Tags

, , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Birthdays

Émile Waldteufel

In 1837 Charles Émile Waldteufel was born in Strasbourg, France. The original surname of the family was Lévy. His father Louis had a respected orchestra, and his brother Léon was a successful performer. When Léon won a place to study violin performance at the Conservatoire de Paris, the family followed him there. It was in Paris that Waldteufel spent the rest of his life. Waldteufel studied the piano at the Conservatoire de Paris from 1853 to 1857. Among his fellow pupils was Jules Massenet. During his time at the conservatory, Louis Waldteufel’s orchestra became one of the most famous in Paris, and Émile was frequently invited to play at important events. At the age of 27, Émile became the court pianist of the Empress Eugénie. He also led the orchestra at state balls. After the Franco-Prussian War had dissolved the Second French Empire, the orchestra played at Presidential balls at the Élysée. At this time only a few members of the French high society knew of Émile; he was nearly 40 before he became better known. In October 1874 Waldteufel played at an event that was attended by the then Prince of Wales, future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. The Prince was enthralled by Waldteufel’s “Manolo” waltz, and was prepared to make Waldteufel’s music known in Britain. A long-term contract with the London-based editor Hopwood & Crew followed. Part of the company belonged to Charles Coote, director of the Coote & Tinney’s Band, the first dance orchestra in London. Through these means, Waldteufel’s music was played at Buckingham Palace in front of Queen Victoria. Waldteufel dominated the music scene in London and became world-famous. During this period he composed his best known works, many of which are still heard today around the world. He became best known for the waltz “Les Patineurs” (The Ice Skaters), composed in 1882. His waltz Dolorès (op. 170; 1880) was the basis for the Russian romance Honey, do you hear me. Waldteufel gave concerts in several European cities, such as London in 1885, Berlin in 1889 and the Paris Opéra Balls in 1890 and 1891. He continued his career as conductor and writing dance music for the Presidential Balls until 1899 when he retired. In 1915 Waldteufel died in Paris at the age of 77. His wife, Célestine Dufau, a former singer, had died a year earlier. They had two sons and a daughter. Waldteufel conducted with a stick rather than the then-customary violin bow. His compositions were first created at the piano and later orchestrated. The typical Waldteufel orchestra consisted of strings and a doubled woodwindsection, two cornets, four horns, three trombones, and ophicleide or euphonium, along with percussion. Waldteufel’s music can be distinguished from Johann Strauss II’s waltzes and polkas in that he used subtle harmonies and gentle phrases, unlike Strauss’s more robust approach. It was considered that Waldteufel’s music was not revolutionary, which explained why his waltzes fell out of favor as the age of Impressionism came to Paris. 1

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf

In 1915 Elisabeth Schwarzkopf was born in Jarocin, Germany. She was among the foremost singers of lieder, and was renowned for her performances of Viennese operetta. 2

Joshua Bell.JPG

Joshua Bell

Happy 48th birthday Joshua Bell! Born on this day in 1967 in Bloomington, Indiana. Bell made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1985, at age 17, with the St. Louis Symphony. He has since performed with many of the world’s major orchestras and conductors. As well as the standard concerto repertoire, Bell has performed new works. Nicholas Maw’s violin concerto is dedicated to Bell, who premiered it in 1993 and won a Grammy Award for his recording of the piece. He performed the solo part on John Corigliano’s Oscar-winning soundtrack for the film The Red Violin and was also featured in Ladies in Lavender. Bell made an appearance in the movie Music of the Heart, a story about the power of music, with other notable violinists. Bell’s instrument is a 300-year-old Stradivarius violin called the Gibson ex Huberman, which was made in 1713 during what is known as Antonio Stradivari’s “Golden Era.” This violin had been stolen twice from the previous owner, Bronisław Huberman; the last time the thief confessed to the act on his deathbed. Bell had held and played the violin, and its owner at the time jokingly told Bell that the violin could be his for four million dollars. Shortly thereafter, by chance, Bell came across the violin again and discovered it was about to be sold to a German industrialist to become part of a collection. According to Bell’s website, Bell “was practically in tears.” Bell then sold his previous violin, the Tom Taylor Stradivarius, for a little more than two million dollars and made the purchase of the Gibson ex Huberman for a little under the four million dollar asking price. As with his previous Stradivarius violin, Bell entrusts the upkeep of the Gibson ex Huberman to expert luthier Emmanuel Gradoux-Matt. The story of the theft, return, and subsequent acquisition by Bell is told in the 2013 documentary The Return of the Violin, directed by Haim Hecht. Bell’s first recording made with the Gibson ex Huberman was Romance of the Violin (for Sony Classical Records) in 2003. Bell is an artistic partner for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (starting in the 2004–2005 season) and a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He also serves on the artists selection committee for the Kennedy Center Honors and is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Bell was awarded the Avery Fisher Prize on April 10, 2007, at Lincoln Center in New York City. The prize is given once every few years to classical instrumentalists for outstanding achievement. On May 3, 2007, the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music announced that Bell had joined the faculty as a senior lecturer. Bell collaborated with film composer Hans Zimmer by providing violin solos for the soundtrack of the 2009 film Angels & Demons, based on Dan Brown’s 2000 novel of the same name. On May 26, 2011, Bell was named Music Director of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. In 2013, Bell performed the song “Before My Time”, alongside Scarlett Johansson. Written by J. Ralph for the documentary Chasing Ice, the song received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. 3

Premieres

In 1836 Mikhail Glinka’s opera A Life for the Tsar was premiered in St. Petersburg.

In 1842 Glinka’s opera Russlan and Ludmilla was premiered, also in St. Petersburg.

In 1882 Gabriel Fauré’s Chanson d’amour was premiered in Paris.

In 1905 Richard Strauss’ opera Salome premiered in Dresden.

On this Day in Classical Music

In 1820 Franz Schubert’s song The Trout was published in Vienna.

In 1907 Gustav Mahler and his family set sail from Vienna to America. Anton Webern and Arnold Schoenberg are among the guests at their bon voyage party.

  1. Wikipedia contributors, “Émile Waldteufel,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%C3%89mile_Waldteufel&oldid=685442306 (accessed December 9, 2015).
  2. Wikipedia contributors, “Elisabeth Schwarzkopf,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elisabeth_Schwarzkopf&oldid=693322875 (accessed December 9, 2015).
  3. Wikipedia contributors, “Joshua Bell,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joshua_Bell&oldid=685816911 (accessed December 9, 2015).