses • The Ottoman Turks respond to rebellion on the island of Chios by slaughtering five-sixths of the islands 120,000 inhabitants
1823
Austria, Russia and Prussia authorize French troops to enter Spain to destroy the liberal revolution there and re-establish the rule of Ferdinand VII. Ferdinand begins revenge killings that will revolt those who returned him to power • Steam powered shipping begins between Switzerland and France on Lake Geneva • Mexico, interested in populating Texas, allows Stephen F. Austin to sell plots of land to settlers so long as they are of good character
1824
The Frenchman, Eugène Delacroix, paints The Massacre of Chios. Britain's romantic poet, Lord Byron, who has written "We are all Greeks," has gone to Greece and dies of "marsh fever" • Britain and the US negotiate a treaty establishing procedures for suppressing the slave trade, but the US Senate undercuts the treaty's powers and the British refuse to sign • In Britain, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is founded, the first animal protection organization in the world • Lord Byron (UK) - Don Juan • Jacques-Louis David - Mars desarme par Venus
1825
Louis XVIII has died and is succeeded by his reactionary brother, Charles X • Russian military officers, who had been exposed to the Enlightenment during Russia's occupation of France, attempt to replace authoritarian rule with a representative democracy. Their coup, called the Decembrist Rising, fails and they are crushed.
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron FRS (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known as Lord Byron, was an English nobleman, poet, peer, politician, and leading figure in the Romantic movement. He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential. Among his best-known works are the lengthy narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage as well as the short lyric poem "She Walks in Beauty".
1821
Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 31
Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano sonata n°31 op.110
I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo
II. Allegro molto
III. Adagio, ma non troppo - Fuga. Allegro, ma non troppo
Sviatoslav Richter
Live recording, Moscow, 10.X.1971
Friedrich Kuhlau – 9 Variations For Piano
F.Kuhlau Tema+Variazioni, Op.60 no.1
0:10 (Tema)
1:47 (Variazione 1)
2:35 (Variazione 2)
3:32 (Variazione 3)
4:30 (Variazione 4)
Piano: Gabry.
Friedrich Kuhlau Sonatina Op.60 No.2 "Tema e Variazioni"
00:03 : Tema
01:00 : Variation 1
01:58 : Variation 2
02:26 : Variation 3
03:22 : Variation 4
04:00 : Variation 5
Pianoforte: Gabry
Louis Spohr: Clarinet Concerto No. 3 in F minor, WoO 19; Mass in C minor, Op. 54
Spohr - Clarinet Concerto No. 3 In F minor
Ernst Ottensamer, clarinet - Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Johannes Wildner conductor
1. Allegro moderato
2. Adagio 10:34
3. Vivace non troppo 18:40
Louis Spohr - Messe in c minor (c-Moll), op. 54
1. Kyrie 00:00
2. Gloria 03:12
3. Credo 10:58
4. Sanctus 18:52
5. Benedictus 22:14
6. Agnus Dei 24:36
Cantores Carmeli, Linz, Austria
Michael Stenov, conductor
Live on 12.10.2014 in Karmelitenkirche, Linz
Franz Schubert – Symphony No. 7 in E major, D 729
Schubert - Symphony No 7 in E major, D 729
1. Adagio – Allegro. 2. Andante. 3. Scherzo. 4. Allegro giusto.
Danmarks Radio Symfoni Orkestret. Andrew Manze.
Felix Mendelssohn – Symphonies for Strings 1–6
Mendelssohn - String Symphony No. 1 in C major
Northern Chamber Orchestra - Nicholas Ward
Mendelssohn - String Symphony No. 2 in D major
Northern Chamber Orchestra - Nicholas Ward
Mendelssohn - String Symphony No. 3 in E minor
Northern Chamber Orchestra - Nicholas Ward
Mendelssohn - String Symphony No. 4 in C minor
Northern Chamber Orchestra - Nicholas Ward
Mendelssohn - String Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major
Northern Chamber Orchestra - Nicholas Ward
Mendelssohn - String Symphony No. 6 in E-flat major
Northern Chamber Orchestra - Nicholas Ward
Carl Maria von Weber – Konzertstück in F minor, for piano and orchestra, Op. 79
Carl Maria von Weber - Konzertstück f-moll Op.79. Alfred Brendel & Claudio Abbado
24 February
Gioacchino Rossini – Matilde di Shabran
Matilde di Shabran (Matilde of Shabran, or Beauty and Ironheart) is a melodramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Jacopo Ferretti after François-Benoît Hoffman’s libretto for Méhul’s Euphrosine and J. M. Boutet de Monvel's play Mathilde. The opera was first performed in Rome at the Teatro Apoll.
18 June
Carl Maria von Weber – Der Freischütz
Der Freischütz, Op. 77, J. 277, (The Freeshooter) is a German opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It premiered on 18 June 1821 at the Schauspielhaus Berlin.
18 July
Pauline Viardot, singer and composer, born.
26 December
Saverio Mercadante – Andronico
Andronico libretto di Giovanni Kreglianovich.
Fu rappresentata per la prima volta al Teatro La Fenice di Venezia.
26 December
Giovanni Pacini – Cesare in Egitto
Cesare in Egitto eroico opera in 2 acts. Libretto Jacopo Ferretti , Rome, Teatro Argentina
Pauline Viardot
Pauline Viardot, in full Michelle Ferdinande Pauline Viardot, née García, (born July 18, 1821, Paris, France—died May 18, 1910, Paris), French mezzo-soprano, best known for highly dramatic operatic roles.
As a child Viardot studied piano with Franz Liszt, composition with Anton Reicha, and voice with her mother. She was the sister of Maria Malibran, the celebrated soprano, and of the great voice teacher Manuel García II. Viardot made her concert debut at the age of 15 in Brussels and her operatic debut two years later as Desdemona in Gioachino Rossini’s Otello in London. She was noted for her wide vocal range and could sing both soprano and contralto roles. Her greatest successes were in highly dramatic roles, such as Fidès in Giacomo Meyerbeer’s Le prophète (1849), which was written for her, and Rachel in Fromental Halévy’s La Juive. The climax of her career came in 1859 when she performed the title role in Hector Louis Berlioz’ re-creation of Christoph Gluck’s Orfeo ed Eurydice at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris. She sang for several seasons in the opera in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was one of the first artists to promote Russian music in western Europe. Her thoughtful interpretations earned her a place in Parisian intellectual circles, and Johannes Brahms, Camille Saint-Saëns, Robert Schumann, and Gabriel Fauré all wrote pieces for her. In her later years she taught singing and composed. Her compositions include vocal transcriptions of Frédéric Chopin’s mazurkas, songs setting Russian texts, and several operettas, including Le dernier sorcier (1869; “The Last Sorcerer”), the libretto of which was written by the Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev, who had fallen in love with Viardot when she first performed in Russia in 1843.
Pauline Viardot - Haí Lulí
Ceclia Bartoli
Pauline Viardot - "Madrid" for voice and piano
Pauline Viardot - Romance for Violin
Pauline Viardot-Garcia - Serenade
1822
Felix Mendelssohn – Piano Quartet No. 1
Mendelssohn - Piano Quartet No.1 (Op.1)
Harald Aadland (violin), Nora Taksdal (viola), Audun Sandvik (cello), Christian Ihle Hadland (piano)
Franz Schubert:
Symphony no. 8 in B minor, "Unfinished"
Wanderer Fantasy
Franz Schubert - Symphony No 8 in B minor, D 759, Unfinished
Wiener Philharmoniker
Riccardo Muti
Franz Schubert - Wander Fantasy in C major, D 760
Evgeny Kissin, piano
28 January
Gaetano Donizetti – Zoraida di Granata
Zoraida di Granata (also Zoraide di Granata or Zoraïda di Granata) is a melodramma eroico (opera seria or 'heroic' opera), in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto had been partly prepared Bartolomeo Merelli (about whose tardiness the composer complained), based on the French play, Gonzalve de Cordoue ou Grenade Reconquise by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian (1791), and on a libretto by Luigi Romanelli to an opera by Nicolini called Abenamet e Zoraide.
Donizetti - ZORAIDA DI GRANATA (1822 version)
ALMUZIR: Bruce Ford
ZORAIDA: Majella Cullagh
ABENAMET: Paul Austin Kelly
ALI': Matthew Hargreaves
INES: Cristina Pastorello
ALMAZOR: Dominic Natoli
SINFONIA: 0:00
ATTO I: 8:15
ATTO II: 1:38:00
SELECTIONS FROM 1824 REVISED VERSION
ABENAMET: Diana Montague
ATTO I:
CAVATINA (ZORAIDA): Ah, di speme un raggio amico - 3:05:20
CORO E CAVATINA (ABENAMET): Dov'è, dov'è quel forte - 3:11:15
FINALE I: Inni al forte guerriero invincibile - 3:22:15
ATTO II:
CORO E ARIA (ALI'): Fior d'ogni bella - 3:38:35
SCENA E DUETTO (ABENAMET, ALMUZIR): Questo dunque è il mio brando - 3:45:15
FINALE II: Nel fior degli anni tuoi - 4:04:30
GEOFFREY MITCHELL CHOIR
ACADEMY OF ST MARTIN IN THE FIELDS
David Parry
Premiere cast, 28 January 1822
Roles:
Almuzir, King of Granada tenor
Almanzor, friend of Abenamet bass
Zoraida, in love with, and loved by, Abenamet soprano
Abenamet, General of the Moors originally tenor
Ines, a Spanish slave and friend of Zoraida mezzo-soprano
Aw Zegri bass
Synopsis
Time: 1480
Place: Granada, Spain.
