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Sunday, January 31, 2016

You can listen to the Classical Music Almanac Podcast Daily here.

Birthdays

Franz Schubert

In 1797 Franz Schubert was born in Vienna. Schubert died before his 32nd birthday, but was extremely prolific during his lifetime. His output consists of over six hundred secular vocal works (mainly Lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music and a large body of chamber and piano music. Appreciation of his music while he was alive was limited to a relatively small circle of admirers in Vienna, but interest in his work increased significantly in the decades following his death. Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms and other 19th-century composers discovered and championed his works. Today, Schubert is ranked among the greatest composers of the late Classical and early Romantic eras and is one of the most frequently performed composers of the early nineteenth century. 1

Mario Lanza

In 1921 Mario Lanza was born in Philadelphia. Lanza began studying to be a professional singer at the age of 16. After appearing at the Hollywood Bowl in 1947, Lanza signed a seven-year film contract with Louis B. Mayer, the head ofMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer who saw his performance and was impressed by his singing. Prior to this, the adult Lanza had sung only two performances of an opera. The following year (1948), however, he would sing the role of Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly in New Orleans. His film debut was in That Midnight Kiss (1949) with Kathryn Grayson and Ethel Barrymore. The following year, in The Toast of New Orleans, his featured popular song “Be My Love” became his first million-selling hit. In 1951, he played the role of Enrico Caruso (1873–1921), his tenor idol, in the biopic, The Great Caruso, which produced another million-seller with “The Loveliest Night of the Year” (a song which used the melody of Sobre las Olas). The Great Caruso was the top-grossing film that year. The title song of his next film, Because You’re Mine, was his final million-selling hit song. The song went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. After recording the soundtrack for his next film, The Student Prince, he embarked upon a protracted battle with Studio Head Dore Schary arising from artistic differences with director Curtis Bernhardt, and was eventually dismissed by MGM. Lanza was known to be “rebellious, tough, and ambitious”, and during most of his film career, he suffered from addictions to overeating and alcohol which had a serious effect on his health and his relationships with directors, producers and, occasionally, other cast members. Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper writes that “his smile, which was as big as his voice, was matched with the habits of a tiger cub, impossible to housebreak”. She adds that he was the “last of the great romantic performers”. He made three more films before dying of an apparent pulmonary embolism at the age of 38. At the time of his death in 1959 he was still “the most famous tenor in the world”. Author Eleonora Kimmel concludes that Lanza “blazed like a meteor whose light lasts a brief moment in time”. 2

George Benjamin

Happy 56th birthday George Benjamin! A British composer of classical music. He is also a conductor, pianist and teacher. Benjamin’s oeuvre has been described as exhibiting “consummate craftsmanship” coloured by “a love of rich and unusually coloured sonorities”. Benjamin taught composition at the Royal College of Music, London, for sixteen years, where he became the first Prince Consort Professor of Composition before he succeeded Sir Harrison Birtwistle as Henry Purcell Professor of Composition at King’s College London in January 2001. Benjamin has been a teacher and mentor to such younger composers as Luke Bedford and Dai Fujikura. 3

Ofra Harnoy

Happy 51st birthday Ofra Harnoy! She was born in Hadera, Israel. She moved with her family to Toronto in 1971. When she was six, she began cello lessons with her father, Jacob Harnoy. Her teachers includedVladimir Orloff, William Pleeth, Pierre Fournier, Jacqueline du Pré, and Mstislav Rostropovich. Harnoy made her professional debut as a soloist with an orchestra at age ten. Her solo-orchestral and recital debuts at Carnegie Hall in 1982 brought her public and critical acclaim. Harnoy performed and recorded the world premiere of the Offenbach Cello Concerto in 1983 and the North American premiere of the Bliss Cello Concerto in 1984. She also made the world premiere recordings of several Vivaldi concertos. In 1987 Harnoy joined the roster of RCA Victor Red Seal, and recorded several best selling albums. Harnoy has played in many genres of music. She has played with artists such as Plácido Domingo, Sting, Igor Oistrakh, Loreena McKennitt, and Jesse Cook among others. 4

Premieres

In 1891 Arthur Sullivan’s opera Ivanhoe was premiered at the Royal English Opera House in Cambridge Circus (London).

In 1935 Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Cello Concerto was premiered by the New York Philharmonic with Gregor Piatigorsky as the soloist.

On This Day in Classical Music

In 1994 the Gran Teatro del Liceo – Barcelona’s opera house – was destroyed by fire.

Recommended Listening

Franz Schubert’s String Quartet No. 8 in B flat major D. 112: I. Allegro ma non troppo by the Takács Quartet.

  1. Wikipedia contributors, “Franz Schubert,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Franz_Schubert&oldid=701630075 (accessed January 30, 2016).
  2. Wikipedia contributors, “Mario Lanza,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mario_Lanza&oldid=700999333 (accessed January 30, 2016).
  3. Wikipedia contributors, “George Benjamin (composer),” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Benjamin_(composer)&oldid=702030883 (accessed January 30, 2016).
  4. Wikipedia contributors, “Ofra Harnoy,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ofra_Harnoy&oldid=699449934 (accessed January 30, 2016).