- published: 27 Aug 2011
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- author: RichardHilo
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Brussels
Brussels (French: Bruxelles, pronounced [bʁysɛl] (
listen); Dutch: Brussel, pronounced [ˈbrʏ.səɫ] ( listen); German: Brüssel, pronounced [ˈbʁyː.səl]), officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region (French: 
Région de Bruxelles-Capitale (help·info), Dutch: Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (help·info)), is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union (EU). It is also the largest urban area in Belgium, comprising 19 municipalities, including the municipality of the City of Brussels, which is the de jure capital of Belgium, in addition to the seat of the French Community of Belgium and of the Flemish Community.
Brussels has grown from a 10th-century fortress town founded by a descendant of Charlemagne into a metropolis of more than one million inhabitants. The metropolitan area has a population of over 1.8 million, making it the largest in Belgium.
Since the end of the Second World War, Brussels has been a main centre for international politics. Hosting principal EU institutions as well as the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the city has become the polyglot home of numerous international organisations, politicians, diplomats and civil servants.
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Covent Garden
Coordinates: 51°30′43″N 0°07′22″W / 51.51197°N 0.1228°W / 51.51197; -0.1228
Covent Garden ( /ˈkɒvənt/) is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as "Covent Garden". The district is divided by the main thoroughfare of Long Acre, north of which is given over to independent shops centred on Neal's Yard and Seven Dials, while the south contains the central square with its street performers and most of the elegant buildings, theatres and entertainment facilities, including the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and the London Transport Museum.
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Florence
Florence (Italian: Firenze [fiˈrɛntse] ( listen), alternate obsolete form: Fiorenza; Latin: Florentia) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area.
Florence is famous for its history. A centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, Florence is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called the Athens of the Middle Ages. A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1870 the city was also the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy.
The historic centre of Florence attracts millions of tourists each year, and Euromonitor International ranked the city as the world's 72nd most visited in 2009, with 1,685,000 visitors. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. Due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and the city is noted for its history, culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Pitti Palace, amongst others, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics.
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Genoa
Genoa
/ˈdʒɛnoʊ.ə/ (Italian: Genova [ˈdʒɛːnova] (
listen); Genoese and Ligurian Zena [ˈzeːna]; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is the capital of Liguria and the sixth largest city in Italy, with a population of 608,676 within its administrative limits on a land area of 243.6 km2 (94 sq mi). The urban zone of Genoa extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 718,896. The urban area of Genoa has a population of 800,709. In the metropolitan area live between 859,000 and 1.4 million or 1.5 million people. Genoa is one of Europe's largest cities on the Mediterranean Sea and the largest seaport in Italy.
Genoa has been nicknamed la Superba ("the Superb one") due to its glorious past and impressive landmarks. Part of the old town of Genoa was inscribed on the World Heritage List (UNESCO) in 2006 (see below). The city's rich art, music, gastronomy, architecture and history, allowed it to become the 2004's European Capital of Culture. It is the birthplace of Christopher Columbus.
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Grenoble
Coordinates: 45°12′01″N 5°43′20″E / 45.2002°N 5.7222°E / 45.2002; 5.7222
Grenoble (French pronunciation: [ɡʁə.nɔbl]; Arpitan: Grenoblo) is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère. The proximity of the mountains has led to the city being known as the "Capital of the Alps."
Grenoble's history goes back more than 2,000 years, and it has been the capital of the Dauphiné since the 11th century. It experienced a period of economic expansion in the nineteenth and 20th centuries, symbolized by the holding of the X Olympic Winter Games in 1968. The city is now a significant scientific centre in Europe.
The population of the city (commune) of Grenoble at the 2008 census was 156,659. The population of the Grenoble metropolitan area (French: aire urbaine de Grenoble) at the 2008 census was 664,832. The residents of the city are called "Grenoblois".
Among the numerous communes that make up Grenoble are the city's largest suburbs, Saint-Martin-d'Hères, Échirolles, and Fontaine, each with a population exceeding 20,000.
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Havana
Havana (/həˈvænə/; Spanish: La Habana, [la aˈβana] ( listen)) is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of 726.75 km2 (280.60 sq mi) — making it the largest city by area, the most populous city, and the fourth largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean region. The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay, which is entered through a narrow inlet and which divides into three main harbours: Marimelena, Guanabacoa and Atarés. The sluggish Almendares River traverses the city from south to north, entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay.
Havana was founded by the Spanish in the 16th century and due to its strategic location it served as a springboard for the Spanish conquest of the continent becoming a stopping point for the treasure laden Spanish Galleons on the crossing between the New World and the Old World. King Philip II of Spain granted Havana the title of City in 1592. Walls as well as forts were built to protect the old city. The sinking of the U.S. battleship Maine in Havana's harbor in 1898 was the immediate cause of the Spanish-American War.
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Isère
Isère (pronounced: [izɛːʁ]; Arpitan: Isera, Occitan: Isèra) is a department in the Rhône-Alpes (Rôno-Arpes in Arpitan) region in the east of France named after the river Isère.
Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Dauphiné. Its area has been reduced twice, in 1852 and again in 1967, on both occasions losing territory to the department of Rhône.
In 1852 in response to rapid urban development round the edge of Lyon, the (hitherto Isère) communes of Bron, Vaulx-en-Velin, Vénissieux and Villeurbanne were transferred to Rhône. In 1967 the redrawing of local government frontiers led to the creation of the Urban Community of Lyon (more recently known simply as Greater Lyon / Grand Lyon). At that time intercommunal groupings of this nature were not permitted to straddle departmental frontiers, and accordingly 23 more Isère communes (along with 6 communes from Ain) found themselves transferred to Rhône. The affected Isère communes were Chaponnay, Chassieu, Communay, Corbas, Décines-Charpieu, Feyzin, Genas, Jonage, Jons, Marennes, Meyzieu, Mions, Pusignan, Saint-Bonnet-de-Mure, Saint-Laurent-de-Mure, Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu, Saint-Priest, Saint-Symphorien-d'Ozon, Sérézin-du-Rhône, Simandres, Solaize, Ternay and Toussieu.
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Les Invalides
Coordinates: 48°51′18″N 2°18′45″E / 48.855°N 2.3125°E / 48.855; 2.3125
Les Invalides (French pronunciation: [lezɛ̃valid]), officially known as L'Hôtel national des Invalides (The National Residence of the Invalids), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building's original purpose. The buildings house the Musée de l'Armée, the military museum of the Army of France, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, and the Musée d'Histoire Contemporaine, as well as the burial site for some of France's war heroes, notably Napoleon Bonaparte (lists below).
Louis XIV initiated the project by an order dated 24 November 1670, as a home and hospital for aged and unwell soldiers: the name is a shortened form of hôpital des invalides. The architect of Les Invalides was Libéral Bruant. The selected site was in the then suburban plain of Grenelle (plaine de Grenelle). By the time the enlarged project was completed in 1676, the river front measured 196 metres and the complex had fifteen courtyards, the largest being the cour d'honneur ("court of honour") for military parades. It was then felt that the veterans required a chapel. Jules Hardouin Mansart assisted the aged Bruant, and the chapel was finished in 1679 to Bruant's designs after the elder architect's death. The chapel is known as Église Saint-Louis des Invalides. Daily attendance was required.
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Montmartre Cemetery
Montmartre Cemetery (French: Cimetière de Montmartre) is a cemetery in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, France.
Cemeteries had been banned from Paris since the shutting down of the Cimetière des Innocents in 1786, as they presented health hazards. Several new cemeteries replaced all the Parisian ones, outside the precincts of the capital, in the early 19th century: Montmartre in the north, Père Lachaise Cemetery in the east, Passy Cemetery in the west and Montparnasse Cemetery in the south.
Located west of the Butte, near the beginning of Rue Caulaincourt in Place de Clichy, the cemetery in the Montmartre quarter of Paris is built below street level in the hollow of an old quarry with its entrance on Avenue Rachel under Rue Caulaincourt.
A popular tourist destination, it is the final resting place of many famous artists who lived and worked in the Montmartre area.
Coordinates: 48°53′16″N 2°19′49″E / 48.88778°N 2.33028°E / 48.88778; 2.33028
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Naples
Coordinates: 40°50′42″N 14°15′30″E / 40.845°N 14.25833°E / 40.845; 14.25833
Naples (Italian: Napoli [ˈnaːpoli] ( listen), Neapolitan: Napule; Latin: Neapolis; Ancient Greek: Νεάπολις, meaning "new city") is the capital of Campania and the third-largest city in Italy, after Rome and Milan. As of 2012[update], around 960,000 people live within the city's administrative limits. The wider Naples urban area, covering 777 km2 (300 sq mi), has a population of over 3 million, and is the 10th-most populous urban area in the European Union. Between 4.1 and 4.4 million people live in the overall Naples metropolitan area, one of the largest European cities on the Mediterranean Sea.
Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Greek settlements were established on the island of Megaride in the Gulf of Naples as early as the 9th century BC. A larger mainland colony – initially known as Parthenope (Παρθενόπη) – developed around the 7th century BC, and was refounded as Neápolis (Νεάπολις) in the 5th century BC. Naples became a lynchpin of Magna Graecia and played a key role in the merging of Greek culture into Roman society, eventually becoming a cultural centre of the Roman Republic. Naples remained influential after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, serving as the capital city of the Kingdom of Naples between 1282 and 1816. Thereafter, in union with Sicily, it became the capital of the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy in 1861. During the Neapolitan War of 1815, Naples strongly promoted Italian unification.
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Nice
Coordinates: 43°42′12″N 7°15′59″E / 43.7034°N 7.2663°E / 43.7034; 7.2663
Nice ( /ˈniːs/, French pronunciation: [nis]; Niçard Occitan: Niça [classical norm] or Nissa [nonstandard], Italian: Nizza or Nizza Marittima, Greek: Νίκαια, Latin: Nicaea) is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of 71.92 km2 (28 sq mi). The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of about 1 million on an area of 721 km2 (278 sq mi). Located on the south east coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea, Nice is the second-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast after Marseille.
The city is called Nice la Belle (Nissa La Bella in Niçard), which means Nice the Beautiful, which is also the title of the unofficial anthem of Nice, written by Menica Rondelly in 1912. Nice is the capital of the Alpes Maritimes département and the second biggest city of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region after Marseille.
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Opéra Bastille
L'Opéra Bastille (Bastille Opera) is a modern opera house in Paris, France. It is the home base of the Opéra national de Paris and was designed to replace the Palais Garnier, which is nowadays mainly used for ballet performances.
In 1968, the idea for a new opera house in Paris first came from the composer Pierre Boulez, Maurice Béjart, along with Jean Vilar, a believer in the need for popular theatre. Their report inspired François Mitterrand, the French president, to sponsor a competition to build a new house. He wanted it to become a "modern and popular" place in order to share classical music with the masses.
Therefore, he created the Opera Bastille Public Establishment (l'Établissement PuA) competition to select an architect to build this new opera house. 756 entries were received, and, in November 1983, the competition was won by, at the time, an unknown architect, Carlos Ott, a Uruguayan who lives in Canada.
Located at the Place de la Bastille, in the 12th arrondissement, the house was designed with 2,723 seats, every one of which has an unrestricted view of the stage. The theatre, was "surmounted by the opaque cube of the stage building and wrapped in gridded walls of glass...... the Opera stands sociably open to the world outside, whereas the foyers, with their broad overview of the city, have the slick, impersonal look of an airport lounge". Beauvert also describes the theatre's backstage facilities as being extremely modern, allowing for nine times the volume of the stage and the ability to roll entire sets off and on intact. However, compared to other world-class opera houses, the acoustics have been described as disappointing at best.
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Place de la Bastille
The Place de la Bastille is a square in Paris, where the Bastille prison stood until the 'Storming of the Bastille' and its subsequent physical destruction between 14 July 1789 and 14 July 1790 during the French Revolution; no vestige of it remains.
The square straddles 3 arrondissements of Paris, namely the 4th, 11th and 12th. The square and its surrounding areas are normally called simply Bastille.
The July Column (Colonne de Juillet) which commemorates the events of the July Revolution (1830) stands at the center of the square. Other notable features include the Bastille Opera, the Bastille subway station and a section of the Canal Saint Martin. Prior to 1984, the former Bastille railway station stood where the opera house now stands.
The square is often home to concerts and similar events. The north-eastern area of Bastille is busy at night due to many cafés, bars, night clubs, and concert halls.
As a consequence of its historical significance, the square is often used for political demonstrations, including the massive anti-CPE demonstration of 28 March 2006.
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Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Originally called the Theatre Royal, it served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later, Handel's first season of operas began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there.
The current building is the third theatre on the site following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1857. The façade, foyer, and auditorium date from 1858, but almost every other element of the present complex dates from an extensive reconstruction in the 1990s. The Royal Opera House seats 2,256 people and consists of four tiers of boxes and balconies and the amphitheatre gallery. The proscenium is 12.20 m wide and 14.80 m high. The main auditorium is a Grade 1 listed building.
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Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербург, tr. Sankt-Peterburg; IPA: [sankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk] ( listen)) is a city and a federal subject (a federal city) of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. In 1914 the name of the city was changed to Petrograd (Russian: Петроград; IPA: [pʲɪtrɐˈgrat]), in 1924 to Leningrad (Russian: Ленинград; IPA: [lʲɪnʲɪnˈgrat]) and in 1991 back to Saint Petersburg.
In Russian literature, informal documents, and discourse, the "Saint" (Санкт-) is usually omitted, leaving Petersburg (Петербург, Peterburg). In common parlance Russians may drop "-burg" (-бург) as well, leaving only Peter (Питер, Russian: [ˈpʲitʲɪr]).
Saint Petersburg was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 27 [O.S. 16] 1703. From 1713 to 1728 and from 1732 to 1918, Saint Petersburg was the Imperial capital of Russia. In 1918 the central government bodies moved from Saint Petersburg (then named Petrograd) to Moscow. It is Russia's second largest city after Moscow with almost 5 million inhabitants. Saint Petersburg is a major European cultural center, and also an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea.
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Théâtre du Châtelet
The Théâtre du Châtelet (French pronunciation: [teɑtʁ dy ʃatlɛ]) is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France.
One of two theatres (the other being the Théâtre de la Ville) built on the site of a châtelet, a small castle or fortress, it was designed by Gabriel Davioud at the request of Baron Haussmann between 1860 and 1862. Originally built with 3,000 seats, it was named the Théâtre Impérial du Châtelet, but has undergone remodeling and name changes over the years. Currently it seats 2,500 people.
The theatre is one of two apparent twins constructed along the quays of the Seine, facing each other across the open Place du Châtelet and its ornate fountain. The other is the Théâtre de la Ville (previously the Sarah Bernhardt). Their external architecture is essentially Palladian entrances under arcades, although their interior layouts differ considerably. At the centre of the plaza is a sphinx-endowed fountain, erected in 1808, which commemorates Napoleon's victory in Egypt.
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Turin
Turin (Italian: Torino, pronounced [toˈriːno] ( listen); Piedmontese: Turin, pronounced [tyˈɾiŋ]; Latin: Augusta Taurinorum) is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 (November 2008) while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population of 2.2 million.
The city has a rich culture and history, and is known for its numerous art galleries, restaurants, churches, palaces, opera houses, piazzas, parks, gardens, theatres, libraries, museums and other venues. Turin is well known for its baroque, rococo, neo-classical, and Art Nouveau architecture. Much of the city's public squares, castles, gardens and elegant palazzi such as Palazzo Madama, were built in the 16th and 18th century, after the capital of the Duchy of Savoy (later Kingdom of Sardinia) was moved to Turin from Chambery( nowadays France) as part of the urban expansion.
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69288 Berlioz
69288 Berlioz (1990 TW11) is a main-belt asteroid discovered on October 11, 1990, by F. Borngen and L. D. Schmadel at Tautenburg.
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Adam Mickiewicz
Adam Bernard Mickiewicz [mit͡sˈkʲɛvit͡ʂ] ( listen)) (Belarusian: Ада́м Берна́рд Міцке́віч; Lithuanian: Adomas Bernardas Mickevičius; 24 December 1798 – 26 November 1855) was a Polish poet, publicist and political writer. A prime representative of the Polish Romantic period, he is one of that country's Three Bards and the greatest poet in all Polish literature. He is also considered one of the greatest Slavic and European poets. He has been described as a "Slavic bard". He was a leading Romantic dramatist and has been compared in Poland and in western Europe to Byron and Goethe.
He is known primarily as the author of the poetic novel Dziady and national epic Pan Tadeusz, which is considered the last great epic of Polish-Lithuanian noble culture. Mickiewicz's other influential works include Konrad Wallenrod and Grażyna. All served as inspiration during regional uprisings and as foundations for the concept of Poland as "the Christ of Nations."
Mickiewicz was active in the struggle to achieve independence for his homeland, then part of the Russian Empire. Having spent five years in internal exile in central Russia for political activities, he left the Empire in 1829 and spent the rest of his life in emigration, like many of his compatriots. He settled first in Rome, later in Paris, where he became professor of Slavic literature at the Collège de France. He died, probably of cholera, at Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire, where he had gone to help organize Polish forces to fight against Russia in the Crimean War. His remains were later moved to Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, Poland.
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Adam Müller
Adam Heinrich Müller (30 June 1779 – 17 January 1829) was a German publicist, literary critic, political economist, theorist of the state and forerunner of economic romanticism.
Müller was born in Berlin. It was intended that he should study Protestant theology, but from 1798 he devoted himself in Göttingen to the study of law, philosophy, and natural science. He was a student of Gustav Hugo. Returning to Berlin, he was persuaded by his friend Friedrich Gentz to take up political science. He had early formed a close intimacy with Gentz, his elder by 15 years; and this connection exercised an important influence both on his material circumstances and his mental development in after life. The two men differed widely in character and in their fundamental principles, but agreed, at least in their later period, in their practical political aims, and the friendship was only terminated by death.
Müller worked for some time as referendary in the Kurmärkische Kammer in Berlin. Müller's relations with the Junker party and his co-operation with them in their opposition to Hardenberg's reforms made any public employment in Prussia impossible for him. He travelled in Sweden and Denmark, spent about two years in Poland, and then went to Vienna, where he was converted to the Catholic faith on 30 April 1805. Through Gentz he became acquainted with Metternich, to whom he was useful in the preparation of state papers.
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Adam Oehlenschläger
Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger (14 November 1779 – 20 January 1850) was a Danish poet and playwright. He introduced romanticism into Danish literature.
He was born in Vesterbro, then a suburb of Copenhagen, on November 14,1779. His father, a Schleswiger by birth, was at that time organist, and later became keeper, of the royal palace of Frederiksberg; he was a very brisk and cheerful man. The poet's mother, on the other hand, who was partly German by extraction, suffered from depression, which afterwards deepened into melancholy madness.
Oehlenschläger and his sister Sofia were allowed their own way throughout their childhood, and were taught nothing, except to read and write, until their twelfth year. At the age of nine, Oehlenschläger began to make fluent verses. Three years later, while walking in Frederiksberg Gardens, he attracted the notice of the poet Edvard Storm, and the result of the conversation was that he received a nomination to the college called Posterity's High School, an important institution of which Storm was the principal. Storm himself taught the class of Scandinavian mythology, and thus Oehlenschläger received his earliest bias towards the poetical religion of his ancestors.
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Adolphe Adam
Adolphe Charles Adam (24 July 1803 – 3 May 1856) was a French composer and music critic. A prolific composer of operas and ballets, he is best known today for his ballets Giselle (1844) and Le corsaire (1856, his last work), his operas Le postillon de Lonjumeau (1836), Le toréador (1849) and Si j'étais roi (1852, often regarded as his finest work), and his Christmas carol "Minuit, chrétiens!" ("O Holy Night") (1847). Adam was also a noted teacher. Léo Delibes was among his pupils.
Adolphe Adam was born in Paris to Louis Adam (1758–1848), who was also a composer, as well a professor at the Paris Conservatoire. His mother was the daughter of a physician. As a child, Adolphe Adam preferred to improvise music on his own rather than study music seriously. He entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1821, where he studied organ and harmonium under the celebrated opera composer François-Adrien Boieldieu. Adam also played the triangle in the orchestra of the Conservatoire; however, he did not win the Prix de Rome and his father did not encourage him to pursue a music career.
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Alessandro Manzoni
Alessandro Francesco Tommaso Manzoni (7 March 1785 – 22 May 1873) was an Italian poet and novelist. He is famous for the novel The Betrothed (orig. Italian: I Promessi Sposi) (1827), generally ranked among the masterpieces of world literature. The novel is also a symbol of the Italian Risorgimento, both for its patriotic message and because it was a fundamental milestone in the development of the modern, unified Italian language.
Manzoni was born in Milan, Italy, on 7 March 1785. Pietro, his father, aged about fifty, belonged to an old family of Lecco, originally feudal lords of Barzio, in the Valsassina. The poet's maternal grandfather, Cesare Beccaria, was a well-known author, and his mother Giulia had literary talent as well. The young Alessandro spent his first two years of life in cascina Costa in Galbiate and he was wet-nursed by Caterina Panzeri, as attested by a memorial plate affixed in the place. In 1792 his parents broke their marriage and his mother began a relationship with the highbrow Carlo Imbonati, moving to England and later to Paris. For this reason, their son was brought up in several religious institutes. Alessandro Manzoni was a slow developer, and at the various colleges he attended he was considered a dunce. At fifteen, however, he developed a passion for poetry, and wrote two sonnets of considerable merit. Upon the death of his father in 1805, he joined the freethinking household of his mother at Auteuil, and spent two years mixing with the literary set of the so-called "ideologues", philosophers of the 18th-century school, among whom he made many friends, notably Claude Charles Fauriel. There too he imbibed the anti-Catholic creed of Voltairianism.
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Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (Russian: Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Пу́шкин, tr. Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin; IPA: [ɐlʲɪˈksandr sʲɪˈrɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn] ( listen); 6 June [O.S. 26 May] 1799 – 10 February [O.S. 29 January] 1837) was a Russian author of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature.
Born into the Russian nobility in Moscow, Pushkin published his first poem at the age of fifteen, and was widely recognized by the literary establishment by the time of his graduation from the Imperial Lyceum in Tsarskoye Selo.
While under the strict surveillance of the Tsar's political police and unable to publish, Pushkin wrote his most famous play, the drama Boris Godunov. His novel in verse, Eugene Onegin, was serialized between 1825 and 1832.
Notoriously touchy about his honour, Pushkin fought a total of twenty-nine duels, and was fatally wounded in such an encounter with Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d'Anthès. D'Anthès, a French officer serving with the Chevalier Guard Regiment, had been attempting to seduce the poet's wife, Natalya Pushkina. Pushkin's early death at the age of 37 is still regarded as a catastrophe for Russian literature.
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Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas, pronounced: [a.lɛk.sɑ̃dʁ dy.ma], born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie ([dy.ma da.vi də pa.jət.ʁi]) (24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870) was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world. Many of his novels, including The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne were originally serialized. He also wrote plays and magazine articles and was a prolific correspondent. Born in poverty, Dumas was the grandson of a French nobleman and a Haitian slave.
Alexandre Dumas was born in Villers-Cotterêts in the department of Aisne, in Picardy, France.
Dumas' paternal grandparents were Marquis Alexandre-Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie, a French nobleman and Général commissaire in the Artillery in the colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) and Marie-Cesette Dumas, an Afro-Caribbean Creole of mixed French and African ancestry. Their son, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, married Marie-Louise Élisabeth Labouret, the daughter of an innkeeper. Thomas-Alexandre, then a general in Napoleon's army, fell out of favor and the family was impoverished when Dumas was born.
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Alexandre Herculano
Alexandre Herculano de Carvalho e Araújo (born March 28, 1810 in Lisbon – died September 13, 1877 in Santarém), was a Portuguese novelist and historian.
Herculano's family had humble origins. One of his grandfathers was a foreman stonemason in the royal employ. Herculano received his early education, comprising Latin, logic and rhetoric, at the Necessidades Monastery, and spent a year at the Royal Marine Academy studying mathematics with the intention of entering on a commercial career. In 1828 Portugal fell under the absolute rule of D. Miguel, and Herculano, becoming involved in the unsuccessful military pronunciamento of August 1831, had to leave Portugal clandestinely and take refuge in England and France. In 1832 he accompanied the Liberal expedition to Terceira Island as a volunteer, and was one of D. Pedro's famous army of 7500 men who landed at the Mindelo and occupied Oporto. He took part in all the actions of the great siege, and at the same time served as a librarian in the city archives. He published his first volume of verses, A Voz de Propheta, in 1832, and two years later another entitled A Harpa do Crente.
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Alfred de Musset
Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay(11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist. Along with his poetry, he is known for writing La Confession d'un enfant du siècle (The Confession of a Child of the Century, autobiographical) from 1836.
Musset was born on 11 December 1810 in Paris. His family was upper-class but poor and his father worked in various key government positions, but never gave his son any money. His mother was similarly accomplished, and her role as a society hostess - for example her drawing-room parties, luncheons, and dinners, held in the Musset residence - left a lasting impression on young Alfred.
Early indications of Musset's boyhood talents were seen by his fondness for acting impromptu mini-plays based upon episodes from old romance stories he had read. Years later, elder brother Paul de Musset would preserve these, and many other details, for posterity, in a biography on his famous younger brother.
Alfred de Musset entered the collège Henri-IV at the age of nine, where in 1827 he won the Latin essay prize in the Concours général. With the help of Paul Foucher, Victor Hugo's brother-in-law, he began to attend, at the age of 17, the Cénacle, the literary salon of Charles Nodier at the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal. After attempts at careers in medicine (which he gave up owing to a distaste for dissections), law, drawing, English and piano, he became one of the first Romantic writers, with his first collection of poems, Contes d'Espagne et d'Italie (1829, Tales of Spain and Italy). By the time he reached the age of 20, his rising literary fame was already accompanied by a sulphurous reputation fed by his dandy side.
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Alfred de Vigny
Alfred Victor de Vigny (27 March 1797 – 17 September 1863) was a French poet, playwright, and novelist.
Alfred de Vigny was born in Loches (a town to which he never returned) into an aristocratic family. His father was an aged veteran of the Seven Years' War who died before Vigny's 20th birthday; his mother, twenty years younger, was a strong-willed woman who was inspired by Rousseau and took responsibility herself for Vigny's early education.
As was the case for every noble family, the French Revolution diminished the family's circumstances considerably. After Napoléon's defeat at Waterloo, a Bourbon, Louis XVIII, the brother of Louis XVI, was restored to power. In 1814, Vigny enrolled in one of the privileged aristocratic companies of the Maison du Roi.
Always attracted to letters and versed in French history and in knowledge of the Bible, he began to write poetry. He published his first poem in 1820, published an ambitious narrative poem entitled Eloa in 1824 on the popular romantic theme of the redemption of Satan. Prolonging successive leaves from the army, he settled in Paris with his young English bride, Lydia Bunbury, whom he married in Pau in 1825. He collected his recent works in January 1826 in Poèmes antiques et modernes. Three months later, he published a substantial historical novel, Cinq-Mars, based on the life of Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, Marquis of Cinq-Mars; with the success of these two volumes, Vigny seemed to be the rising star of the burgeoning Romantic movement, though this role would soon be usurped by one of Vigny's best friends, Victor Hugo. Unlike his friend, Vigny retained his Royalist sympathies in politics: "The Victor I loved is no more . . . now he likes to make saucy remarks and is turning into a liberal, which does not suit him." Vigny would later denounce members of his inner circle whom he suspected of republican sympathies to the imperial police.
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Almeida Garrett
João Baptista da Silva Leitão de Almeida Garrett, Viscount of Almeida Garrett (February 4, 1799 – December 9, 1854) was a Portuguese poet, playwright, novelist and politician. He is considered to be the introducer of the Romanticism in Portugal. He is regarded as one of history's greatest romantics and a true revolutionary and humanist.
Garrett was born João Leitão da Silva in Porto, the son of António Bernardo da Silva Garrett (1740–1834), a Fidalgo of the Royal Household and Knight of the Order of Christ whose mother was the daughter of an Irish father born in exile in France and an Italian mother born in Spain, and his wife (m. 1796) Ana Augusta de Almeida Leitão (b. Porto, c. 1770). At an early age, around 4 or 5 years old, Garrett changed his name to João Baptista da Silva Leitão, adding a name from his godfather and altering the order of his surnames.
In 1809, his family fled the second French invasion carried out by Soult's troops, seeking refuge in Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira Island, Azores. While in the Azores, he was taught by his uncle, Dom Frei Alexandre da Sagrada Família (Faial, Horta, May 22, 1737 – Terceira, Angra do Heroísmo, April 22, 1818), also a freemason, then the 25th Bishop of Angra (1816–1818) and former Bishop of Malaca and Timor; his two other uncles were Manuel Inácio da Silva Garrett, Archdeacon of Angra, and Inácio da Silva Garrett, also a clergyman of Angra. In childhood, his mulatto Brazilian nanny Rosa de Lima taught him some traditional stories that later influenced his work.
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Aloysius Bertrand
Louis-Jacques-Napoléon “Aloysius” Bertrand (20 April 1807 – 29 April 1841) was a French poet instrumental in the introduction of the prose poem into French literature and is credited with inspiring later Symbolist poets . He wrote a collection of poems entitled Gaspard de la nuit, after which composer Maurice Ravel wrote a suite of the same name, based on the poems "Scarbo", "Ondine", and "Le Gibet".
Bertrand was born in Ceva, Piedmont, Italy (then a part of Napoleonic France) and his family settled in Dijon in 1814. There he developed an interest in the Burgundian capital. His contributions to a local paper lead to recognition by Victor Hugo and Sainte-Beuve. He lived in Paris shortly with little success. He returned to Dijon and continued writing for local newspapers. Gaspard was sold in 1836 but it wasn't published until 1842 after his death of tuberculosis. The book was rediscovered by Charles Baudelaire and Stéphane Mallarmé. It is now considered a classic of poetic and fantastic literature. He died in Paris.
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Alphonse Legros
Alphonse Legros (8 May 1837 – 8 December 1911), painter, etcher and sculptor was born in Dijon. His father was an accountant, and came from the neighbouring village of Véronnes. Young Legros frequently visited the farms of his relatives, and the peasants and landscapes of that part of France are the subjects of many of his pictures and etchings. He was sent to the art school at Dijon with a view to qualifying for a trade, and was apprenticed to Maître Nicolardo, house decorator and painter of images. In 1851 Legros left for Paris to take another situation; but passing through Lyon he worked for six months as journeyman wall-painter under the decorator Beuchot, who was painting the chapel of Cardinal Bonald in the cathedral.