The murderous and duplicitous Almuzir wishes to marry Zoraida, the daughter of the late king, who in turn loves Abenamet, the victorious General of the Moors. To save Abenamet from the sentence of death passed on him consequent to the machinations of Almuzir, Zoraida agrees to the marriage. She survives Abenamet’s doubts as to her fidelity and somewhat implausibly is allowed to marry him.
16 February
Gioacchino Rossini – Zelmira
Zelmira is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola.
Gioachino Rossini - ZELMIRA
Synopsis
Set for the mausoleum (lithograph by Pasquale Canna, 1771 - 1830)
The opera's complicated plot revolves around Zelmira, her father Polidoro, the wise and beloved king of the Isle of Lesbos, and her husband, Prince Ilo. Before the action begins, Ilo had departed the island to defend his homeland. While he was gone, Azor, the lord of Mytilene and a disappointed suitor of Zelmira, had invaded Lesbos with the intention of assassinating King Polidoro and taking over his throne. Zelmira, however, had managed to conceal her father in the royal mausoleum and then told Azor that he was hiding in the temple to Ceres. Azor burnt down the temple, thinking he had killed the King, but he was in turn killed on orders from Antenore, who also aspired to the throne.
Act 1
The Mytilene warriors are mourning the death of Azor. Antenore, with the help of Leucippo, plots to take over the throne of Lesbos by trying to incriminate Zelmira in the deaths of Azor and her father. At first, even Emma, Zelmira's confidante, believes the accusations. Fearing for the safety of her young son, Zelmira reveals to Emma that her father is still alive and asks her to take the child into hiding. Prince Ilo returns to the island. Zelmira is afraid to tell him of the accusations against her or to defend herself. Instead, Prince Ilo hears only Antenore's version of the story. Antenore is crowned King of Lesbos. Leucippo attempts to murder Ilo, but is stopped by Zelmira. Found with the dagger in her hand, Zelmira is now also accused of attempting to murder her husband and is imprisoned.
Act 2
Leucippo intercepts a letter from Zelmira to Ilo in which she tells him that her father is still alive and that the accusations against her are false. He and Antenore temporarily free her from prison and trick her into revealing her father's hiding place. Both father and daughter are recaptured and await their deaths at the hands of the plotters. Meanwhile, Prince Ilo is distraught at what he believes to be the death of Polidoro and the unhappy end to his marriage. Emma appears and tells Prince Ilo the truth about Zelmira. He and his men rescue Zelmira and Polidoro. Zelmira is happily reunited with her husband and child, while both Antenore and Leucippo are led off in chains.
12 March
Giacomo Meyerbeer – L'esule di Granata
L'esule di Granata (The exile of Granada) is a melodramma serio (serious opera ) in two acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer. The Italian libretto was by Felice Romani based on the rivalries between the Zegridi and the Abenceraggi factions in the last days of the kingdom of Granada. It is the fifth of Meyerbeer's Italian operas but had only three confirmed stagings in the 19th century. The world premiere took place at La Scala, Milan, on 12 March, 1822.
Giacomo Meyerbeer – L'ESULE DI GRANATA – Introduzione
Azema: Laura Claycomb
Alamar: Paul Austin Kelly
Alì: Brindley Sherratt
Omar: Ashley Catling
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
Conductor: Giuliano Carella
Opera Rara, London, 2004
Roles:
Almanzor, king of Granada (mezzo-soprano or alto) Benedetta Rosmunda Pisaroni
Azema, a young princess soprano
Sulemano, exiled king of Granada bass
Alamar, leader of the Zegris tenor
Ali tenor
Omar bass
Fatima soprano
Synopsis
Place: The Kingdom of Granada in Moorish Spain
Time: End of the 15th Century
A feud between two dynasties, the Abencerrages and the Zegris, furnishes the action of the plot. Despite the hatred between the families, Almanzor, an Abencerrage ruler, and Azema, a young Zegri princess, have fallen in love and wish to marry. When Azema's father, who has been banished, hears of this, he returns to Granada and hatches a plot to assassinate Almanzor. The conspiracy is discovered however and the murder prevented. Azema asks Almanzor to forgive her father, which he does, and Azema and Almanzor are wed, to general rejoicing.
16 March
Marriage of Gioacchino Rossini and Spanish soprano Isabella Colbran.
27 May
Joachim Raff, pianist, composer and music teacher, born.
25 June
E. T. A. Hoffmann, composer and author, inspiration for Tales of Hoffmann, dies, ages 46
Winter
Franz Schubert – Alfonso und Estrella
Alfonso und Estrella (Alfonso and Estrella), D 732, is an opera with music by Franz Schubert, set to a German libretto by Franz von Schober, written in 1822.
Franz Schubert - ALFONSO UND ESTRELLA - D 732
1. Act 0:00
2. Act 1:07:27
3. Act 2:00:49
Estrella, Mauregato's daughter: Edith Mathis Soprano
Alfonso King Froila's son: Peter Schreier Tenor
Mauregato, the usurper: Hermann Prey Baritone
King Froila: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Baritone
Adolfo, Mauregato's general: Theo Adam Bass
Rundfunk Chor and Staatskapelle Berlin
Otmar Suitner Conductor - 02/01/1978
Synopsis
Alfonso is the son of the deposed King Froila, of León. Froila is concerned that Alfonso is anxious to lead a revolt against Mauregato, the usurper of Froila's throne. At the court of Leon, Adolfo, an ambitious general, is in love with Estrella, the daughter of Mauregato. However, Mauregato has said that only the man who has the "Chain of Eurich" may marry Estrella. Angry at being denied Estrella in marriage, Adolfo plans a coup against Mauregato.
During a hunting expedition, Estrella is separated from her party. She and Alfonso meet and fall in love, unaware of the identity of the other. Alfonso gives Estrella a necklace that he has always carried, and directs her on a safe path home. Back at court, she tells her story, and Mauregato recognizes the necklace as the "Chain of Eurich". Before he can tell her of its meaning, the rebellion led by Adolfo has begun, and Adolfo captures Estrella. Alfonso learns that Estrella is Mauregato's daughter, and then sides with Mauregato against the rebels. Mauregato's forces defeat Adolfo, and Alfonso rescues Estrella. However, Mauregato has a crisis of conscience, and he restores Froila to his throne. In turn, Froila gives up his power to Alfonso and Estrella.
10 December
César Franck, organist and composer, born
Joachim Raff
Joseph Joachim Raff (27 May 1822 – 24 or 25 June 1882) was a German-Swiss composer, teacher and pianist.
Raff was born in Lachen in Switzerland. His father, a teacher, had fled there from Württemberg in 1810 to escape forced recruitment into the military of that southwestern German state that had to fight for Napoleon in Russia. Joachim was largely self-taught in music, studying the subject while working as a schoolmaster in Schmerikon, Schwyz and Rapperswil. He sent some of his piano compositions to Felix Mendelssohn who recommended them to Breitkopf & Härtel for publication. They were published in 1844 and received a favourable review in Robert Schumann's journal, the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, which prompted Raff to go to Zürich and take up composition full-time.
In 1845, Raff walked to Basel to hear Franz Liszt play the piano. After a period in Stuttgart where he became friends with the conductor Hans von Bülow, he worked as Liszt's assistant at Weimar from 1850 to 1853. During this time he helped Liszt in the orchestration of several of his works, claiming to have had a major part in orchestrating the symphonic poem Tasso. In 1851, Raff's opera König Alfred was staged in Weimar, and five years later he moved to Wiesbaden where he largely devoted himself to composition. From 1878 he was the first Director of, and a teacher at, the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt. There he employed Clara Schumann and a number of other eminent musicians as teachers, and established a class specifically for female composers. His pupils there included Edward MacDowell and Alexander Ritter.
He died in Frankfurt on the night of June 24/25, 1882.
Compositions
Raff was very prolific, and by the end of his life was one of the best known German composers, though his work is largely forgotten today. (Only one piece, a cavatina for violin and piano, is performed with any regularity today, sometimes as an encore.) He drew influence from a variety of sources - his eleven symphonies, for example, combine the Classical symphonic form, with the Romantic penchant for program music and contrapuntal orchestral writing which harks back to the Baroque. Most of these symphonies carry descriptive titles including In the Forest (No. 3), Lenore (No. 5) and To the Fatherland (No. 1), a very large-scale work lasting around seventy minutes. His last four symphonies make up a quartet of works based on the four seasons. Arturo Toscanini conducted some performances of the Symphony No. 3 In the Forest in 1931.
The Lenore symphony (No. 5), famous in its time, was inspired by a ballad of the same name by Gottfried August Bürger that also inspired works by several other composers, including Maria Theresia von Paradis (1789), Henri Duparc, Franz Liszt (late 1850s, mentioned by Alan Walker in his Liszt biography vol. 2), for example. The world premiere recording of Lenore was made during May 27–29, 1970, by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Bernard Herrmann, who championed Raff's orchestral music. He described it as "one of the finest examples of the Romantic Programme School - it deserves a place alongside the Symphonie fantastique of Berlioz, Liszt's Faust Symphony and the Manfred Symphony of Tchaikovsky".
Richard Strauss was a pupil of Hans von Bülow, a friend of Raff's, and it has been said that Strauss was influenced in his early works by Raff. For example, Raff's Symphony No. 7 In the Alps (1877) could be compared with Strauss's An Alpine Symphony (1915). Much of Raff's music has been said to forecast the early works of Jean Sibelius.
Raff also composed in most other genres, including concertos, opera, chamber music and works for solo piano. His chamber works include two piano sonatas, five violin sonatas, a cello sonata, a piano quintet, two piano quartets, a string sextet and four piano trios. Many of these works are now commercially recorded. He also wrote numerous suites, some for smaller groups (there are suites for piano solo and suites for string quartet), some for orchestra and one each for piano and orchestra and violin and orchestra.
