Portrait of Wagner by Lembach

Summer festival premieres of "hot" new operas by Saariaho and Wagner . . .

Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952): Nocturne
Gidon Kremer, violin
Philips 456 016 (track 2)
&
Richard Wagner (1813-1883): "Magic Fire Music," fr "Die Walküre" (arr. Stokowski)
Houston Symphony; Leopold Stokowski, cond.
Everest 9024 (track 2)

Wagner's contemporary critic, Eduard Hanslick, had this to say about the 1876 Bayreuth performance of "Die Walküre" he attended: "The second act is an abyss of boredom. Wotan appears, holds a long conversation with his wife, and then, turning to Brünnhilde, gives an autobiographical lecture covering eight full pages of text. This utterly tuneless, plodding narrative, in slow tempo, engulfs us like an inconsolable broad sea from which only the meager crumbs of a few leitmotives come floating towards us out of the orchestra." Hanslick did, however, like the "Ride of the Valkyries" and the "Magic Fire" music from the concluding third act of the opera, but noted that: "both pieces come towards the end of the opera and are thus heard by an audience exhausted and dulled by what has gone before."

Births:
1869 - Finnish composer and conductor Armas Järnefelt, in Vyborg;
1892 - English composer Kaikhosru Sorabji (aka Leon Dudley), in Chingford;
1910 - French composer Pierre Schaeffer, in Nancy (pioneered "musique concrète");

Premieres:
1814 - Rossini: opera, "Il Turco in Italia," at La Scala, Milan;

Other:
1703 - Johann Sebastian Bach becomes organist at the Church of St. Boniface in Arnstadt;

Timely music by Liegti and Beethoven . . .

György Ligeti (b. 1923): Poème Symphonique (for 100 Metronomes)
Françoise Terrioux, metronomes
Sony Classical 62310 (track 6)
&
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): 2nd Mvt, fr Symphony No. 8
Cleveland Orchestra; Rafael Kueblik, cond.
DG 459 463 (CD 1, track 6)

The metronome markings Beethoven suggested for his symphonies are a hotly contested issue. Some modern recordings by Roger Norrington and David Zinman have attempted to follow them (more or less) . . . but many conductors dismissed them as based on tempi the deaf Beethoven's heard in his "inner ear" and not on the practical experience of actually hearing how the works might sound in actual performance in halls of differing sizes - acoustical factors that can influence the tempo at which any piece of music can be performed effectively,

Births:
1776 - Austrian composer and conductor Ignaz von Seyfried, in Vienna;
1875 - Afro-English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, in London;
1887 - American composer, teacher and writer Marion Bauer, in Walla Walla, Washington;
1890 - French composer Jacques Ibert, in Paris;
1922 - German-born American composer and conductor Lukas Foss, in Berlin (presumed date; Foss says his birth year is not authenticated and he has no birth certificate);

Premieres:
1865 - Liszt: oratorio, "St. Elizabeth," in Pest

Credit: John Seyfried / Argo Records

The King is Dead . . . Long Live the King!

Elvis Presley (1935-1977): Love Me Tender (arr. Hayman)
Richard Hayman, harmonica & his Symphony Orchestra
Naxos International 8.990017 (track 8)
&
Michael Daugherty (b. 1954): Dead Elvis
Chuck Ullery, bassoon; London Sinfonietta; David Zinman, cond.
Argo 458 145 (track 1)

Michael Daughtery's piece titled "UFO" was written for the virtuoso percussionist Evelyn Glennie. Daughtery said he got the idea for the title from the far-out, "extraterrestrial" look of some of Glennie's percussion instruments.

Births:
1795 - German composer Heinrich Marschner, in Zittau, Saxony;
1863 - French composer, conductor and organist Gabriel Pierné, in Metz;
1917 - Panamanian composer Roque Cordero, in Panama;

Premieres:
1876 - Wagner: music drama, "Siegfried," at Bayreuth, Germany;
1932 - Gershwin: "Cuban Overture" (original title, "Rhumba");

Other:
1613 - Claudio Monteverdi becomes Master of Music, Republic of Venice;
1814 - Beethoven finishes composing the Piano Sonata in E Minor, Op. 90;

Spectacular music - literally - by Saint-Saëns and John Williams.

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921): "Parysatis" Ballet Suite
London Philharmonic; Geoffrey Simon, cond.
Cala 1015 (track 2)
&
John Williams (b. 1932): "Flight to Neverland," fr "Hook"
Boston Pops; John Williams
Sony Classical 68419 (track 4)

Births:
1686 - Italian composer Nicola Porpora, in Naples;
1901 - French composer Henri Tomasi, in Marseilles;
1903 - American pianist, composer, writer, WQXR commentator, and teacher Abram Chasins, in New York City;
1943 - English composer Edward Cowie, in Birmingham;

Premieres:
1876 - Wagner: music drama, "Götterdämmerung," in Bayreuth, Germany;
1946 - Honegger: Symphony No. 3, "Liturgical," in Zurich

A Salieri anniversary . . . and Liebermann's concertos played by the Philadelphia Orchestra at Saratoga Springs

Antonio Salieri (1750-1825): "Il Talismano" Overture
Czech-Slovak Radio Symphony; Michael Dittrich, cond.
Marco Polo 8.223381 (track 1)
&
Lowell Liebermann: Flute Concerto, Op. 39
James Galway, fl; London Mozart Players; Lowell Liebermann, cond.
BMG 63235 (track 6)

The Emperor Napoleon apparently was a Salieri fan - and a champion of new music. In a letter to his First Chamberlain dated March 2, 1810, he asked that Salieri's opera "The Danaïdes" be included in the works to be presented that year in Paris, alongside works by Gluck, Kreutzer and others. Napoleon asked that Salieri's older opera be presented in the fall, however, and that the more recenly composed operas and ballets be presented earlier in the season. "In general," wrote Napoleon, "my plan is to provide as many novelties as possible during the month of Easter, since there will be a large number of visitors in Paris for the festivities."

Births:
1849 - French composer Benjamin Godard, in Paris;

Deaths:
1942 - Czech composer Erwin Schulhoff, in the Nazi concentration camp at Wülzbourg, age 48;

Premieres:
1786 - First performance by the Paris Conservatory Orchestra;
1820 - Schubert: opera, "Die Zauberharfe," in Vienna; the overture is now used as the overture to "Rosamunde";
1938 - Britten: Piano Concerto;