In Paris he studied with Cambon, scene-painter and decorator of theatres, an experience which developed a breadth of touch such as Stallfield and Cox picked up in similar circumstances. At this time he attended the drawing-school of Lecoq de Boisbaudran (the "Petite école") where he found himself in sympathy with Jules Dalou and Auguste Rodin. In 1855 Legros attended the evening classes of the École des Beaux Arts, and perhaps gained there his love of drawing from the antique, some of the results of which may be seen in the Print Room of the British Museum.
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André Cluytens
André Cluytens (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃ːdʁe klɥitɑ̃s]; born Augustin Zulma Alphonse Cluytens) (26 March 1905 – 3 June 1967) was a Belgian-born French conductor who was active in the concert hall, opera house and recording studio. His repertoire extended from Viennese classics through French composers to 20th century works. Although much of his career was in France, he was the first French conductor at Bayreuth in 1955; he also conducted the Ring and Parsifal at La Scala.
Cluytens was born in Antwerp into a musical family: his paternal grandfather, father and uncles were all professional musicians. His mother was a soprano at the opera, and after she died in 1906 his father married another singer. He entered the Royal Flemish Conservatory at the age of 9, graduating at 16 with first prizes in harmony and counterpoint, and piano. His father Alphonse, conductor of the Antwerp Opera (the Théâtre Royal Français), engaged his son as a chorusmaster and coach. He joined his father at the Opera, conducting productions there, making his debut on 14 December 1926 with Les pêcheurs de perles. In January 1927 he married Germaine Gilson, a soprano soloist in the troupe of the Théâtre Royal Français; they had one son, Michel (1943–69). Promoted to house conductor for the 1927-28 season, over the next five years Cluytens built up a broad opera (and ballet) repertoire in Antwerp: Mireille, Madama Butterfly, La traviata, La fille du régiment, La Basoche, Ma mère l'oye, Manon, La poupée de Nuremberg, Resurrection, Lucia di Lammermoor, Werther, Jeux, Le domino noir, Le voyage en Chine, Les Huguenots, Schwanda the Bagpiper, Salome and Angélique.
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Antoine Wiertz
Antoine Joseph Wiertz (22 February 1806 – 18 June 1865) was a Belgian romantic painter and sculptor.
Born in Dinant from a relatively poor family, he entered the Antwerp art academy in 1820. Thanks to his protector Pierre-Joseph de Paul de Maibe, a member of the Second Chamber of the States-General, king William I of the Netherlands awarded an annual stipend to Wiertz from 1821 onwards. Between November 1829 and May 1832, he stayed in Paris, where he studied the old masters at the Louvre.
In 1828, Wiertz took part in the Grand Concours, also known as Concours de Rome, but came out only second. He landed the prestigious Prix de Rome only at his second attempt in 1832, which enabled him to go to Rome, where he resided from May 1834 until February 1837. Upon his return, he established himself in Liège with his mother.
During his stay in Rome, Wiertz worked on his first great work, Les Grecs et les Troyens se disputant le corps de Patrocle ("Greeks and Trojans fighting for the body of Patrocles", finished in 1836), on a subject borrowed from canto XVII of Homer's Iliad. It was exhibited in Antwerp in 1837, where it met with some success. Wiertz submitted the work for the Paris Salon of 1838, but it arrived too late and was refused.
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Anton Reicha
Anton (Antonín, Antoine) Reicha (Rejcha) (26 February 1770 – 28 May 1836) was a Bohemia-born, later naturalized French composer. A contemporary and lifelong friend of Beethoven, Reicha is now best remembered for his substantial early contribution to the wind quintet literature and his role as a teacher – his pupils included Franz Liszt and Hector Berlioz. Reicha was also an accomplished theorist and wrote several treatises on various aspects of composition. Some of his theoretical work dealt with experimental methods of composition, which he applied in a variety of works such as fugues and études for piano and string quartets.
Reicha was born in Prague into a family of a town piper. His father died when Reicha was just 10 months old, and his mother was uninterested in the boy's education. At the age of 10 the young composer ran away from home, and was subsequently raised and educated in music by his uncle Josef Reicha. When the family moved to Bonn, Josef secured for his nephew a place at the Hofkapelle, but for Reicha this was not enough. He studied composition secretly, against his uncle's wishes, and entered the University of Bonn in 1789. When Bonn was captured by the French in 1794, Reicha had to flee to Hamburg, where he made his living by teaching harmony and composition, and studied mathematics and philosophy. Between 1799 and 1801 he lived in Paris, trying to achieve recognition as an opera composer, without success. In 1801 he moved to Vienna, where he studied with Salieri and Albrechtsberger and produced his first important works. His life was once again affected by war in 1808, when he had to leave Vienna. Reicha settled in Paris, where he spent the rest of his life teaching composition; in 1818 he was appointed professor at the Conservatoire.
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Antoni Malczewski
Antoni Malczewski (3 June 1793 – 2 May 1826) was an influential Polish romantic poet, known for his only work, "a narrative poem of dire pessimism", Maria (1825).
At the times, prominent and scandalizing was his autodestructive romance with married woman, Zofia Rucińska, who suffered from mental illness.
Malczewski was born to a wealthy family in either Volhynia or Warsaw, and attended school in Krzemieniec (modern-day Kremenets, Ukraine), but did not graduate. He joined the army of the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw during the Napoleonic Wars in 1811, and remained in the army of Congress Poland under Emperor Alexander from 1815. He was wounded in the foot in a duel in 1816 and so had to leave the army.
After leaving the army, he spent several years traveling through western Europe, staying some time in Paris, climbing Mont Blanc in 1818, and spending a good portion of his inherited fortune. He returned to his estate in Volhynia in 1821, where he began an ill-fated affair with a married woman and began writing. He moved to Warsaw in 1824, where he published the poetic novel Maria at his own expense in 1825, and died in poverty the next year in unclear circumstances.
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August Prinzhofer
August Prinzhofer (12 September 1816 in St. Veit an der Glan – 4 August 1885 in Bad Steinerhof bei Kapfenberg) was an Austrian painter and lithographer.
August Prinzhofer came from a long-established Carinthian family and showed great talent for drawing even as a child. He studied law in Vienna and Padua. He worked in a civil court in Vienna from 1844 onwards as well as a simultaneous and successful career as a portraitist, until in 1854 he gave up the law to devote himself entirely to portraiture.
Prinzhofer was one of the artists who led to the flowering of photolithography in Vienna from 1830 to 1860 - others included Joseph Kriehuber, Franz Eybl and Eduard Kaiser. His lithographs included more than 500 portraits (of subjects including Hector Berlioz, Ludwig von Benedek, Ignaz Franz Castelli, Archduke John of Austria, Lajos Kossuth, Albert Lortzing, Alois Negrelli, pope Pius IX, Johann Ladislaus Pyrker and Johann Nestroy). In the 1850s photography was becoming ever more widespread and in 1860 the photolithograph fell out of fashion, so in 1861 Prinzhofer moved to Graz and increasingly dedicated himself solely to oil-on-canvas portraits and watercolour miniatures.
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Bedřich Smetana
Bedřich Smetana (Czech pronunciation: [ˈbɛdr̝ɪx ˈsmɛtana] ( listen); 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music. Internationally he is best known for his opera The Bartered Bride, for the symphonic cycle Má vlast ("My Fatherland") which portrays the history, legends and landscape of the composer's native land, and for his First String Quartet From My Life.
Smetana was naturally gifted as a pianist, and gave his first public performance at the age of six. After his conventional schooling, he studied music under Josef Proksch in Prague. His first nationalistic music was written during the 1848 Prague uprising, in which he briefly participated. After failing to establish his career in Prague, he left for Sweden, where he set up as a teacher and choirmaster in Gothenburg, and began to write large-scale orchestral works. During this period of his life Smetana was twice married; of six daughters, three died in infancy.
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Benvenuto Cellini
Benvenuto Cellini (Italian pronunciation: [benveˈnuto tʃelˈlini]; 3 November 1500 – 13 February 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, painter, soldier and musician, who also wrote a famous autobiography. He was one of the most important artists of Mannerism.
Benvenuto Cellini was born in Florence, Italy. His parents were Giovanni Cellini, and Maria Lisabetta Granacci. They were married for eighteen years before the birth of their first child. Benvenuto was the second child of the family. The son of a musician and builder of musical instruments, Cellini's first major brush with the law came as an early teenager: He was banished from his native Florence for his alleged role in a brawl. As a result, he received his early artistic training not only from the Florentine goldsmith Marcone [Antonio di Sandro], but also from Francesco Castoro, a goldsmith of Siena. After further visits to Bologna and Pisa, Cellini was allowed to return to Florence and continue his work there.
Giovanni initially wished Benvenuto to join him in instrument making, and endeavoured to thwart his inclination for metalwork. When he was fifteen, his father reluctantly agreed to apprentice him to a goldsmith, Antonio di Sandro, nicknamed Marcone. At the age of sixteen, Benvenuto had already attracted attention in Florence by taking part in an affray with youthful companions. He escaped punishment by fleeing for six months to Siena, where he worked for a goldsmith named Fracastoro (unrelated to the Veronese polymath). From Siena he moved to Bologna, where he became a more accomplished flute player and made progress as a goldsmith. After a visit to Pisa and two periods of living in Florence (where he was visited by the sculptor Torrigiano), he moved to Rome, age nineteen.
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Bettina von Arnim
Bettina von Arnim (the Countess of Arnim) (4 April 1785, Frankfurt am Main – 20 January 1859, Berlin), born Elisabeth Catharina Ludovica Magdalena Brentano, was a German writer and novelist.
Bettina (as well: Bettine) Brentano was a writer, publisher, composer, singer, visual artist, an illustrator, patron of young talent, and a social activist. She was the archetype of the Romantic era’s zeitgeist and the crux of many creative relationships of canonical artistic figures. Best known for the company she kept, she numbered among her closest friends Goethe, Beethoven, and Pückler and tried to foster artistic agreement among them. Many leading composers of the time, including Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Johanna Kinkel, and Johannes Brahms, admired her spirit and talents. As a composer, von Arnim's style was unconventional, molding and melding favorite folk melodies and historical themes with innovative harmonies, phrase lengths, and improvisations that became synonymous with the music of the era.
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Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm (German: Brüder Grimm or Die Gebrüder Grimm), Jakob Grimm (January 4, 1785 – September 20, 1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (February 24, 1786 – December 16, 1859), were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who together collected folklore. They are among the most well-known storytellers of European folk tales, and their work popularized such stories as "Cinderella", "The Frog Prince" (Der Froschkönig), "Hansel and Gretel" (Hänsel und Gretel), "Rapunzel", "Rumpelstiltskin" (Rumpelstilzchen), and "Snow White" (Schneewittchen). Their first collection of folk tales, Children's and Household Tales (Kinder- und Hausmärchen), was published in 1812.
The brothers spent their formative years first in the German town of Hanau and then in Steinau. Their father's death in 1796, about a decade into their lives, caused great poverty for the family and affected the brothers for many years. They attended the University of Marburg where historian and jurist Friedrich von Savigny spurred their interest in philology and Germanic studies—a field in which they are now considered pioneers—and at the same time developed a curiosity for folklore, which grew into a life-long dedication to collecting German folk tales.
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Carl Loewe
Johann Carl Gottfried Loewe (30 November 1796, Löbejün – 20 April 1869), usually called Carl Loewe (sometimes seen as Karl Loewe), was a German composer, baritone singer and conductor. In his lifetime, his songs were well enough known for some to call him the "Schubert of North Germany", and Hugo Wolf came to admire his work. He is less known today, but sometimes his ballads and songs, which amount to over 400, are occasionally performed.
Loewe was born in Löbejün and received his first music lessons from his father. He was a choir-boy, first at Köthen, and later at Halle, where he went to grammar school. The beauty of Loewe's voice brought him under the notice of Madame de Staël, who procured him a pension from Jérôme Bonaparte, then king of Westphalia, which enabled him to further his education in music, and to study theology at Halle University. This ended in 1813, on the flight of the king.
In 1820, he moved to Stettin in Prussia (now Szczecin in Poland), where he worked as organist and music director of the school. It was while there that he did most of his work as a composer, publishing a version of Goethe's Erlkönig in 1824 (written 1817-18) which some say rivals Schubert's far more famous version. He went on to set many other poets' works, including Friedrich Rückert, and translations of William Shakespeare and Lord Byron.
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Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 1786 – 4–5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school.
Weber's operas Der Freischütz, Euryanthe and Oberon greatly influenced the development of the Romantic opera in Germany. Der Freischütz came to be regarded as the first German "nationalist" opera, Euryanthe developed the Leitmotiv technique to a hitherto-unprecedented degree, while Oberon anticipated Mendelssohn's music for A Midsummer Night's Dream and, at the same time, revealed Weber's lifelong interest in the music of non-Western cultures. This interest was first manifested in Weber's incidental music for Schiller's translation of Gozzi's Turandot, for which he used a Chinese melody, making him the first Western composer to use an Asian tune that was not of the pseudo-Turkish kind popularized by Mozart and others.
A brilliant pianist himself, Weber composed four sonatas, two concertos and the Konzertstück (Concert Piece) in F minor, which influenced composers such as Chopin, Liszt and Mendelssohn. The Konzertstück provided a new model for the one-movement concerto in several contrasting sections (such as Liszt's, who often played the work), and was acknowledged by Stravinsky as the model for his Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra. Weber's shorter piano pieces, such as the Invitation to the Dance, was later orchestrated by Berlioz, while his Polacca Brillante was later orchestrated by Liszt.
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Charles Dutoit
Charles Édouard Dutoit, (French pronunciation: [ʃaʁl e.dwaːʁ dy.twa]) OC GOQ (born 7 October 1936) is a Swiss conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of French and Russian 20th century music. He has made influential modern recordings of Hector Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette and Maurice Ravel's ballets Daphnis et Chloé and Ma mère l'oye. He currently serves as the Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Dutoit was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, studied there and graduated from the Geneva Conservatory where he won first prize in conducting, then he went to the Music Academy in Siena by the invitation of Alceo Galliera. In his younger days, he frequently attended Ernest Ansermet's rehearsals and had a personal acquaintance with him. He also worked with Herbert von Karajan at Lucerne as a member of the festival youth orchestra and studied with Charles Munch at Tanglewood. Dutoit began his professional music career in 1957 as a viola player with various orchestras across Europe and South America. In January 1959, he made his debut as a professional conductor with an orchestra of Radio Lausanne and Martha Argerich. From 1959 he was a guest conductor of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. After this, he was the conductor for Radio Zurich until 1967, when he took over the Bern Symphony Orchestra from Paul Kletzki, where he stayed for eleven years.
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Charles Hallé
Sir Charles Hallé (11 April 1819 – 25 October 1895) was an Anglo-German pianist and conductor, and founder of The Hallé orchestra in 1858.
Hallé was born in Hagen, Westphalia, Germany who after settling in England changed his name from Karl Halle. His first lessons were from his father, an organist, studying in Darmstadt and later Paris.
In 1848, Hallé moved to England, settling in Manchester where he started a series of classical music concerts. He conducted elsewhere in the country also, as well as performing as a pianist. He was the first pianist to play the complete series of Beethoven’s piano sonatas in England.
He studied under Rink at Darmstadt in 1835, and as early as 1836 went to Paris, where for twelve years he often assoociated with Luigi Cherubini, Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt and other musicians, and enjoyed the friendship of such great literary figures as Alfred de Musset and George Sand. He had started a set of chamber concerts with Jean Delphin Alard and Auguste Franchomme with great success, and had completed one series of them when the revolution of 1848 drove him from Paris, and he settled, with his wife and two children, in London.
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Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann (née Clara Josephine Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era. She exerted her influence over a 61-year concert career, changing the format and repertoire of the piano recital and the tastes of the listening public. Her husband was the composer Robert Schumann. She and her husband encouraged Johannes Brahms, and she was the first pianist to give public performances of some of Brahms' works, notably the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel.
Clara Josephine Wieck was born in Leipzig on 13 September 1819 to Friedrich and Marianne Wieck (née Tromlitz). Her parents divorced when she was four years old; Clara was raised by her father. One of her father's students would scare Clara and dress up as ghosts but when she was older, she married him. In March 1828, at the age of eight, the young Clara Wieck performed at the Leipzig home of Dr. Ernst Carus, director of a mental hospital at Colditz Castle, and met another gifted young pianist invited to the musical evening named Robert Schumann, nine years older than her. Schumann admired Clara's playing so much that he asked permission from his mother to discontinue his studies of the law, which had never interested him much, and take music lessons with Clara's father, Friedrich Wieck. While taking lessons, he took rooms in the Wieck household, staying about a year.
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Clemens Brentano
Clemens Brentano, or Klemens Brentano (September 9, 1778 – July 28, 1842) was a German poet and novelist.
He was born in Ehrenbreitstein, near Koblenz, Germany. His sister was Bettina von Arnim, Goethe's correspondent. His father's family was of Italian descent. He studied in Halle and Jena, afterwards residing at Heidelberg, Vienna and Berlin. He was close to Wieland, Herder, Goethe, Friedrich Schlegel, Fichte and Tieck.
From 1798 to 1800 Brentano lived in Jena, the first center of the romantic movement. In 1801, he moved to Göttingen, and became a friend of Achim von Arnim. He married writer Sophie Mereau on 29 October 1803. In 1804, he moved to Heidelberg and worked with Arnim on Zeitungen für Einsiedler and Des Knaben Wunderhorn. After his wife Sophie died in 1806 he married a second time in 1807 to Auguste Busmann. In the years between 1808 and 1818, he lived mostly in Berlin, and from 1819 to 1824 in Dülmen, Westphalia.
In 1818, weary of his somewhat restless and unsettled life, he returned to the practice of the Catholic faith and withdrew to the monastery of Dülmen, where he lived for some years in strict seclusion. He took on there the position of secretary to the Catholic visionary nun, the Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, of whom it was said that, during the last twelve years of her life, she could eat no food except Holy Communion, nor take any drink except water, subsisting entirely on the Holy Eucharist.
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Colin Davis
Sir Colin Rex Davis, CH, CBE (born 25 September 1927) is an English conductor. His repertoire is broad, but among the composers with whom he is particularly associated are Mozart, Berlioz, Elgar, Sibelius, Stravinsky and Tippett.
He studied as a clarinettist, but was intent on becoming a conductor. After struggles as a freelance conductor from 1949 to 1957, he gained a series of appointments with orchestras including the BBC Scottish Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has been associated with the London Symphony Orchestra for over 50 years, including over ten years as its principal conductor. He has also held the musical directorships of Sadler's Wells Opera and the Royal Opera House, where he was principal conductor for over fifteen years. His guest conductorships include the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Dresden Staatskapelle, among many others.
As a teacher, Davis holds posts at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and the Carl Maria von Weber High School of Music in Dresden. He made his first gramophone recordings in 1958, and his discography built up in the succeeding five decades is extensive, with a large number of studio recordings for Philips Records and a growing catalogue of live recordings for the London Symphony Orchestra's own label.
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Cyprian Norwid
Cyprian Kamil Norwid, a.k.a. Cyprian Konstanty Norwid (Polish pronunciation: [ˈt͡sɨprjan ˈnɔrvid]; 24 September 1821– 23 May 1883) is a nationally esteemed Polish poet, dramatist, painter, and sculptor. He was born in the Masovian village of Laskowo-Głuchy near Warsaw. One of his maternal ancestors was the Polish King John III Sobieski.
Norwid is regarded as one of the second generation of romantics. He wrote many well-known poems including Fortepian Szopena ("Chopin's Piano"), Moja piosnka [II] ("My Song [II]") and Bema pamięci żałobny-rapsod ("A Funeral Rhapsody in Memory of General Bem"). Norwid led a tragic and often poverty-stricken life (once he had to live in a cemetery crypt). He experienced increasing health problems, unrequited love, harsh critical reviews, and increasing social isolation. He lived abroad most of his life, especially in London and in Paris, where he died.
Norwid’s original and non-conformist style was not appreciated in his lifetime and partially due to this fact, he was excluded from high society. His work was only rediscovered and appreciated during the Young Poland art period of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He is now considered one of the four most important Polish Romantic poets. Other literary historians, however, consider this an over-simplification, and regard his style to be more characteristic of classicism and parnassianism.
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César Franck
César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck (10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life.
He was born at Liège, in what is now Belgium (though at the time of his birth it was under the Netherlands' control). In that city he gave his first concerts in 1834. He studied privately in Paris from 1835, where his teachers included Anton Reicha. After a brief return to Belgium, and a disastrous reception to an early oratorio Ruth, he moved to Paris, where he married and embarked on a career as teacher and organist. He gained a reputation as a formidable improviser, and travelled widely in France to demonstrate new instruments built by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll.
In 1858 he became organist at Sainte-Clotilde, a position he retained for the rest of his life. He became professor at the Paris Conservatoire in 1872; he took French nationality, a requirement of the appointment. His pupils included Vincent d'Indy, Ernest Chausson, Louis Vierne, Charles Tournemire, Guillaume Lekeu, and Henri Duparc. After acquiring the professorship Franck wrote several pieces that have entered the standard classical repertoire, including symphonic, chamber, and keyboard works.
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Daniel Auber
Daniel François Esprit Auber (French pronunciation: [daɲɛl fʁɑ̃swa ɛspʁi obɛːʁ]) (29 January 1782 – 12/13 May 1871) was a French composer.
The son of a Paris print-seller, Auber was born in Caen in Normandy. Though his father expected him to continue in the print-selling business, he also allowed his son to learn how to play several musical instruments. His first teacher was the Tirolean composer, Josef Alois Ladurner (1769–1851). At the age of 20 Auber was sent to London for business training, but he was obliged to leave England in 1804 when the Treaty of Amiens was breached.
Auber had already attempted musical composition, and at this period produced several concertos pour basse, modeled after violoncellist Lamarre, in whose name they were published. The praise given to his concerto for the violin, which was played at the Paris Conservatoire by Mazas, encouraged him to undertake a resetting of an old comic opera, Julie (1811). He also began to study with the renowned Luigi Cherubini.
In 1813 the unfavourable reception of his one-act debut opera Le Séjour militaire put an end for some years to his attempts as composer. But his failure in business, and the death of his father in 1819, compelled him once more to turn to music. He produced another opera, Le Testament et les billets-doux (1819), which was no better received than the former. But he persevered, and the next year was rewarded by the complete success of La Bergère châtelaine, an opera in three acts.
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Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (born Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.
He was born as Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts; he was orphaned young when his mother died shortly after his father abandoned the family. Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia, but they never formally adopted him. He attended the University of Virginia for one semester but left due to lack of money. After enlisting in the Army and later failing as an officer's cadet at West Point, Poe parted ways with the Allans. His publishing career began humbly, with an anonymous collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only to "a Bostonian".
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Emanuel Leutze
Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze (May 24, 1816, Schwäbisch Gmünd – July 18, 1868) was a German American history painter best known for his painting Washington Crossing the Delaware. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting.
Leutze was born in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Württemberg (Germany), and was brought to America as a child. His parents settled first in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, then at Fredericksburg, Va. His early education was good, though not especially in the direction of art. The first development of his artistic talent occurred while he was attending the sickbed of his father, when he attempted drawing to occupy the long hours of waiting. His father died in 1831. At 14, he was painting portraits for $5 apiece. Through such work, he supported himself after the death of his father. In 1834, he received his first instruction in art in classes of John Rubens Smith, a portrait painter in Philadelphia. He soon became skilled, and promoted a plan for publishing, in Washington, portraits of eminent American statesmen; however, he met with but slight encouragement.
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Ernest Legouvé
Gabriel Jean Baptiste Ernest Wilfrid Legouvé (14 February 1807 – 14 March 1903) was a French dramatist.
Son of the poet Gabriel-Marie Legouvé (1764-1812), he was born in Paris. His mother died in 1810, and almost immediately afterwards his father was removed to a lunatic asylum. The child, however, inherited a considerable fortune, and was carefully educated. Jean Nicolas Bouilly (1763 – 1842) was his tutor, and early instilled into the young Legouvé a passion for literature, to which the example of his father and of his grandfather, J. B. Legouvé (1729-1783), predisposed him.
As early as 1829 he carried away a prize of the Académie française for a poem on the discovery of printing; and in 1832 he published a curious little volume of verses, entitled Les Morts Bizarres. In those early days Legouvé brought out a succession of novels, of which Édith de Falsen enjoyed a considerable success. In 1847 he began the work by which he is best remembered, his contributions to the development and education of the female mind, by lecturing at the College of France on the moral history of women: these discourses were collected into a volume in 1848, and enjoyed a great success.
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Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix (26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school. Delacroix's use of expressive brushstrokes and his study of the optical effects of colour profoundly shaped the work of the Impressionists, while his passion for the exotic inspired the artists of the Symbolist movement. A fine lithographer, Delacroix illustrated various works of William Shakespeare, the Scottish writer Walter Scott and the German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
In contrast to the Neoclassical perfectionism of his chief rival Ingres, Delacroix took for his inspiration the art of Rubens and painters of the Venetian Renaissance, with an attendant emphasis on colour and movement rather than clarity of outline and carefully modeled form. Dramatic and romantic content characterized the central themes of his maturity, and led him not to the classical models of Greek and Roman art, but to travel in North Africa, in search of the exotic. Friend and spiritual heir to Théodore Géricault, Delacroix was also inspired by Lord Byron, with whom he shared a strong identification with the "forces of the sublime", of nature in often violent action.
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Fanny Mendelssohn
Fanny Mendelssohn (14 November 1805 – 14 May 1847), later Fanny [Cäcilie] Mendelssohn Bartholdy and, after her marriage, Fanny Hensel, was a German pianist and composer, the sister of the composer Felix Mendelssohn and granddaughter of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. She was the grandmother of the philosopher Paul Hensel and the mathematician Kurt Hensel.
Fanny Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg, the oldest of four children. She was descended on both sides from distinguished Jewish families; her parents were Abraham Mendelssohn (who was the son of philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and later changed the family surname to Mendelssohn Bartholdy), and Lea, née Salomon, a granddaughter of the entrepreneur Daniel Itzig. She was not however brought up as Jewish, and never practised Judaism, though it has been suggested that she "retained the cultural values of liberal Judaism".
Fanny shared the early musical education and upbringing of her younger brother Felix, including tuition from Carl Friedrich Zelter and others. Zelter indeed at one point favoured Fanny over Felix: he wrote to Goethe in 1816, in a letter introducing Abraham Mendelssohn to the poet, 'He has adorable children and his oldest daughter could give you something of Sebastian Bach. This child is really something special'.
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Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (German pronunciation: [ˈjaːkɔp ˈluːtvɪç ˈfeːlɪks ˈmɛndl̩szoːn baʁˈtɔldi]), born, and generally known in English-speaking countries, as Felix Mendelssohn (3 February 1809 – 4 November 1847) was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period.
The grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn was born into a prominent Jewish family, although initially he was raised without religion and was later baptised as a Lutheran Christian. Mendelssohn was recognised early as a musical prodigy, but his parents were cautious and did not seek to capitalise on his talent.
Early success in Germany, where he also revived interest in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, was followed by travel throughout Europe. Mendelssohn was particularly well received in Britain as a composer, conductor and soloist, and his ten visits there – during which many of his major works were premiered – form an important part of his adult career. His essentially conservative musical tastes, however, set him apart from many of his more adventurous musical contemporaries such as Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner and Hector Berlioz. The Leipzig Conservatoire (now the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig), which he founded, became a bastion of this anti-radical outlook.
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France Prešeren
France Prešeren ( pronunciation (help·info)) (3 December 1800 – 8 February 1849) was a Slovene Romantic poet. He is considered the Slovene national poet.[clarification needed] Although he was not a particularly prolific author, he inspired virtually all Slovene literature thereafter.
He was born 3 December 1800 (Saturday) in the Upper Carniolan village of Vrba, then part of the Habsburg Monarchy (today in Slovenia), to a relatively well-to-do peasant family. Already as a child, he showed considerable talent, and so his parents decided to provide him with a good education. At the age of eight, he was sent to elementary schools in Grosuplje and Ribnica, run by the local Roman Catholic clergy. In 1812, he moved to the Carniolan provincial capital of Ljubljana, where he attended the State Gymnasium. Already at a very young age, he learned Latin, Ancient Greek, and German, which was then the language of education, administration, and high culture in most areas inhabited by Slovenes. In Ljubljana, Prešeren's talent was spotted by the poet Valentin Vodnik, who encouraged him to develop his literary skills in Slovene. As a high school student, he became friends with the future philologist Matija Čop, who would have an extremely important influence on the development of Prešeren's poetry. In 1821, Prešeren enrolled at the University of Vienna, where he studied law, against the wishes of his mother, who wanted him to become a priest. In Vienna, he became acquainted with the western canon from Homer to Goethe, but he was most fascinated by Dante and the Italian trecentists, especially Petrarch and Boccaccio. He also read contemporary Romantic poets, and he was even fired from a teaching post at Klinkowström's Jesuit institute for having loaned a booklet of banned poetry to his friend Anastasius Grün.
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Francesco Hayez
Francesco Hayez (February 10, 1791 – December 21, 1881) was an Italian painter, the leading artist of Romanticism in mid-19th-century Milan, renowned for his grand historical paintings, political allegories and exceptionally fine portraits.
Hayez came from a relatively poor family from Venice. His father was of French origin while his mother, Chiara Torcella, was from Murano. The child Francesco, youngest of five sons, was brought up by his mother's sister, who had married Giovanni Binasco, a well-off shipowner and collector of art. From childhood he showed a predisposition for drawing, so his uncle apprenticed him to an art restorer. Later he became a student of the painter Francesco Maggiotto with whom he continued his studies for three years. He was admitted to the painting course of the New Academy of Fine Arts in 1806, where he studied under Teodoro Matteini. In 1809 he won a competition from the Academy of Venice for one year of study at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. He remained in Rome until 1814, then moved to Naples where he was commissioned by Joachim Murat to paint a major work depicting Ulysses at the court of Alcinous. In the mid 1830s he attended the "Salotto Maffei" salon in Milan, hosted by Clara Maffei (whose portrait Hayez painted for her husband), and he was still in Milan in 1850 when he was appointed director of the Academy of Brera there.