Joachim Raff - Symphony No. 1 "To the Fatherland" (1859)
I. Allegro - 00:00
II. Scherzo - Allegro Vivace - 18:12
III. Larghetto - 25:58
IV. Allegro Drammatico - 39:06
V. Larghetto Sostenuto - 50:42
Joachim Raff - Symphony No. 4 (1871)
I. Allegro - 00:00
II. Allegro Molto - 10:17
III. Andante, non troppo mosso - 15:00
IV. Allegro - 24:49
Joachim Raff - Symphony No. 5 "Lenore" (1870)
I. Allegro - Love's Happiness - 00:00
II. Andante Quasi Larghetto - Love's Happiness - 12:45
III. Marsch Tempo - Agitato - Parting - 24:41
IV. Allegro - Reunited in Death - 36:00
Joachim Raff - Symphony No. 7 "In The Alps" (1875)
I. Wandering in the High Mountains - 00:00
II. At the Inn - 18:42
III. On the lake - 29:41
IV. At the wrestling contest - Farewell - 40:47
Joachim Raff - Symphony No. 8 "Sounds of Spring" (1876)
I. Allegro - Spring's Return - 00:00
II. Allegro - During Walpurgis night - 12:51
III. Larghetto - With the first bunch of flowers - 19:48
IV. Vivace - Wanderlust - 27:29
Joachim Raff - Symphony No. 9 "In Summer" (1878)
I. A Hot Day - 00:00
II. The Hunt of the Elves - 12:20
III. Larghetto - Eklogue - 22:47
IV. The Harvest Wreath - 29:27
Joachim Raff - Symphony No. 10 "To Autumn Time" (1879)
I. Allegro Moderato - Impressions & Feelings - 00:00
II. Allegro - Ghostly round-dance - 9:50
III. Adagio - Elegie - 15:04
IV. Allegro - The Hunt of Man - 22:53
Joachim Raff - Symphony No. 11 "The Winter" (1876)
I. Allegretto - The First Snow - 00:00
II. Allegretto - 11:29
III. Larghetto - By the Fireside - 17:25
IV. Allegro - Carnival - 25:55
Raff - Piano Concerto In C Minor Opus 185
Peter Aronsky, Piano - Radio Symphony Orchestra Basel, Matthias Bambert conductor
César Franck
(b. Liege, December 10, 1822; d. Paris, November 8, 1890)
French composer of Belgian birth. He was one of the 19th century’s most formidable musicians—a brilliant organist capable of extraordinary feats of improvisation, an inspiring teacher with a reverence for Bach and Beethoven yet open to new ideas, and a hardworking perfectionist who, in his compositions, sought to blend rigorous formal organization with soaring lyricism. Idolized by his students and reviled by his more conservative colleagues, he was neither prolific nor an early bloomer: his greatest works are late ones, and to such important forms as the symphony and string quartet he contributed but a single effort.
Franck’s father, recognizing his son’s precocious talent, sought to capitalize on it by grooming him for a career as a piano prodigy. The boy was enrolled at the Liege Conservatoire at seven and sent on his first concert tour at 12. The family moved to Paris in May 1835 to facilitate young Cesar’s anticipated conquest of the French capital; preparation for the Paris Conservatoire’s entrance exams included private piano lessons with Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmerman and study of harmony and counterpoint with Antoine Reicha. At first Franck was refused admission to the Conservatoire because he was a foreigner; in 1837, he was admitted and he subsequently received first prizes in piano and counterpoint. Fie began studying organ in 1841, but was pulled out of his classes by his father so he could be sent on a concert tour of Belgium in 1843.
Franck’s performing career fizzled. In 1846 he moved out of his parents’ home and started to support himself by teaching. He married in 1848 and got a job as a church organist in 1851. His big break came in 1858, when he became organist at the newly finished basilica of St. Clothilde, where he would serve until the end of his life. The basilica housed an outstanding instrument by the king of French organ builders, Aristide Cavaille-Coll, and Franck’s post-service improvisations became legendary. In 1871, Franck was named professor of organ at the Conservatoire; his class quickly turned into an advanced seminar in composition, and a whole generation of French composers took it in order to study with him, among them Henri Duparc, Vincent d’lndy, Ernest Chausson, Paul Dukas, Gabriel Pierne, and Alberic Magnard.
Franck’s oratorio Redemption was a failure at its first performance, in 1873, but the following year Franck’s artistic redemption began when he heard the Prelude to Act I of Tristan und Isolde; Wagner’s chromaticism was to have a major impact on his own harmonic language, notably in the symphonic poem Les Eolides (1875-76) and the Symphony in D minor (1886-88). The final 15 years of Franck’s life saw the production of a string of masterpieces. Among these were three great chamber works: the Piano Quintet in F minor (1879), the Sonata in A for violin and piano (1886, composed as a wedding present for Franck’s countryman, the violinist Eugene Ysaye, and the String Quartet in D (1889). There were also three great orchestral works: the Variations sym-phoniques for piano and orchestra (1885), the symphonic poem Psyche (1887-88), and the Symphony in D minor—arguably the greatest symphony composed in France between Berlioz and the 20th century, though far less likely to be heard nowadays than Saint-Saens’s contemporaneous Organ Symphony. In the breadth of their conception and the density of their harmonic syntax, these late works reveal a willingness to go to the edge of tonality to convey restlessness, yearning, and a feeling of transcendence. Yet as powerful as their emotional undercurrents are, these scores embody the art of a composer who remained more architect than sensualist, and whose main concerns were with contrapuntal and formal matters. For all his heated chromaticism, Franck never strayed far from the asethetic and metaphysical footsteps of Beethoven.
Monument to Franck at the Square Samuel-Rousseau
Cesar Franck - Symphony in D minor
00:00 Lento - Allegro
17:09 Allegretto
27:06 Allegro non troppo
New York Philharmonic Orchestra - Kurt Masur.
César Franck - Violin Sonata in A Major
Isaac Stern: violin-Alexander Zakin: piano-1959
Franck - Piano Concerto No. 2 in B minor, Op. 11, Martijn van den Hoek (piano), Arnhem Philarmonic Orchestra, Roberto Benzi (conductor)
César Franck - Piano Quintet in F minor
César Franck - Prélude, fugue et variation
Vincent Dubois
César Franck - Messe solennelle, Op.12 (1860) for soprano, tenor and bass with accompaniment of organ, harp, cello and double bass
00:00 1 I. Kyrie
05:23 2. II. Gloria
17:43 3 III. Credo
31:57 4 IV. Sanctus -Benedictus
35:02 5 V. Panis angelicus
39:02 6 VI. Agnus Dei
Louis Devos, tenor
Choeur de la RTB-BRT /Bruxelles- Gilbert Ernst
Hubert Schoonbroodt, organ
Francette Bartholomée, harp
Daniel van Hest, violoncello
Lucien Fafchamps, double bass
Conducted by Pierre Bartholomée, 1976
César Franck - Die Sieben Worte Christi am Kreuz, für Soli (The Seven Words of Christ at the Cross)
I Prolog: O vos omnes, qui transitis per viam 0:00
II 1. Pater, dimitte illis 4:49
III 2. Amen, dico tibi 10:28
IV 3. Mulier, ecce filius tuus 14:45
V 4. Deus meus, ut quid dereliquisti me ? 21:40
VI 5. Sitio! Dederunt ei vinum bibere cum felle mixtum 25:25
VII 6. Consummatum est. 32:10
VII 7. Pater, in manus tuas commendo spiritum meum 37:40
Edith Wiens, soprano
Raimundo Mettre, tenor
Thomas Pfeiffer, baritone
Ivo Ingram, bass
Philharmonie Schwäbisch Gmünd (Chor und Orchester) - Conducted by Hubert Beck - 1979
César Franck - REBECCA
Gloria Davy, soprano - Pierre Mollet, baritono
Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro di Torino della Rai, 1959
Direttore Mario Rossi
Maestro del coro Ruggero Maghini
César Franck - Les Béatitudes
Louise Lebrun, soprano
Jane Berbié, mezzo-soprano
Nathalie Stutzmann, alto
David Redall & Peter Jeffes, tenors
Marcel Vanaud, baritone
François Loup & Daniel Ottevaere, basses
Choral director: Monique Paubon
Chœurs de Radio France - Jacques Jouineau
Raphaël Tambyeff, organ
Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique, Paris
Conducted by Armin Jordan - 1985
Hulda is an opera by César Franck to a French libretto by Charles Grandmougin
César Franck - HULDA - Rai Milano, 1960
Hulda:Orietta Moscucci, Schwanhilde :Liliana Poli, La madre di Hulda: Anna Maria Rota, La madre di Aslak : Lucia Danieli, Edel : Alberta Valentini, Eiolf :Giacinto Prandelli, Gudleik :Antonio Boyer, Aslak :Massimiliano Malaspina, Gunnar : Mario Carlin, Eyric: Bruno Cioni, Yann :Nino Valsani, Eynar:Arrigo Cattelani
Malgerde :Elena Wolkowicz
Orchestra e Coro della Rai di Milano - Vittorio Gui
Cesar Franck - Stradella
Stradella, Op.033 is an 1841 opera by César Franck to a libretto by Émile Deschamps and Émilien Pacini.
