Orff started studying the piano at age five and also took organ and cello lessons. However, he was more interested in composing original music than in studying to be a performer. Orff wrote and staged puppet shows for his family, composing music for piano, violin, zither, and glockenspiel to accompany them. He had a short story published in a children's magazine in 1905 and started to write a book about nature. In his spare time he enjoyed collecting insects.
By the time he was a teenager, Orff was writing songs, although he had not studied harmony or composition; his mother helped him set down his first works in musical notation. Orff wrote his own texts and he learned the art of composing, without a teacher, by studying classical masterworks on his own.
In 1911, at age 16, some of Orff's music was published. Many of his youthful works were songs, often settings of German poetry. They fell into the style of Richard Strauss and other German composers of the day, but with hints of what would become Orff's distinctive musical language.
In 1911/1912, Orff wrote Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra), Op. 14, a large work for baritone voice, three choruses and orchestra, based on a passage from Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical novel of the same title. There was no evidence for this other than his own word, and other sources dispute his claim. Canadian historian Michael H. Kater made in earlier writings a particularly strong case that Orff collaborated with Nazi authorities,
Category:1895 births Category:1982 deaths Category:People from Munich Category:20th-century classical composers Category:Opera composers Category:German composers Category:People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Category:German music educators Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
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He began to sing in song recitals and made his operatic debut the next year in Wiesbaden. He joined the Hamburger Staatsoper, where he sang until 1960. During his last years in Hamburg, he also made frequent guest appearances elsewhere, including the Salzburg Festival.
He sang frequently at the Metropolitan Opera between 1960 and 1970 and made his Bayreuth debut in 1965. Although he often sang Verdi early in his career, he later concentrated more on Mozart and Richard Strauss. Prey was well known for playing Figaro (Mozart and Rossini), but he played other Mozart roles at least equally often, particularly The Magic FlutePapageno and Guglielmo. He also played, and recorded, the Count in The Marriage of Figaro. He is regarded by many as the best Einsenstein in Die Fledermaus operetta.
He was at home with comic opera Italian-style, displaying scenic intelligence, liveliness and hilarity. His virtuoso agility and great comic acting made him an obvious choice for numerous productions of Mozart's and Rossini's operas in the 1970s. In 1972 he performed as Figaro in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's television film of Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Teresa Berganza as Rosina, Luigi Alva as Almaviva and conductor Claudio Abbado. He appeared alongside Fritz Wunderlich in the live televised version of Il Barbiere di Siviglia in its German translation, Der Barbier von Sevilla. He also portrayed Figaro in 1976 in Ponnelle's film of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro.
Prey also sang operetta and performed on German television, becoming extremely popular with television audiences. He shared media-celebrity with Fritz Wunderlich until the latter's untimely death, often playing Papageno to Wunderlich's Tamino.
He is best remembered for his recitals, his first American recital having been given in 1956. He was a gifted interpreter of Schubert, as well as other Lieder (together with the German pianist Sebastian Peschko). He also appeared frequently in concert, particularly in the Bach Passions and Brahms' A German Requiem. A videotaped performance of Schubert's lieder-cycle Schwanengesang is available.
Prey possessed a clear, polished tone - darker and deeper-sounding than his slightly older contemporary Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, but equally refined and equally capable of soaring into the tenor range without the smallest suggestion of vocal effort.
He recorded a multi-volume set for Phillips, tracing the history of the Lied from the Minnesänger to the twentieth century. In addition, he released numerous recordings of opera and song.
Unlike Fischer-Dieskau, Prey wisely limited his Wagner to the soft, high-baritone roles Wolfram and Beckmesser. He can be seen on video in the latter role, opposite Bernd Weikl.
Starting in 1982, he taught at the Musikhochschule Hamburg, and he wrote an autobiography which was translated as First Night Fever (ISBN 0-7145-3998-8).
In 1988, he directed a production of The Marriage of Figaro in Salzburg. His son Florian is also a baritone.
He died in Krailling, Bavaria.
For many years, Michael Endres was the pianist to Hermann Prey.
Category:1929 births Category:1998 deaths Category:German opera singers Category:Operatic baritones Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:People from Berlin
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David Chesworth (born 1958, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom) is an award-winning Australian-based composer and installation artist. Known for his experimental, and at times minimalist music, he has worked in rock groups, classical ensembles, theatre, opera and sound installations.
Chesworth's parents moved the family from Britain to Melbourne, Australia in the late 1960s. Chesworth studied at Latrobe University, including time with composer's Jeff Pressing and Warren Burt. In the late 1970s and early 1980s he coordinated the venue "Clifton Hill Community Music Centre".
A list of Chesworth's collaborators includes: audio/visual artist Sonia Leber; guitarist Robert Goodge in the group Essendon Airport; musician and sound designer Philip Brophy in the group → ↑ →; electronic musician Philip Jackson in the group Whadya Want?; librettist Douglas Horton and soprano Helen Noonan. In 1993 he formed 'The David Chesworth Ensemble' to perform his own works.
He lives in Melbourne in partnership with Sonia Leber. Together they run the company Wax Sound Media and have one daughter.
EPs and Singles
Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:Australian composers Category:People from Stoke-on-Trent Category:Australian keyboardists
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