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Francisco Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish pronunciation: [fɾanˈθisko xoˈse ðe ˈɣoʝa i luˈθjentes]; 30 March 1746–16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown, and through his works was both a commentator on and chronicler of his era. The subversive and imaginative element in his art, as well as his bold handling of paint, provided a model for the work of later generations of artists, notably Manet, Picasso and Francis Bacon.. In his honour, Spain's main national film awards are called the Goya Awards.
Goya was born in Fuendetodos, Aragón, Spain, in 1746 to José Benito de Goya y Franque and Gracia de Lucientes y Salvador. He spent his childhood in Fuendetodos, where his family lived in a house bearing the family crest of his mother. His father earned his living as a gilder. About 1749, the family bought a house in the city of Zaragoza and some years later moved into it. Goya may have attended school at Escuelas Pias. He formed a close friendship with Martin Zapater at this time, and their correspondence from the 1770s to the 1790s is a valuable source for understanding Goya's early career at the court of Madrid. At age 14, Goya studied under the painter José Luzán. He moved to Madrid where he studied with Anton Raphael Mengs, a painter who was popular with Spanish royalty. He clashed with his master, and his examinations were unsatisfactory. Goya submitted entries for the Royal Academy of Fine Art in 1763 and 1766, but was denied entrance.
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Franz Berwald
Franz Adolf Berwald (July 23, 1796, Stockholm – April 3, 1868) was a Swedish Romantic composer who was generally ignored during his lifetime. He made his living as an orthopedic surgeon and later as the manager of a saw mill and glass factory.
Berwald came from a family with four generations of musicians; his father, a violinist in the Royal Opera Orchestra, taught Franz the violin from an early age; he soon appeared in concerts. In 1811, Karl XIII came to power and reinstated the Royal Chapel; the following year Berwald started working there, as well as playing the violin in the court orchestra and the opera, receiving lessons from Edouard du Puy, and also started composing. The summers were off-season for the orchestra, and Berwald travelled around Scandinavia, Finland and Russia. Of his works from that time, a septet and a serenade he still considered worthwhile music in his later years.
In 1818 Berwald started publishing the Musikalisk journal, later renamed Journal de musique, a periodical with easy piano pieces and songs by various composers as well as some of his own original work. In 1821, his Violin Concerto was premiered by his brother August. It was not well received; some people in the audience burst out laughing during the slow movement.
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Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt (German: [fʁant͡s lɪst]); Hungarian: Liszt Ferencz, in modern use Liszt Ferenc) (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886) was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.
Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age. In the 1840s he was considered by some to be perhaps the greatest pianist of all time. He was also a well-known composer, piano teacher, and conductor. He was a benefactor to other composers, including Richard Wagner, Hector Berlioz, Camille Saint-Saëns, Edvard Grieg and Alexander Borodin.
As a composer, Liszt was one of the most prominent representatives of the "Neudeutsche Schule" ("New German School"). He left behind an extensive and diverse body of work in which he influenced his forward-looking contemporaries and anticipated some 20th-century ideas and trends. Some of his most notable contributions were the invention of the symphonic poem, developing the concept of thematic transformation as part of his experiments in musical form and making radical departures in harmony. He also played an important role in popularizing a wide array of music by transcribing it for piano.
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Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert (German pronunciation: [ˈfʁants ˈʃuːbɛɐ̯t]; 31 January 1797 – 19 November 1828) was an Austrian composer.
Although he died at the age of 31, Schubert was a prolific composer, having written some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies (including the famous "Unfinished Symphony"), liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music. Appreciation of Schubert's music during his lifetime was limited, but interest in his work increased significantly in the decades following his death. Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms and Felix Mendelssohn, among others, discovered and championed his works in the 19th century. Today, Schubert is seen as one of the leading exponents of the early Romantic era in music and he remains one of the most frequently performed composers.
Schubert was born in Himmelpfortgrund (now a part of Alsergrund), Vienna, on 31 January 1797. His father, Franz Theodor Schubert, the son of a Moravian peasant, was a parish schoolmaster; his mother, Elisabeth Vietz, was the daughter of a Silesian master locksmith, and had also been a housemaid for a Viennese family prior to her marriage. Of Franz Theodor's fourteen children (one illegitimate child was born in 1783), nine died in infancy; five survived. Their father was a well-known teacher, and his school in Lichtental, a part of Vienna's 9th district, was well attended. He was not a musician of fame or with formal training, but he taught his son some elements of music.
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Friedrich Hölderlin
Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (German pronunciation: [ˈjoːhan ˈkʁɪsti.aːn ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈhœldɐliːn]; 20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a major German lyric poet, commonly associated with the artistic movement known as Romanticism. Hölderlin was also an important thinker in the development of German Idealism, particularly his early association with and philosophical influence on his seminary roommates and fellow Swabians Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling.
Hölderlin was born in Lauffen am Neckar in the Duchy of Württemberg. His father, the manager of a church estate, died when the boy was two years old. He was brought up by his mother, who in 1774 married the Mayor of Nürtingen and moved there. He had a full sister, born after their father's death, and a half-brother. His stepfather died when he was nine. He went to school in Denkendorf and Maulbronn and then studied theology at the Tübinger Stift, where his fellow-students included Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (who had been a fellow-pupil at his first school) and Isaac von Sinclair.
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Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller [ˈjoːhan ˈkʁɪstɔf ˈfʁiːdʁɪç fɔn ˈʃɪlɐ] (10 November 1759 – 9 May 1805) was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. They frequently discussed issues concerning aesthetics, and Schiller encouraged Goethe to finish works he left as sketches. This relationship and these discussions led to a period now referred to as Weimar Classicism. They also worked together on Xenien, a collection of short satirical poems in which both Schiller and Goethe challenge opponents to their philosophical vision.
Friedrich Schiller was born on 10 November 1759, in Marbach, Württemberg as the only son of military doctor Johann Kaspar Schiller (1733–96), and Elisabeth Dorothea Kodweiß (1732–1802). They also had five daughters. His father was away in the Seven Years' War when Friedrich was born. He was named after king Frederick the Great, but he was called Fritz by nearly everyone. Kaspar Schiller was rarely home during the war, but he did manage to visit the family once in a while. His wife and children also visited him occasionally wherever he happened to be stationed. When the war ended in 1763, Schiller's father became a recruiting officer and was stationed in Schwäbisch Gmünd. The family moved with him. Due to the high cost of living—especially the rent—the family moved to nearby Lorch.
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Fromental Halévy
Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy (pronounced [fʁɔmɑ̃tal alevi]) (27 May 1799 – 17 March 1862), was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera La Juive.
Halévy was born in Paris, the son of a cantor, Élie Halfon Halévy, who was the secretary of the Jewish community of Paris, a writer and a teacher of Hebrew, and a French Jewish mother. The name Fromental, by which he was generally known, reflects that he was born on the feast-day of that name in the French Revolutionary calendar, which was still operative at that time. He entered the Conservatoire de Paris at the age of nine or ten (accounts differ), in 1809, becoming a pupil and later protégé of Cherubini. After two second-place attempts, he won the Prix de Rome in 1819: his cantata subject was Herminie.
As he had to delay his departure to Rome because of the death of his mother, he was able to accept the first commission that brought him to public attention - a Marche Funèbre et De Profundis en Hébreu for three part choir, tenor and orchestra, which was commissioned by the Consistoire Israélite du Département de la Seine, for a public service in memory of the assassinated duc de Berry, performed on 24 March 1820. Later, his brother Léon recalled that the De Profundis, "infused with religious fervor, created a sensation, and attracted interest to the young laureate of the institute."
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Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin ( /ˈʃoʊpæn/; French pronunciation: [fʁe.de.ʁik ʃɔ.pɛ̃]; Polish: Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin, also phonetically Szopen; 22 February or 1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of French-Polish parentage. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music. Chopin was born in Żelazowa Wola, a village in the Duchy of Warsaw. A renowned child-prodigy pianist and composer, Chopin grew up in Warsaw and completed his music education there; he composed many mature works in Warsaw before leaving Poland in 1830 at age 20, shortly before the November 1830 Uprising.
Following the Russian suppression of the Uprising, he settled in Paris as part of Poland's Great Emigration. During the remaining 19 years of his life, Chopin gave only some 30 public performances, preferring the more intimate atmosphere of the salon; he supported himself by sales of his compositions and as a piano teacher. After some romantic dalliances with Polish women, including an abortive engagement, from 1837 to 1847 he carried on a relationship with the French writer Amantine Dupin (pen name "George Sand"). For most of his life, Chopin suffered from poor health; he died in Paris in 1849 at age 39.
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Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (Italian pronunciation: [doˈmeːniko ɡaeˈtaːno maˈɾia doniˈdzetti]; 29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore (1832), Lucia di Lammermoor (1835), and Don Pasquale (1843), all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment (both from 1840). Along with Vincenzo Bellini and Gioachino Rossini, he was a leading composer of bel canto opera.
The youngest of three sons, Donizetti was born in 1797 in Bergamo's Borgo Canale quarter located just outside the city walls. His family was very poor with no tradition of music, his father being the caretaker of the town pawnshop. Nevertheless, Donizetti received some musical instruction from Simon Mayr, a German composer of internationally successful operas who had become maestro di cappella at Bergamo's principal church in 1802.
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Gaspare Spontini
Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini (14 November 1774 – 24 January 1851) was an Italian opera composer and conductor, extremely celebrated in his time, though largely forgotten after his death.
Born in Maiolati in the province of Ancona, now Maiolati Spontini, he spent most of his career in Paris and Berlin, but returned to his place of birth at the end of his life. During the first two decades of the 19th century, Spontini was an important figure in French opera. In his more than twenty operas, Spontini strove to adapt Gluck's classical tragédie lyrique to the contemporary taste for melodrama, for grander spectacle (in Fernand Cortez for example), for enriched orchestral timbre, and for melodic invention allied to idiomatic expressiveness of words. His single great masterpiece and success was La vestale.
As a youth, Spontini studied at the Conservatorio della Pietà de' Turchini in Naples. In 1803, he went to Paris, where he was appointed court composer in 1805.
In 1807, Spontini wrote La vestale, his best known work. Written with the encouragement of Empress Joséphine, its premiere at the Opéra in Paris established Spontini as one of the greatest Italian composers of his age. His contemporaries Cherubini and Meyerbeer considered it a masterpiece, and later composers like Berlioz and Wagner admired it.
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George Sand
Amantine (also "Amandine") Lucile Aurore Dupin (French pronunciation: [amɑ̃tin lysil oʁɔʁ dypɛ̃], later Baroness (French: baronne) Dudevant (Paris, 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pseudonym George Sand (French pronunciation: [ʒɔʁʒ sɑ̃d]), was a French novelist and memoirist.
Sand's father, Maurice Dupin, was the grandson of the Marshal General of France, Maurice, Comte de Saxe, himself an illegitimate son of Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland and a Saxon elector, and a cousin to the sixth degree to the kings of France Louis XVI, Louis XVIII and Charles X. Sand's mother, Sophie-Victoire Delaborde, was a commoner. Sand was born in Paris but raised for much of her childhood by her grandmother, Marie Aurore de Saxe, Madame Dupin de Francueil, at her grandmother's estate, Nohant, in the French province of Berry (See House of George Sand). She later used the setting in many of her novels. It has been said[by whom?] that her upbringing was quite liberal.
In 1822, at the age of nineteen, Sand married Baron Casimir Dudevant (1795–1871), illegitimate son of Baron Jean-François Dudevant. She and Dudevant had two children: Maurice (1823–1889) and Solange (1828–1899). In early 1831, she left her prosaic husband and entered upon a four- or five-year period of "romantic rebellion." In 1835, she was legally separated from Dudevant and took her children with her.
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Germaine de Staël
Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein (French pronunciation: [stal]; 22 April 1766 – 14 July 1817), commonly known as Madame de Staël, was a French-speaking Swiss author living in Paris and abroad. She influenced literary tastes in Europe at the turn of the 19th century.
Anne Louise Germaine Necker was born in Paris, France. Her father was the prominent Swiss banker and statesman Jacques Necker, who was the Director of Finance under King Louis XVI of France. Her mother was Suzanne Curchod, almost equally famous for being the early love of Edward Gibbon, being the wife of Necker herself, and being the mistress of one of the most popular salons of Paris. Mother and daughter had little sympathy for each other. Mme Necker, despite her talents, her beauty and her fondness for philosophic society, was strictly decorous, somewhat reserved, and wanted to bring up her daughter with the discipline of her own childhood. Anne Louise was from her earliest years energetic and boisterous. She began very early to write, though not to publish. She was said to have injured her health by excessive study and intellectual excitement. But in reading all the accounts of Mme de Staël's life which come from herself or her intimate friends, it must be carefully remembered that she was the most distinguished and characteristic product of the period of sensibility — the singular fashion of ultra-sentimentalism — which required that both men and women, but especially women, should be always palpitating with excitement, steeped in melancholy, or dissolved in tears. Still, her father's dismissal from the ministry and the consequent removal of the family from the busy life of Paris were probably beneficial to her.
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Giacomo Leopardi
Giacomo Taldegardo Francesco di Sales Saverio Pietro Leopardi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒakomo leoˈpardi]; June 29, 1798 – June 14, 1837) was an Italian poet, essayist, philosopher, and philologist. Although he lived in a secluded town in the ultra-conservative Papal States, he came in touch with the main thoughts of the Enlightenment, and, by his own literary evolution, created a remarkable and renowned poetic work, related to the Romantic era.
Giacomo Leopardi was born of a local noble family in Recanati, in the Marche, at the time ruled by the papacy. His father, the count Monaldo Leopardi, was a good-hearted man, fond of literature but weak and reactionary, who remained bound to antiquated ideas and prejudices; his mother, the marquise Adelaide Antici Mattei, was a cold and authoritarian woman, obsessed over rebuilding the family's financial fortunes, which had been destroyed by Monaldo's gambling addiction. At home, a rigorous discipline of religion and savings reigned. However, Giacomo's happy childhood, which he spent with his younger brother Carlo Orazio and his sister Paolina, left its mark on the poet, who recorded his experiences in the poem Le Ricordanze.
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Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer (5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.
He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf (now a part of Rüdersdorf), near Berlin with the name Jacob Liebmann Beer. His father was the enormously wealthy financier Jacob Judah Herz Beer (1769-1825) and his much-beloved mother, Amalia Liebmann Meyer Wulff (1767-1854) also came from the wealthy elite. Their other children included the astronomer Wilhelm Beer and the poet Michael Beer.
Beer's first keyboard instructor was Franz Lauska, a pupil of Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and a favoured teacher at the Berlin court. Beer also became one of Muzio Clementi's pupils while Clementi was in Berlin, and old Clementi himself, although he had long given up teaching, was so much struck, during a visit to Berlin, with the promise displayed in the boy's performance as to consent to give Beer lessons. Beer made his public debut in 1801 playing Mozart's D minor Piano Concerto in Berlin. The Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung reported: 'The amazing keyboard playing of young Bär (a Jewish lad of 9), who carried off the difficult passages and other solo parts with aplomb, and has fine powers of rendition even more rarely found in one of his age, made the concert even more interesting'.
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Gioachino Rossini
Gioachino Antonio Rossini (Italian pronunciation: [dʒoaˈkiːno anˈtɔːnjo rosˈsiːni] (Giovacchino Antonio Rossini in the baptismal certificate) (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music, chamber music, songs, and some instrumental and piano pieces. His best-known operas include the Italian comedies Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) and La Cenerentola and the French-language epics Moïse et Pharaon and Guillaume Tell (William Tell). A tendency for inspired, song-like melodies is evident throughout his scores, which led to the nickname "The Italian Mozart". Until his retirement in 1829, Rossini had been the most popular opera composer in history.
Gioachino Antonio Rossini was born into a family of musicians in Pesaro, a town on the Adriatic coast of Italy which was then part of the Papal States. His father, Giuseppe, was a horn player and inspector of slaughterhouses. His mother, Anna, was a singer and a baker's daughter. Rossini's parents began his musical training early, and by the age of six he was playing the triangle in his father's musical group.
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Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Italian pronunciation: [dʒuˈzɛppe ˈverdi]; 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century. His works are frequently performed in opera houses throughout the world and, transcending the boundaries of the genre, some of his themes have long since taken root in popular culture – such as "La donna è mobile" from Rigoletto, "Va, pensiero" (The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves) from Nabucco, "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" (The Drinking Song) from La traviata and the "Grand March" from Aida.
Verdi’s masterworks dominate the standard opera repertoire a century and a half after their composition.
Verdi was born the son of Carlo Giuseppe Verdi and Luigia Uttini in Le Roncole, a village near Busseto, then in the Département Taro which was a part of the First French Empire after the annexation of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza. The baptismal register, on 11 October lists him as being "born yesterday", but since days were often considered to begin at sunset, this could have meant either 9 or 10 October. The next day, he was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church in Latin as Joseph Fortuninus Franciscus. The day after that (Tuesday), Verdi's father took his newborn the three miles to Busseto, where the baby was recorded as Joseph Fortunin François; the clerk wrote in French. "So it happened that for the civil and temporal world Verdi was born a Frenchman."
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Gonçalves Dias
Antônio Gonçalves Dias (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɡõˈsawvis ˈdʒiɐs]; August 10, 1823 — November 3, 1864) was a Brazilian Romantic poet, playwright and linguist. A major exponent of the Brazilian Romanticism and of the literary tradition known as "Indianism", he is famous for writing the poem "Canção do exílio", arguably the most well-known poem of the Brazilian literature, the short epic poem I-Juca-Pirama, and many other nationalist and patriotic poems that would later give him the title of national poet of Brazil. He was also an avid researcher of the Brazilian indigenous languages and folklore.
He is the patron of the 15th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters.
Antônio Gonçalves Dias was born in Caxias on August 10, 1823, to Portuguese João Manuel Gonçalves Dias and cafuza Vicência Ferreira. After completing his studies in Latin, French and Philosophy, he went in 1838 to Portugal to earn a degree in Law at the University of Coimbra. There, he got in contact with the Romantic ideals and wrote his critically acclaimed poem "Canção do exílio". He graduated in 1845 and returned to Brazil in the same year. He goes to Rio de Janeiro, living there until 1854. There, he wrote the drama Leonor de Mendonça in 1846 and his first poetry book, Primeiros Cantos, in 1847.
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Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler (German pronunciation: [ˈɡʊstaf ˈmaːlɐ]; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then the Austrian Empire, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic. Then his family moved to nearby Iglau (now Jihlava) where Mahler grew up.
As a composer, he acted as a bridge between the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of relative neglect which included a ban on its performance in much of Europe during the Nazi era. After 1945 the music was discovered and championed by a new generation of listeners; Mahler then became one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers, a position he has sustained into the 21st century.
Born in humble circumstances, Mahler displayed his musical gifts at an early age. After graduating from the Vienna Conservatory in 1878, he held a succession of conducting posts of rising importance in the opera houses of Europe, culminating in his appointment in 1897 as director of the Vienna Court Opera (Hofoper). During his ten years in Vienna, Mahler—who had converted to Catholicism from Judaism to secure the post—experienced regular opposition and hostility from the anti-Semitic press. Nevertheless, his innovative productions and insistence on the highest performance standards ensured his reputation as one of the greatest of opera conductors, particularly as an interpreter of the stage works of Wagner and Mozart. Late in his life he was briefly director of New York's Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic.
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Gustav Schwab
Gustav Benjamin Schwab (19 June 1792 – 4 November 1850) was a German writer, pastor and publisher.
Gustav Schwab was born in Stuttgart, the son of a professor and was introduced to the humanities early in life. After attending Gymnasium Illustre, he studied as a scholar of Tübinger Stift at Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, his first two years studying Philology and Philosophy, and thereafter Theology. While at university he established a literary club and became a close friend of Ludwig Uhland, Karl Varnhagen and Justinus Kerner, with whom he published a collection of poems under the title Deutscher Dichterwald.
In the spring of 1813, he made a journey to northern Germany, where he met Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Friedrich Rückert, Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, Adelbert von Chamisso and others. In 1818 he became a high school teacher in Stuttgart, and in 1837 he started work as a pastor in Gomaringen, near Tübingen. In 1841, he moved back to Stuttgart, where he was first pastor and then from 1845 educational counselor for Stuttgart's high school system. In 1847 he received an honorary Doctorate from his old university.
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Gustave Courbet
Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet (10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realist movement in 19th-century French painting. The Realist movement bridged the Romantic movement (characterized by the paintings of Théodore Géricault and Eugène Delacroix) with the Barbizon School and the Impressionists. Courbet occupies an important place in 19th century French painting as an innovator and as an artist willing to make bold social commentary in his work.
Courbet painted figurative compositions, landscapes, seascapes, and still-lifes. He courted controversy by addressing social issues in his work, and by painting subjects that were considered vulgar, such as the rural bourgeoisie, peasants, and working conditions of the poor. His work belonged neither to the predominant Romantic nor Neoclassical schools. History painting, which the Paris Salon esteemed as a painter's highest calling, did not interest Courbet, who stated that "the artists of one century [are] basically incapable of reproducing the aspect of a past or future century ..." Instead, he believed that the only possible source for a living art is the artist's own experience.
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Gustave Doré
Paul Gustave Doré (French pronunciation: [pɔl ɡystav dɔʁe]; January 6, 1832 – January 23, 1883) was a French artist, engraver, illustrator and sculptor. Doré worked primarily with wood engraving and steel engraving.
Doré was born in Strasbourg and his first illustrated story was published at the age of fifteen. His talent was evident even earlier, however. At age five he had been a prodigy troublemaker, playing pranks that were mature beyond his years. Seven years later, he began carving in cement. Subsequently, as a young man, he began work as a literary illustrator in Paris, winning commissions to depict scenes from books by Rabelais, Balzac, Milton and Dante.
In 1853, Doré was asked to illustrate the works of Lord Byron. This commission was followed by additional work for British publishers, including a new illustrated English Bible. A decade later, he illustrated a French edition of Cervantes's Don Quixote, and his depictions of the knight and his squire, Sancho Panza, have become so famous that they have influenced subsequent readers, artists, and stage and film directors' ideas of the physical "look" of the two characters. Doré also illustrated an oversized edition of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", an endeavor that earned him 30,000 francs from publisher Harper & Brothers in 1883.
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Gustave Flaubert
Gustave Flaubert (French pronunciation: [ɡystav flobɛʁ]) (December 12, 1821 – May 8, 1880) was a French writer who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary (1857), and for his scrupulous devotion to his art and style.
Flaubert was born on December 12, 1821, in Rouen, in the Seine-Maritime department of Upper Normandy, in northern France. He was the second son of Achille-Cléophas Flaubert (1784–1846), a surgeon, and Anne Justine Caroline (née Fleuriot) (1793–1872). He began writing at an early age, as early as eight according to some sources.
He was educated at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen. and did not leave until 1840, when he went to Paris to study law. In Paris, he was an indifferent student and found the city distasteful. He made a few acquaintances, including Victor Hugo. Toward the close of 1840, he traveled in the Pyrenees and Corsica. In 1846, after an attack of epilepsy, he left Paris and abandoned the study of law.
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Gérard de Nerval
Gérard de Nerval (French pronunciation: [ʒeʁaʁ də nɛʁval]) was the nom-de-plume of the French poet, essayist and translator Gérard Labrunie, one of the most essentially Romantic French poets.
Two years after his birth in Paris, his mother died in Silesia while accompanying her husband, a military doctor, a member of Napoleon's Grande Armée. He was brought up by his maternal great-uncle, Antoine Boucher, in the countryside of Valois at Mortefontaine. On the return of his father from war during 1814, he was sent back to Paris. He frequently returned to the countryside of Valois during holidays and later returned to it in imagination in his Chansons et légendes du Valois.
His talent for translation was made manifest in his translation of Goethe's Faust (1828), the work which earned him his reputation; Goethe praised it, and Hector Berlioz later used sections for his legend-symphony La damnation de Faust. Other translations from Goethe ensued; in the 1840s, Nerval's translations introduced Heinrich Heine's poems to French readers of the Revue des deux mondes. During the 1820s at college he became lifelong friends with Théophile Gautier and later joined Alexandre Dumas, père in the Petit Cénacle, in what was an exceedingly bohemian set, which was ultimately to become the Club des Hashischins. Nerval's poetry is characterized by Romantic deism. His passion for the 'spirit world' was matched by a decidedly more negative view of the material one: "This life is a hovel and a place of ill-repute. I'm ashamed that God should see me here." Among his admirers was Victor Hugo.
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Hans Gude
Hans Fredrik Gude (March 13, 1825 – August 17, 1903) was a Norwegian romanticist painter and is considered along with Johan Christian Dahl to be one of Norway's foremost landscape painters. He has been called a mainstay of Norwegian National Romanticism. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting.
Gude's artistic career was not one marked with drastic change and revolution, but was instead a steady progression that slowly reacted to general trends in the artistic world. Gude's early works are of idyllic, sun-drenched Norwegian landscapes which present a romantic, yet still realistic view of his country. Around 1860 Gude began painting seascapes and other coastal subjects. Gude had difficulty with figure drawing initially and so collaborated with Adolph Tidemand in some of his painting, drawing the landscape himself and allowing Tidemand to paint the figures. Later Gude would work specifically on his figures while at Karlsruhe, and so began populating his paintings with them. Gude initially painted primarily with oils in a studio, basing his works on studies he'd done earlier in the field. However, as Gude matured as a painter he began to paint en plein air and espoused the merits of doing so to his students. Gude would go on to work with watercolors later in life as well as gouache in an effort to keep his art constantly fresh and evolving, and although these were never as well received by the public as his oil paintings, his fellow artists greatly admired them.
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Hans von Bülow
Hans Guido Freiherr von Bülow (January 8, 1830 – February 12, 1894) was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. He was one of the most famous conductors of the 19th century, and his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, including Richard Wagner.
Bülow was born in Dresden, and from the age of nine he was a student of Friedrich Wieck (the father of Clara Schumann). However, his parents insisted that he study law instead of music, and sent him to Leipzig. There he met Franz Liszt, and on hearing some music of Richard Wagner—specifically, the premiere of Lohengrin in 1850—he decided to ignore the dictates of his parents and make himself a career in music instead. He studied the piano in Leipzig with the famous pedagogue Louis Plaidy. He obtained his first conducting job in Zurich, on Wagner's recommendation, in 1850.
Notoriously tactless, Bülow alienated many musicians with whom he worked. He was dismissed from his Zurich job for this reason, but at the same time he was beginning to win renown for his ability to conduct new and complex works without a score. In 1851 he became a student of Liszt, marrying Liszt's daughter Cosima in 1857. They had two daughters: Daniela, born in 1860 and Blandine, born in 1863. During the 1850s and early 1860s he was active as a pianist, conductor, and writer, and became well-known throughout Germany as well as Russia. In 1857 he premiered Liszt's great Piano Sonata in B minor in Berlin.
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Harriet Smithson
Henrietta Constance (Harriet) Smithson (1800 - 3 March 1854) was an Anglo-Irish actress, the first wife of Hector Berlioz, and the inspiration for his Symphonie Fantastique.
She was the daughter of a theatrical manager. She made her first stage appearance in 1815 at the Crow Street Theatre, Dublin, as Albina Mandeville in Frederick Reynolds's The Will. Three years later she made her first London appearance at Drury Lane as Letitia Hardy in The Belle's Stratagem.
She had no particular success in England, but went to Paris in 1828 and 1832, first with William Charles Macready. There she aroused immense enthusiasm as Desdemona, Virginia, Juliet and Jane Shore, in the tragedy by Nicholas Rowe. She had a host of admirers, among them Hector Berlioz, whom she married in 1833. They separated in 1840.
Berlioz discovered her at the Odéon Theatre performing the roles of Juliet and Ophelia and immediately fell in love with her, sending her letters despite never having met her. This continued until the 1832 performance of Lélio, a sequel to his Symphonie Fantastique, when he discovered a mutual acquaintance and offered her a box of tickets. She came to the performance, realizing that the symphony was about her (as was strongly suggested by the program notes) and eventually they married.
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Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz (pronounced: [ɛktɔʁ bɛʁˈljoːz]; 11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts (Requiem). Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a conductor, he performed several concerts with more than 1,000 musicians. He also composed around 50 songs. His influence was critical for the further development of Romanticism, especially in composers like Richard Wagner, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Franz Liszt, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler and many others.
Hector Berlioz was born in France at La Côte-Saint-André in the département of Isère, near Grenoble. His father, a respected provincial physician and scholar, was responsible for much of the young Berlioz's education. His father, Louis-Joseph Berlioz, was an atheist, with a liberal outlook; his mother, Marie-Antoinette, was an orthodox Roman Catholic. He had five siblings in all, three of whom did not survive to adulthood. The other two, Nanci and Adèle, remained close to Berlioz throughout his life.
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Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder (art songs) by composers such as Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert. Heine's later verse and prose is distinguished by its satirical wit and irony. His radical political views led to many of his works being banned by German authorities. Heine spent the last 25 years of his life as an expatriate in Paris.
Heine was born in Düsseldorf, Rhineland, into a Jewish family. He was called "Harry" as a child, but became "Heinrich" after his conversion to Christianity in 1825. Heine's father, Samson Heine (1764–1828), was a textile merchant. His mother Peira (known as "Betty"), née van Geldern (1771–1859), was the daughter of a physician. Heinrich was the eldest of the four children; his siblings were Charlotte, Gustav - who later became Baron Heine-Geldern and publisher of the Viennese newspaper Das Fremdenblatt - and Maximilian, later a physician in Saint Petersburg.
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Heinrich Marschner
Heinrich August Marschner (Zittau, 16 August 1795 – Hanover, 16 December 1861), was the most important composer of German Romantic opera between Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner, and is remembered principally for his operas Hans Heiling (1833), Der Vampyr (1828), and Der Templer und die Jüdin (1829). Marschner’s ability to depict supernatural horror by musical means is especially evident in the first two operas as well as in some of his ballads, such as "Die Monduhr" (c. 1839). Next to his operas, his most significant musical contribution is to the Lied, the best of which are comparable with those by Carl Loewe. Marschner also wrote a considerable amount of chamber music, including seven piano trios, as well as unaccompanied male choruses that were very popular in the nineteenth century. While Marschner’s operas strongly influenced Wagner, his chamber music, songs, and his cantata Klänge aus Osten (1842) were admired by Robert Schumann, whose cantata Paradise and the Peri (1843) shows the older composer’s influence. Marschner’s Bagatelles for guitar (1814) have been revived by guitarists, and so have been some of his piano trios. Among his operas, Hans Heiling and especially Der Vampyr have been adapted and revived in recent years with considerable success.