1823
Ludwig van Beethoven: Diabelli Variations, Opus 120;
Missa Solemnis, Opus 123
Beethoven - 33 Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli, Op. 120 (1819-23)
Tema: Vivace [0:10]
Variation 1: Alla marcia maestoso [1:10]
Variation 2: Poco allegro [3:38]
Variation 3: L'istesso tempo [4:33]
Variation 4: Un poco più vivace [6:26]
Variation 5: Allegro vivace [7:52]
Variation 6: Allegro ma non troppo e serioso [9:07]
Variation 7: Un poco più allegro [10:51]
Variation 8: Poco vivace [11:58]
Variation 9: Allegro pesante e risoluto [13:40]
Variation 10: Presto [16:00]
Variation 11: Allegretto [16:32]
Variation 12: Un poco più moto [17:52]
Variation 13: Vivace [18:41]
Variation 14: Grave e maestoso [19:54]
Variation 15: Presto scherzando [24:24]
Variation 16: Allegro [25:02]
Variation 17 [26:02]
Variation 18: Poco moderato [26:59]
Variation 19: Presto [28:58]
Variation 20: Andante [29:45]
Variation 21: Allegro con brio [32:24]
Variation 22: Allegro molto alla "Notte e giorno faticar" di Mozart [33:46]
Variation 23: Allegro assai [34:31]
Variation 24: Fughetta. Andante [35:28]
Variation 25: Allegro [38:37]
Variation 26 [39:38]
Variation 27: Vivace [40:51]
Variation 28: Allegro [41:48]
Variation 29: Adagio ma non troppo [42:42]
Variation 30: Andante, sempre cantabile [43:57]
Variation 31: Largo, molto espressivo [46:01]
Variation 32: Fuga. Allegro [51:42]
Variation 33: Tempo di Minuetto moderato (aber nicht schleppend) [55:17]
Grigory Sokolov
Ludwig van Beethoven - Missa Solemnis op.123
Kyrie 0:00
Gloria 11:12
Credo 28:33
Sanctus 50:54
Agnus Dei 01:07:59
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Christa Ludwig
Nicolai Gedda
Nicola Zaccaria
Singverein des Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien
Philharmonia Orchestra - Herbert von Karajan - 1958
Felix Mendelssohn – Concerto for 2 pianos
Mendelssohn - Concerto for 2 pianos in E major
1. Allegro Vivace 0:00
2. Adagio Non Troppo 12:55
3. Allegro 25:10
Katia & Marielle Labeque
Cond. Semyan Bychkov
3 February
Gioachino Rossini – Semiramide
Semiramide is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy Semiramis, which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria. The opera was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on 3 February 1823.
9 February
Franz Schubert – Ferrabras
Fierrabras, D 796, is a three-act German opera with spoken dialogue written by the composer Franz Schubert in 1823, to a libretto by Joseph Kupelwieser (de), the general manager of the Theater am Kärntnertor (Vienna's Court Opera Theatre).
Roles:
Karl, King of the Franks bass
Emma, his daughter soprano
Eginhard, one of Karl's knights tenor
Roland, one of Karl's knights baritone
Ogier, one of Karl's knights tenor
Boland, Moorish leader baritone
Fierrabras, Boland's son tenor
Florinda, Boland's daughter soprano
Maragond soprano
Brutamonte bass
Synopsis
Act 1
Emma, the daughter of King Karl (Charlemagne, from the German name for Charlemagne, Karl der Große), is in love with Eginhard. Their love must be kept secret since Karl does not approve. Karl's knights, led by Roland, have defeated the Moors and captured Fierrabras, the son of the Moorish prince Boland. Karl does not imprison Fierrabras. When they are brought to Karl's castle, Fierrabras spies Emma, and recognizes her as someone he fell in love with in Rome. Eginhard and Emma meet in the garden at night, but are interrupted by Fierrabras. The lovers plead with Fierrabras to protect Eginhard from Karl. Fierrabras agrees, and Eginhard makes his escape. The king approaches, and, thinking Fierrabras is trying to kidnap Emma, has him thrown in chains. As the act ends, Eginhard and the knights are preparing to leave.
Act 2
Eginhard (without clarifying the matter concerning Emma and Fierrabras) has been sent to Boland with Roland and Karl's other knights for peace talks. The Moors surprise Eginhard, capture him, and bring him to the Moorish castle, where Boland and his daughter Florinda are concerned over Fierrabras' fate. Eginhard informs them of Fierrabras' imprisonment. The rest of Karl's knights arrive for the peace talks. Boland, upset over Fierrabras' imprisonment, takes them prisoner and condemns them to death. Among the knights, his daughter Florinda recognizes Roland, (with whom she fell in love while in Rome) and decides to try to help them. She manages to free Eginhard, and, after a brief interlude with Roland, frees the knights from the castle prison. The knights, after battle in which Roland is captured, are returned to the prison, where Boland is upset over Florinda's behavior.
Act 3
Emma, who is waiting for Eginhard's return, confesses to her father that Fierrabras is innocent, and that she and Eginhard are in love. Karl frees Fierrabras, and they leave with Eginhard to go to the Moorish castle to free the imprisoned knights. The knights are being led to the execution pyre. Florinda pleads with Boland to spare Roland. In anger, Boland says that if she loves Roland, she can die with him. Karl, Eginhard, and Fierrabras arrive just in time to stop the executions, and convince Boland to release the knights. Karl and Boland make peace and allow Roland and Florinda to marry, as well as Eginhard and Emma. Fierrabras joins Karl's knights.
Franz Schubert – Ferrabras
Franz Schubert – Die Schöne Müllerin
Franz Schubert - "Die schöne Müllerin"
Christian Gerhaher - Baritone
Gerold Huber - Piano - 2003
Franz Schubert – Die Verschworenen
Die Verschworenen, also known as Der häusliche Krieg (D 787) is an 1823 one-act singspiel by Franz Schubert after a libretto by Ignaz Franz Castelli with spoken dialogue by the composer. Castelli's libretto was based on Lisistrata, ou Les Athéniennes, Comédie en un acte et en prose, mêlée de vaudevilles by François-Benoît Hoffman, which had premiered at the Théâtre Feydeau in Paris in 1802. The French play in turn was based on Lysistrata by Aristophanes (411 BCE).
Hidden treasures - Franz Schubert - Die Verschworenen
27 January
Édouard Lalo, composer, born.
2 July
Gaetano Donizetti – Alfredo il grande
Alfredo il grande (Alfred the Great) is a melodramma serio or serious opera in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Andrea Leone Tottola wrote the Italian libretto, which may have been derived from Johann Simon Mayr's 1818 opera of the same name. The opera tells the story of the Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great. This opera, with its "highly Rossini-influenced score" was Donizetti's first exploration into British history, but it turned out to be a spectacular failure. It received its premiere on 2 July 1823 at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, and this also became its last performance.
Gaetano Donizetti - Alfredo il Grande - "Non m'ingannai"
Bruce Ford - tenor
1 December
Ernest Reyer, opera composer and music critic, born.
20 December
Franz Schubert – Rosamunde
Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern (Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus) is a play by Helmina von Chézy, which is primarily remembered for the incidental music which Franz Schubert composed for it. Music and play premiered in Vienna's Theater an der Wien on 20 December 1823.
Franz Schubert - Rosamunde, Fürstin von Zypern D.797
- Ouvertüre "Die Zauberharfe" D.644 0:00
- Ballet Music n°2 10:08
- Entr'acte n°3 17:17
- Entr'acte n°1 23:58
Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest - George Szell - 1957
Édouard Lalo
(b. Lille, January 27, 1823; d. Paris, April 22, 1892)
French composer. As a youngster, he studied both the violin and cello at the Lille Conservatoire; in 1839, his parents withdrew their support of his musical pursuits, and he made his way to Paris on his own.
Accepted at the Conservatoire, he continued his study of violin with Francois Habeneck and received private instruction in composition from Joseph Crevecoeur. For many years he supported himself by playing the violin and teaching. His early compositions were mostly chamber pieces, and in 1855 he became a founding member of the Armingaud Quartet, in which he played viola and second violin. By the early 1860s he had grown despondent about his future as a composer. He married the singer Julie de Maligny in 1865 and, with the encouragement of his new bride, started to compose again in earnest.
His opera Fiesque (1868) went unperformed, but a ballet suite extracted from it, called Divertissement, was favorably received at the Concert Populaire in 1872. Nearly 50, Lalo finally hit his stride. His reputation skyrocketed after the premieres of his Violin Concerto in F, Op. 20 (1874) and Symphonie espagnole, Op. 21 (1875), both written for the brilliant Spanish violinist Pablo de Sarasate. Lalo’s Cello Concerto followed in 1877; like the Symphonie espagnole, it has earned a permanent place in the repertoire. Recognition for these accomplishments came quickly: Lalo was named to the Legion d’Honneur in 1880. But his greatest wish was for a success on the stage. The premiere of his ballet Namouna at the Paris Opera in 1882 was a disappointment, but his opera Le roi d’Ys, which premiered at the Opera-Comique in 1888, was a triumph. The work, performed 100 times in its first year, is considered by the French to be Lalo’s masterpiece. Nowadays it is rarely staged elsewhere, though its overture is still found on symphony programs from time to time. Lalo was, with Saint-Saens and Franck, one of the most important composers of instrumental music in France during his era. While his music rarely attains the sublime, it is well crafted and notable for its melodic charm and colorful, energetic scoring.
Edouard Lalo - Symphonie Espagnole (1875
1. Allegro non troppo
2. Scherzando: Allegro molto
3. Intermezzo: Allegretto non troppo
4. Andante
5. Rondo: Allegro
Itzhak Perlman, Violin
Orchestre De Paris - Daniel Barenboim, Conductor - 1981
Edouard Lalo - Cello Concerto in d minor (1877)
Leonard Rose: cello - Philadelphia Orchestra -
Eugene Ormandy: conductor - 1967
Edouard Lalo - Concerto pour piano et orchestre
Marco Guidarini Direction, Philippe Bianconi, piano
Edouard Lalo - Symphony in G minor(1885/86)
I.Andante-Allegro non troppo:00:00
II.Vivace :08:25
III.Adagio:13:36
IV.Allegro:19:55
Basler Sinfonie-Orchester - Giancarlo Andretta
Édouard Lalo - Violin Concerto in F, Op. 20 (1874)
I. Andante - Allegro
II. Romance - Andantino
III. Allegro con fuoco
Ernest Reyer
Louis Étienne Ernest Reyer (1 December 1823 – 15 January 1909) was a French opera composer and music critic.
