Tags
Boston Symphony Orchestra, classical, classical music, composers, Leonard Bernstein, orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, philharmonic
Saturday, April 9, 2016
You can listen to the Classical Music Almanac Podcast Daily here.
Birthdays
In 1898 Paul Robeson was born. He was an American singer and actor who became involved with the Civil Rights Movement. At Rutgers College, he was an outstanding football player, then had an international career in singing, with a distinctive, powerful, deep bass voice, as well as acting in theater and movies. He became politically involved in response to the Spanish Civil War, fascism, and social injustices. His advocacy of anti-imperialism, affiliation with communism, and criticism of the United States government caused him to be blacklisted during the McCarthy era. Ill health forced him into retirement from his career. Robeson won an academic scholarship to Rutgers College, where he became a football All-American and the class valedictorian. He received his LL.B. from Columbia Law School, while playing in the National Football League (NFL). At Columbia, he sang and acted in off-campus productions; and, after graduating, he became a participant in the Harlem Renaissance with performances in The Emperor Jones and All God’s Chillun Got Wings. Robeson initiated his international artistic résumé with a theatrical role in Great Britain, settling in London for the next several years with his wife Essie. Robeson next appeared as Othello at the Savoy Theatre before becoming an international cinema star through roles in Show Boat and Sanders of the River. He became increasingly attuned towards the sufferings of other cultures and peoples. Acting against advice, which warned of his economic ruin if he became politically active, he set aside his theatrical career to advocate the cause of the Republican forces of the Spanish Civil War. He then became active in the Council on African Affairs (CAA). During World War II, he supported America’s war efforts and won accolades for his portrayal of Othello on Broadway. However, his history of supporting pro-Soviet policies brought scrutiny from the FBI. After the war ended, the CAA was placed on the Attorney General’s List of Subversive Organizations and Robeson was investigated during the age ofMcCarthyism. Due to his decision not to recant his public advocacy of pro-Soviet policies, he was denied a passport by the U.S. State Department, and his income, consequently, plummeted. He moved to Harlem and published a periodical critical of United States policies. His right to travel was eventually restored by the 1958 United States Supreme Courtdecision, Kent v. Dulles, but his health broke down. He retired and he lived out the remaining years of his life privately in Philadelphia. 1
In 1906 Antal Dorati was born in Budapest, where his father Alexander Doráti was a violinist with the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra and his mother Margit Kunwald was a piano teacher. He studied at the Franz Liszt Academy with Zoltán Kodály and Leo Weiner for composition and Béla Bartók for piano. His links with Bartók continued for many years: he conducted the world premiere of Bartók’s Viola Concerto, as completed by Tibor Serly, with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1949, with William Primrose as the soloist. He made his conducting debut in 1924 with the Budapest Royal Opera. As well as composing original works, he compiled and arranged pieces by Johann Strauss II for the ballet Graduation Ball (1940), premiered by the Original Ballet Russe in Sydney, Australia, with himself on the conductor’s podium. For Ballet Theatre (later renamed American Ballet Theatre) he created scores for the ballets Bluebeard (1941) from music by Jacques Offenbach and The Fair at Sorochinsk (1943) from music by Modest Mussorgsky. His autobiography, Notes of Seven Decades, was published in 1979. In 1983, Queen Elizabeth II made Doráti an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE). This entitled him to use the post-nominal letters KBE. By convention honorary knights do generally not use the “Sir” unless they subsequently acquire UK citizenship. His wife was Ilse von Alpenheim, an Austrian pianist. Doráti died at the age of 82 in Gerzensee, Switzerland. 2
Premieres
In 1926 Edgard Varèse’s Amériques was premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra with Leopold Stokowski conducting.
In 1942 Igor Stravinsky’s Circus Polka was premiered at Madison Square Gardens in New York by the Barnum & Bailey Circus with M. Evans conducting.
In 1948 Samuel Barber’s song-cycle Knoxville: Summer of 1915 for voice and orchestra was premiered by the Boston Symphony with Serge Koussevitzky conducting and soprano Eleanor Steber the soloist.
In 1977 Leonard Bernstein’s Candide Suite was premiered in Tel Aviv.
On This Day in Classical Music
In 1765 London Newspapers feature an advertisement inviting people to hear the musical talents of the young brother and sister team of Wolgang Amadeus and Maria Anna Mozart in their home each day from noon to 2pm.
In 1835 Franz Liszt collapsed after performing at a concert with Hector Berlioz in Paris.
In 1886 Enrique Granados made his piano concert debut in Barcelona.
In 1889 Richard Strauss signed a one-year contract with the Berlin Opera.
In 1940 Carnegie Hall in New York hosts a demonstration of Bell Laboratories new stereo music on film.
In 1941 the Berlin State Opera house was destroyed in an allied bombing raid.
Recommended Listening
Leonard Bernstein’s Suite for Orchestra from Candide performed by the Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Eiji Oue.
- Wikipedia contributors, “Paul Robeson,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paul_Robeson&oldid=711798800 (accessed April 8, 2016).
- Wikipedia contributors, “Antal Doráti,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Antal_Dor%C3%A1ti&oldid=708486762 (accessed April 8, 2016).