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Heinrich von Kleist
Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (18 October 1777 – 21 November 1811) was a poet, dramatist, novelist and short story writer. The Kleist Prize, a prestigious prize for German literature, is named after him.
Kleist was born into the von Kleist family in Frankfurt an der Oder in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. After a scanty education, he entered the Prussian Army in 1792, served in the Rhine campaign of 1796, and retired from the service in 1799 with the rank of lieutenant. He studied law and philosophy at the Viadrina University and in 1800 received a subordinate post in the Ministry of Finance at Berlin.
In the following year, Kleist's roving, restless spirit got the better of him, and procuring a lengthened leave of absence he visited Paris and then settled in Switzerland. Here he found congenial friends in Heinrich Zschokke and Ludwig Friedrich August Wieland (d. 1819), son of the poet Christoph Martin Wieland; and to them he read his first drama, a gloomy tragedy, The Schroffenstein Family (1803, originally entitled The Ghonorez Family).
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Henri Herz
Henri Herz (6 January 1803 – 5 January 1888) was a pianist and composer, Austrian by birth, and French by domicile.
Herz was born Heinrich Herz in Vienna. He was Jewish by birth, although he asked the musical journalist Fétis not to mention this in the latter's musical encyclopaedia, perhaps a reflection of endemic anti-semitism in nineteenth-century French cultural circles.
As a child Herz studied with his father and in Coblenz with the organist Daniel Hünten. In 1816 he entered the Paris Conservatoire, where he studied under Victor Dourlen and Anton Reicha. His brother Jacques Herz (1794-1880) was a fellow-pupil at the Conservatoire, and also became a noted pianist and teacher.
A celebrated pianist, Herz traveled worldwide, including tours in Europe, Russia, Mexico, South America, and in the United States of America in 1846-50, where he concertised all the way to San Francisco, California, where his performances were compared to the more extravagant manner of Leopold de Meyer, concertising in the United States during the same period (1845-47).. He wrote a book about his experiences abroad, Mes voyages en Amérique (Paris: Achille Faure, 1866).
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Henry Fuseli
Henry Fuseli (German: Johann Heinrich Füssli) (February 7, 1741 – April 17, 1825) was a British painter, draughtsman, and writer on art, of Swiss origin.
Fuseli was born in Zürich, Switzerland, the second of eighteen children. His father was Johann Caspar Füssli, a painter of portraits and landscapes, and author of Lives of the Helvetic Painters. He intended Henry for the church, and sent him to the Caroline college of Zurich, where he received an excellent classical education. One of his schoolmates there was Johann Kaspar Lavater, with whom he became close friends.
After taking orders in 1761 Fuseli was forced to leave the country as a result of having helped Lavater to expose an unjust magistrate, whose powerful family sought revenge. He first travelled through Germany, and then, in 1765, visited England, where he supported himself for some time by miscellaneous writing. Eventually, he became acquainted with Sir Joshua Reynolds, to whom he showed his drawings. Following Sir Joshua's advice he devoted himself wholly to art. In 1770 he made an art-pilgrimage to Italy, where he remained till 1778, changing his name from Füssli to Fuseli, because it was more Italian-sounding.
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Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac (French pronunciation: [ɔnɔʁe də balzak]; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon.
Due to his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society, Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature. He is renowned for his multifaceted characters, who are complex, morally ambiguous and fully human. His writing influenced many subsequent novelists such as Marcel Proust, Émile Zola, Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Gustave Flaubert, Marie Corelli, Henry James, William Faulkner, Jack Kerouac, and Italo Calvino, and philosophers such as Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx. Many of Balzac's works have been made into or have inspired films, and they are a continuing source of inspiration for writers, filmmakers and critics.
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Ignaz Moscheles
(Isaac) Ignaz Moscheles (23 May 1794 – 10 March 1870) was a Bohemian composer and piano virtuoso, whose career after his early years was based initially in London, and later at Leipzig, where he succeeded his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as head of the Conservatoire.
Much of what we know about Moscheles's life is derived from the edition of his diaries prepared by his wife, Charlotte, after his death, and published in 1874. This edition also gives lively portraits of his era and of his musical contemporaries. Unfortunately however the diaries themselves have since gone missing, although they may perhaps rematerialise. Another important source is the correspondence between Moscheles and Mendelssohn, preserved at the Brotherton Collection at the University of Leeds, and published in 1888 by Ignaz's son (and Felix Mendelssohn's god-son), Felix Moscheles.
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Ignaz Pleyel
Ignace Joseph Pleyel French pronunciation: [plɛjɛl], German pronunciation: [ˈplaɪ̯.l̩]; (June 18, 1757 – November 14, 1831) was an Austrian-born French composer and piano builder of the Classical period.
He was born in Ruppersthal in Lower Austria, the son of a schoolmaster named Martin Pleyel. He was the 24th of 38 children in the family. While still young he probably studied with Johann Baptist Vanhal, and from 1772 he became the pupil of Joseph Haydn in Eisenstadt. As with Beethoven, born 13 years later, Pleyel benefited in his study from the sponsorship of aristocracy, in this case Count Ladislaus Erdődy (1746–1786). Pleyel evidently had a close relationship with Haydn, who considered him to be a superb student.
Among Pleyel's apprentice work from this time was a puppet opera Die Fee Urgele, (1776) performed in the marionette theater at the palace of Eszterháza and in Vienna. Pleyel apparently also wrote at least part of the overture of Haydn's opera Das abgebrannte Haus, from about the same time.
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Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac ( /ʒɑːk ʃɨˈræk/; French pronunciation: [ʒɑk ʃiʁak]; born 29 November 1932) is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 (making him the only person to hold the position of Prime Minister twice under the Fifth Republic), and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.
After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris, a term at Harvard University and the École nationale d'administration (ENA), Chirac began his career as a high-level civil servant, and soon entered politics. He subsequently occupied various senior positions, including Minister of Agriculture, Minister of the Interior, Prime Minister, Mayor of Paris, and finally President of the French Republic.
Chirac's internal policies included lower tax rates, the removal of price controls, strong punishment for crime and terrorism, and business privatisation. He also argued for more socially responsible economic policies, and was elected in 1995 after campaigning on a platform of healing the "social rift" (fracture sociale). After less statist policy when he was Prime Minister (1986–1988), he changed his method. Then, his economic policies, based on dirigisme, state-directed ideals, stood in opposition to the laissez-faire policies of the United Kingdom, which Chirac famously described as "Anglo-Saxon ultraliberalism". Chirac is the second-longest serving President of France (two full terms, the first of seven years and the second of five years), after François Mitterrand. As President, he also served as an ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra and Grand Master of the French Légion d'honneur.
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Jan Potocki
Count Jan Nepomucen Potocki (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjan pɔˈtɔt͡skʲi]; March 8, 1761 – December 1815) was a Polish nobleman, Polish Army Captain of Engineers, ethnologist, Egyptologist, linguist, traveler, adventurer and popular author of the Enlightenment period, whose life and exploits made him a legendary figure in his homeland. Outside Poland he is known chiefly for his novel, The Manuscript Found in Saragossa.
Jan Nepomucen Potocki was born into the Potocki aristocratic family, that owned vast estates across Poland. He was educated in Geneva and Lausanne, served twice in the Polish Army as a captain of engineers, and spent some time on a galley as novice to the Knights of Malta. His colorful life took him across Europe, Asia and North Africa, where he embroiled himself in political intrigues, flirted with secret societies, contributed to the birth of ethnology — he was one of the first to study the precursors of the Slavic peoples from a linguistic and historical standpoint.
In 1790 he became the first person in Poland to fly in a hot air balloon when he made an ascent over Warsaw with the aeronaut Jean-Pierre Blanchard, an exploit that earned him great public acclaim. He spend some time in France, and upon his return to Poland, he became a known publicist, publishing newspapers and pamphlets, in which he argued for various reforms. He also established in 1788 in Warsaw a publishing house named Drukarnia Wolna (Free Press) as well as the city's first free reading room. His relation with the King Stanisław II August was thorny, as Potocki, while often supportive of the King, on occasion did not shy from his critique. He was highly critical of the Russian ambassador, Otto Magnus von Stackelberg.
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Jan Václav Voříšek
Jan Václav Hugo Voříšek (Czech pronunciation: [jan ˈvaːt͡slaf ˈɦuɡo ˈvor̝iːʃɛk]; Johann Hugo Worzischek, 11 May 1791, Vamberk, Bohemia - 19 November 1825, Vienna, Austria), was a Czech composer of classical music, pianist, and organist.
Voříšek was born in the town of Vamberk where his father was the schoolmaster, choirmaster and organist. A child prodigy, he started to perform publicly in Bohemian towns at the age of nine. His father taught him music, encouraged his playing the piano, helped him get a scholarship to attend the University of Prague where he studied philosophy. He also had lessons in piano and composition from Tomášek. He found it impossible to obtain sufficient work as a musician in Prague, so in 1813 at the age of 22 Voříšek moved to Vienna to study law and, he hoped, to meet Beethoven. In Vienna he was able to greatly improve his piano technique under the guidance of Hummel, but once more failed to gain full time employment as a musician.
Although Voříšek was enthralled by the classical music of Mozart, he was more intrigued by the romanticism of Ludwig van Beethoven.
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Jean Paul
Jean Paul (21 March 1763 – 14 November 1825), born Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, was a German Romantic writer, best known for his humorous novels and stories.
Jean Paul was born at Wunsiedel, in the Fichtelgebirge mountains (Bavaria). His father was an organist at Wunsiedel. In 1765 his father became a pastor at Joditz near Hof, and in 1767 at Schwarzenbach, but he died on 25 April 1779, leaving the family in great poverty. After attending the Gymnasium at Hof, Jean Paul went in 1781 to the University of Leipzig. His original intention was to enter his father's profession, but theology did not interest him, and he soon devoted himself wholly to the study of literature. Unable to maintain himself at Leipzig he returned in 1784 to Hof, where he lived with his mother. From 1787 to 1789 he served as a tutor at Töpen, a village near Hof; and from 1790 to 1794 he taught the children of several families in a school he had founded in nearby Schwarzenbach.
Jean Paul began his career as a man of letters with Grönländische Prozesse ("Greenland Lawsuits", published anonymously in Berlin) and Auswahl aus des Teufels Papieren ("Selections from the Devil's Papers", signed J. P. F. Hasus), the former of which was issued in 1783-84, the latter in 1789. These works were not received with much favour, and in later life Richter himself had little sympathy for their satirical tone. A spiritual crisis he suffered on 15 November 1790, in which he had a vision of his own death, altered his outlook profoundly. His next book, Die unsichtbare Loge ("The Invisible Lodge"), a romance published in 1793 under the pen-name Jean Paul (in honour of Jean Jacques Rousseau), had all the qualities that were soon to make him famous, and its power was immediately recognized by some of the best critics of the day.
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Johan Christian Dahl
Johan Christian Claussen Dahl (February 24, 1788 – October 14, 1857), often known as J. C. Dahl, was a Norwegian artist who is considered the first great romantic painter in Norway, the founder of the "golden age" of Norwegian painting, and one of the great European artists of all time. He is often described as "the father of Norwegian landscape painting" and is regarded as the first Norwegian Painter ever to reach a level of artistic accomplishment comparable to that attained by the greatest European artists of his day. He was also the first acquire genuine fame and cultural renown abroad. As one critic has put it, "J.C. Dahl occupies a central position in Norwegian artistic life of the first half of the 19th century.
Although Dahl spent much of his life outside of Norway, his love for his country is clear in the motifs he chose for his paintings and in his extraordinary efforts on behalf of Norwegian culture generally. Indeed, if one sets aside his own monumental artistic creations, his other activities on behalf of art, history, and culture would still have guaranteed him a place at the very heart of the artistic and cultural history of Norway. He was, for example, a key figure in the founding of the Norwegian National Gallery and of several other major art institutions in Norway, as well as in the preservation of Norwegian stave churches and the restoration of the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim and Håkonshallen in Bergen.
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John Clare
John Clare (13 July 1793 – 20 May 1864) was an English poet, the son of a farm labourer, who came to be known for his celebratory representations of the English countryside and his lamentation of its disruption. His poetry underwent a major re-evaluation in the late 20th century and he is often now considered to be among the most important 19th-century poets. His biographer Jonathan Bate states that Clare was "the greatest labouring-class poet that England has ever produced. No one has ever written more powerfully of nature, of a rural childhood, and of the alienated and unstable self".
Clare was born in Helpston, six miles to the north of the city of Peterborough. In his life time, the village was in the Soke of Peterborough in Northamptonshire and his memorial calls him "The Northamptonshire Peasant Poet". Helpston now lies in the Peterborough unitary authority of Cambridgeshire.
He became an agricultural labourer while still a child; however, he attended school in Glinton church until he was twelve. In his early adult years, Clare became a pot-boy in the Blue Bell public house and fell in love with Mary Joyce; but her father, a prosperous farmer, forbade her to meet him. Subsequently he was a gardener at Burghley House. He enlisted in the militia, tried camp life with Gypsies, and worked in Pickworth as a lime burner in 1817. In the following year he was obliged to accept parish relief. Malnutrition stemming from childhood may be the main culprit behind his 5-foot stature and may have contributed to his poor physical health in later life.[citation needed]
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John Constable
John Constable (11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection. "I should paint my own places best", he wrote to his friend John Fisher in 1821, "painting is but another word for feeling".
His most famous paintings include Dedham Vale of 1802 and The Hay Wain of 1821. Although his paintings are now among the most popular and valuable in British art, he was never financially successful and did not become a member of the establishment until he was elected to the Royal Academy at the age of 52. He sold more paintings in France than in his native England.
John Constable was born in East Bergholt, a village on the River Stour in Suffolk, to Golding and Ann (Watts) Constable. His father was a wealthy corn merchant, owner of Flatford Mill in East Bergholt and, later, Dedham Mill in Essex. Golding Constable also owned his own small ship, The Telegraph, which he moored at Mistley on the Stour estuary and used to transport corn to London. He was a cousin of the London tea merchant, Abram Newman. Although Constable was his parents' second son, his older brother was mentally handicapped and so John was expected to succeed his father in the business, and after a brief period at a boarding school in Lavenham, he was enrolled in a day school in Dedham. Constable worked in the corn business after leaving school, but his younger brother Abram eventually took over the running of the mills.
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John Eliot Gardiner
Sir John Eliot Gardiner CBE FKC (born 20 April 1943, Fontmell Magna, Dorset, England) is an English conductor. He founded the Monteverdi Choir (1964), the English Baroque Soloists (1975) and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique (1989). Gardiner has recorded over 250 albums with these and other musical ensembles, most of which have been published by Deutsche Grammophon and Philips Classics. Gardiner is most famous for his interpretations of Baroque music on period instruments with the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists, but his repertoire and discography are not limited to early music. With the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique Gardiner has performed a wide range of Classical and Romantic music, including many works of Hector Berlioz and all of Beethoven's symphonies. A recording of the third symphony of the latter was used in a dramatisation by the BBC of Beethoven's writing of that symphony. Gardiner has served as chief conductor of the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra and has appeared as guest conductor with such major orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Vienna Philharmonic.
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John Keats
John Keats ( /ˈkiːts/; 31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English Romantic poet. He was one of the main figures of the second generation of romantic poets along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, despite his work only having been in publication for four years before his death.
Although his poems were not generally well received by critics during his life, his reputation grew after his death, so that by the end of the 19th century he had become one of the most beloved of all English poets. He had a significant influence on a diverse range of later poets and writers. Jorge Luis Borges stated that his first encounter with Keats was the most significant literary experience of his life.
The poetry of Keats is characterized by sensual imagery, most notably in the series of odes. Today his poems and letters are some of the most popular and most analyzed in English literature.
John Keats was born on 31 October 1795 to Thomas and Frances Jennings Keats. Keats and his family seemed to have marked his birthday on 29 October, however baptism records give the birth date as the 31st. He was the eldest of four surviving children; George (1797–1841), Thomas (1799–1818) and Frances Mary "Fanny" (1803–1889). Another son was lost in infancy. John was born in central London although there is no clear evidence of the exact location. His father first worked as a hostler at the stables attached to the Swan and Hoop inn, an establishment he later managed and where the growing family lived for some years. Keats believed that he was born at the inn, a birthplace of humble origins, but there is no evidence to support this. The Keats at the Globe pub now occupies the site, a few yards from modern day Moorgate station. He was baptised at St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate and sent to a local dame school as a child.
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Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( /ˈdʒoʊzəf ˈhaɪdən/; German pronunciation: [ˈjoːzɛf ˈhaɪdən] ( listen); 31 March 1732 – 31 May 1809), known as Joseph Haydn, was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms. He was also instrumental in the development of the piano trio and in the evolution of sonata form.
A lifelong resident of Austria, Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family on their remote estate. Isolated from other composers and trends in music until the later part of his long life, he was, as he put it, "forced to become original". At the time of his death, he was one of the most celebrated composers in Europe.
Joseph Haydn was the brother of Michael Haydn, himself a highly regarded composer, and Johann Evangelist Haydn, a tenor. He was also a close friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and a teacher of Ludwig van Beethoven.
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José de Espronceda
José Ignacio Javier Oriol Encarnación de Espronceda y Delgado (25 March 1808 — 23 May 1842) was a famous Romantic Spanish poet.
Espronceda was born in Almendralejo, at the Province of Badajoz. As a youth, he studied at the Colegio San Mateo at Madrid, having Alberto Lista as a teacher. When he was 15 years old, he formed a secret society named "Los Numantinos" alongside his friends Ventura de la Vega and Patricio de la Escosura, conspiring against Ferdinand VII and intending to avenge the death of Rafael del Riego. For this, he was imprisoned in a monastery and exiled. Afterward, he left Spain and lived in Lisbon, Belgium, France, England and Holland. On his return to Spain in 1833, he became active in the extreme left-wing of Spanish political culture. Espronceda is also known for his affair with Teresa Mancha, for whom he wrote "Canto a Teresa" (from El diablo mundo). He later went to the Malay Peninsula and helped build the Dutch colonies there. He died of diphtheria in 1842.
Having been inspired to a literary career by his teacher Alberto Lista, Espronceda began to write the historical poem El Pelayo during his stay in the monastery. The poem was never completed. Later he wrote the novel Sancho Saldaña. His other important works include El estudiante de Salamanca and El Diablo Mundo, long lyric poems, the latter remained unfinished. Also important were A Jarifa en una orgía, El verdugo, El canto del cosaco, La canción del pirata and Himno al sol. Many of his works display the tendencies of Romanticism, and along with José Zorilla he is considered Spain's most important Romantic poet, as well as the most rebellious.
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José Zorrilla
José Zorrilla y Moral (Spanish pronunciation: [xoˈse θoˈriʎa]; 21 February 1817 – 23 January 1893), was a Spanish Romantic poet and dramatist.
He was born in Valladolid to a magistrate in whom Ferdinand VII placed special confidence,. He was educated by the Jesuits at the Real Seminario de Nobles in Madrid, wrote verses when he was twelve, became an enthusiastic admirer of Walter Scott and Chateaubriand, and took part in the school performances of plays by Lope de Vega and Calderón de la Barca.
In 1833 he was sent to study law at the University of Toledo, but after a year of idleness, he fled to Madrid, where he horrified the friends of his absolutist father by making violent speeches and by founding a newspaper which was promptly suppressed by the government. He narrowly escaped transportation to the Philippines, and passed the next few years in poverty.
The death of the satirist Mariano José de Larra brought Zorrilla into notice. His elegiac poem, read at Larra's funeral in February 1837, introduced him to the leading men of letters. In 1837 he published a book of verses, mostly imitations of Alphonse de Lamartine and Victor Hugo, which was so favourably received that he printed six more volumes within three years.
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Jules Janin
Jules Gabriel Janin (16 February 1804 – 19 June 1874) was a French writer and critic.
Born in Saint-Étienne (Loire), Janin's father was a lawyer, and he was educated first at St. Étienne, and then at the lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris. He involved himself in journalism from an early date, and worked on the Figaro and the Quotidienne, among others, until in 1830 he became dramatic critic of the Journal des Débats. Long before, however, he had made a literary reputation for himself, publishing novels such as L'âne mort et la Femme guillotinée ("The Dead Donkey and the Guillotined Woman") (1829). La Confession (1830) followed, and then in Barnave (1831), he attacked the Orléans family.
From the day, however, when Janin became the theatrical critic of the Débats, though he continued to write books, he was most notable in France as a dramatic critic.
Janin authored the text for the song Chant des chemins de fer by Hector Berlioz, a fellow critic at the Débats.
After many years of feuilleton writing he collected some of his articles in the work called Histoire de la littérature dramatique en France (1853-1858). In 1865 he made his first attempt upon the Academy, but was not successful till five years later. Meanwhile he had not been content with his feuilletons, written persistently about all manner of things. No one was more in request with the Paris publishers for prefaces, letterpress to illustrated books and suchlike.
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Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (French pronunciation: [ʒyl emil fʁedeʁik masnɛ]) (May 12, 1842 – August 13, 1912) was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas fell into almost total oblivion. Apart from Manon and Werther, his works were rarely performed. However, since the mid-1970s, many operas of his such as Thaïs and Esclarmonde have undergone periodic revivals.
Massenet was born in Montaud, then an outlying hamlet and now a part of the city of Saint-Étienne, in the Loire. When he was six, his family moved to Paris due to his father's ill-health. There his mother (Adélaïde Massenet, née Royer; her husband's second wife) started taking piano pupils. She also taught Jules so well that at the age of 11 he was able to enter the Paris Conservatoire. He was still a student when his family moved from Paris to Chambéry, but Jules returned to Paris after a few months, living with a married member of his father's family by his first wife. To support himself during his studies, he worked as timpanist for six years at the Théâtre Lyrique, playing also other percussion instruments in other theatres, and working as a pianist in the Café de Belleville.
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Juliusz Słowacki
Juliusz Słowacki (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjuljuʂ swɔˈvat͡ski]; 4 September 1809 – 3 April 1849) was a Polish Romantic poet. He is considered one of the "Three Bards" of Polish literature — a major figure in the Polish Romantic period, and the father of modern Polish drama. His works often feature elements of Slavic pagan traditions, Polish history, mysticism and orientalism. His style includes the employment of neologisms and irony. His primary genre was the drama, and secondly, lyric poetry. His most popular works include the dramas Kordian and Balladyna and the poem Beniowski.
Słowacki spent his youth in Stolen Lands, in Kremenets (Polish: Krzemieniec) (now Ukraine) and Vilnius (Polish: Wilno) (now Lithuania). He briefly worked for the government of the Kingdom of Poland. During the November 1830 Uprising, he was a courier for the Polish revolutionary government. When the uprising ended in defeat, he found himself abroad and thereafter, like many compatriots, lived the life of an émigré. He settled briefly in Paris, France, and later in Geneva, Switzerland. He also traveled through Italy, Greece and the Middle East. Eventually he returned to Paris, where he spent the last decade of his life. He briefly returned to Poland when another uprising broke out during the Spring of Nations (1848).
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Karel Hynek Mácha
Karel Hynek Mácha (Czech pronunciation: [ˈkarɛl ˈɦɪnɛk ˈmaːxa]) (16 November 1810 – 6 November 1836) was a Czech romantic poet.
Mácha grew up in Prague, the son of a foreman at a mill. He learned Latin and German in school. He went on to study law at Prague University; during that time he also became involved in theatre (as an actor he first appeared in Jan Nepomuk Štěpánek's drama Czech and German in July 1832 in Benešov), where he met Eleonora Šomková, with whom he had a son out of wedlock. He was fond of travel, enjoying trips into the mountains, and was an avid walker. Eventually he moved to Litoměřice, a quiet town some 60 km from Prague, to prepare for law school exams and to write poetry. Three days before he was to be married to Šomková, just a few weeks after he had begun working as a legal assistant, Mácha, in helping put out a fire, overstrained himself, and died after a short period of illness, due to pneumonia. The day after his death he was expected in Prague to marry his mistress.
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Karl Bryullov
Karl Pavlovich Bryullov (Russian: Карл Па́влович Брюлло́в12 December 1799 - 11 June 1852), also transliterated Briullov or Briuloff and referred to by his friends as "The Great Karl", was a Russian painter. He is regarded as a key figure in transition from the Russian neoclassicism to romanticism.
Karl Bryullov was born on December, 12th (23), 1799 in St.-Petersburg, in a family of the academician, the woodcarver and engraver Pavel Ivanovich Briullo (Brulleau, 1760—1833). He felt drawn to Italy from his early years. Despite his education at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1809–1821), Bryullov never fully embraced the classical style taught by his mentors and promoted by his brother, Alexander Bryullov. After distinguishing himself as a promising and imaginative student and finishing his education, he left Russia for Rome where he worked until 1835 as a portraitist and genre painter, though his fame as an artist came when he began doing historical painting.
His best-known work, The Last Day of Pompeii (1830–1833), is a vast composition compared by Pushkin and Gogol to the best works of Rubens and Van Dyck. It created a sensation in Italy and established Briullov as one of the finest European painters of his day. After completing this work, he triumphantly returned to the Russian capital, where he made many friends among the aristocracy and intellectual elite and obtained a high post in the Imperial Academy of Arts.
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Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, later George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron, FRS (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was a British poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. Among Byron's best-known works are the brief poems She Walks in Beauty, When We Two Parted, and So, we'll go no more a roving, in addition to the narrative poems Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Don Juan. He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential.
He travelled to fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died at 36 years old from a fever contracted while in Missolonghi in Greece.
Byron was celebrated in life for aristocratic excesses including huge debts, numerous love affairs, rumours of a scandalous incestuous liaison with his half-sister, and self-imposed exile. It has been speculated that he suffered from bipolar I disorder, or manic depression.
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Louis Niedermeyer
Abraham Louis Niedermeyer (27 April 1802 – 14 March 1861) was a composer chiefly of church music but also of a few operas, and a teacher who took over the Ecole Choron, duly renamed École Niedermeyer, a school for the study and practice of church music, where several eminent French musicians studied including Gabriel Fauré and André Messager.
Born in Nyon, Switzerland, Niedermeyer studied piano in Vienna with Ignaz Moscheles and composition with Emanuel Aloys Förster. He studied further in Rome with Vincenzo Fioravanti (1819) and in Naples with Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli. While in Rome, he had the luck to meet Gioachino Rossini, who befriended him and urged the production of some of Niedermeyer's operas. His first opera, Il reo per amore, was put on in Naples in 1820 with some success.
Like Rossini, Niedermeyer settled in Paris (at the age of 21, in 1823); and there, in later years, four more of his operas were staged, though with little success:
Niedermeyer also collaborated with his friend Rossini on the assembly of Robert Bruce, Rossini's third and last pastiche; Niedermeyer provided the all-important French texts with their characteristic tone color and harmonies.
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Louise Bertin
Louise-Angélique Bertin (Les Roches, Essonne, 15 January 1805 – Paris, 26 April 1877) was a French composer and poet.
Louise Bertin lived her entire life in France. Her father, Louis-François Bertin, and also her brother later on, were the editors of Journal des débats, an influential newspaper. As encouraged by her family, Bertin pursued music. She received lessons from François-Joseph Fétis, who directed a private family performance of Guy Mannering, the first opera that Bertin ever composed, in 1825. This opera, never formally produced, took its story line from the book of the same name, written by Sir Walter Scott. Two years later, Bertin's second opera, Le Loup-garou, was produced at the Opéra-Comique.
At the age of 21, Bertin began working on an opera semiseria, based on Goethe's Faust. A performance of the completed opera was scheduled for 1830. However, due to many unforeseen complications, Fausto did not actually reach the stage until a full year later. It was not well received and only saw three performances.
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Ludwig Feuerbach
Ludwig Andreas von Feuerbach (July 28, 1804, Landshut, Lower Bavaria – September 13, 1872) was a German philosopher and anthropologist. He was the fourth son of the eminent jurist Paul Johann Anselm Ritter von Feuerbach, brother of mathematician Karl Wilhelm Feuerbach and uncle of painter Anselm Feuerbach. An associate of Left Hegelian circles, Feuerbach was politically liberal, an atheist and a materialist. Many of his philosophical writings offered a critical analysis of Christianity. His thought was influential in the development of dialectical materialism, where he is often recognized as a bridge between Hegel and Marx.
Feuerbach matriculated in the University of Heidelberg with the intention of pursuing a career in the church.[citation needed] Through the influence of Prof. Karl Daub he was led to an interest in the then predominant philosophy of Hegel and, in spite of his father's opposition, enrolled in the University of Berlin in order to study under the master himself. After 22 years, the Hegelian influence began to slacken. Feuerbach became associated with a group known as the Young Hegelians, alternately known as the Left Hegelians, who synthesized a radical offshoot of Hegelian philosophy, interpreting Hegel's dialectic march of spirit through history to mean that existing Western culture and institutional forms—and, in particular, Christianity—would be superseded. "Theology," he wrote to a friend, "I can bring myself to study no more. I long to take nature to my heart, that nature before whose depth the faint-hearted theologian shrinks back; and with nature man, man in his entire quality." These words are a key to Feuerbach's development. He completed his education at Erlangen, at the Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nuremberg with the study of natural science.
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Ludwig Tieck
Johann Ludwig Tieck (May 31, 1773 – April 28, 1853) was a German poet, translator, editor, novelist, writer of Novellen, and critic, who was one of the founding fathers of the Romantic movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Tieck was born in Berlin, the son of a rope-maker. He was educated at the Friedrich Werdersche Gymnasium, where he learned Greek and Latin, like most preparatory schools required. He also began learning Italian at a very young age from a grenadier he became acquainted with. Through this friendship, Tieck was given a firsthand look at the poor, which could be linked to his work as a Romanticist. Later, he attended the universities of Halle, Göttingen and Erlangen. At Göttingen, he studied Shakespeare and Elizabethan drama.
In 1794 he returned to Berlin, and attempted to make a living by writing. He contributed a number of short stories (1795–1798) to the series of Straussfedern, published by the bookseller C. F. Nicolai and originally edited by J. K. A. Musäus, and wrote Abdallah (1796) and a novel in letters, William Lovell (3 vols. 1795–1796).
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Ludwig Uhland
Johann Ludwig Uhland (26 April 1787 – 13 November 1862), was a German poet, philologist and literary historian.