Ernest Reyer was born in Marseilles. His father, a notary, did not want his son to take up a career in music. However, he did not actively block his son's ambitions and allowed him to attend classes at the Conservatoire from age six to sixteen. In 1839, when he was 16 years old, Ernest traveled to north Africa to work under his brother-in-law, head of accounting for the Treasury Department in Algeria. The job was not a good fit with Reyer's nonchalant and undisciplined temperament. From administrative documents, it is apparent that Reyer wrote innumerable youthful essays and stories, and original dance pieces. Some of his early compositions achieved local notoriety and received favorable comments in the Algerian press, including a Mass performed at the cathedral that was performed for the arrival of the Duke of Aumale in 1847.
Reyer returned to Paris during the events 1848. During this period, he was introduced to various eminent artists, including Gustave Flaubert and Théophile Gautier. Southern France and Provence held its allure, and Reyer returned there to socialize with local people with whom he loved to play dominoes while smoking a pipe. He said that his pipe was his best source of inspiration.
His aunt, Louise Farrenc, professor of piano at the Conservatoire and a talented composer in her own right, directed Reyer's early musical studies. In 1850, he composed a symphonic ode entitled Le Sélam for soloists and chorus to words by Gautier. Four years later, in 1854, he composed music for an opera in one act, Maître Wolfram ("Master Wolfram"), whose libretto was by Joseph Méry. Hearing a performance of this work at the Opéra Comique, Berlioz recognized Reyer's talent. He said that Reyer's output had "nothing in common with the somewhat affected, somewhat dilapidated approach the Paris muse [...]. His melodies are natural [...]. There's heart and imagination there."
Gradually, some fame came Reyer's way. In 1857, the critic Charles Monselet wrote: "Is this a musician who writes, or a writer who makes music? I do not know, but I am hopeful that this spirited boy will make his way to singing and writing." Admittedly, Reyer was not (yet) unanimously praised and some critics pointed-out that his orchestration had not achieved a level of musical genius.
The following year he composed a ballet, Sacountalâ, with a story, once again, by Gautier, the plot of which was based on Kālidāsa's Shakuntala. The ballet was given twenty-four performances through to 1860.
In 1861, Reyer composed an opéra-comique in three acts and six scenes, La statue ("The Statue"), whose plot was inspired by "One Thousand and One Nights" (also knowns as: "Arabian Nights") with a libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier. It was premiered in Théâtre Lyrique in Paris on April 11, 1861. In less than two years, La statue achieved sixty performances, an impressive figure for the period.
Reyer's work was finally universally recognized in 1862, and the composer from Marseilles became a chevalier of the Legion of Honour. The same year, he composed Érostrate, an opera in two acts, which was played in August 1862 in Baden-Baden, under the auspices of great families in Europe, which earned him the distinction of receiving the Red Eagle from the hands of the Queen of Prussia.
Little by little, however, his reputation began to decline. The same Érostate failed completely in Paris and was staged for only three performances, which deprived the work of a possible production at the Opéra.
The best-known of his five operas is Sigurd (1884); it was quite popular in France during its initial production there (it had its premiere in Brussels at the Théâtre de La Monnaie in January 1884), and is sometimes (although rarely) revived. Sigurd is based on the Scandinavian legends of the Edda Volsunga saga (Nibelungenlied), the same source which Richard Wagner drew upon for the libretto for his Ring cycle. The music of Sigurd, however, is quite unlike the music of Wagner. While Reyer admired Wagner, he developed his music more along the lines of his mentor, Hector Berlioz. Listening to Sigurd, one cannot help but hear echoes of Les Troyens or Benvenuto Cellini, imbued with the same heroic musical posture.
Reyer's last opera was Salammbô (1890), based on the novel by Gustave Flaubert, which achieved 46 performances from May to December 1892. The work had been composed several years earlier but had been met with initial resistance by administrators, as had Sigurd. It was first performed at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels in 1890, and at the Théâtre des Arts in Rouen.
Unable to live on the proceeds from his operas, Reyer succeeded Berlioz as music critic at the Journal des débats. He also worked as the librarian at the Académie de musique.
Reyer died in Le Lavandou, in the south of France, ~80 km east of Marseilles.
La statue (The Statue) is an opera in three acts and five tableaux by Ernest Reyer to the libretto by Michel Carré and Jules Barbier based on tales from One Thousand and One Nights and La statue merveilleuse, an 1810 carnival play (pièce foraine) by Alain-René Lesage and Jacques-Philippe d'Orneval.
Ernest Reyer - La statue
Sigurd is an opera in four acts and nine scenes by the French composer Ernest Reyer on a libretto by Camille du Locle and Alfred Blau. Like Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung, the story is based on the Nibelungenlied and the Eddas, with some crucial differences from the better known Wagnerian version (the role of the supernatural is limited and replaced in large part by fate; the initial version of the libretto with a prologue set in heaven was later cut out). The whole opera can best be described as an epic with techniques of the grand opera.
Synopsis
Place: Worms and Iceland
Time: 5th century, time of Attila
Hilda, the younger sister of Gunther, king of the Burgundians, loves the hero Sigurd, despite the fact that she was expected to be given to Attila himself as a bride. At the instigation of her nurse (Uta) she gives Sigurd a magic potion which brings him to her feet. Sigurd, Gunther and Hagen then swear fealty to each other and set off to Iceland, where Brunehild lies asleep upon a lofty rock, surrounded by a circle of fire and some supernatural beings. There, Sigurd, to earn the hand of Hilda, must overcome those monsters. He achieves this and passes through the flames to win Brunehild for Gunther. His face is closely hidden by his visor, and Brunehild in all innocence accepts Gunther as her saviour, and gives herself to him. The secret is afterwards disclosed by Hilda in a fit of jealous rage, whereupon Brunehild releases Sigurd from the enchantment of the potion. He recognises her as the bride ordained for him by the gods, and they sing a passionate love duet, but before he can taste his new-found happiness he is treacherously slain by Gunther while hunting. His body is brought back to the palace and Brunehild mounts the funeral pyre. A powerful apotheosis ends the opera when spirits of Sigurd and Brunehild ascend to paradise, and soldiers of Attila are seen walking over corpses of Burgundians.
Ernest Reyer – Sigurd – Overture
Conductor: Manuel Rosenthal - Choeur & Orchestre Philharmonique de l'O.R.T.F. de Paris Paris, 1973
Reyer - Sigurd (part 1 of 4)
Hilda - Cécile Perrin
Uta - Viorica Cortez
Gunther - Jean-Philippe Lafont
Hagen - Antoine Garcin
the Barde - Jean-Jacques Cubaynes
Infrid - Jean-Luc Maurette
Rudiger - Patrick Vilet
Hawart - Antoine Normand
Sigurd - Alberto Cupido
Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra de Marseille
Conductor: Dietfried Bernet
Reyer - Sigurd (part 2 of 4)
High Priest - Jean-Marc Ivaldi
Sigurd - Alberto Cupido
Gunther - Jean-Philippe Lafont
Hagen - Antoine Garcin
Brunehild - Françoise Pollet
Reyer- Sigurd (part 3 of 4)
Uta - Viorica Cortez
Hilda - Cécile Perrin
Gunther - Jean-Philippe Lafont
Sigurd - Alberto Cupido
Brunehild - Françoise Pollet
Hagen - Antoine Garcin
Reyer - Sigurd (part 4 of 4)
Brunehild - Françoise Pollet
Hilda - Cécile Perrin
Gunther - Jean-Philippe Lafont
Hagen - Antoine Garcin
Sigurd - Alberto Cupido
Uta - Viorica Cortez
Salammbô is an opera in five acts composed by Ernest Reyer to a French libretto by Camille du Locle. It is based on the homonymous novel by Gustave Flaubert (1862). Initially refused by Paris, Reyer's opera enjoyed its first performance at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, on 10 February 1890
Ernest Reyer - SALAMMBÔ
Kate Aldrich - Gilles Ragon - J.P Lafont - Sebastien Gueze - Wojtek Smilek - Andre Heyboer
Setting - Place: Carthage - Time: 240 BC
Roles:
Hamilcar, Carthaginian leader baritone
Salammbô, a priestess, Hamilcar's daughter soprano
Taanach, Salammbo's servant mezzo-soprano
Shahabarim, high priest of Tanit tenor
Narr'Havas, King of Numidia bass
Giscon, Carthaginian general bass
Mathô, chief Libyan mercenary tenor
Spendius, Greek slave baritone
Autharite, Gaulish mercenary bass
1824
