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Monday, February 1, 2016

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

Birthdays

Clara Butt

In 1872 Clara Butt was born in Southwick, Sussex. Her main career was as a recitalist and concert singer. Her voice, both powerful and deep, impressed contemporary composers such as Saint-Saëns and Elgar; the latter composed a song-cycle with her in mind as soloist. Butt appeared in only two operatic productions, both of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. She wished to sing in Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delilah but was prevented from doing so (at the time the representation of biblical subjects on the British stage was forbidden by law). Later in her career she frequently appeared in recitals together with her husband, the baritone Kennerley Rumford. She made numerous recordings for the gramophone. 1

Jenő Jandó

Happy 64th birthday Jenő Jandó! He studied piano at the Liszt Academy with Katalin Nemes and Pál Kadosa, later going on to win many major international piano competitions, including the Georges Cziffra and Ciani Piano Competitions. However, his professional career began when he took third prize at the Beethoven Piano Competition at the age of 18. He was also the winner of the 1973 Hungarian Piano Concours and took first prize in the chamber music category at the Sydney International Piano Competition in 1977. Jandó enjoys being both a solo and accompanying artist, as shown by his recordings, ranging from a complete recording of the Beethoven sonatas to Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet and Beethoven’s ‘Ghost’ and ‘Archduke’ piano trios. As an accompanist, Jenő Jandó has worked with Takako Nishizaki in recordings of the Beethoven, Franck, Grieg violin sonatas, the complete Schubert sonatas, and the Mozart sonatas for Naxos Records, some of which are highly ranked by the Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music. His style of accompaniment also shows itself in Kodály’s Sonata for Cello and Piano, as well as in a more recent recording of Dohnányi cello sonatas, in partnership with Maria Kliegel. He is known for singing while playing, and to stop this, he puts an unlit cigarette in his mouth. 2

Premieres

In 1893 Giacomo Puccini’s opera Manon Lescaut was premiered in Turin.

In 1896 Giacomo Puccini’s opera La bohème was premiered in Turin with Arturo Toscanini conducting.

In 1947 Paul Hindemith’s Sinfonia Serena was premiered by the Dallas Symphony with Antal Dorati conducting.

In 1996 George Walker’s Pulitzer Prize winning Lilacs for voice and orchestra was premiered by soprano Faye Robinson and the Boston Symphony with Seiji Ozawa conducting. 

On This Day in Classical Music

In 1579 Jacopo Peri became an organist in Florence. He would later be credited with composing  the first true opera.

In 1795 Joseph Haydn performs for King George III and the Prince of Wales, the soon-to-be King George IV.

In 1864 Modest Mussorgsky was appointed assistant head of the barracks division of Russia’s Central Engineering Authority.

In 1878 Tchaikovsky completes the score of his opera Eugene Onegin, after eight months work.

In 1904 Enrico Caruso made his first recording for Victor Records.

In 1947 Dmitri Shostakovich takes up a teaching position at the Leningrad Conservatoire.

Recommended Listening

Sergei Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18, I. Moderato, performed by the Budapest Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gyorgy Lehel and Jenő Jandó soloist.

  1. Wikipedia contributors, “Clara Butt,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Clara_Butt&oldid=677606994 (accessed January 30, 2016).
  2. Wikipedia contributors, “Jenő Jandó,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jen%C5%91_Jand%C3%B3&oldid=668042608 (accessed January 30, 2016).