He was born in Tübingen, then Duchy of Württemberg, and studied jurisprudence at the university there, but also took an interest in medieval literature, especially old German and French poetry. Having graduated as a doctor of laws in 1810, he went to Paris for eight months to continue his studies of poetry; and from 1812 to 1814 he worked as a lawyer in Stuttgart, in the bureau of the minister of justice.
He had begun his career as a poet in 1807 and 1808 by contributing ballads and lyrics to Seckendorff's Musenalmanach; and in 1812 and 1813 he wrote poems for Kerner's Poetischer Almanach and Deutscher Dichterwald. In 1815 he collected his poems in a volume entitled Vaterländische Gedichte, which almost immediately secured a wide circle of readers. To almost every new edition he added some fresh poems. His two dramatic works Ernst, Herzog von Schwaben (1818) and Ludwig der Baier (1819) are unimportant in comparison with his Gedichte.
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (
i/ˈlʊdvɪɡ væn ˈbeɪt.hoʊvən/; German pronunciation: [ˈluːtvɪç fan ˈbeːt.hoːfən] ( listen); baptized 17 December 1770 – 26 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers.
Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of the Holy Roman Empire, Beethoven moved to Vienna in his early 20s, studying with Joseph Haydn and quickly gaining a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. His hearing began to deteriorate in his late twenties, yet he continued to compose, conduct, and perform, even after becoming completely deaf.
Beethoven was the grandson of a musician of Flemish origin named Lodewijk van Beethoven (1712–73) who moved at the age of twenty to Bonn. Lodewijk (Ludwig is the German cognate of Dutch Lodewijk) was employed as a bass singer at the court of the Elector of Cologne, eventually rising to become Kapellmeister (music director). Lodewijk had one son, Johann (1740–1792), who worked as a tenor in the same musical establishment, and gave lessons on piano and violin to supplement his income. Johann married Maria Magdalena Keverich in 1767; she was the daughter of Johann Heinrich Keverich, who had been the head chef at the court of the Archbishopric of Trier.
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Luigi Cherubini
Luigi Cherubini (Italian pronunciation: [luˈiːdʒi keruˈbiːni]) (8 or 14 September 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian composer who spent most of his working life in France. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest of his contemporaries.
Cherubini was born Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini in Florence. There is uncertainty about his exact date of birth. Although 14 September is sometimes stated, evidence from baptismal records and Cherubini himself suggests the 8th is correct. Perhaps the strongest evidence is his first name, Maria, which is traditional for a child born on 8 September, feast-day of the Nativity of the Virgin. His instruction in music began at the age of six with his father, Bartolomeo, maestro al cembalo ("Master of the harpsichord" i.e. ensemble leader from the harpsichord). Considered a child prodigy, Cherubini studied counterpoint and dramatic style at an early age. By the time he was thirteen, he had composed several religious works.
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Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley (née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (1818). She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin, and her mother was the philosopher and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.
Mary Godwin's mother died when she was eleven days old; afterwards, she and her older half-sister, Fanny Imlay, were raised by her father. When Mary was four, Godwin married his neighbour, Mary Jane Clairmont. Godwin provided his daughter with a rich, if informal, education, encouraging her to adhere to his liberal political theories. In 1814, Mary Godwin began a romantic relationship with one of her father’s political followers, the married Percy Bysshe Shelley. Together with Mary's stepsister, Claire Clairmont, they left for France and travelled through Europe; upon their return to England, Mary was pregnant with Percy's child. Over the next two years, she and Percy faced ostracism, constant debt, and the death of their prematurely born daughter. They married in late 1816 after the suicide of Percy Shelley's first wife, Harriet.
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Mikhail Glinka
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (Russian: Михаи́л Ива́нович Гли́нка) (June 1 [O.S. May 20] 1804 – February 15 [O.S. February 3] 1857), was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music. Glinka's compositions were an important influence on future Russian composers, notably the members of The Five, who took Glinka's lead and produced a distinctive Russian style of music.
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Mikhail Lermontov
Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (Russian: Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов; IPA: [mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjurʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲɛrməntəf]; October 15 [O.S. October 3] 1814 – July 27 [O.S. July 15] 1841), a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucasus", became the most important Russian poet after Alexander Pushkin's death in 1837. Lermontov is considered the supreme poet of Russian literature alongside Pushkin and the greatest figure in Russian Romanticism. His influence on later Russian literature is still felt in modern times, not only through his poetry, but also through his prose, which founded the tradition of the Russian psychological novel.
Lermontov was born in Moscow into a respectable noble family of the Tula Oblast, and grew up on the Tarkhany estate in the village of Tarkhany (now Lermontovo) in Penza Oblast. According to legend, his paternal family is descended from the Scottish Earls of Learmont, one of whom settled in Russia in the early 17th century, during the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov. The legendary Scottish poet Thomas the Rhymer (Thomas Learmonth) is thus claimed as a relative of Lermontov. The only ascertainable genealogical information states that the poet was descended from Yuri (George) Learmont, a Scottish officer in the Polish service who settled in Russia in the middle of 17th century
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Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (Russian: Моде́ст Петро́вич Мýсoргский; IPA: [mɐˈdʲest ˈmusərkskʲɪj]; 21 March [O.S. 9 March] 1839 – 28 March [O.S. 16 March] 1881) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five". He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period. He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music.
Many of his works were inspired by Russian history, Russian folklore, and other nationalist themes. Such works include the opera Boris Godunov, the orchestral tone poem Night on Bald Mountain, and the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition.
For many years Mussorgsky's works were mainly known in versions revised or completed by other composers. Many of his most important compositions have recently come into their own in their original forms, and some of the original scores are now also available.
The spelling and pronunciation of the composer's name has been a matter of some controversy.
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Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte (French: Napoléon Bonaparte [napoleɔ̃ bɔnɑpaʁt]) (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the latter stages of the French Revolution. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815. His legal reform, the Napoleonic Code, has been a major influence on many civil law jurisdictions worldwide, but he is best remembered for his role in the wars led against France by a series of coalitions, the so-called Napoleonic Wars. He established hegemony over most of continental Europe and sought to spread the ideals of the French Revolution, while consolidating an imperial monarchy which restored aspects of the deposed Ancien Régime. Due to his success in these wars, often against numerically superior enemies, he is generally regarded as one of the greatest military commanders of all time and his campaigns are studied at military academies throughout much of the world.
Napoleon was born in Corsica to parents of noble Genoese ancestry, and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France. He rose to prominence under the French First Republic and led successful campaigns against the First and Second Coalitions arrayed against France. In 1799, he staged a coup d'état and installed himself as First Consul; five years later the French Senate proclaimed him emperor. In the first decade of the 19th century, the French Empire under Napoleon engaged in a series of conflicts—the Napoleonic Wars—involving every major European power.
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Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, the only judge involved in the Salem witch trials who never repented of his actions. Nathaniel later added a "w" to make his name "Hawthorne" in order to hide this relation. He entered Bowdoin College in 1821, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1824, and graduated in 1825. Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe, in 1828. He published several short stories in various periodicals which he collected in 1837 as Twice-Told Tales. The next year, he became engaged to Sophia Peabody. He worked at a Custom House and joined Brook Farm, a transcendentalist community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires, then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. A political appointment took Hawthorne and family to Europe before their return to The Wayside in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, and was survived by his wife and their three children.
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Niccolò Paganini
Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (27 October 1782 – 27 May 1840) was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer. He was one of the most celebrated violin virtuosi of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His Caprice No. 24 in A minor, Op. 1, is among the best known of his compositions, and has served as an inspiration for many prominent composers.
Niccolò Paganini was born in Genoa, Italy, the third of the six children of Antonio and Teresa (née Bocciardo) Paganini. Paganini's father was an unsuccessful trader, but he managed to supplement his income through playing music on the mandolin. At the age of five, Paganini started learning the mandolin from his father, and moved to the violin by the age of seven. His musical talents were quickly recognized, earning him numerous scholarships for violin lessons. The young Paganini studied under various local violinists, including Giovanni Servetto and Giacomo Costa, but his progress quickly outpaced their abilities. Paganini and his father then traveled to Parma to seek further guidance from Alessandro Rolla. But upon listening to Paganini's playing, Rolla immediately referred him to his own teacher, Ferdinando Paer and, later, Paer's own teacher, Gasparo Ghiretti. Though Paganini did not stay long with Paer or Ghiretti, the two had considerable influence on his composition style.
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Nikolay Karamzin
Nikolay Mikhailovich Karamzin (Russian: Никола́й Миха́йлович Карамзи́н) (12 December [O.S. 1 December] 1766 – 3 June [O.S. 22 May] 1826) was a Russian writer, poet, historian, and critic. He is best remembered for his History of the Russian State, a 12-volume national history.
Karamzin was born in the village of Mikhailovka, in the government of Orenburg on 1 December (old style) 1766. His father was an officer in the Russian army. He was sent to Moscow to study under Swiss-German teacher Johann Matthias Schaden; he later moved to St Petersburg, where he made the acquaintance of Ivan Dmitriev, a Russian poet of some merit, and occupied himself with translating essays by foreign writers into his native language. After residing for some time in St Petersburg he went to Simbirsk, where he lived in retirement until induced to revisit Moscow. There, finding himself in the midst of the society of learned men, he again took to literary work.
In 1789 he resolved to travel, and visited Germany, France, Switzerland and England. On his return he published his Letters of a Russian Traveller, which met with great success. These letters, modelled after Irish-born Poet, Laurence Sterne´s Sentimental Journey, were first printed in the Moscow Journal, which he edited, but were later collected and issued in six volumes (1797–1801).
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Novalis
Novalis (German pronunciation: [noˈvaːlɪs]) was the pseudonym of Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (May 2, 1772 – March 25, 1801), an author and philosopher of early German Romanticism.
Georg Philipp Friedrich von Hardenberg was born in 1772 at Oberwiederstedt manor (now part of Arnstein, Saxony-Anhalt), in the Harz mountains. The family seat was a manorial estate, not simply a stately home. Novalis descended from ancient, Low German nobility. Different lines of the family include such important, influential magistrates and ministry officials as the Prussian chancellor Karl August von Hardenberg (1750–1822). An oil painting and a christening cap commonly assigned to Novalis are his only possessions now extant. In the church in Wiederstedt, he was christened Georg Philipp Friedrich. He spent his childhood on the family estate and used it as the starting point for his travels into the Harz mountains.
Novalis’s father, the estate owner and salt-mine manager Heinrich Ulrich Erasmus Freiherr von Hardenberg (1738–1814), was a strictly pietistic man who had become a member of the Moravian (Herrnhuter) Church. His second marriage was to Auguste Bernhardine von Hardenberg, née Bölzig (1749–1818), who gave birth to eleven children: their second child was Georg Philipp Friedrich, who later named himself Novalis.
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Ophelia
Ophelia is a fictional character in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes, and potential wife of Prince Hamlet. As one of the few female characters in the play, she is used as a contrasting plot device to Hamlet's mother, Gertrude.
In Ophelia's first speaking appearance in the play, she is seen with her brother, Laertes, who is leaving for France. Laertes warns her that Hamlet, the heir to the throne of Denmark, does not have the freedom to marry whomever he wants. Ophelia's father, Polonius, enters while Laertes is leaving, and also forbids Ophelia to pursue Hamlet, whom he fears is not earnest about her.
In Ophelia's next appearance, she tells Polonius that Hamlet rushed into her room with his clothing askew, and with a "hellish" expression on his face, and only stared at her and nodded three times, without speaking to her. Based on what Ophelia tells him, about Hamlet acting in such a "mad" way, Polonius concludes that he was wrong to forbid Ophelia to see Hamlet, and that Hamlet must be mad because of lovesickness for Ophelia. Polonius immediately decides to go to Claudius (the new King of Denmark, and also Hamlet's uncle and stepfather) about the situation. Polonius later suggests to Claudius that they hide behind an arras to overhear Hamlet speaking to Ophelia when Hamlet thinks the conversation is private. Since Polonius is now sure that Hamlet is lovesick for Ophelia, he thinks Hamlet will express love for Ophelia. Claudius agrees to try the eavesdropping plan later.
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Paul Paray
Paul Paray (French pronunciation: [pɔl paʁɛ]) (born Le Tréport, 24 May 1886 - died Monte Carlo, 10 October 1979) was a French conductor, organist and composer. He is best remembered in the United States for being the resident conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for more than a decade. He married Yolande Falck on 25 August 1944.
Paray's father, Auguste, was a sculptor and organist at St. Jacques church, and leader of an amateur musical society. He put young Paul in the society's orchestra as a drummer. Later, Paul Paray went to Rouen to study music with the abbots Bourgeois and Bourdon, and organ with Haelling. This prepared him to enter the Paris Conservatoire. In 1911, Paul Paray won the Premier Grand Prix de Rome for his cantata Yanitza.
As World War I started, Paul Paray heeded the call to arms and joined the French Army. In 1914, he was a prisoner of war at the Darmstadt camp, where he composed a string quartet.
After the war, Paray was invited to conduct the orchestra of the Casino de Cauterets, which included players from the Lamoureux Orchestra. This was a springboard for him to conduct this Orchestra in Paris. Later he was music director of the Monte Carlo Orchestra, and president of the Concerts Colonne.
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Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley ( /ˈpɜrsi ˈbɪʃ ˈʃɛli/; 4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron. The novelist Mary Shelley (née Godwin) was his second wife.
He is most famous for such classic anthology verse works as "Ozymandias", Ode to the West Wind, To a Skylark, Music, When Soft Voices Die, The Cloud and The Masque of Anarchy, which are among the most popular and critically acclaimed poems in the English language. His major works, however, are long visionary poems which included Queen Mab (later reworked as The Daemon of the World), Alastor, The Revolt of Islam, Adonaïs and the unfinished work The Triumph of Life. The Cenci (1819) and Prometheus Unbound (1820) were dramatic plays in five and four acts respectively. Although he has typically been figured as a "reluctant dramatist", he was passionate about the theatre, and his plays continue to be performed today. He wrote the Gothic novels Zastrozzi (1810) and St. Irvyne (1811) and the short prose works "The Assassins" (1814), "The Coliseum" (1817) and "Una Favola" (1819). In 2008, he was credited as the co-author of the novel Frankenstein (1818) in a new edition by the Bodleian Library in Oxford and Random House in the U.S. entitled The Original Frankenstein, edited by Charles E. Robinson.
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Peter Cornelius
Carl August Peter Cornelius (24 December 1824 – 26 October 1874) was a German composer, writer about music, poet and translator.
He was born in Mainz.
Cornelius played violin and composed lieder from an early age, studying with Tekla Griebel-Wandall and composition with Heinrich Esser in 1841. Cornelius lived with his painter uncle Peter von Cornelius in Berlin from 1844 to 1852, during which time he met prominent figures such as Alexander von Humboldt, the Brothers Grimm, Friedrich Rückert and Felix Mendelssohn.
Cornelius's first mature works (including the opera Der Barbier von Bagdad) were composed during his brief stay in Weimar (1852–1858). His next place of residence was Vienna, where he stayed for five years. It was in Vienna that Cornelius began a friendship with Richard Wagner. It was at Wagner's behest that Cornelius moved to Munich in 1864, where he finally took a wife and fathered four children.
Among many British musicians, his best known work is The Three Kings, an Epiphany anthem of which a version is included in the first volume of the popular Willcocks and Jacques compilation Carols for Choirs.
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Philipp Otto Runge
Philipp Otto Runge (23 July 1777 – 2 December 1810) was a Romantic German painter and draughtsman. He made a late start to his career and died young, nonetheless he is considered among the best German Romantic painters.
Runge was born as the 9th of 11 children of a family of shipbuilders in Wolgast, in Western Pomerania, then under Swedish rule. As a sickly child he often missed school and at an early age learned the art of scissor-cut silhouettes from his mother, practised by him throughout his life. In 1795 he began a commercial apprenticeship at his older brother Daniel's firm in Hamburg. In 1799 Daniel supported Runge financially to begin study of painting under Jens Juel at the Copenhagen Academy. In 1801 he moved to Dresden to continue his studies, where he met Caspar David Friedrich, Ludwig Tieck, and his future wife Pauline Bassenge. He also began extensive study of the writings of the 17th century mystic Jakob Boehme. In 1803, on a visit to Weimar, Runge unexpectedly met Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and the two formed a friendship based on their common interests in color and art.
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Philipp Veit
Philipp Veit (13 February 1793 – 18 December 1877) was a German Romantic painter. To Veit is due the credit of having been the first to revive the almost forgotten technique of fresco painting.
Veit was born in Berlin, Prussia. He was the son of a banker Simon Veit and his wife Dorothea, daughter of Moses Mendelssohn, who subsequently left him to marry Friedrich Schlegel. Veit received his first art education in Dresden and Vienna. He was strongly influenced by, and joined, the Nazarene movement in Rome, where he worked for some years before moving to Frankfurt.
In Frankfurt, where his most important works are preserved at the Städel, he was active from 1830 to 1843 as director of the art collections and as professor of painting. From 1853 till his death in 1877 he held the post of director of the municipal gallery at Mainz. Like his fellow Nazarenes he was more draughtsman than painter, and though his sense of colour was stronger than that of Overbeck or Cornelius, his works are generally more of the nature of coloured cartoons than of paintings in the modern sense.
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Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez (French pronunciation: [pjɛʁ bu.lɛːz]) (born 26 March 1925) is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.
Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics. He pursued the latter at Lyon before pursuing music at the Paris Conservatoire under Olivier Messiaen and the wife of Arthur Honegger, Andrée Vaurabourg.
Through Messiaen, Boulez discovered twelve-tone technique — which he would later study privately with René Leibowitz — and went on to write atonal music in a post-Webernian serial style. Boulez was initially part of a cadre of early supporters of Leibowitz, but due to an altercation with Leibowitz, their relations turned divisive, as Boulez spent much of his career promoting the music of Messiaen instead.
The first fruits of this were his cantatas Le visage nuptial and Le soleil des eaux for female voices and orchestra, both composed in the late 1940s and revised several times since, as well as the Second Piano Sonata of 1948, a well-received 32-minute work that Boulez composed at the age of 23. Thereafter, Boulez was influenced by Messiaen's research to extend twelve-tone technique beyond the realm of pitch organization, serialising durations, dynamics, mode of attack, and so on. This technique became known as integral serialism.
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Pierre Monteux
Pierre Benjamin Monteux (pronounced: [pjɛʁ mɔ̃.tø]; 4 April 1875 – 1 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor who directed orchestras around the world for more than half a century.
Monteux studied the violin at the Conservatoire de Paris (1884–96) and the viola privately with Benjamin Godard. After working as a violist, playing in orchestras under the direction of André Messager, Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, and his idol Artur Nikisch, he came to prominence as a conductor with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes between 1911 and 1914. For Diaghilev, in Paris he conducted the world premieres of Stravinsky's Petrushka, The Rite of Spring, and The Nightingale; Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé; and Debussy's Jeux. He then served in the French army for two years, and in 1916 conducted the Ballets Russes on a North American tour. From 1917 to 1919 he was the principal conductor of the French repertoire at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Monteux led the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1919–24), Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra (1924–34), Orchestre Symphonique de Paris (1929–38) and San Francisco Symphony (1936–52). In the 1950s he freelanced, guest conducting in America and Europe. In 1961, aged 86, he accepted the chief conductorship of the London Symphony Orchestra, which he held until his death three years later. Among the composers whose concert works he premiered were Milhaud, Poulenc, Prokofiev and Ravel. Although known for his performances of the French repertoire, his chief love was the music of German composers, above all Brahms. He disliked recording, finding it incompatible with spontaneity, but he nevertheless made a substantial number of records ranging as widely as his concert repertoire, from Bach to the premieres he conducted, and including all the Beethoven symphonies. He made few operatic recordings.
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Piotr Michałowski
Piotr Michałowski (July 2, 1800 – June 9, 1855) was a Polish painter of the Romantic period, especially known for his many portraits.
His talent was long underestimated, but he was re-discovered by Pablo Picasso in 1948. When the painter visited Poland, he saw Michałowski's work in the Warsaw National Museum and shouted, "Here, painter!"
The Sukiennice Museum, a division of the National Museum in Kraków, contains a room devoted to Michałowski's work.
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Rafael Kubelík
Rafael Jeroným Kubelík (29 June 1914 – 11 August 1996) was a Czech conductor and composer.
Kubelík was born in Býchory, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary, today's Czech Republic. He was the sixth child of the Bohemian violinist Jan Kubelík, whom the younger Kubelík described as "a kind of god to me". His mother was a Hungarian countess, Anna Julie Marie Széll von Bessenyö. Kubelík studied violin with his father, and later violin, composition, and conducting at the Prague Conservatory. He graduated from the conservatory in 1933, at the age of 19; at his graduation concert he played a Paganini concerto and a composition of his own for violin and orchestra. Kubelík was also an accomplished pianist, and served as his father's piano accompanist on a tour of the United States in 1935.
In 1939, Kubelík became music director of the Brno Opera, a position he held until the Nazis shut the company down on 12 November 1941. The Nazis allowed the Czech Philharmonic to continue operating, and Kubelík became its principal conductor. (He had first conducted the Czech Philharmonic in 1934 when he was 20 years old.) In 1944, after various incidents, including one in which he declined to greet the Nazi Reichsprotektor Karl Hermann Frank with a Hitler salute — along with his refusal to conduct Wagner during the War — Kubelík "deemed it advisable to disappear from Prague and to spend a few months undercover in the countryside so as not to fall into the clutches of the SS or Gestapo".
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Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champion of individualism and a prescient critic of the countervailing pressures of society, and he disseminated his thoughts through dozens of published essays and more than 1,500 public lectures across the United States.
Emerson gradually moved away from the religious and social beliefs of his contemporaries, formulating and expressing the philosophy of Transcendentalism in his 1836 essay, Nature. Following this ground-breaking work, he gave a speech entitled The American Scholar in 1837, which Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. considered to be America's "Intellectual Declaration of Independence".
Emerson wrote most of his important essays as lectures first, then revised them for print. His first two collections of essays – Essays: First Series and Essays: Second Series, published respectively in 1841 and 1844 – represent the core of his thinking, and include such well-known essays as Self-Reliance, The Over-Soul, Circles, The Poet and Experience. Together with Nature, these essays made the decade from the mid-1830s to the mid-1840s Emerson's most fertile period.
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Richard Pohl
Richard Pohl (September 12, 1826 – December 17, 1896) was a German music critic, writer, poet, and amateur composer. He figured prominently in the mid-century War of the Romantics, taking the side opposite Eduard Hanslick, and championing the "Music of the Future" (the progressive Romantic style of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner).
Pohl was born in Leipzig. He studied physical sciences and philosophy before taking up writing and music criticism; he also acquired some early musical training. While in Leipzig, he became friends with Robert Schumann. Later, after a brief stint teaching at Graz, he moved to Dresden; there he worked on the Neue Muskizeitung between 1852 and 1854. During this period he became involved in the "War of the Romantics," the vitriolic controversy between the relatively conservative branch of the Romantic movement, represented by Brahms, Mendelssohn and others, and the progressive "Music of the Future" trend exemplified by the music of Franz Liszt, Hector Berlioz and especially by the music dramas of Richard Wagner. Pohl was solidly on the side of Wagner. The much more famous critic, Eduard Hanslick, championed Brahms from his post in Vienna as the critic for the prestigious Neue freie Presse.
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Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and other orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Also sprach Zarathustra, An Alpine Symphony, and Metamorphosen. Strauss was also a prominent conductor throughout Germany and Austria.
Strauss, along with Gustav Mahler, represents the late flowering of German Romanticism after Richard Wagner, in which pioneering subtleties of orchestration are combined with an advanced harmonic style.
Strauss was born on 11 June 1864, in Munich, the son of Franz Strauss, who was the principal horn player at the Court Opera in Munich. In his youth, he received a thorough musical education from his father. He wrote his first composition at the age of six, and continued to write music almost until his death.
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Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( /ˈvɑːɡnər/; German pronunciation: [ˈʁiçaʁt ˈvaːɡnɐ]; 22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was a German composer, conductor, theatre director and polemicist primarily known for his operas (or "music dramas", as he later called them). Wagner's compositions, particularly those of his later period, are notable for their complex texture, rich harmonies and orchestration, and the elaborate use of leitmotifs: musical themes associated with individual characters, places, ideas or plot elements. Unlike most other opera composers, Wagner wrote both the music and libretto for every one of his stage works. Perhaps the two best-known extracts from his works are the Ride of the Valkyries from the opera Die Walküre, and the Wedding March (Bridal Chorus) from the opera Lohengrin.
Initially establishing his reputation as a composer of works such as The Flying Dutchman and Tannhäuser which were broadly in the romantic vein of Weber and Meyerbeer, Wagner transformed operatic thought through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk ("total work of art"). This would achieve the synthesis of all the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts and was announced in a series of essays between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realized this concept most fully in the first half of the monumental four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. However, his thoughts on the relative importance of music and drama were to change again, and he reintroduced some traditional operatic forms into his last few stage works, including Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
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Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) (also known as Rabbie Burns, Scotland's favourite son, the Ploughman Poet, Robden of Solway Firth, the Bard of Ayrshire and in Scotland as simply The Bard) was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a "light" Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these his political or civil commentary is often at its most blunt.
He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement, and after his death he became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism, and a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish Diaspora around the world. Celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. In 2009 he was chosen as the 'Greatest Scot' by the Scottish public in a vote run by Scottish television channel STV.
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Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, (8 June 1810 – 29 July 1856) was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law to return to music, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. He had been assured by his teacher Friedrich Wieck that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing.
Schumann's published compositions were written exclusively for the piano until 1840; he later composed works for piano and orchestra; many Lieder (songs for voice and piano); four symphonies; an opera; and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. Works such as Kinderszenen, Album für die Jugend, Blumenstück and Albumblätter are among his most famous. His writings about music appeared mostly in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music), a Leipzig-based publication which he jointly founded.
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Samuel Palmer
Samuel Palmer (27 January 1805 – 24 May 1881) was a British landscape painter, etcher and printmaker. He was also a prolific writer. Palmer was a key figure in Romanticism in Britain and produced visionary pastoral paintings.
Palmer, who was born in Newington, London in Surrey Square off the Old Kent Road, was the son of a bookseller and sometime Baptist minister, and was raised by a pious nurse. Palmer painted churches from around age twelve, and first exhibited Turner-inspired works at the Royal Academy at the age of fourteen. He had little formal training, and did not have a formal schooling, although he was educated briefly at Merchant Taylors' School.
Through John Linnell, he met William Blake in 1824. Blake's influence can be seen in the works he produced over the next ten years or so, which are generally reckoned to be his greatest. These works were of landscapes around Shoreham, near Sevenoaks in the west of the county of Kent. He purchased a run-down cottage, nicknamed "Rat Abbey", and it was there that he lived from 1826 to 1835, depicting the area as a demi-paradise, mysterious and visionary, and often shown in sepia shades under moon and star light. There Palmer also associated with the group of Blake-influenced artists known as The Ancients (including George Richmond and Edward Calvert). They were among the few who ever saw the Shoreham paintings since, as a result of attacks by critics in 1825, he only ever opened those early portfolios to selected friends.
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Sigismond Thalberg
Sigismond Thalberg (January 8, 1812 – April 27, 1871) was a composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century.
Sigismond Thalberg was born in Pâquis near Geneva, Switzerland, on January 8, 1812. According to his birth certificate, he was the son of "Joseph Thalberg" and "Fortunée Stein", both from Frankfurt-am-Main, but the names in the birth certificate are now regarded as fictitious. For reasons of Thalberg's illegitimate birth, during his lifetime it was common use not to call his parents true names. François-Joseph Fétis, in the article "Thalberg" in his Biographie universelle des musiciens (1863), therefore wrote that Thalberg was son of a Prince „M.. D..“ and a Baroness „W...“.
The identity of Thalberg's mother as Baroness Maria Julia Wetzler von Plankenstern was disclosed 1871 by L. R. von Kohlenegg (Poly Henrion) in an article for the paper Ueber Land und Meer and 1882 by Constant von Wurzbach in the eighth volume of his Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Österreich. As excuse for their being indiscreet both authors wrote that the Baroness herself had always admitted that Sigismond Thalberg was her son. She wore a ring on one of her thumbs and told people who had asked her about it, that the ring had been given to her by Thalberg's father after she had given birth to the child. She was born Julia Bydeskuty von Ipp, from a Hungarian family of a lower rank of the nobility. In 1820 she married Baron Alexander Ludwig Wetzler von Plankenstern.
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Stendhal
Marie-Henri Beyle (23 January 1783 – 23 March 1842), better known by his pen name Stendhal, was a 19th-century French writer. Known for his acute analysis of his characters' psychology, he is considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism in his two novels Le Rouge et le Noir (The Red and the Black, 1830) and La Chartreuse de Parme (The Charterhouse of Parma, 1839).
Born in Grenoble, Isère, he had an unhappy childhood in what he found to be stifling provincial France, disliking his "unimaginative" father and mourning his mother, who had died when he was young. His closest friend was his younger sister, Pauline, with whom he maintained a steady correspondence throughout the first decade of the 19th century.
The military and theatrical worlds of the First French Empire were a revelation to Beyle. He was named an auditor with the Conseil d'État on 3 August 1810, and thereafter took part in the French administration and in the Napoleonic wars in Italy. He travelled extensively in Germany and was part of Napoleon's army in the 1812 invasion of Russia.
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Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (Ukrainian: Тара́с Григо́рович Шевче́нко, Russian: Тара́с Григо́рьевич Шевче́нко, Taras Grigoryevich Shevchenko), ( March 9 [O.S. February 25] 1814 – March 10 [O.S. February 26] 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, artist and humanist. His literary heritage is regarded to be the foundation of modern Ukrainian literature and, to a large extent, the modern Ukrainian language. Shevchenko also wrote in Russian and left many masterpieces as a painter and an illustrator.
Born into a serf family of Hryhoriy Ivanovych Shevchenko (1782? - 1825) and Kateryna Yakymivna Shevchenko (Boiko) (1782? - August 6, 1823) in the village of Moryntsi, of Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire (now in Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine) Shevchenko was orphaned at the age of eleven. He was taught to read by a village precentor, and loved to draw at every opportunity. Shevchenko went as a household servant with his Russian aristocrat lord Pavel Engelhardt to Vilnius (1828–31) and then to Saint Petersburg.
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Thomas de Quincey
Thomas Penson De Quincey (15 August 1785 – 8 December 1859) was an English essayist, best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821).