Franz Schubert: Octet; String Quartet no. 13 in A minor "Rosamunde"; String Quartet no. 14 in D minor "Death and the Maiden"; Sonata in A minor for Arpeggione and Piano, D. 821
Franz Schubert - Octet in F Major, D. 803
Antje Weithaas, Violine - Alina Pogostkina, Violine - Veronika Hagen, Viola - Sol Gabetta, Cello - Robert Vizvari, Double Bass - Alejandro Núñez, Horn - Gustavo Núñez, Bassoon - Sabine Meyer, Clarinet
1. Adagio. Allegro 0:00
2. Adagio 12:00
3. Scherzo: Allegro vivace 24:10
4. Andante; 7 Variations 30:50
5. Menuetto: Allegretto. Trio 43:12
6. Andante. Allegro 50:24
Recorded live at Solsberg Festival, 2016
Franz Schubert: String Quartet No. 13 in A minor (the Rosamunde Quartet), D. 804, Op. 29
Sini Simonen, Benjamin Bowman, Steven Dann, Richard Lester
Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 "Death and The Maiden"
I. Allegro 0:15
II. Andante con moto 12:05
III. Scherzo Allegro molto 27:02
IV. Presto 31:40
Meridian Ensemble String Quartet
Dominika Dancewicz, violin I
Johnny Chang, violin II
Whitney Bullock, viola
Olive Chen, cello
Schubert - Sonata in A minor for arpeggione and piano, D. 821
I. Allegro moderato [0:00]
II. Adagio [11:37]
III. Allegretto [15:51]
Arpeggione: Alfred Lessing
Piano: Jozef De Beenhouwer
Hector Berlioz – Messe solennelle
Berlioz - Messe solennelle
I. Introduction [0:00]
II. Kyrie [1:38]
III. Gloria [8:27]
IV. Gratias [12:41]
V. Quoniam [19:23]
VI. Credo [21:00]
VII. Incarnatus [24:51]
VIII. Crucifixus [28:06]
IX. Resurrexit [30:39]
X. Motet pour l'Offertoire [37:29]
XI. Sanctus [40:47]
XII. O salutaris [43:07]
XIII. Agnus Dei [46:52]
XIV. Domine, salvum [50:43]
Appendix:
IX. Resurrexit (revised version) [53:54]
Donna Brown, soprano
Jean-Luc Viala, tenor
Gilles Cachemaille, bass-baritone
Monteverdi Choir
Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique
John Eliot Gardiner
Felix Mendelssohn– Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 11
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy - Symphonies:
1-1824, 2-1840, 3-1842, 4-1833, 5-1830
Symphony No.1 in C minor, Op.11 (1824)
1.Allegro di molto (00:00)
2.Andante (07:43)
3.Menuetto - Allegro molto (14:29)
4.Allegro con fuoco (20:48)
Symphony No.2 in B flat, Op.52 ‘’Hymn of Praise’'(1840)
B-dur ‘’Lobgesang’’
Si bémol Majeur ‘’Chant des louanges’’
1.Sinfonia (29:15)
2.Alles was Odem hat, lobe den Herrn (54:46)
Lobt den Herrn mit Saitenspiel
Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele
3.Saget es, die ihr erlöst seid (1:01:53)
Er zählet unsre Tränen
4.Sagt es, die ihr erlöset seid (1:04:49)
5.Ich harrete des Herrn (1:06:56)
6.Stricke des Todes hatten uns umfangen (1:12:15)
7.Die Nacht ist vergangen (1:16:28)
8.Nun danket alle Gott (1:20:51)
Lob, Ehr’ und Preis sei Gott
9.Drum sing ich mit meinem Liede (1:24:49)
10.Ihr Völker! bringet her dem Herrn (1:29:26)
Alles danke dem Herrn
Alles was Odem hat, lobe den Herrn
Sopranos : Helen Donath & Rotraud Hansmann
Tenor : Waldemar Kmentt
New Philharmonia chorus
Chorus master : Wilhelm Pitz
Symphony No.3 in A minor, Op.56 ‘’Scottish’’ (1842)
a-moll ‘’Schottische Symphonie’’
la mineur ‘’Ecossaise’’
1.Andante con moto - Allegro un poco agitato (1:35:09)
Assai animato - Andante come prima
2.Vivace non troppo (1:50:33)
3.Adagio (1:54:50)
4.Allegro vivacissimo - Allegro maestoso assai (2:04:18)
Symphony No.4 in A, Op.90 ‘’Italian’' (1833)
A-dur ‘’Italienische Symphonie’’
La Majeur ‘’Italienne’'
1.Allegro Vivace (2:14:03)
2.Andante con moto (2:24:35)
3.Con moto moderato (2:31:00)
4.Saltarello (2:37:38)
Symphony No.5 in D minor, Op.107 ‘’Reformation’'(1830)
d-moll ‘’reformations-Symphonie’'
Ré mineur ‘’Réformation’’
1.Andante - Allegro con fuoco (2:43:32)
2.Allegro vivace (2:55:11)
3.Andante (3:01:13)
4.Choral : Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott ! (3:04:43)
Andante con moto - Allegro vivace
Allegro maestoso - Più animato poco a poco
New Philharmonia Orchestra
Wolfgang Sawallisch
Stéréo recording in 1967, at London
Fanny Hensel (Fanny Mendelssohn) - Sonata for Piano in C minor
Fanny Mendelssohn - Piano Sonata in C minor
Heather Schmidt
Frederic Chopin – Mazurka Opus 7 No. 4
Frédéric Chopin - Mazurkas op.7
n°1 0:00
n°2 1:11
n°3 2:34
n°4 4:42
n°5 5:32
Samson François - Studio recording, 1954
Friedrich Kuhlau – Lulu - Op. 65
Lulu romantic opera in three acts, first performance 1824, Kongelige Teater, Copenhagen. Libretto: Carl Frederik Güntelberg
Friedrich Kuhlau - Lulu, Op.65
Ouverture 00:00
Introduction: See her, og der - Himmel frels os - Bryd! Juble din Kjaede (Shepherds, a shepherd, Vela) 06:48
Cavatina con coro: Nei, vilde Jaeger (Vela, chorus) 16:36
Duettino con coro: Hvi skjaelver saa din Stemme? (Lulu, Vela, chorus) 19:32
Aria con coro: Høit svulmer mit Hjerte - Hist i skumle Faengsel - Din ild os besjaeler - Stille, Hjerte, stille (Lulu, Vela, Chorus) 24:55
Cavatina: Omdufted af venlige Dale (Lulu) 35:42
Finale: Naar Møn bliver Kone - Fjeld! Begrav mig! - Milde Soel, hvor er din lue? - Gjennem Mulmet som en Slange Hexe! Griber hende fat! -Ingen klager med min Klage - Snart slukkes dit øie (Barca, Sidi, Dilfeng, Lulu, a witch, chorus) 41:38
Barca: Erik Harbo
Dilfeng: Ulrik Cold
An elf: Hördis Jacobsen
Witches: Brigitte Fischer, Hanne Övved, Hedwig Rummel
Lulu: Risto Saarman
Periferihme: Lane Lind
An shepherd: Kim von Binzer
Black elf: Bodil Oland
Sidi: Anne Frellesvig
Vela: Tina Kiberg
Orchestra & Chorus: The Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra & Chorus - Conductor: Michael Schønwandt
2 March
Bedřich Smetana, composer, born.
3 March
Giovanni Battista Viotti, violinist and composer, dies, ages 69.
7 March
Giacomo Meyerbeer – Il crociato in Egitto
Il crociato in Egitto (The Crusader in Egypt) is an opera in two acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer, with a libretto by Gaetano Rossi. It was first performed at La Fenice theatre, Venice on 7 March 1824.
Giacomo Meyerbeer - Il crociato in Egitto
Adriano di Montfort: Rockwell Blake,
Aladino, Sultano di Damietta: Michele Pertusi,
Palmide, sua Figlia: Denia Mazzola,
Armando d’Orville: Martine Dupuy,
Felicia: Caterina Calvi,
Osmino, Gran-Visir: Jean Loupien
Choeurs de Radio France - Orchestre de la Garde Républicaine
Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier
Orchestre et Choeur de l’Opera de Montpeller
Conductor Massimo de Bernart, 1990
Synopsis
Place: Damietta
Time: During the Sixth Crusade, which commenced in 1228.
Before the opera begins, Armando, missing presumed dead in fighting, has become confidante to the Sultan Aladino, under an assumed name. He has fallen in love with Aladino's daughter, who has borne him a son, and has secretly converted her to Christianity.
Adriano arrives at the Sultan's palace to negotiate a truce. There he recognises Armando, as does Felicia, who has disguised herself as a knight to find her betrothed. Armando and the other Christian prisoners are thereupon sentenced to imprisonment and death. The ambitious Osmino arms the prisoners under Armando with the intention of killing the Sultan, but Armando exposes his treachery to the Sultan and instead kills Osmino. The Sultan relents, peace is agreed with the Knights and Armando and Palmide are reunited.
7 May
First performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (the "Choral") at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna.
Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, 'Choral'
London Symphony Orchestra, cond. Josef Krips
Soloists: Jennifer Vyvyan (EDIT), Soprano
Shirley Verret, Mezzo-Soprano
Rudolph Petrak, Tenor
Donaldson Bell, Bass
4 February
Gaetano Donizetti – L'ajo nell'imbarazzo
L'ajo nell'imbarazzo (The Tutor Embarrassed or The Tutor in a Jam) is a melodramma giocoso, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The Italian libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, after the 1807 play by Giovanni Giraud. At its premiere at the Teatro Valle, Rome on 4 February 1824
Gaetano Donizetti: - L'Ajo nell'imbarazzo
Gilda: Cecilia Fusco
Gregorio: Plinio Clabassi
Enrico: Ugo Benelli
Pippetto: Manlio Rocchi
Giulio: Tonino Boyer
Leonardo: Anna Reynolds
Simone: Robert Amis El Age
Orchestra Filarmonica di Roma - FRANCO FERRARA, direttore, 1964)
Synopsis
Time: Early nineteenth century
Place: An Italian city
Marquis Giulio demands that his sons, Enrico and Pippetto, grow up in complete ignorance of all matters of the flesh. Yet Enrico has secretly married Gilda, and they even have a son. Exasperated by the life he's forced to lead, the youth begs the elderly tutor Gregorio for help, and has him meet his wife. When, however, the Marquis arrives, Gilda remains trapped in Gregorio's room. She worries, for she must nurse her child: Gregorio is forced to fetch the baby and bring it to her, hidden under his cloak. Leonarda, an old servant in the household, informs the Marquis of her suspiscions; he discovers Gilda, but is convinced she must be the tutor's lover. In the tempestuous scene that follows, involving all the characters, the truth finally comes out. The Marquis realizes his error, and decides to entrust his younger son, Pippetto, to Enrico, so that he might help him learn "the ways of the world."