De Quincey was born in 86 Cross Street, Manchester, England. His father was a successful merchant with an interest in literature who died when he was quite young. Soon after his birth the family went to The Farm and then later to Greenheys, a larger country house in Chorlton-on-Medlock near Manchester. In 1796 De Quincey's mother, now a widow, moved to Bath and enrolled him at King Edward's School, Bath.
De Quincey was a weak and sickly child. His youth was spent in solitude, and when his elder brother, William, came home, he wreaked havoc in the quiet surroundings. De Quincey's mother (who counted Hannah More amongst her friends) was a woman of strong character and intelligence, but seems to have inspired more awe than affection in her children. She brought them up very strictly, taking Thomas out of school after three years because she was afraid he would become big-headed, and sending him to an inferior school at Winkfield in Wiltshire.
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Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer. He was responsible, with John Murray, for burning Lord Byron's memoirs after his death. In his lifetime he was often referred to as Anacreon Moore.
Thomas Moore was born at 12 Aungier-street in Dublin, Ireland, on 28 May 1779. over his father's grocery shop, his father being from an Irish speaking Gaeltacht in Kerry and his mother, Anastasia Codd, from Wexford. He had two younger sisters, Kate and Ellen.
From a relatively early age Moore showed an interest in music and other performing arts. He sometimes appeared in plays with his friends, such as The Poor Soldier by John O'Keeffe, and at one stage had ambitions to become an actor. Moore attended several Dublin schools including Samuel Whyte's English Grammar School in Grafton Street where he learned the English accent with which he spoke with for the rest of his life. From 1795 He was educated at Trinity College, which had recently allowed entry to Catholic students, in an effort to fulfil his mother's dream of his becoming a lawyer. Moore was initially a good student, but he later worked less hard at his studies. His time at Trinity came amidst the ongoing turmoil following the French Revolution and a number of his fellow students such as Robert Emmett were supporters of the United Irishmen movement who sought support from the French government to launch a revolution in Ireland. In 1798 a rebellion broke out followed by a French invasion, neither of which succeeded.
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Théodore Géricault
Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault (26 September 1791 – 26 January 1824) was a profoundly influential French artist, painter and lithographer, known for The Raft of the Medusa and other paintings. Although he died young, he became one of the pioneers of the Romantic movement.
Born in Rouen, France, Géricault was educated in the tradition of English sporting art by Carle Vernet and classical figure composition by Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, a rigorous classicist who disapproved of his student's impulsive temperament yet recognized his talent. Géricault soon left the classroom, choosing to study at the Louvre instead, where (from 1810 to 1815) he copied from paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, Titian, Diego Velázquez, and Rembrandt. During this period at the Louvre he discovered a vitality he found lacking in the prevailing school of Neoclassicism. Much of his time was spent in Versailles, where he found the stables of the palace open to him, and where he gained his knowledge of the anatomy and action of horses.
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Théophile Gautier
Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier (pronounced: [pjɛʁ ʒyl teofil ɡotje]; August 30, 1811 – October 23, 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, art critic and literary critic.
While Gautier was an ardent defender of Romanticism, his work is difficult to classify and remains a point of reference for many subsequent literary traditions such as Parnassianism, Symbolism, Decadence and Modernism. He was widely esteemed by writers as diverse as Balzac, Baudelaire, the Goncourt brothers, Flaubert, Proust and Oscar Wilde.
Gautier was born on August 30, 1811, in Tarbes, capital of Hautes-Pyrénées département in southwestern France. His father, Pierre Gautier, was a fairly cultured minor government official and his mother was Antoinette-Adelaïde Concarde. The family moved to Paris in 1814, taking up residence in the ancient Marais district.
Gautier's education commenced at the prestigious Collège Louis-le-Grand in Paris (fellow alumni include Voltaire and Charles Baudelaire), which he attended for three months before being brought home due to illness. Although he completed the remainder of his education at Collège Charlemagne (alumni include Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve), Gautier's most significant instruction came from his father, who prompted him to become a Latin scholar by age 18.
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Ugo Foscolo
Ugo Foscolo (Italian pronunciation: [ˈuɡo ˈfoskolo]; 6 February 1778 – 10 September 1827), born Niccolò Foscolo, was an Italian writer, revolutionary and poet.
Foscolo was born on the Ionian island of Zakynthos. His father was Andrea Foscolo, an impoverished Venetian nobleman, and his mother Diamantina Spathis was Greek.
In 1788, on the death of his father, who worked as a physician in Spalato, today Croatia (Split), the family removed to Venice, and at the University of Padua Foscolo completed the studies begun at the Dalmatian grammar school.
Amongst his Paduan teachers was the abbé Cesarotti, whose version of Ossian had made that work highly popular in Italy, and who influenced Foscolo's literary tastes; he knew both modern and Ancient Greek. His literary ambition revealed itself by the appearance in 1797 of his tragedy Tieste--a production which obtained a certain degree of success.
Foscolo, who, for causes not clearly explained, had changed his Christian name Niccolò to that of Ugo, now began to take an active part in the stormy political discussions which the fall of the republic of Venice had provoked. He was a prominent member of the national committees, and addressed an ode to Napoleon Bonaparte, expecting Napoleon to overthrow the Venetian oligarchy and create a free republic.
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Vasily Zhukovsky
Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (Russian: Васи́лий Андре́евич Жуко́вский; IPA: [vɐˈsʲilʲɪj ɐˈndrʲejɪvʲɪtɕ ʐʊˈkofskʲɪj]; February 9 [O.S. January 29] 1783 – April 24 [O.S. April 12] 1852) was the foremost Russian poet of the 1810s and a leading figure in Russian literature in the first half of the 19th century. He held a high position at the Romanov court as tutor to the Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna and later to her son, the future Tsar-Liberator Alexander II.
Zhukovsky is credited with introducing the Romantic Movement into Russia. The main body of his literary output consists of free translations covering an impressively wide range of poets, from ancients like Ferdowsi and Homer to his contemporaries Goethe, Schiller, Byron, and others. Many of his translations have become classics of Russian literature, arguably better-written and more enduring in Russian than in their original languages.
Zhukovsky was born in the village of Mishenskoe, in Tula Oblast, Russia, the illegitimate son of a landowner named Afanasi Bunin and his Turkish housekeeper Salkha. The Bunin family had a literary bent and some 90 years later produced the Nobel Prize-winning modernist writer Ivan Bunin. For reasons of social propriety, Zhukovsky was formally adopted by a family friend. He kept his adopted surname and patronymic for the rest of his life, even when later ennobled, eventually passing it on to his own children.
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Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (French pronunciation: [viktɔʁ maʁi yɡo]) (26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist[citation needed] and exponent of the Romantic movement in France.
In France, Hugo's literary fame comes first from his poetry but also rests upon his novels and his dramatic achievements. Among many volumes of poetry, Les Contemplations and La Légende des siècles stand particularly high in critical esteem, and Hugo is sometimes identified as the greatest French poet. Outside France, his best-known works are the novels Les Misérables and Notre-Dame de Paris (also known in English as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame).
Though a committed royalist when he was young, Hugo's views changed as the decades passed; he became a passionate supporter of republicanism[citation needed], and his work touches upon most of the political and social issues and artistic trends of his time. He is buried in the Panthéon.
Hugo was the third, illegitimate, son of Joseph Léopold Sigisbert Hugo (1774–1828) and Sophie Trébuchet (1772–1821); his brothers were Abel Joseph Hugo (1798–1855) and Eugène Hugo (1800–1837). He was born in 1802 in Besançon (in the region of Franche-Comté) and lived in France for the majority of his life. However, he decided to live in exile as a result of Napoleon III's Coup d'état at the end of 1851.
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Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was a Italian opera composer. A native of Catania in Sicily, his greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi (1830), La sonnambula (1831), Norma (1831), Beatrice di Tenda (1833), and I puritani (1835). Known for his long-flowing melodic lines, for which he was named "the Swan of Catania", Bellini was the quintessential composer of bel canto opera. He died in Puteaux, France at the age of 33, nine months after the premiere of his last opera, I puritani.
Born in Catania, Sicily, Bellini was a child prodigy from a highly musical family and legend has it he could sing an aria of Valentino Fioravanti at eighteen months. He began studying music theory at two, the piano at three, and by the age of five could apparently play well. Bellini's first five pieces were composed when he was just six years old. Regardless of the veracity of these claims, it is certain that Bellini grew up in a musical household and that a career as a musician was never in doubt.
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Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (October 15, 70 BC – September 21, 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil /ˈvɜrdʒəl/ in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues (or Bucolics), the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid. A number of minor poems, collected in the Appendix Vergiliana, are sometimes attributed to him.
Virgil is traditionally ranked as one of Rome's greatest poets. His Aeneid has been considered the national epic of ancient Rome from the time of its composition to the present day. Modeled after Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the Aeneid follows the Trojan refugee Aeneas as he struggles to fulfill his destiny and arrive on the shores of Italy—in Roman mythology the founding act of Rome. Virgil's work has had wide and deep influence on Western literature, most notably the Divine Comedy of Dante, in which Virgil appears as Dante's guide through hell and purgatory.
Virgil's biographical tradition is thought to depend on a lost biography by Varius, Virgil's editor, which was incorporated into the biography by Suetonius and the commentaries of Servius and Donatus, the two great commentators on Virgil's poetry. Although the commentaries no doubt record much factual information about Virgil, some of their evidence can be shown to rely on inferences made from his poetry and allegorizing; thus, Virgil's biographical tradition remains problematic.
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Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832) was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time.
Scott was the first English-language author to have a truly international career in his lifetime, with many contemporary readers in Europe, Australia, and North America. His novels and poetry are still read, and many of his works remain classics of both English-language literature and of Scottish literature. Famous titles include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, The Lady of the Lake, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor.
Born in College Wynd in the Old Town of Edinburgh in 1771, the son of a solicitor, Scott survived a childhood bout of polio in 1773 that left him lame. To cure his lameness he was sent in 1773 to live in the rural Borders region at his paternal grandparents' farm at Sandyknowe, adjacent to the ruin of Smailholm Tower, the earlier family home. Here he was taught to read by his aunt Jenny, and learned from her the speech patterns and many of the tales and legends that characterised much of his work. In January 1775 he returned to Edinburgh, and that summer went with his aunt Jenny to take spa treatment at Bath in England, where they lived at 6 South Parade. In the winter of 1776 he went back to Sandyknowe, with another attempt at a water cure at Prestonpans during the following summer.
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Washington Irving
Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works include biographies of George Washington, Oliver Goldsmith and Muhammad, and several histories of 15th-century Spain dealing with subjects such as Christopher Columbus, the Moors, and the Alhambra. Irving also served as the U.S. ambassador to Spain from 1842 to 1846.
He made his literary debut in 1802 with a series of observational letters to the Morning Chronicle, written under the pseudonym Jonathan Oldstyle. After moving to England for the family business in 1815, he achieved international fame with the publication of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. in 1819. He continued to publish regularly—and almost always successfully—throughout his life, and completed a five-volume biography of George Washington just eight months before his death, at age 76, in Tarrytown, New York.
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Wikipedia Persondata
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Wilhelm Hauff
Wilhelm Hauff (29 November 1802 – 18 November 1827) was a German poet and novelist.
Hauff was born in Stuttgart, the son of August Friedrich Hauff, a secretary in the ministry of foreign affairs, and Hedwig Wilhelmine Elsaesser Hauff. He was the second of four children.
Young Hauff lost his father when he was seven years old, and his early education was practically self-gained in the library of his maternal grandfather at Tübingen, where his mother had moved after the death of her husband. In 1818 he was sent to the Klosterschule at Blaubeuren, and in 1820 began to study at the University of Tübingen. In four years he completed his philosophical and theological studies at the Tübinger Stift.
On leaving the university, Hauff became tutor to the children of the famous Württemberg minister of war, General Baron Ernst Eugen von Hugel (1774–1849), and for them wrote his Märchen (fairy tales), which he published in his Märchen almanach auf das Jahr 1826 (Fairytale Almanac of 1826). Some of these stories are very popular in German-speaking countries to this day, such as Der kleine Muck (The Story of Little Muck), Kalif Storch (Caliph Stork) and Die Geschichte von dem Gespensterschiff (The Tale of the Ghost Ship) — all set in the Orient; as well as Der Zwerg Nase (Little Longnose), Das kalte Herz (The Cold Heart) and Das Wirtshaus im Spessart (The Inn in the Spessart), set in Germany.
wn.com/Wilhelm_Hauff -
William Blake
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. His prophetic poetry has been said to form "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". His visual artistry has led one contemporary art critic to proclaim him "far and away the greatest artist Britain has ever produced". Although he lived in London his entire life except for three years spent in Felpham he produced a diverse and symbolically rich corpus, which embraced the imagination as "the body of God", or "Human existence itself".
Considered mad by contemporaries for his idiosyncratic views, Blake is held in high regard by later critics for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical and mystical undercurrents within his work. His paintings and poetry have been characterised as part of both the Romantic movement and "Pre-Romantic", for its large appearance in the 18th century. Reverent of the Bible but hostile to the Church of England – indeed, to all forms of organised religion – Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the French and American revolutions, as well as by such thinkers as Jakob Böhme and Emanuel Swedenborg. Despite these known influences, the singularity of Blake's work makes him difficult to classify. The 19th-century scholar William Rossetti characterised Blake as a "glorious luminary," and as "a man not forestalled by predecessors, nor to be classed with contemporaries, nor to be replaced by known or readily surmisable successors".
wn.com/William_Blake -
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564; died 23 April 1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613 at age 49, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
wn.com/William_Shakespeare -
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 – 23 April 1850) was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads.
Wordsworth's magnum opus is generally considered to be The Prelude, a semiautobiographical poem of his early years which he revised and expanded a number of times. It was posthumously titled and published, prior to which it was generally known as the poem "to Coleridge". Wordsworth was Britain's Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850.
The second of five children born to John Wordsworth and Ann Cookson, William Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in Wordsworth House in Cockermouth, Cumberland—part of the scenic region in northwest England, the Lake District. His sister, the poet and diarist Dorothy Wordsworth, to whom he was close all his life, was born the following year, and the two were baptised together. They had three other siblings: Richard, the eldest, who became a lawyer; John, born after Dorothy, who went to sea and died in 1805 when the ship of which he was Master, the Earl of Abergavenny, was wrecked off the south coast of England; and Christopher, the youngest, who entered the Church and rose to be Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. Their father was a legal representative of James Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale and, through his connections, lived in a large mansion in the small town. Wordsworth, as with his siblings, had little involvement with their father, and they would be distant from him until his death in 1783.
wn.com/William_Wordsworth -
Zygmunt Krasiński
Count Napoleon Stanisław Adam Ludwig Zygmunt Krasiński (Polish pronunciation: [ˈzɨɡmunt kraˈɕiɲskʲi]; Paris, France, 19 February 1812 – 23 February 1859, Paris, France), a Polish count, is traditionally ranked with Mickiewicz and Słowacki as one of Poland's Three National Bards — the trio of great Romantic poets who influenced national consciousness during the period of Poland's political bondage.
Krasiński was the son of a general, Count Wincenty Krasiński, of the aristocratic Krasiński family. He studied law at Warsaw University and in Geneva, where he met Adam Mickiewicz.
Krasiński was more sociopolitically conservative than the other two poets. He published much of his work anonymously.
He is best known for his philosophical Messianist ideas. His drama, Nie-boska Komedia (The Un-Divine Comedy, 1835), portrays the tragedy of an old-world aristocracy defeated by a new order of communism and democracy, and is a poetic prophecy of class conflict and of Russia's October Revolution (see also Okopy Świętej Trójcy); and his drama, Irydion (1836), deals, in the context of Christian ethics, with the struggle of a subjugated nation against its oppressor.
wn.com/Zygmunt_Krasiński -
Émile Signol
Émile Signol (1804 – 1892) was a French artist, born in Paris. Signol died in Montmorency, Val-d'Oise. Although he lived during the Romantic period, his classical background kept him from succumbing to Impressionism or Romanticism.
Signol painted a portrait of Hector Berlioz at the Académie de France à Rome, Villa Medici, during the composer's stay upon his winning the Grand Prix de Rome in 1832. Two years earlier, Signole had won the grand prize for the same competition's painting category with Titulus Crucis. Four of his paintings are housed at the Saint-Sulpice cathedral in Paris.
Elected in 1860, he held a first seat position at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
In 1862 , Pierre-Auguste Renoir studied under Signol and Charles Gleyre across from the Louvre at the École des Beaux-Arts. Signol and Glyere taught Jean-Jules-Antoine Lecomte du Nouÿ in 1861.
Signol is known to have occasionally written the letter "n" backwards in his signature, signifying his backwards way of life.
wn.com/Émile_Signol -
Étienne Méhul
Étienne Nicolas Méhul (22 June 1763 – 18 October 1817) was a French composer, "the most important opera composer in France during the Revolution." He was also the first composer to be called a "Romantic".
Méhul was born at Givet in Ardennes to Jean-François Méhul, a wine merchant, and his wife Marie-Cécile (née Keuly). His first music lessons came from a blind local organist, but he had innate aptitude and was sent to study with a German musician and organist, Wilhelm Hanser, at the monastery of Lavaldieu, a few miles from Givet. Here Méhul developed his lifelong love of flowers.
In 1778 or 1779 he went to Paris and began to study with Jean-Frédéric Edelmann, a harpsichord player and friend of Méhul's idol Christoph Willibald von Gluck. Méhul's first published composition was a book of piano pieces in 1783. He also arranged airs from popular operas and by the late 1780s he had begun to think about an operatic career for himself.
In 1787, the writer Valadier offered Méhul one of his libretti, Cora, which had been rejected by Gluck in 1785. The Académie royale de musique (the Paris Opéra put Méhul's work, under the title Alonzo et Cora, into rehearsal in June 1789. However, the rehearsals were abandoned on 8 August, probably because the Opéra had been suffering severe financial difficulties throughout the 1780s, and the opera was not premiered until 1791. In the meantime, Méhul found an ideal collaborator in the librettist François-Benoît Hoffman, who provided the words to the first of Méhul's operas to be performed, Euphrosine. Its premiere in 1790 was an immense success and marked the composer out as a new talent. It was also the start of his long relationship with the Comédie Italienne theatre (soon to be renamed the Opéra-Comique).
wn.com/Étienne_Méhul
Berlioz, Jacques Filmography
- Le combat dans l'île (1962)
- Piédalu fait des miracles (1952)
- Piédalu à Paris (1951)
- La valse de Paris (1950)
- Meurtres (1950)
- Le martyr de Bougival (1949)
- Ruy Blas (1948)
- L'aventure commence demain (1948)
- Rendez-vous à Paris (1947)
- Vertiges (1947)
- L'affaire du collier de la reine (1946)
- Le dernier sou (1946)
- Le capitan (1946)
- Échec au roy (1945)
- Le carrefour des enfants perdus (1944)
- Finance noire (1943)
- Ne le criez pas sur les toits (1943)
- Le café du port (1940)
- Le monde tremblera (1940)
- Ils étaient neuf célibataires (1939)
- La principessa Tarakanova (1938)
- Alerte en Méditerranée (1938)
- La bête humaine (1938)
- Remontons les Champs-Élysées (1938)
- Le patriote (1938)
- Thérèse Martin (1938)
- La rue sans joie (1938)
- La tour de Nesle (1937)
- Tamara la complaisante (1937)
- Gigolette (1937)
- La danseuse rouge (1937)
- Les perles de la couronne (1937)
- Courrier Sud (1937)
- Double crime sur la ligne Maginot (1937)
- Marthe Richard au service de la France (1937)
- 27 rue de la Paix (1936)
- La joueuse d'orgue (1936)
- Les mutinés de l'Elseneur (1936)
- Mayerling (1936)
- Sous la terreur (1936)
- La porte du large (1936)
- Les beaux jours (1935)
- Les yeux noirs (1935)
- Volga en flammes (1934)
- Le petit Jacques (1934)
- Aux portes de Paris (1934)
- La maison du mystère (1933)
Berlioz, Hector Filmography
- The Damnation of Faust (2011)
- The Damnation of Faust (2011)
- Berlioz: The Symphonie Fantastique, Then and Now (2011)
- Devolution (2010)
- Eau No (2008)
- Les troyens (2003)
- Les Troyens (2000)
- La damnation de Faust (1999)
- Saito Kinen Festival in Matsumoto: Gekitekimonogatari 'Fausto no goubatsu' (1999)
- L'enfance du Christ (1986)
- Les troyens (1981)
- Tsvety zapozdalye (1971)
- Széchenyi meggyilkoltatása (1971)
- Todas as Mulheres do Mundo (1967)
- L'enfance du Christ (1966)
- L'enfance du Christ (1964)
- Romanticism in Music (1961)
- Faust aux enfers (1903)
Berlioz, Xavier Filmography
- Low Cost (2011)
- Crime d'amour (2010)
- Le bureau des jours perdus (2009)
- Disco (2008)
- Danse avec lui (2007)
- Ex (2006)
- Félix Leclerc (2005)
- La légende vraie de la tour Eiffel (2005)
- Au secours, j'ai trente ans! (2004)
- Un petit jeu sans conséquence (2004)
- Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004)
- Ne m'appelle plus BB (2002)
- Rage (2001)
- Grégoire Moulin contre l'humanité (2001)
- Sexy Boys (2001)
- Les amis de mon maître (1999)
- Disparus (1998)
RELEASE
ALBUMS
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Part I, I. Introduction: Combats - Tumulte - Intervention du prince
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Part I, I. Prologue: “D’anciennes haines endormies”
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Part I, I. Strophe I: “Premiers transports que nul n’oublie”
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Part I, I. Strophe II: “Heureux enfants aux cœurs de flamme”
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Part I, I. Récitatif et Scherzetto: “Bientôt de Roméo” - “Mab! La messagère” - “Bientôt la mort est souveraine”
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Part II, II. Roméo seul - Tristesse - Bruits lointains de concert et de bal
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Part II, II. Grande fête chez Capulets
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Part II, II. “Ohé! Capulets! bonsoir, bonsoir!”
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Part II, III. Scène d’amour - Nuit serène - Le jardin de Capulet silencieux et désert - Les jeunes Capulets sortant de la fête en chantant des réminiscences de la musique du bal
Les nuits d'été / Harold en Italie (viola: Antoine Tamestit; mezzo-soprano: Anne Sofie von Otter; Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble; Marc Minkowski)
Released 2011
Released 2011
- Harold en Italie, Op. 16: Harold aux montagnes. Scènes de mélancolie, de bonheur et de joie
- Harold en Italie, Op. 16: Marche de pèlerins chantant la prière du soir
- Harold en Italie, Op. 16: Sérénade d'un montagnard des Abruzzes à sa maîtresse
- Harold en Italie, Op. 16: Orgie de brigands. Souvenirs des scènes précédentes
- Les nuits d'été, Op. 7: I. Villanelle
- Les nuits d'été, Op. 7: II. Le Spectre de la rose
- Les nuits d'été, Op. 7: III. Sur les Lagunes lamento
- Les nuits d'été, Op. 7: IV. Absence
- Les nuits d'été, Op. 7: V. Au Cimetière clair de lune
- Les nuits d'été, Op. 7: VI. L'Île inconnue
- Le roi de thulé (chanson gothique extraite de La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24)
- Les Nuits d'été, H. 81 (Op. 7): Villanelle
- Les Nuits d'été, H. 81 (Op. 7): Le Spectre de la rose
- Les Nuits d'été, H. 81 (Op. 7): Sur les lagunes (lamento)
- Les Nuits d'été, H. 81 (Op. 7): Absence
- Les Nuits d'été, H. 81 (Op. 7): Au Cimetière (Claire de lune)
- Les Nuits d'été, H. 81 (Op. 7): L'Île inconnue
- Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17: Figlio non è
- Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17: L'angue offeso mai riposa
- Ottone, re di Germania, HWV 15: Ben a raggion
- Ottone, re di Germania, HWV 15: Vieni, o figlio, e mi consola
- Arianna in Creta, HWV 32: Mirami altero in volto
- Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17: La giustizia ha già sull'arco
- Radamisto, HWV 12: Ombra cara di mia sposa
- Agrippina, HWV 6: Ogni vento, ch'al porto lo spinga
- Radamisto, HWV 12: Qual nave smarrita
- La Damnation de Faust: Premiere Partie - Scene 1 - Plaines de Hongrie
- La Damnation de Faust: Premiere Partie - Scene 2 - Ronde des payans
- La Damnation de Faust: Premiere Partie - Scene 3 - Marche hongroise
- La Damnation de Faust: Deuxieme Partie - Scene 4 - Nord d'Allemange
- La Damnation de Faust: Deuxieme Partie - Scene 4 - Chant de la fete de paques
- La Damnation de Faust: Deuxieme Partie - Scene 5 - Mephistopheles et Faust 'O pure emotion'
- La Damnation de Faust: Deuxieme Partie - Scene 6 - Choeur de buveurs ' A boire encore'
- La Damnation de Faust: Deuxieme Partie - Scene 6 - Chanson de Brander ' Certain rat, dans une cuisine'
- La Damnation de Faust: Deuxieme Partie - Scene 6 - ' Vrai Dieu Messieurs, votre fugue'
- La Damnation de Faust: Deuxieme Partie - Scene 6 - Chanson de Mesphisopheles ' Une puce gentille'
- La Damnation de Faust: Deuxieme Partie - Scene 7 - Air de Mesphisopheles 'Voici des roses'
- La Damnation de Faust: Deuxieme Partie - Scene 7 - Choeur de gnomes et de sylphes. Songe de Fuast 'Dors, heureux Faust'
- La Damnation de Faust: Deuxieme Partie - Scene 7 - Ballet des sylphes
- La Damnation de Faust: Deuxieme Partie - Scene 7 - Faust 'Margarita'
- La Damnation de Faust: Deuxieme Partie - Scene 8 - Choeurs de soldats et chanson d'etudiants
BBC Music, Volume 18, Number 8: Te Deum / Symphonie funèbre et triomphale (BBC Symphony Orchestra feat. conductor: Susannah Malkki / BBC National Orchestra of Wales feat. conductor: Thierry Fischer)
Released 2010
Released 2010
- Symphonie funèbre et triomphale, Op. 15: I. Marche funèbre
- Symphonie funèbre et triomphale, Op. 15: II. Oraison funèbre
- Symphonie funèbre et triomphale, Op. 15: III. Apotheose
- Te Deum, Op. 22: I. Te deum
- Te Deum, Op. 22: II. Tibi omnes
- Te Deum, Op. 22: III. Dignare, domine
- Te Deum, Op. 22: IV. Christe, rex gloriae
- Te Deum, Op. 22: V. Te ergo quaesumus
- Te Deum, Op. 22: VI. Judex crederis
Harold in Italy, Overtures (Boston Symphony Orchestra feat. viola: William Primrose, conductor: Charles Munch)
Released 2010
Released 2010
- Harold en Italie, Op. 16: I. Harold aux montagnes
- Harold en Italie, Op. 16: II. Marche des pèlerins
- Harold en Italie, Op. 16: III. Serenade
- Harold en Italie, Op. 16: IV. Orgie des brigands
- Overture from Béatrice et Bénédict
- Overture from Le Corsaire, Op. 21
- Overture from Benvenuto Cellini, Op. 23
- Overture from Le carnaval romain, Op. 9
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: I. Reveries - Passions
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: II. A Ball
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: III. Scene in the Country
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: IV. March to the Scaffold
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: V. Dream of the Witches' Sabbath
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Part II. Love Scene
Symphonie Fantastique / Le Carnaval Romain (Anima Eterna, feat. conductor: Jos van Immerseel)
Released 2010
Released 2010
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: I. Rêveries / Passions
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: II. Un bal
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: III. Scène aux champs
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: IV. Marche au supplice
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: V. Songe d'une nuit du Sabbat
- Le Carnaval Romain, Op. 9: Ouverture caractéristiques
- Sinfonia fantástica, Op. 14 "Episódio da vida de um artista": I. Devaneios, paixões. Allegro appassionato e appassionato assai
- Sinfonia fantástica, Op. 14 "Episódio da vida de um artista": II. Um baile - Valsa. Allegro non troppo
- Sinfonia fantástica, Op. 14 "Episódio da vida de um artista": III. Cena no campo. Adagio
- Sinfonia fantástica, Op. 14 "Episódio da vida de um artista": IV. Marcha para o suplício. Allegro non troppo
- Sinfonia fantástica, Op. 14 "Episódio da vida de um artista": V. Sonho de uma noite de sabá. Larghetto - Allegro
- Les Francs-juges, Op. 3
- Carnaval romano, Op. 9
- Roméo et Juliette, Symphonie dramatique, Op. 17: Part IV: Convoi funèbre de Juliette "Jetez des fleurs"
- Roméo et Juliette, Symphonie dramatique, Op. 17: Part IV: Roméo au tombeau des Capulets
- Roméo et Juliette, Symphonie dramatique, Op. 17: Part IV: Invocation
- Roméo et Juliette, Symphonie dramatique, Op. 17: Part IV: Réveil de Juliette
- Roméo et Juliette, Symphonie dramatique, Op. 17: Part IV: Joie délirante
- Roméo et Juliette, Symphonie dramatique, Op. 17: Part IV: Dernières angoisses et mort des deux amants
- Roméo et Juliette, Symphonie dramatique, Op. 17: Part IV: Final. La foule accourt au cimetière - Rixe des Capulets et des Montagus
- Roméo et Juliette, Symphonie dramatique, Op. 17: Part IV: Final. Récitatif du Père Laurence - Air du Père Laurence
- Roméo et Juliette, Symphonie dramatique, Op. 17: Part IV: Final. Serment de réconciliation
- Les Nuits d'été, Op. 7: I. Villanelle
- Les Nuits d'été, Op. 7: II. Le Spectre de la Rose
- Les Nuits d'été, Op. 7: III. Sur les lagunes
- Les Nuits d'été, Op. 7: IV. Absence
- Les Nuits d'été, Op. 7: V. Au cimetière
- Les Nuits d'été, Op. 7: VI. L'Île inconnue
- Symphonie Fantastique, op. 14: I. Dreams, Passions
- Symphonie Fantastique, op. 14: II. A Ball
- Symphonie Fantastique, op. 14: III. Scene in the Fields
- Symphonie Fantastique, op. 14: IV. March to the Scaffold
- Symphonie Fantastique, op. 14: V. Dream of a Witches' Sabbath
Elgar: Symphony No. 1 / Berlioz: Overtures (Staatskapelle Dresden feat. conductor: Colin Davis)
Released 2005
Released 2005
- Symphony No. 1 in A-flat major, Op. 55: I. Andante. Nobilmente e semplice - Allegro
- Symphony No. 1 in A-flat major, Op. 55: II. Allegro molto
- Symphony No. 1 in A-flat major, Op. 55: III. Adagio - Molto expressivo e sostenuto
- Symphony No. 1 in A-flat major, Op. 55: IV. Lento - Allegro - Grandioso
- Overture "Le roi Lear", Op. 4
- Overture "Béatrice et Bénédict"
Symphonie fantastique, Marches, Overtures (Detroit Symphony Orchestra feat. conductor: Paul Paray)
Released 2005
Released 2005
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: I. Rêveries – Passions
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: II. Un bal
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: III. Scène aux champs
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: IV. Marche au supplice
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: V. Songe d'une nuit du sabbat
- Hungarian March
- Trojan March
- The Corsair, Overture
- The Roman Carnival, Overture
- Requiem, Op. 5: VI. Lacrymosa
- Requiem, Op. 5: VII. Offertorium
- Requiem, Op. 5: VIII. Hostias
- Requiem, Op. 5: IX. Sanctus
- Requiem, Op. 5: X. Agnus Dei
Symphonie Fantastique / La Mort de Cleopatre (Wiener Philharmoniker feat. conductor: Valery Gergiev, soprano: Olga Borodina)
Released 2003
Released 2003
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: I Rêveries. Passions (Largo - Allegro agitato ed appassionato assai)
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: II Un bal (Valse: Allegro non troppo)
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: III Scène aux champs (Adagio)
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: IV Marche au supplice (Allegretto non troppo)
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: V Songe d'une nuit du Sabbat (Larghetto - Allegro - Ronde du Sabbat: Poco meno mosso)
- La Mort de Cléopâtre: "C'en est donc fait"
- La Mort de Cléopâtre: Méditation: "Grands Pharaons"
Roméo et Juliette / Les Nuits d'été (Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus feat. conductor: Pierre Boulez)
Released 2003
Released 2003
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Part I. Introduction
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Part I. Prologue. "D'anciennes haines endormies"
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Part I. Strophes 1 & 2. "Premiers transports" - "Hereux enfants"
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Part I. Récitatif et Scherzetto. "Bientôt de Roméo" - "Mab! la messagère" - "Bientôt la mort est souveraine"
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Part II. Roméo seul - Tristesse Grande fête chez Capulets
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Part III. Scène d'amour
- Roméo et Juliette, Op. 17: Part IV. Scherzo. La Reine Mab ou la Fée des songes
- Symphonie fantastique, Op.14: I. Rêveries, passions
- Symphonie fantastique, Op.14: II. Un bal
- Symphonie fantastique, Op.14: III. Scène aux champs
- Symphonie fantastique, Op.14: IV. Marche au supplice
- Symphonie fantastique, Op.14: V. Songe d'un nuit de sabbat
- Overture "Béatrice et Bénédict"
- La belle voyageuse
- L'origine de la harpe
- Le chasseur danois
- Chanson à boire
- Adieu bessy
- Petit oiseau
- Le jeune pâtre breton
- Chant guerrier
- Les champs
- Le chant des bretons
- Le matin
- Le coucher du soleil
- Premiers transports
- Elégie
- Chant sacré
- Le Carnaval romain: Ouverture
- La Damnation de Faust: Rákóczy March
- Les Troyens: Royal Hunt and Storm
- Symphonie fantastique: I. Rêveries, passions
- Symphonie fantastique: II. Un bal
- Symphonie fantastique: III. Scène aux champs
- Symphonie fantastique: IV. Marche au supplice
- Symphonie fantastique: V. Songe d'une nuit du sabbat
- Overture: Le Corsaire
- Les nuites d'été: Villanelle
- Les nuites d'été: Le spectre de la rose
- Les nuites d'été: Sur les lagunes (lamento)
- Les nuites d'été: Absence
- Les nuites d'été: Au cimètiere (Clair de lune)
- Les nuites d'été: L'île inconnue
- Overture: Le Carnaval romain
- Overture: Le roi Lear
- Hungarian March from "La damnation de Faust"
Requiem, 5 Pièces Sacrées (Orchestre symphonique de Montréal feat. conductor: Chareles Dutoit)
Released 1999
Released 1999
- Requiem, Op. 5 "Grande Messe des morts": I. Requiem et Kyrie (Introitus)
- Requiem, Op. 5 "Grande Messe des morts": II. Dies irae (Prosa)
- Requiem, Op. 5 "Grande Messe des morts": III. Quid sum miser
- Requiem, Op. 5 "Grande Messe des morts": IV. Rex tremendae
- Requiem, Op. 5 "Grande Messe des morts": V. Quaerens me
- Requiem, Op. 5 "Grande Messe des morts": VI. Lacrymosa
- Requiem, Op. 5 "Grande Messe des morts": VII. Offertorium
Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini / Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 in C minor / Dukas: The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Berliner Philharmoniker feat. conductor: James Levine, organ: Simon Preston)
Released 1999
Released 1999
- Benvenuto Cellini, Op. 23: Overture. Allegro deciso con impeto - Larghetto - Allegro deciso con impeto
- Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 "Organ": I. Adagio - Allegro moderato
- Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 "Organ": II. Poco adagio
- Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 "Organ": III. Allegro moderato - Presto - Allegro moderato
- Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 "Organ": IV. Maestoso - Allegro - Molto allegro - Pesante
- The Sorcerer's Apprentice: Scherzo after a ballad by Goethe
Symphonie fantastique (opus 14), Ouvertures (Orchestre National de France, direction Charles Munch)
Released 1998
Released 1998
- Rêveries-passions
- Un bal
- Scène aux champs
- Marche au supplice
- Songe d'une nuit de Sabbat
- Ouverture du corsaire, opus 21
- Ouverture de Benvenutto Cellini, opus 23
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: I. Rêveries, passions
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: II. Un bal
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: III. Scène aux champs
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: IV. Marche au supplice
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: V. Songe d'une nuit de Sabbat
- Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade (Allegro giusto, nel modo russico ; senza allegrezza, ma poco sostenuto)
- Pictures at an Exhibition: I. Gnomus (Vivo)
- Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade (Moderato comdo e con delicatezza)
- Pictures at an Exhibition: II. Il vecchio castello (Andante)
- Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade (Moderato non tanto, pesante)
- Pictures at an Exhibition: III. Tuileries (Allegretto non troppo, capriccioso)
- Pictures at an Exhibition: IV. Bydlo (Sempre moderato, pesante)
- Pictures at an Exhibition: Promenade (Tranquillo)
- Pictures at an Exhibition: V. Ballet des petits poussins dans leur coque (Scherzino. Vivo leggiero)
- Pictures at an Exhibition: VI. Samuel Goldenberg und Schmuyle (Andante)
- Pictures at an Exhibition: VII. Limoge, Le Marché (Allegretto vivo, sempre scherzando)
- Pictures at an Exhibition: VIII. Catacombae, Sepulchrum romanum (Largo)
- Pictures at an Exhibition: Con mortuis in lingua mortua (Andante non troppo, con lamento)
- Pictures at an Exhibition: IX. La cabane sur des pattes de poule (Allegro con brio, feroce - Andante mosso - Allegro molto)
- Pictures at an Exhibition: X. La grande porte de Kiev (Allegro alla breve. Maestoso. Con grandezza)
- Requiem et Kyrie
- Dies irae
- Quid sum miser
- Rex tremendae
- Quaerens me
- Lacrymosa
- Offertorium
- Hostias
- Sanctus
- Agnus dei
Requiem, Op. 5 (London Philharmonic Orchestra and London Philharmonic Choir feat. conductor: André Previn) / Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 (London Symphony Orchestra feat. conductor: André Previn)
Released 1997
Released 1997
- Requiem, Op. 5: I. Requiem et Kyrie - Introitus
- Requiem, Op. 5: II. Dies irae - Prosa
- Requiem, Op. 5: III. Quid sum miser
- Requiem, Op. 5: IV. Rex tremendae
- Requiem, Op. 5: V. Quaerens me
- Requiem, Op. 5: VI. Lacrymosa
- Requiem, Op. 5: VII. Offertorium - Domine Jesu Christe
- Requiem, Op. 5: VIII. Hostias
- Requiem, Op. 5: IX. Sanctus
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: I. Rêveries, passions
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: II. Un bal
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: III. Scène aux champs
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: IV. Marche au supplice
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: V. Songe d'une nuit de sabbat
- Les Troyens: Royal Hunt and Storm (Royal Philarmonic Orchestra feat. conductor: Kurt Herbert Adler)
- Invitation to the Dance (National Philarmonic Orchestra feat. conductor: Richard Bonynge)
Les nuits d'été / Herminie (Orchestre des Champs Élysées feat. conductor: Philippe Herreweghe)
Released 1995
Released 1995
- Les nuits d'été, Op. 7: I. Villanelle (feat. mezzo soprano: Brigitte Balleys)
- Les nuits d'été, Op. 7: II. Le spectre de la rose (feat. mezzo soprano: Brigitte Balleys)
- Les nuits d'été, Op. 7: III. Sur les lagunes (feat. mezzo soprano: Brigitte Balleys)
- Les nuits d'été, Op. 7: IV. L'absence (feat. mezzo soprano: Brigitte Balleys)
- Les nuits d'été, Op. 7: V. Au cimetière (Claire de lune) (feat. mezzo soprano: Brigitte Balleys)
- Les nuits d'été, Op. 7: VI. L'île inconnue (feat. mezzo soprano: Brigitte Balleys)
- Herminie (scène lyrique) (feat. soprano: Mireille Delunsch)
Symphonie fantastique / Ouvertures (Boston Symphony Orchestra feat. conductor: Georges Prêtre)
Released 1994
Released 1994
- Symphonie fantastique, Op.14: I. Rêveries, passions
- Symphonie fantastique, Op.14: II. Un bal
- Symphonie fantastique, Op.14: III. Scène aux champs
- Symphonie fantastique, Op.14: IV. Marche au supplice
- Symphonie fantastique, Op.14: V. Songe d'un nuit de sabbat
- Ouverture, Op. 9 "Le Carnaval Romain"
- Ouverture, Op. 21 "Le Corsaire"
- Ouverture "Béatrice et Bénédict"
Die Klassiksammlung 19: Berlioz: Revolutionäre Orchesterklänge (Süddeutsche Philharmonie feat. conductor: Alberto Lizzio)
Released 1993
Released 1993
- Rêverie et caprice, Op. 8 für Violine und Orchester
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: Rêveries, Passions (Träume Leidenschaften)
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: Un bal (Ein Ball)
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: Scène aux champs (Szene auf dem Lande)
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: Marche au supplice (Gang zum Richtplatz)
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: Songe d'une nuit du Sabbat (Traum von einem Hexensabbat)
Symphonie Fantastique / Le Carnaval Romain / Le Corsaire (L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande feat. conductor: Ernest Ansermet)
Released 1992
Released 1992
- Symphonie fantastique: I. Rêveries, passions
- Symphonie fantastique: II. Un bal
- Symphonie fantastique: III. Scène aux champs
- Symphonie fantastique: IV. Marche au supplice
- Symphonie fantastique: V. Songe d'une nuit du sabbat
- Le Corsaire
- Le Carnaval Romain
- La Damnation de Faust: "Danse des Sylphes"
- La Damnation de Faust: "Marche Hongroise"
Requiem (Orchestre Philharmonique et Chœurs de Radio France, Orchestre National de France feat, conductor: Leonard Bernstein) / Mort de Cléopâtre / Roméo et Juliette (Excerpts) (New York Philharmonic feat, conductor: Leonard Bernstein)
Released 1992
Released 1992
- Requiem, Op. 5 "Grande Messe des Morts": I. Requiem et Kyrie. Introitus. Andante un poco lento
- Requiem, Op. 5 "Grande Messe des Morts": II. Dies irae. Moderato
- Requiem, Op. 5 "Grande Messe des Morts": II. Dies Irae. Andante mestoso. (Tuba mirum)
- Requiem, Op. 5 "Grande Messe des Morts": III. Quid sum miser. Andante un poco lento
- Requiem, Op. 5 "Grande Messe des Morts": IV. Rex tremendae. Andante maestoso
- Requiem, Op. 5 "Grande Messe des Morts": V Quarens me. Andante sostenuto
- Requiem, Op. 5 "Grande Messe des Morts": VI. Lacrymosa. Andante non troppo lento
- Requiem, Op. 5 "Grande Messe des Morts": VII. Offertorium. Moderato
- Requiem, Op. 5 "Grande Messe des Morts": VIII. Hostias. Andante non tropoo lento
- Requiem, Op. 5 "Grande Messe des Morts": IX. Sanctus. Andante un poco sostenuto e maestoso
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: I. Rêveries - Passions
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: II. Un bal
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: III. Scène aux champs
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: IV. Marche au supplice
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: V. Songe d'une nuit du sabbat
- Requiem, Op. 5: I. Requiem et Kyrie (Introitus) (Orchestre National de France, Orchestre philharmonique et Chœurs de Radio-France feat. conductor: Leonard Bernstein)
- Requiem, Op. 5: II. Dies irae (Prosa - Tuba mirum) (Orchestre National de France, Orchestre philharmonique et Chœurs de Radio-France feat. conductor: Leonard Bernstein)
- Requiem, Op. 5: III. Quid sum miser (Orchestre National de France, Orchestre philharmonique et Chœurs de Radio-France feat. conductor: Leonard Bernstein)
- Requiem, Op. 5: IV. Rex tremendae (Orchestre National de France, Orchestre philharmonique et Chœurs de Radio-France feat. conductor: Leonard Bernstein)
- Requiem, Op. 5: V. Quaerens me (Orchestre National de France, Orchestre philharmonique et Chœurs de Radio-France feat. conductor: Leonard Bernstein)
- Requiem, Op. 5: VI. Lacrymosa (Orchestre National de France, Orchestre philharmonique et Chœurs de Radio-France feat. conductor: Leonard Bernstein)
- Requiem, Op. 5: VII. Offertorium (Domine Jesu Christe) (Orchestre National de France, Orchestre philharmonique et Chœurs de Radio-France feat. conductor: Leonard Bernstein)
- Requiem, Op. 5: VIII. Hostias (Orchestre National de France, Orchestre philharmonique et Chœurs de Radio-France feat. conductor: Leonard Bernstein)
Berlioz Symphonie fantastique (The London Classical Players feat. conductor: Roger Norrington)
Released 1989
Released 1989
- Symphonie fantastique Op. 14: I. Reveries Passions: Largo, Allegro agitato e appassionato assai
- Symphonie fantastique Op. 14: II. Un bal: Valse, Allegro non troppo
- Symphonie fantastique Op. 14: III. Scene aux champs: Adagio
- Symphonie fantastique Op. 14: IV. Marche au supplice: Allegretto non troppo
- Symphonie fantastique Op. 14: V. Songe d'une nuit de Sabbat, Dies Irae, Ronde du Sabbat. Dies Irae et Ronde du Sabbat ensemble: Larghetto, Allegro
- Marche hongroise
- Chant de la fête de Pâques
- Fugue sur le thème de la chanson de Brander et chanson de Méphistophélès
- Choeur de soldats et chanson d'étudiants
- Le roi de Thulé (chanson gothique)
- Sérénade de Méphistophélès
- Trio et choeur "allons il est trop tard"
- Romance de Marguerite , Choeur de soldats et invocation à la nature
- La course à l'abîme, Pandaemonium et épilogue sur la terre
- I. Reveries - Passions (Largo_Allegro agitato-Religiosamente)
- II. Un bal (Valse; Allegro non troppo)
- III. Scene aux champs (Adagio)
- IV. Marche au supplice (Allegretto non troppo)
- V. Songe d'une nuit de Sabbat (Larghetto-Allegro)
- Rêveries, passions ; Allegro agitato e appassionato assai
- Un bal ; Allegro non troppo
- Scène aux champs ; Adagio
- Marche au supplice ; Allegretto non troppo
- Songe d'une nuit de Sabbat ; Larghetto ; Allegro
Requiem / Symphonie Funèbre Et Triomphale (London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus feat. conductor: Colin Davis)
Released 1970
Released 1970
- Requiem "Grande Messe des Morts", Op. 5, H. 75: I. Requiem - Kyrie
- Requiem "Grande Messe des Morts", Op. 5, H. 75: II. Dies irae -
- Requiem "Grande Messe des Morts", Op. 5, H. 75: II. Tuba mirum
- Requiem "Grande Messe des Morts", Op. 5, H. 75: III. Quid sum miser
- Requiem "Grande Messe des Morts", Op. 5, H. 75: IV. Rex tremendae
- Requiem "Grande Messe des Morts", Op. 5, H. 75: V. Quaerens me
- Requiem "Grande Messe des Morts", Op. 5, H. 75: VI. Lacrymosa
- Requiem "Grande Messe des Morts", Op. 5, H. 75: VII. Domine Jesu Christe
- Requiem "Grande Messe des Morts", Op. 5, H. 75: VIII. Hostias
- Te Deum, Op.22: Te Deum
- Te Deum, Op.22: Tibi omnes
- Te Deum, Op.22: Dignare
- Te Deum, Op.22: Christe, rex gloriae
- Te Deum, Op.22: Te ergo quaesumus
- Te Deum, Op.22: Judex crederis
- I. Reveries and Passions
- II. A Ball
- III. Scenes in the Country
- IV. March to the Gallows
- V. Dream of Witches' Sabbath
- Première partie : Rêverie-passions
- Deuxième partie : Un bal
- Troisième partie : Scènes aux champs
- Quatrième partie : Marche au supplice
- Cinquième partie : Songe d'une nuit de sabbat
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: I. Rêveries. Passions
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: II. Un bal
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: III. Scène aux champs
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: IV. Marche au supplice
- Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: V. Songe d'une nuit du Sabbat
- Symphonie espagnole, Op. 21: I. Allegro non troppo
- Symphonie espagnole, Op. 21: II. Scherzando. Allegro molto
- Symphonie espagnole, Op. 21: III. Intermezzo. Allegretto non troppo
- Symphonie espagnole, Op. 21: IV. Andante
- Symphonie espagnole, Op. 21: V. Rondo. Allegro
- Rêverie et caprice, Op. 8: Romance. Adagio - Allegro vivace - Adagio - Allegro vivace - Vivo
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique / Overtures (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra feat. conductor: Yuri Temirkanov)
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: Rêveries. Passions
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: Un bal
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: Scène aux champs
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: Marche au supplice
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: Songe d'un nuit du sabbat
- Béatrice et Bénédict: Ouverture
- Outverture: Le corsaire, Op. 21
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: I. "Rêveries" Largo - Allegro agitato e appassionata assai
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: II. "Un bal" Allegro non troppo
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: III. "Scène aux champs" Adagio
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: IV. "Marche au supplice" Allegro non troppo
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: V. "Songe d'une nuit du Sabbat" Larghetto - Allegro
Symphonie fantastique / Le Carnaval romain (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra feat. conductor: Marriss Jansons)
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: I. Rêveries, Passions. Largo
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: I. Rêveries, Passions. Allegro agitato e appassionato assai
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: II. Un bal, Valse. Allegro non troppo
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: III. Scène aux champs. Adagio
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: IV. Marche aux supplice. Allegro non troppo
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: V. Songe d'une nuit de Sabbat. Larghetto
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: V. Songe d'une nuit de Sabbat. Allegro
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: V. Songe d'une nuit de Sabbat. Dies irae
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: V. Songe d'une nuit de Sabbat. Ronde du Sabbat
- Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: V. Songe d'une nuit de Sabbat. Dies irae & Ronde du Sabbat
- Le Carnaval romain, Op. 9: Allegro assai con fuoco
- Le Carnaval romain, Op. 9: Andante sostenuto
- Le Carnaval romain, Op. 9: Tempo I. Allegro vivace
Born: 1803-12-11
Died: 1869-03-08
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Berlioz ：Symphonie fantastique
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 48:49
- Updated: 01 Jan 2013
Berlioz： Symphonie fantastique Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire André Cluytens ( Japan, live recording.1964) no copyright infringement intended
http://wn.com/Berlioz_：Symphonie_fantastique
Berlioz： Symphonie fantastique Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire André Cluytens ( Japan, live recording.1964) no copyright infringement intended
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique - Muti/WPh(2007Live)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 54:45
- Updated: 28 Dec 2012
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Symphonie fantastique op.14 Riccardo Muti Wiener Philharmoniker Festspielhaus, Salzburg, 12 8/2007
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Symphonie_fantastique_Muti_WPh2007Live
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Symphonie fantastique op.14 Riccardo Muti Wiener Philharmoniker Festspielhaus, Salzburg, 12 8/2007
- published: 04 Nov 2011
- views: 42392
- author: magischmeisjeorkest
Berlioz - Dies Irae {Turn up the volume!!}
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:49
- Updated: 02 Jan 2013
The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) by Hector Berlioz was composed in 1837. London Symphony Orchestra / Wandsworth School Boys' Choir / London Symphony Chorus The Grande Messe des Morts is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four antiphonal brass ensembles placed at the corners of the concert stage. The work derives its text from the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. It has a duration of approximately ninety minutes, although there are faster recordings of under seventy-five minutes. I was lucky to attend a performance and rehearsal of the Requiem in the Hague way back in the seventies. It was an incredible experience. The 4 brass groups were in the corners of the concert hall, which made the audience sit in between them and the orchestra and choirs. Amazing sound! The timpani's were situated next to each other in a long row. You could hear and see them rolling back and forth in big waves. Nothing comes close to that sound. Only a genius like Berlioz could come up with a score like this.
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Dies_Irae_Turn_up_the_volume!!_
The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) by Hector Berlioz was composed in 1837. London Symphony Orchestra / Wandsworth School Boys' Choir / London Symphony Chorus The Grande Messe des Morts is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four antiphonal brass ensembles placed at the corners of the concert stage. The work derives its text from the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. It has a duration of approximately ninety minutes, although there are faster recordings of under seventy-five minutes. I was lucky to attend a performance and rehearsal of the Requiem in the Hague way back in the seventies. It was an incredible experience. The 4 brass groups were in the corners of the concert hall, which made the audience sit in between them and the orchestra and choirs. Amazing sound! The timpani's were situated next to each other in a long row. You could hear and see them rolling back and forth in big waves. Nothing comes close to that sound. Only a genius like Berlioz could come up with a score like this.
- published: 14 Dec 2009
- views: 104748
- author: bartje11
Berlioz - Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 92:01
- Updated: 25 Dec 2012
I. Requiem 0:00 II. Dies irae 11:41 - Tuba mirum 17:36 III. Quid sum miser 25:36 IV. Rex tremendae 28:54 V. Quaerens me 35:51 VI. Lacrymosa 41:12 VII. Offertorium 52:26 VIII. Hostias 1:03:27 IX. Sanctus 1:07:20 X. Agnus Dei 1:18:39 London Symphony Chorus Wandsworth School Boysʼ Choir London Symphony Orchestra Sir Colin Davis Photo, Alexemanuel The dome over Napoleon, Les Invalides en.wikipedia.org
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Grande_Messe_des_Morts_Requiem
I. Requiem 0:00 II. Dies irae 11:41 - Tuba mirum 17:36 III. Quid sum miser 25:36 IV. Rex tremendae 28:54 V. Quaerens me 35:51 VI. Lacrymosa 41:12 VII. Offertorium 52:26 VIII. Hostias 1:03:27 IX. Sanctus 1:07:20 X. Agnus Dei 1:18:39 London Symphony Chorus Wandsworth School Boysʼ Choir London Symphony Orchestra Sir Colin Davis Photo, Alexemanuel The dome over Napoleon, Les Invalides en.wikipedia.org
- published: 01 Feb 2011
- views: 51779
- author: oppie47
Hector Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique part 1
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:55
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
To watch this performance, click here: 1.Rêveries - Passions (Daydreams - Passions) : www.youtube.com 2.Un bal (A ball) : www.youtube.com 3.Scène aux champs (Scene in the country) : first part of 3td mvmt: www.youtube.com and 2nd part of 3 td mvmt: www.youtube.com 4.Marche au supplice (March to the scaffold) : www.youtube.com 5.Songe d'une nuit de sabbat (Dream of a witches' Sabbath) : www.youtube.com Prima parte din prima miscare First movement: "Rêveries - Passions" In Berlioz's own program notes from 1845, he writes:[1] The author imagines that a young vibrant musician, afflicted by the sickness of spirit which a famous writer[2] has called the wave of passions [la vague des passions], sees for the first time a woman who unites all the charms of the ideal person his imagination was dreaming of, and falls desperately in love with her. By a strange anomaly, the beloved image never presents itself to the artists mind without being associated with a musical idea, in which he recognises a certain quality of passion, but endowed with the nobility and shyness which he credits to the object of his love. This melodic image and its model keep haunting him ceaselessly like a double idée fixe. This explains the constant recurrence in all the movements of the symphony of the melody which launches the first allegro. The transitions from this state of dreamy melancholy, interrupted by occasional upsurges of aimless joy, to delirious passion, with its outbursts of fury and jealousy ...
http://wn.com/Hector_Berlioz_Symphonie_Fantastique_part_1
To watch this performance, click here: 1.Rêveries - Passions (Daydreams - Passions) : www.youtube.com 2.Un bal (A ball) : www.youtube.com 3.Scène aux champs (Scene in the country) : first part of 3td mvmt: www.youtube.com and 2nd part of 3 td mvmt: www.youtube.com 4.Marche au supplice (March to the scaffold) : www.youtube.com 5.Songe d'une nuit de sabbat (Dream of a witches' Sabbath) : www.youtube.com Prima parte din prima miscare First movement: "Rêveries - Passions" In Berlioz's own program notes from 1845, he writes:[1] The author imagines that a young vibrant musician, afflicted by the sickness of spirit which a famous writer[2] has called the wave of passions [la vague des passions], sees for the first time a woman who unites all the charms of the ideal person his imagination was dreaming of, and falls desperately in love with her. By a strange anomaly, the beloved image never presents itself to the artists mind without being associated with a musical idea, in which he recognises a certain quality of passion, but endowed with the nobility and shyness which he credits to the object of his love. This melodic image and its model keep haunting him ceaselessly like a double idée fixe. This explains the constant recurrence in all the movements of the symphony of the melody which launches the first allegro. The transitions from this state of dreamy melancholy, interrupted by occasional upsurges of aimless joy, to delirious passion, with its outbursts of fury and jealousy ...
- published: 20 Jun 2009
- views: 347384
- author: Gogulancelot
Berlioz: Requiem (Grande messe des morts) ~ Sir Colin Davis @ The Albert Hall
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 110:58
- Updated: 29 Dec 2012
The full, spectacular concert from the BBC Proms 2000. Chorus and Orchestra of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Chorus and Orchestra of the Paris Conservatoire, Philharmonia Chorus, Symphonic Voices. Conducted by Sir Colin Davis. Introduced by James Naughtie.
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Requiem_Grande_messe_des_morts_~_Sir_Colin_Davis_@_The_Albert_Hall
The full, spectacular concert from the BBC Proms 2000. Chorus and Orchestra of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Chorus and Orchestra of the Paris Conservatoire, Philharmonia Chorus, Symphonic Voices. Conducted by Sir Colin Davis. Introduced by James Naughtie.
- published: 31 Mar 2012
- views: 14079
- author: Basicallybenign
Hungarian March (Berlioz) - Karajan
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:24
- Updated: 01 Jan 2013
More: www.ilmondoclassico.blogspot.com Berliner Philharmoniker 1978
http://wn.com/Hungarian_March_Berlioz_Karajan
More: www.ilmondoclassico.blogspot.com Berliner Philharmoniker 1978
- published: 27 Dec 2009
- views: 141164
- author: IlMondoClassico
Roman Carnival Overture - Hector Berlioz
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:54
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
The YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 performs Roman Carnival Overture, Op.9 by Hector Berlioz at the Grand Finale concert.
http://wn.com/Roman_Carnival_Overture_Hector_Berlioz
The YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011 performs Roman Carnival Overture, Op.9 by Hector Berlioz at the Grand Finale concert.
- published: 25 Mar 2011
- views: 46270
- author: symphony
Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique Karajan Orchestre de Paris
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 52:46
- Updated: 26 Dec 2012
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Symphonie_Fantastique_Karajan_Orchestre_de_Paris
Berlioz Requiem - Agnus Dei (7)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:55
- Updated: 21 Dec 2012
www.pineclassics.com - Public Domain Classical Music service except US. Léopold Simoneau (tenor) Charles Munch (conductor) Boston Symphony Orchestra New England Conservatory Chorus
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Requiem_Agnus_Dei_7
www.pineclassics.com - Public Domain Classical Music service except US. Léopold Simoneau (tenor) Charles Munch (conductor) Boston Symphony Orchestra New England Conservatory Chorus
- published: 11 Apr 2011
- views: 25701
- author: fugue1960
Berlioz - The Damnation Of Faust - Rakoczi March
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:42
- Updated: 01 Jan 2013
Berlioz - The Damnation Of Faust - Rakoczi March
http://wn.com/Berlioz_The_Damnation_Of_Faust_Rakoczi_March
Berlioz - The Damnation Of Faust - Rakoczi March
- published: 15 Nov 2008
- views: 162592
- author: TheWickedNorth
Berlioz: "Symphonie Fantastique" - 1st Mvt. (part 1) - Leonard Bernstein
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:00
- Updated: 01 Jan 2013
Playlist: www.youtube.com Leonard Bernstein conducts the "Orchestre National de France" in Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique 1st movement: part 1: Largo (Rêveries) Paris, 1976
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Symphonie_Fantastique_1st_Mvt_part_1_Leonard_Bernstein
Playlist: www.youtube.com Leonard Bernstein conducts the "Orchestre National de France" in Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique 1st movement: part 1: Largo (Rêveries) Paris, 1976
- published: 05 Mar 2010
- views: 123652
- author: orso1149
Hector Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique Ronald_Zollman
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 57:12
- Updated: 31 Dec 2012
From a concert given in Carnegie Music Hall (Pittsburgh) on September 21, 2011, by the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Ronald Zollman.
http://wn.com/Hector_Berlioz_Symphonie_Fantastique_Ronald_Zollman
From a concert given in Carnegie Music Hall (Pittsburgh) on September 21, 2011, by the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Ronald Zollman.