23 June
Carl Reinecke, pianist, conductor and composer, born.
4 September
Anton Bruckner, composer, born.
Carl Reinecke
Carl Reinecke, in full Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke, (born June 23, 1824, Altona, near Hamburg [Germany]—died March 10, 1910, Leipzig), German pianist, composer, conductor, and teacher who sought, in his works and teaching, to preserve the Classical tradition in the late 19th century.
After study with his father, Reinecke made several concert tours. He taught counterpoint and piano at the Cologne Conservatory (1851–54) and was music director first at Barmen (1854–59), then at Breslau University (1859–60). He held the important posts of conductor of Leipzig’s Gewandhaus Orchestra (1860–95) and teacher of piano and composition at the Leipzig Conservatory from 1860, while he continued to make annual concert tours. He became the Conservatory’s director in 1897. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, counting among his students Edvard Grieg, Hugo Riemann, Arthur Sullivan, and Felix Weingartner. He wrote works for orchestra (symphonies, overtures, concertos), piano, and voice, as well as chamber music and works for the stage.
Carl Reinecke: "Undine" Flute Sonata Op. 167
1 Allegro
2 Intermezzo Allegretto vivace
3 Andante tranquillo
4 Finale Allegro molto agitato ed apasionato, quasi Presto
Claudio Barile, flute - Paula Peluso, piano
Carl Reinecke - Flute Concerto Op. 283 (1908)
1. Allegro molto moderato
2. Lento e mesto (8:33)
3. Moderato – In tempo animato – Tempo I – Più mosso – Più lento maestoso (14:39)
Aurele Nicolet, flute and the Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Kurt Masur
Reinecke - Piano Concerto No. 1 In F sharp Minor
Michael Ponti, piano - Orchestra of Radio Luxembourg, Pierre Cao conductor
Carl Reinecke - Symphony No.3 in G-minor, Op.227 (1895)
Mov.I: Allegro 00:00
Mov.II: Andante sostenuto 09:16
Mov.III: Scherzo: Allegro vivace 19:40
Mov.IV: Finale: Maestoso - Allegro con fuoco 26:24 Orchestra: Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt Conductor: Heribert Beissel
1825
Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga – Symphony in D major
Arriaga - Symphony in D Major
Felix Mendelssohn – Octet for Strings
Mendelssohn - Octet in E-Flat Major, Op. 20
I. Allegro moderato ma con fuoco
II. Andante
III. Scherzo
IV. Presto
Jasper String Quartet:
J Freivogel, violin I
Sae Chonabayashi, violin II
Sam Quintal, viola
Rachel Henderson Freivogel, cello
Jupiter String Quartet:
Nelson Lee, violin I
Meg Freivogel, violin II
Liz Freivogel, viola
Daniel McDonough, cello
12 February
Vincenzo Bellini – Adelson e Salvini
Adelson e Salvini (Adelson and Salvini) is a three-act opera semi-seria composed by Vincenzo Bellini from a libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola. The opera was based on the 1772 novel Épreuves du Sentiment by François-Thomas-Marie de Baculard d'Arnaud, and it draws on a previously performed French play of 1803 by Prospère Delamare.
Vincenzo Bellini - Adelson e Salvini
Sinfonia, Adelson e Salvini, Vincenzo Bellini, Catania, Teatro Bellini, 09/1992.
Salvini : Bradley Williams
Nelly: Alicia Nafé
Lord Andelson: Fabio Previati
Bonifacio: Aurio Tomicich
Orchestra e Coro dell'E.A.R. Teatro Bellini - Andrea Licata
7 May
Antonio Salieri, composer, dies, ages 75
Jean-François Le Sueur - Oratorios pour le couronnement des princes souverains de la chrétienté
Jean François Le Sueur - Oratorios pour le couronnement des princes souverains de la chrétienté
Mov.I: Allegro fieramente
Mov.II: Allegro commodo
Mov.III: Moderato religioso
Mov.IV: Andantino religioso
Mov.V: In poco lento cum antique caractere
Mov.VI: Allegro pomposo
Mov.VII: Moderato affettuoso colle stele antico
Mov.VIII: Allegro commodo
Mov.IX: Lento sempre
Mov.X: Allegretto pomposo
Mov.XI: Allegro spirituoso
Mov.XII: Allegretto
Mov.XIII: Gracioso affettuso, ma fieramente
Mov.XIV: Allegretto pomposo e nobile
Mov.XV: Moderato nobile
Mov.XVI: Allegro commodo
Chorus: Chorus Musicus Köln
Orchestra: Das Neue Orchester
Conductor: Christoph Spering
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major; String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor
Beethoven - String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat Major, Op. 130 (Grosse Fuge)
American String Quartet
Beethoven String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132 Ying Quartet
Franz Schubert: Ellens Gesang III;
Piano Sonata in A minor
Franz Schubert: Ellens Gesang nos. 1, 2, 3, op. 52 nos. 1, 2 & 6 / D837-9.
"Ellens Gesang I", D. 837, Raste Krieger, Krieg ist aus - 00:00
"Ellens Gesang II", D. 838, Jäger, ruhe von der Jagd - 08:09
"Ellens Gesang III" (Hymn to the Virgin), D. 839, Ave Maria! Jungfrau mild! - 10:54
Johannette Zomer (soprano), Arthur Schoonderwoerd (fortepiano)
"Ellens dritter Gesang" ("Ellens Gesang III", D. 839, Op. 52, No. 6, 1825), in English: "Ellen's Third Song", was composed by Franz Schubert in 1825 as part of his Opus 52, a setting of seven songs from Walter Scott's popular epic poem The Lady of the Lake, loosely translated into German.
It has become one of Schubert's most popular works, recorded by a wide variety and large number of singers, under the title of "Ave Maria", in arrangements with various lyrics which commonly differ from the original context of the poem. It was arranged in three versions for piano by Franz Liszt.
The Lady of the Lake and the "Ave Maria"
The piece was composed as a setting of a song (verse XXIX from Canto Three) from Walter Scott's popular epic poem The Lady of the Lake, in a German translation by Adam Storck (de) (1780–1822), and thus forms part of Schubert's Liederzyklus vom Fräulein vom See. In Scott's poem the character Ellen Douglas, the Lady of the Lake (Loch Katrine in the Scottish Highlands), has gone with her exiled father to stay in the Goblin's cave as he has declined to join their previous host, Roderick Dhu, in rebellion against King James. Roderick Dhu, the chieftain of Clan Alpine, sets off up the mountain with his warriors, but lingers and hears the distant sound of the harpist Allan-bane, accompanying Ellen who sings a prayer addressed to the Virgin Mary, calling upon her for help. Roderick Dhu pauses, then goes on to battle.
Schubert's arrangement is said to have first been performed at the castle of Countess Sophie Weissenwolff in the little Austrian town of Steyregg and dedicated to her, which led to her becoming known as "the lady of the lake" herself.
The opening words and refrain of Ellen's song, namely "Ave Maria" (Latin for "Hail Mary"), may have led to the idea of adapting Schubert's melody as a setting for the full text of the traditional Roman Catholic prayer "Ave Maria". The Latin version of the "Ave Maria" is now so frequently used with Schubert's melody that it has led to the misconception that he originally wrote the melody as a setting for the "Ave Maria".
Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata in a-minor D. 845
1. Moderato
2. Andante poco mosso
3. Scherzo (Allegro vivace) Trio (Un poco piú lento)
4. Rondo (Allegro vivace)
Alfred Brendel, piano
19 June
Gioacchino Rossini – Il viaggio a Reims
Il viaggio a Reims, ossia L'albergo del giglio d'oro (The Journey to Reims, or The Hotel of the Golden Fleur-de-lis) is an operatic dramma giocoso, originally performed in three acts, by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Balocchi, based in part on Corinne, ou L'Italie by Mme de Staël.
Rossini - IL VIAGGIO A REIMS - PART 1 - 1984
Corinna - Cecilia Gasdia
Marchesa Melibea - Lucia Valentini-Terrani
Contessa di Folleville - Lella Cuberli
Madame Cortese - Katia Ricciarelli
Cavalier Belfiore - Eduardo Giménez
Conte di Libenskof - Francisco Araiza
Lord Sidney - Samuel Ramey
Don Profondo - Ruggero Raimondi
Baron di Trombonok - Enzo Dara
Don Alvaro - Leo Nucci
Gelosimo - William Matteuzzi
Don Prudenzio - Giorgio Surjan
Don Luigino - Oslavio Di Credico
Maddalena - Raquel Pierotti
Delia - Antonella Bandelli
Modestina - Bernadette Manca Di Nissa
Antonio - Luigi De Corato
Zefirino - Ernesto Gavazzi
Conductor - Claudio Abbado
Orchestra - The Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Chorus - Prague Philharmonic Chorus
Synopsis
Place: The Golden Lily spa hotel at Plombières-les-Bains in France
Time: 1825
Act 1
Scene 1: Introduction
The housekeeper Maddalena is unhappy with the preparations made by the servants for the arrival of the important people who are travelling to Reims for the coronation of Charles X of France. ("Presto, presto ... su, corraggio") The servants repudiate her assertions. The hotel's doctor, Don Prudenzio, announces that, because of the impending arrivals, the normal business of the spa will be suspended. The spa attendants rejoice and depart. He checks with Antonio that his instructions about the necessary meals for the visitors have been followed.
Madame Cortese, the proprietress of the hotel, appears. She regrets that she will be unable to attend the coronation ("Di vaghi raggi adorno"), but is keen to show off the hotel to the visitors in the hope that they will return some day to take the waters. She particularly requests that everyone should be enthusiastic about each of the travellers' specific interests. Everyone agrees, and she is left alone.
Scene 2: The Countess of Folleville's arrival
The Countess calls for her maid, Modestina, and Madame Cortese goes to search for her. Modestina appears, and the Countess, worried that her clothes have not yet arrived, asks why there has been no reply to a letter that she had sent. Modestina had entrusted the letter to the Countess's cousin, Don Luigino, who immediately arrives to say that the stagecoach which he had hired to carry the boxes had overturned on the way. The Countess faints and Don Luigino calls for help.
Maddalena, Antonio, Don Prudenzio and the servants arrive, together with Baron Trombonok. Don Prudenzio and the Baron argue about how to resuscitate the Countess, but she recovers sufficiently to lament the loss of her garments. ("Partir, o ciel! desio") However, when Modestina appears with a large box containing a beautiful Paris bonnet, she rejoices that it, at least, has been saved from the accident. ("Che miro! Ah! Quel sorpresa!") Everyone is amused by this sudden turn of events, and all except Antonio and the Baron depart.
Scene 3: Sextet
After agreeing with the Baron the arrangements for party's departure in the evening, Antonio leaves. The Baron cannot help laughing at the Countess's sudden recovery and the insanity of the world in general. He is joined by Don Profondo, Don Alvaro, the Marquise Melibea, Count Libenskof. It is clear that Don Alvaro and the Count are rivals for the Marquise's affections. They are all waiting for the new horses which will be necessary for the continuation of the journey, but Madame Cortese, who now arrives, says that she cannot understand why they have not arrived. Alvaro and Libenskof quarrel, the ladies are alarmed, and the Baron and Don Profondo are amused by the idiocy of lovers. ("Non pavento alcun periglio")
A harp prelude is heard, and the poetess Corinna sings offstage of brotherly love, to everyone's delight. ("Arpa gentil")
Act 2
Scene 1: Lord Sidney's aria
Madame Cortese is still waiting for the return of her servant Gelsomino with news of the horses. Lord Sidney approaches, and she muses on his unwillingness to approach Corinna who, she is sure, reciprocates his love.
Sidney, alone, laments his situation. ("Invan strappar dal core") His mood lifts when girls singing in praise of Corinna enter with flowers, but then he is disturbed by Don Profondo's strange requests for information about the location of antiquities, and departs.
Scene 2: Corinna's duet with the Chevalier Belfiore
Profondo is joined by Corinna and her companion Delia. Corinna asks when the party is to depart, and he and Delia leave Corinna alone while they go to see whether the horses have arrived.
Corinna is joined by the Chevalier, who declares his love. ("Nel suo divin sembiante") She is taken aback and repudiates him. The Chevalier retreats, hoping to try again later, and Corinna returns to her room.
Scene 3: Don Profondo's aria
Don Profondo, who has seen the Chevalier with Corinna, reflects that the Countess will scratch the Chevalier's eyes out if she finds out what he has been doing. He then turns his attention to enumerating the effects of his fellow-travellers (as requested by the Baron), noting that their possessions tend to sum up their each of their nations' characteristics. ("Medaglie incomparabili") He looks forward to the impending departure.
The Countess appears, looking for the Chevalier. She is not pleased when Don Profondo tells her that he has been having a poetry lesson. Don Alvaro and Count Libenskof join them, asking about the horses, and the Baron, too, appears, looking woebegone. What has happened? The rest of the travellers arrive, and the Baron produces the courier Zefirino, who is obliged to report that there are no horses to be had anywhere, not even for ready money. There will be no journey to Reims for the coronation!
Scene 4: Grand concerted ensemble for 14 voices
Everyone is horrified. ("Ah! A tal colpo inaspettato") But Madame Cortese appears with a letter from Paris. Don Profondo reads it out: the King will return from Reims in a few days and there will be great festivities. Anyone who was unable to get to Reims will be consoled by an even finer spectacle. The Countess steps forward to invite the entire company to her home in Paris for the celebrations. A stagecoach will convey them there on the following day, but in the meantime a grand banquet, with invitations to the public, will be held at the Golden Lily, paid for with the money that would have been spent at the coronation. Any money left over will be given to the poor.
Act 3
Scene 1: Duet for the Count and the Marquise
When everyone else has left, the Baron tries to reconcile the jealous Count with the Marquise, who has been seen with Don Alvaro. When he departs, the misunderstanding is resolved and harmony is restored. ("D'alma celeste, oh Dio!")
They depart, and the scene changes to the hotel's garden. Antonio and Maddalena ensure that all is prepared for the banquet. The Baron has engaged a travelling company to provide entertainment with singing and dancing.
Scene 2: Finale
After the opening chorus ("L'allegria è un sommo bene"), the Baron introduces a series of short national songs sung by each of the travellers, some of them set to well-known tunes, and ending with, first, a French anthem (the Marche Henri IV) for the Duchesse de Berry, then a rustic Tyrolean duet for Madame Cortese and Don Profondo, and finally an improvised solo for Corinna on one of a number of mostly French subjects suggested by each traveller and drawn from an urn. The winning subject turns out, appropriately enough, to be "Charles X, King of France". The opera ends with dances and a chorus.
Rossini - IL VIAGGIO A REIMS - PART 2 - 1984
17 October
Franz Liszt – Don Sanche ou le Chateau d'Amour (Don Sanche or the Castle of Love)
Don Sanche, ou Le château de l'amour (Don Sanche, or The Castle of Love), S.1, is an opera in one act composed in 1824–25 by Franz Liszt, with French libretto by Théaulon and de Rancé, based on a story by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian
Ferenc Liszt - Don Sanche, ou Le château de l'amour
Don Sanche - Gérard Garino
Herzogin Elzire - Júlia Hamari
Alidor - Iván Gáti
Dirección Támas Pál
25 October
Johann Strauss II, conductor and composer, born.
19 November
Giovanni Pacini – L'ultimo giorno di Pompei
L'ultimo giorno di Pompei ("The last day of Pompeii") is an opera (dramma per musica) in two acts composed by Giovanni Pacini to an Italian libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola. It premiered to great success at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples on 19 November 1825
Giovanni Pacini - L'ultimo giorno di Pompei - "Squarciami il core, o barbaro!"
Iano Tamar & Nicolas Rivenq
10 December
François-Adrien Boieldieu's opéra comique La dame blanche is premièred by the Opéra-Comique at the Théâtre Feydeau in Paris.
La dame blanche (The White Lady) is an opéra comique in three acts by the French composer François-Adrien Boieldieu. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and is based on episodes from no fewer than five works of the Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott, including his novels The Monastery, Guy Mannering, and The Abbot.
François-Adrien de Boieldieu “La dame blanche” Christopher O'Connor & Gernot Schultz
Roles:
Gaveston, old steward of the Counts of Avenel bass
Anna, his pupil soprano
Georges Brown, young English officer
Dickson, farmer of the Counts of Avenel tenor
Jenny, his wife mezzo-soprano
Marguerite, old servant of the Counts of Avenel mezzo-soprano
Gabriel, servant at Dikson's farm bass
MacIrton, justice of the peace bass
Synopsis
Place: Scotland
Time: 1753
The Count and Countess Avenel have both died in exile, leaving the fate of their castle and estate to their wicked and dishonest steward, Gaveston. The property is supposed to go to the Avenel's son, Julien, but he is missing. Dickson, a tenant farmer on the land of the late Count, and his spouse Jenny are about to celebrate the baptism of their infant son when they realize that they do not have a godfather. A youthful officer in the English army, Georges Brown, offers to assume this role. Dickson informs Brown that the castle is going to be auctioned by Gaveston, who hopes to buy it and the title for himself. Jenny sings the Ballad of The White Lady ("D’ici voyez ce beau domaine"), the "White Lady" being the guardian spirit of the Avenels. Dickson receives correspondence from the White Lady, beckoning him to the castle. As he is too frightened to obey, Brown goes in his place.
Meanwhile, Anna, an orphan raised by the Avenels, tells the elderly housekeeper Marguerite how she cared for an injured soldier who reminded her of Julien, who was her childhood sweetheart. Gaveston proclaims his plans for the auction the next morning. Brown appears, seeking shelter for the night. Left alone, he sings the cavatina, "Viens, gentille dame". Anna enters, disguised as The White Lady, in a white veil. She recognizes Brown as the soldier she took care of in Hanover. Tomorrow he must obey her implicitly. Brown agrees to do so.
The following morning the auction takes place. On behalf of the Avenel tenants, Dickson bets in opposition to Gaveston but quickly reaches his limit. Encouraged by Anna to help Dickson out, Brown places a bid in the auction and soon outbids the steward, buying the castle for 500,000 francs. However, Dickson does not have the money and if he does not pay before midday he will be thrown into prison.
Anna and Marguerite look for the statue of the White Lady, in which is stashed the wealth of the Avenels. Brown has a curious feeling that he somehow remembers the castle. Meanwhile, Gaveston receives the news that George Brown is in fact the missing Julien Avenel, although Brown himself does not know it. Anna overhears the news and sets a plan in motion. At the strike of 12 noon, the White Lady appears with a treasure chest. Thwarted, Gaveston tears off her veil in rage to expose Anna, who then reveals Brown's true identity as Julien. Julien and Anna are happily reunited.
Jacques-Louis David - Mars desarme par Venus