- published: 07 Oct 2011
- views: 28923
- author: Ronald Zollman
Hector Berlioz - Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem), Op. 5 (1/4) Kyrie and Dies Irae
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 25:21
- Updated: 31 Dec 2012
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Grande messe des morts (Requiem), Op. 5, H 75 (March 1837 -- 29 June 1837) First Performance: Paris, Invalides, 5 December 1837, conducted by François Antoine Habeneck I. Requiem et Kyrie. Introït II. Dies iræ. Prose -- Tuba mirum (11:35) London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus and Wandsworth School Boys' Choir conducted by Sir Colin Davis rec. London, November 1969. Philips 416 283-2 Arranger: Leopold Damrosch (1832--1885), piano reduction Language: Latin Publisher Info.: New York: G. Schirmer, 1866, plate 1 Copyright: Public Domain The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) was composed in 1837. The Grande Messe des Morts is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four antiphonal offstage brass ensembles placed at the corners of the concert stage. The work derives its text from the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. It has a duration of approximately ninety minutes, although there are faster recordings of under seventy-five minutes. In 1837, Adrien de Gasparin, the Minister of the Interior of France, asked Berlioz to compose a Requiem Mass to remember soldiers who died in the Revolution of July 1830. Berlioz accepted the request, having already wanted to compose a large orchestral work. Meanwhile, the orchestra was growing in size and quality, and the use of woodwinds and brass was expanding due to the increasing ease of intonation afforded by modern instruments. Berlioz later ...
http://wn.com/Hector_Berlioz_Grande_Messe_des_Morts_Requiem,_Op_5_1_4_Kyrie_and_Dies_Irae
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Grande messe des morts (Requiem), Op. 5, H 75 (March 1837 -- 29 June 1837) First Performance: Paris, Invalides, 5 December 1837, conducted by François Antoine Habeneck I. Requiem et Kyrie. Introït II. Dies iræ. Prose -- Tuba mirum (11:35) London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus and Wandsworth School Boys' Choir conducted by Sir Colin Davis rec. London, November 1969. Philips 416 283-2 Arranger: Leopold Damrosch (1832--1885), piano reduction Language: Latin Publisher Info.: New York: G. Schirmer, 1866, plate 1 Copyright: Public Domain The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) was composed in 1837. The Grande Messe des Morts is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four antiphonal offstage brass ensembles placed at the corners of the concert stage. The work derives its text from the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. It has a duration of approximately ninety minutes, although there are faster recordings of under seventy-five minutes. In 1837, Adrien de Gasparin, the Minister of the Interior of France, asked Berlioz to compose a Requiem Mass to remember soldiers who died in the Revolution of July 1830. Berlioz accepted the request, having already wanted to compose a large orchestral work. Meanwhile, the orchestra was growing in size and quality, and the use of woodwinds and brass was expanding due to the increasing ease of intonation afforded by modern instruments. Berlioz later ...
- published: 13 May 2012
- views: 3282
- author: bartje11
Misa de requiem - Hector Berlioz
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 94:19
- Updated: 26 Dec 2012
http://wn.com/Misa_de_requiem_Hector_Berlioz
Encore: Hector Berlioz: Hungarian March - YouTube Symphony Orchestra Encore
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:02
- Updated: 25 Dec 2012
www.youtube.com/symphony Encore: Hector Berlioz - Hungarian March The world's first collaborative online orchestra performed at Carnegie Hall on April 15, 2009.Selected by the YouTube community and several members of the world's most renowned orchestras, the YouTube Symphony Orchestra is made up of over 96 professional and amateur musicians from 30+ countries and territories on six continents and represents 26 different instruments.
http://wn.com/Encore_Hector_Berlioz_Hungarian_March_YouTube_Symphony_Orchestra_Encore
www.youtube.com/symphony Encore: Hector Berlioz - Hungarian March The world's first collaborative online orchestra performed at Carnegie Hall on April 15, 2009.Selected by the YouTube community and several members of the world's most renowned orchestras, the YouTube Symphony Orchestra is made up of over 96 professional and amateur musicians from 30+ countries and territories on six continents and represents 26 different instruments.
- published: 05 May 2009
- views: 150832
- author: symphony
Hector Berlioz Te Deum Abbado
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 46:30
- Updated: 01 Jan 2013
www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/Hector_Berlioz_Te_Deum_Abbado
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique - A Ball
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:50
- Updated: 01 Jan 2013
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique - Un bal
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Symphonie_Fantastique_A_Ball
Berlioz - Roméo et Juliette - volledig live concert in HD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 105:43
- Updated: 01 Jan 2013
Live registratie van de volledige dramatische symfonie Roméo et Juliette van Hector Berlioz. Door het Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Groot Omroepkoor olv James Gaffigan (dirigent). Mmv Simon Halsey (koordirigent), Géraldine Chauvet (sopraan), Andrew Staples (tenor), Thomas Oliemans (bas). Opname vrijdag 23 maart 2012, Vredenburg Leidsche Rijn Utrecht. Concert in de serie De Vrijdag van Vredenburg (AVRO Klassiek & TROS Vocaal). Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Roméo et Juliette (1839) 1. Introduction: Combats -- Tumulte -- Intervention du prince -- Prologue -- Strophes -- Scherzetto 2. Roméo seul: Tristesse -- Bruits lointains de concert et de bal -- Grande fête chez Capulet -- Fête PAUZE 3. Nuit serène -- Le jardin de Capulet silencieux et déserte -- Scène d'amour 4. Scherzo: La reine Mab, ou la Fée des songes 5. Convoi funèbre de Juliette: 'Jetez des fl eurs pour la vierge expirée' 6. Roméo au tombeau des Capulets -- Invocation: Réveil de Juliette -- Joie délirante, désespoir -- Dernières angoisses et mort des deux amants 7. Finale: La foule accourt au cimetière -- Des Capulets et des Montagus -- Récitatif et Air du Père Laurence 'Pauvres enfants que je pleure' -- Serment de réconciliation 'Jurez donc par l'auguste symbole'
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Roméo_et_Juliette_volledig_live_concert_in_HD
Live registratie van de volledige dramatische symfonie Roméo et Juliette van Hector Berlioz. Door het Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Groot Omroepkoor olv James Gaffigan (dirigent). Mmv Simon Halsey (koordirigent), Géraldine Chauvet (sopraan), Andrew Staples (tenor), Thomas Oliemans (bas). Opname vrijdag 23 maart 2012, Vredenburg Leidsche Rijn Utrecht. Concert in de serie De Vrijdag van Vredenburg (AVRO Klassiek & TROS Vocaal). Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Roméo et Juliette (1839) 1. Introduction: Combats -- Tumulte -- Intervention du prince -- Prologue -- Strophes -- Scherzetto 2. Roméo seul: Tristesse -- Bruits lointains de concert et de bal -- Grande fête chez Capulet -- Fête PAUZE 3. Nuit serène -- Le jardin de Capulet silencieux et déserte -- Scène d'amour 4. Scherzo: La reine Mab, ou la Fée des songes 5. Convoi funèbre de Juliette: 'Jetez des fl eurs pour la vierge expirée' 6. Roméo au tombeau des Capulets -- Invocation: Réveil de Juliette -- Joie délirante, désespoir -- Dernières angoisses et mort des deux amants 7. Finale: La foule accourt au cimetière -- Des Capulets et des Montagus -- Récitatif et Air du Père Laurence 'Pauvres enfants que je pleure' -- Serment de réconciliation 'Jurez donc par l'auguste symbole'
- published: 04 Apr 2012
- views: 22105
- author: avroklassiek
Leopold Stokowski, Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique, Op.54
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 49:59
- Updated: 01 Jan 2013
00:00 - Rêveries - Passions 13:15 - Un bal 19:13 - Scène aux champs 35:18 - Marche au supplice 39:27 - Songe d'une nuit de sabbat no copyright infringement intended www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/Leopold_Stokowski,_Berlioz_Symphonie_fantastique,_Op54
00:00 - Rêveries - Passions 13:15 - Un bal 19:13 - Scène aux champs 35:18 - Marche au supplice 39:27 - Songe d'une nuit de sabbat no copyright infringement intended www.youtube.com
- published: 11 Jun 2011
- views: 17217
- author: FirstPublicChannel
Berlioz: "Symphonie Fantastique" - 5th Mvt. - Leonard Bernstein
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:33
- Updated: 01 Jan 2013
Paylist: www.youtube.com Leonard Bernstein conducts the "Orchestre National de France" in Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique 5th Movement:Larghetto, Allegro (Songe d'une nuit de Sabbat) Paris, 1976
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Symphonie_Fantastique_5th_Mvt_Leonard_Bernstein
Paylist: www.youtube.com Leonard Bernstein conducts the "Orchestre National de France" in Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique 5th Movement:Larghetto, Allegro (Songe d'une nuit de Sabbat) Paris, 1976
- published: 27 Feb 2010
- views: 192117
- author: orso1149
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique - 4th & 5th Movement
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 14:46
- Updated: 23 Dec 2012
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique N향 Myung-Whun Chung, conductor February 5th, 2011 NHK Symphony Hall, Tokyo
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Symphonie_Fantastique_4th_5th_Movement
Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique N향 Myung-Whun Chung, conductor February 5th, 2011 NHK Symphony Hall, Tokyo
- published: 29 May 2011
- views: 19918
- author: Kim Cul Deok
Hector Berlioz - Harold in Italy, Op. 16 - I. Harold in the Mountains (part 1)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:11
- Updated: 30 Dec 2012
Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra perform Hector Berlioz's Harold in Italy. Solo Viola - Nobuko Imai
http://wn.com/Hector_Berlioz_Harold_in_Italy,_Op_16_I_Harold_in_the_Mountains_part_1
Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra perform Hector Berlioz's Harold in Italy. Solo Viola - Nobuko Imai
- published: 02 Sep 2010
- views: 36675
- author: sstuddert
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Berlioz - Roméo et Juliette - volledig live concert in HD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 105:43
- Updated: 01 Jan 2013
Live registratie van de volledige dramatische symfonie Roméo et Juliette van Hector Berlioz. Door het Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Groot Omroepkoor olv James Gaffigan (dirigent). Mmv Simon Halsey (koordirigent), Géraldine Chauvet (sopraan), Andrew Staples (tenor), Thomas Oliemans (bas). Opname vrijdag 23 maart 2012, Vredenburg Leidsche Rijn Utrecht. Concert in de serie De Vrijdag van Vredenburg (AVRO Klassiek & TROS Vocaal). Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Roméo et Juliette (1839) 1. Introduction: Combats -- Tumulte -- Intervention du prince -- Prologue -- Strophes -- Scherzetto 2. Roméo seul: Tristesse -- Bruits lointains de concert et de bal -- Grande fête chez Capulet -- Fête PAUZE 3. Nuit serène -- Le jardin de Capulet silencieux et déserte -- Scène d'amour 4. Scherzo: La reine Mab, ou la Fée des songes 5. Convoi funèbre de Juliette: 'Jetez des fl eurs pour la vierge expirée' 6. Roméo au tombeau des Capulets -- Invocation: Réveil de Juliette -- Joie délirante, désespoir -- Dernières angoisses et mort des deux amants 7. Finale: La foule accourt au cimetière -- Des Capulets et des Montagus -- Récitatif et Air du Père Laurence 'Pauvres enfants que je pleure' -- Serment de réconciliation 'Jurez donc par l'auguste symbole'
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Roméo_et_Juliette_volledig_live_concert_in_HD
Live registratie van de volledige dramatische symfonie Roméo et Juliette van Hector Berlioz. Door het Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Groot Omroepkoor olv James Gaffigan (dirigent). Mmv Simon Halsey (koordirigent), Géraldine Chauvet (sopraan), Andrew Staples (tenor), Thomas Oliemans (bas). Opname vrijdag 23 maart 2012, Vredenburg Leidsche Rijn Utrecht. Concert in de serie De Vrijdag van Vredenburg (AVRO Klassiek & TROS Vocaal). Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Roméo et Juliette (1839) 1. Introduction: Combats -- Tumulte -- Intervention du prince -- Prologue -- Strophes -- Scherzetto 2. Roméo seul: Tristesse -- Bruits lointains de concert et de bal -- Grande fête chez Capulet -- Fête PAUZE 3. Nuit serène -- Le jardin de Capulet silencieux et déserte -- Scène d'amour 4. Scherzo: La reine Mab, ou la Fée des songes 5. Convoi funèbre de Juliette: 'Jetez des fl eurs pour la vierge expirée' 6. Roméo au tombeau des Capulets -- Invocation: Réveil de Juliette -- Joie délirante, désespoir -- Dernières angoisses et mort des deux amants 7. Finale: La foule accourt au cimetière -- Des Capulets et des Montagus -- Récitatif et Air du Père Laurence 'Pauvres enfants que je pleure' -- Serment de réconciliation 'Jurez donc par l'auguste symbole'
- published: 04 Apr 2012
- views: 22105
- author: avroklassiek
Berlioz ：Symphonie fantastique
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 48:49
- Updated: 01 Jan 2013
Berlioz： Symphonie fantastique Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire André Cluytens ( Japan, live recording.1964) no copyright infringement intended
http://wn.com/Berlioz_：Symphonie_fantastique
Berlioz： Symphonie fantastique Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire André Cluytens ( Japan, live recording.1964) no copyright infringement intended
- published: 27 Aug 2011
- views: 223320
- author: RichardHilo
Veni Creator -- Hector Berlioz
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:53
- Updated: 10 Jul 2012
Veni Creator -- Hector Berlioz Performed by the William and Mary Women's Chorus 2007 - 2008
http://wn.com/Veni_Creator_-_Hector_Berlioz
Veni Creator -- Hector Berlioz Performed by the William and Mary Women's Chorus 2007 - 2008
- published: 26 Feb 2011
- views: 1816
- author: wmwomenschorus
H.Berlioz La Damnation de Faust - Kakhidze - Paris live 1992
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:44
- Updated: 02 Jun 2012
Jansug Kakhidze en.wikipedia.org Louis Hector Berlioz La Damnation de Faust Orchestre de Paris May 1992
http://wn.com/HBerlioz_La_Damnation_de_Faust_Kakhidze_Paris_live_1992
Jansug Kakhidze en.wikipedia.org Louis Hector Berlioz La Damnation de Faust Orchestre de Paris May 1992
- published: 04 Jul 2010
- views: 920
- author: ditogam
Nicolai Gedda/Shirley Verrett- Duet, (Berlioz, Les Troyens) Live 1969
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:46
- Updated: 24 Dec 2012
Tenor Nicolai Gedda (1925-) and soprano Shirley Verrett (1931-) sing the duet from act 4 of the Trojans by Hector Berlioz. (not a favorite of mine, but this music is sublime.) This is from a live concert performance in Rome, 1969. Rome Opera Orchestra conducted by Georges Prêtre. Beautiful B from Gedda at about 4:37. :-O Enjoy =)
http://wn.com/Nicolai_Gedda_Shirley_Verrett_Duet,_Berlioz,_Les_Troyens_Live_1969
Tenor Nicolai Gedda (1925-) and soprano Shirley Verrett (1931-) sing the duet from act 4 of the Trojans by Hector Berlioz. (not a favorite of mine, but this music is sublime.) This is from a live concert performance in Rome, 1969. Rome Opera Orchestra conducted by Georges Prêtre. Beautiful B from Gedda at about 4:37. :-O Enjoy =)
- published: 30 May 2009
- views: 6948
- author: ShawDAMAN
Hector Berlioz - Le Corsaire Overture, Op. 21
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:21
- Updated: 06 Dec 2012
Performed by the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Eiji Oue.
http://wn.com/Hector_Berlioz_Le_Corsaire_Overture,_Op_21
Performed by the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Eiji Oue.
- published: 30 Apr 2011
- views: 4600
- author: india4ever
MYO OF NY - Hector Berlioz Symph Fantastique 5th Mvt Excerpt.mov
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:33
- Updated: 16 Sep 2012
The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York (Nassau Principal Orchestra), Scott Stickley conductor perform Hector Berlioz "Symphonie Fantastique" 5th Mvt (from Dies Irae) Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, Brookville, NY March 22, 2010
http://wn.com/MYO_OF_NY_Hector_Berlioz_Symph_Fantastique_5th_Mvt_Excerptmov
The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York (Nassau Principal Orchestra), Scott Stickley conductor perform Hector Berlioz "Symphonie Fantastique" 5th Mvt (from Dies Irae) Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, Brookville, NY March 22, 2010
- published: 31 May 2010
- views: 745
- author: myonyorch
Berlioz - Dies Irae {Turn up the volume!!}
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:49
- Updated: 02 Jan 2013
The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) by Hector Berlioz was composed in 1837. London Symphony Orchestra / Wandsworth School Boys' Choir / London Symphony Chorus The Grande Messe des Morts is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four antiphonal brass ensembles placed at the corners of the concert stage. The work derives its text from the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. It has a duration of approximately ninety minutes, although there are faster recordings of under seventy-five minutes. I was lucky to attend a performance and rehearsal of the Requiem in the Hague way back in the seventies. It was an incredible experience. The 4 brass groups were in the corners of the concert hall, which made the audience sit in between them and the orchestra and choirs. Amazing sound! The timpani's were situated next to each other in a long row. You could hear and see them rolling back and forth in big waves. Nothing comes close to that sound. Only a genius like Berlioz could come up with a score like this.
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Dies_Irae_Turn_up_the_volume!!_
The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) by Hector Berlioz was composed in 1837. London Symphony Orchestra / Wandsworth School Boys' Choir / London Symphony Chorus The Grande Messe des Morts is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four antiphonal brass ensembles placed at the corners of the concert stage. The work derives its text from the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. It has a duration of approximately ninety minutes, although there are faster recordings of under seventy-five minutes. I was lucky to attend a performance and rehearsal of the Requiem in the Hague way back in the seventies. It was an incredible experience. The 4 brass groups were in the corners of the concert hall, which made the audience sit in between them and the orchestra and choirs. Amazing sound! The timpani's were situated next to each other in a long row. You could hear and see them rolling back and forth in big waves. Nothing comes close to that sound. Only a genius like Berlioz could come up with a score like this.
- published: 14 Dec 2009
- views: 104748
- author: bartje11
Giuseppe di Stefano. Absence. Hector Berlioz. Live Wien.
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:12
- Updated: 19 Nov 2012
Giuseppe di Stefano, tenor. Rudolf Bibl. piano
http://wn.com/Giuseppe_di_Stefano_Absence_Hector_Berlioz_Live_Wien
Giuseppe di Stefano, tenor. Rudolf Bibl. piano
- published: 13 May 2010
- views: 1367
- author: Jose Antonio Navarro
La Mort De Cleopatre, Berlioz - Kyra Vayne, Premiere Recording, Live 1961
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 20:14
- Updated: 29 Dec 2012
Hector Berlioz's dramatic cantata for the Prix de Rome 1829: La Mort De Cleopatre. BBC Scottish Orchestra Director: Norman Del Mar 25 August 1961, World Premiere Recording for the BBC Youtube now accepts videos longer than 15 mins so it can be re-posted as one clip here.
http://wn.com/La_Mort_De_Cleopatre,_Berlioz_Kyra_Vayne,_Premiere_Recording,_Live_1961
Hector Berlioz's dramatic cantata for the Prix de Rome 1829: La Mort De Cleopatre. BBC Scottish Orchestra Director: Norman Del Mar 25 August 1961, World Premiere Recording for the BBC Youtube now accepts videos longer than 15 mins so it can be re-posted as one clip here.
- published: 26 Dec 2010
- views: 799
- author: mendesboyge
Berlioz Requiem - Agnus Dei (7)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:55
- Updated: 21 Dec 2012
www.pineclassics.com - Public Domain Classical Music service except US. Léopold Simoneau (tenor) Charles Munch (conductor) Boston Symphony Orchestra New England Conservatory Chorus
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Requiem_Agnus_Dei_7
www.pineclassics.com - Public Domain Classical Music service except US. Léopold Simoneau (tenor) Charles Munch (conductor) Boston Symphony Orchestra New England Conservatory Chorus
- published: 11 Apr 2011
- views: 25701
- author: fugue1960
Berlioz Fantastique 4th movement - Noam Zur - Conductor
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:17
- Updated: 28 Dec 2012
Noam Zur Conducts the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, May 2005 Youth concert www.ArtPro.co.il
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Fantastique_4th_movement_Noam_Zur_Conductor
Noam Zur Conducts the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, May 2005 Youth concert www.ArtPro.co.il
- published: 21 Oct 2006
- views: 145847
- author: apweb
Jessye Norman as Cassandra in Les Troyens
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:46
- Updated: 31 Dec 2012
The 15th Metropolitan Opera Performance of Hector Berllioz Les Troyens Conductor James Levine, Staged by Fabrizio Melano Several of the Trojan women are praying at the altar of Vesta/Cybele for their soldiers to receive divine aid. Cassandre reports that Énée and other Trojan warriors have rescued Priam's palace treasure and relieved people at the citadel. She prophesies that Énée and the survivors will found a new Troy in Italy. But she says also that Chorèbe is dead, and resolves to die. The other women acknowledge that Cassandre was correct in her prophecies and their error in dismissing her. Cassandre then calls upon the Trojan women to join her in death, to prevent being defiled by the invading Greeks. One group of women admits to fear of death, and Cassandre dismisses them from her sight. The remaining women unite with Cassandre in their determination to die. A Greek captain observes the women during this scene, with admiration for their courage. Greek soldiers then come on the scene, demanding the Trojan treasure from the women. Cassandre defiantly mocks the soldiers, then suddenly stabs herself. Polyxène takes the same dagger and does likewise. The remaining women scorn the Greeks as being too late to find the treasure, and commit mass suicide, to the horror of the Greek soldiers. Cassandre summons one last cry of "Italy!" before she collapses, dead.
http://wn.com/Jessye_Norman_as_Cassandra_in_Les_Troyens
The 15th Metropolitan Opera Performance of Hector Berllioz Les Troyens Conductor James Levine, Staged by Fabrizio Melano Several of the Trojan women are praying at the altar of Vesta/Cybele for their soldiers to receive divine aid. Cassandre reports that Énée and other Trojan warriors have rescued Priam's palace treasure and relieved people at the citadel. She prophesies that Énée and the survivors will found a new Troy in Italy. But she says also that Chorèbe is dead, and resolves to die. The other women acknowledge that Cassandre was correct in her prophecies and their error in dismissing her. Cassandre then calls upon the Trojan women to join her in death, to prevent being defiled by the invading Greeks. One group of women admits to fear of death, and Cassandre dismisses them from her sight. The remaining women unite with Cassandre in their determination to die. A Greek captain observes the women during this scene, with admiration for their courage. Greek soldiers then come on the scene, demanding the Trojan treasure from the women. Cassandre defiantly mocks the soldiers, then suddenly stabs herself. Polyxène takes the same dagger and does likewise. The remaining women scorn the Greeks as being too late to find the treasure, and commit mass suicide, to the horror of the Greek soldiers. Cassandre summons one last cry of "Italy!" before she collapses, dead.
- published: 12 Jan 2009
- views: 19713
- author: Felipe Ruiz de Chávez
2011 Texas All-State Symphony Orchestra Video 3
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 14:24
- Updated: 12 Oct 2012
Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz Part 3 conducted by Guillermo Figueroa III. Scene in the Country Recorded live in concert by Mark Records at the Texas Music Educators Assn. Conference San Antonio, Texas February 2011 The selection process for Texas All-State Orchestras differs for string and wind auditions. String students audition at the regional level (28 regions) to earn the right to submit a recorded audition for the statewide competition. There is a limit to how many students may record at the regional level for each string instrument. During the second weekend in November, panels are assembled in one large metropolitan area of the state to judge the recordings and to select the students. The top players are assigned to the Symphony Orchestra, the next group to the Philharmonic Orchestra and the final group to the String Orchestra. The evening before the conference, students audition for seating within their respective orchestra. Wind and percussion players are selected from a pool that also determines members of the All-State Bands. These are all live auditions, starting first at the regional level (28 regions), then moving to the area regions (7 areas). The top scoring wind and percussion players in each area are selected for All-State and are auditioned for seating the day before the state conference. The highest ranked wind and percussion players are allowed to choose the ensemble in which they wish to participate. The Texas All-State selection process ...
http://wn.com/2011_Texas_All-State_Symphony_Orchestra_Video_3
Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz Part 3 conducted by Guillermo Figueroa III. Scene in the Country Recorded live in concert by Mark Records at the Texas Music Educators Assn. Conference San Antonio, Texas February 2011 The selection process for Texas All-State Orchestras differs for string and wind auditions. String students audition at the regional level (28 regions) to earn the right to submit a recorded audition for the statewide competition. There is a limit to how many students may record at the regional level for each string instrument. During the second weekend in November, panels are assembled in one large metropolitan area of the state to judge the recordings and to select the students. The top players are assigned to the Symphony Orchestra, the next group to the Philharmonic Orchestra and the final group to the String Orchestra. The evening before the conference, students audition for seating within their respective orchestra. Wind and percussion players are selected from a pool that also determines members of the All-State Bands. These are all live auditions, starting first at the regional level (28 regions), then moving to the area regions (7 areas). The top scoring wind and percussion players in each area are selected for All-State and are auditioned for seating the day before the state conference. The highest ranked wind and percussion players are allowed to choose the ensemble in which they wish to participate. The Texas All-State selection process ...
- published: 28 Jul 2011
- views: 425
- author: LFLCvideos
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique - Muti/WPh(2007Live)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 54:45
- Updated: 28 Dec 2012
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Symphonie fantastique op.14 Riccardo Muti Wiener Philharmoniker Festspielhaus, Salzburg, 12 8/2007
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Symphonie_fantastique_Muti_WPh2007Live
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Symphonie fantastique op.14 Riccardo Muti Wiener Philharmoniker Festspielhaus, Salzburg, 12 8/2007
- published: 04 Nov 2011
- views: 42392
- author: magischmeisjeorkest
2011 Texas All-State Symphony Orchestra Video 4
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:49
- Updated: 08 Dec 2012
Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz Part 4 conducted by Guillermo Figueroa IV. March to the Scaffold Recorded live in concert by Mark Records at the Texas Music Educators Assn. Conference San Antonio, Texas February 2011 The selection process for Texas All-State Orchestras differs for string and wind auditions. String students audition at the regional level (28 regions) to earn the right to submit a recorded audition for the statewide competition. There is a limit to how many students may record at the regional level for each string instrument. During the second weekend in November, panels are assembled in one large metropolitan area of the state to judge the recordings and to select the students. The top players are assigned to the Symphony Orchestra, the next group to the Philharmonic Orchestra and the final group to the String Orchestra. The evening before the conference, students audition for seating within their respective orchestra. Wind and percussion players are selected from a pool that also determines members of the All-State Bands. These are all live auditions, starting first at the regional level (28 regions), then moving to the area regions (7 areas). The top scoring wind and percussion players in each area are selected for All-State and are auditioned for seating the day before the state conference. The highest ranked wind and percussion players are allowed to choose the ensemble in which they wish to participate. The Texas All-State selection process ...
http://wn.com/2011_Texas_All-State_Symphony_Orchestra_Video_4
Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz Part 4 conducted by Guillermo Figueroa IV. March to the Scaffold Recorded live in concert by Mark Records at the Texas Music Educators Assn. Conference San Antonio, Texas February 2011 The selection process for Texas All-State Orchestras differs for string and wind auditions. String students audition at the regional level (28 regions) to earn the right to submit a recorded audition for the statewide competition. There is a limit to how many students may record at the regional level for each string instrument. During the second weekend in November, panels are assembled in one large metropolitan area of the state to judge the recordings and to select the students. The top players are assigned to the Symphony Orchestra, the next group to the Philharmonic Orchestra and the final group to the String Orchestra. The evening before the conference, students audition for seating within their respective orchestra. Wind and percussion players are selected from a pool that also determines members of the All-State Bands. These are all live auditions, starting first at the regional level (28 regions), then moving to the area regions (7 areas). The top scoring wind and percussion players in each area are selected for All-State and are auditioned for seating the day before the state conference. The highest ranked wind and percussion players are allowed to choose the ensemble in which they wish to participate. The Texas All-State selection process ...
- published: 08 Jul 2011
- views: 504
- author: LFLCvideos
Berlioz / Liszt Symphonie Fantastique "Un Bal" EFNK
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:34
- Updated: 14 Dec 2012
French pianist Eric Ferrand-N'Kaoua plays Liszt's transcription of "A Ball" from Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, 2nd movementt, Live at the 2009 Berlioz Festival in Berlioz''s birthplace, France. See the first movement at youtu.be and also www.youtube.com www.efnk-piano.com For full-screen, click on the 4 arrows button.
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Liszt_Symphonie_Fantastique_Un_Bal_EFNK
French pianist Eric Ferrand-N'Kaoua plays Liszt's transcription of "A Ball" from Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, 2nd movementt, Live at the 2009 Berlioz Festival in Berlioz''s birthplace, France. See the first movement at youtu.be and also www.youtube.com www.efnk-piano.com For full-screen, click on the 4 arrows button.
- published: 07 Oct 2009
- views: 11592
- author: EFNKpiano
GUIDO CANTELLI - Berlioz - Rakoczy March
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:42
- Updated: 04 Nov 2012
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Rakoczy March (from the opera La Damnation de Faust - Act I) NBC Symphony Orchestra Guido Cantelli, conductor (Live recording, New York, 1951)
http://wn.com/GUIDO_CANTELLI_Berlioz_Rakoczy_March
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Rakoczy March (from the opera La Damnation de Faust - Act I) NBC Symphony Orchestra Guido Cantelli, conductor (Live recording, New York, 1951)
- published: 16 Oct 2008
- views: 13152
- author: ichnusa66
Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique II A Ball - Cal Phil Live 2012
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:54
- Updated: 30 Aug 2012
California Philharmonic performs Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14 II A Ball by composer Hector Berlioz live at Festival on the Green, July 14, 2012. Concert presented by Westfield Santa Anita Race Track, Arcadia, CA. Victor Vener conductor, music director.
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Symphonie_Fantastique_II_A_Ball_Cal_Phil_Live_2012
California Philharmonic performs Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14 II A Ball by composer Hector Berlioz live at Festival on the Green, July 14, 2012. Concert presented by Westfield Santa Anita Race Track, Arcadia, CA. Victor Vener conductor, music director.
- published: 30 Aug 2012
- views: 33
- author: YTVideos2012
Pierre Monteux, 1962 (Live) Berlioz - La damnation de Faust - Turp / Crespin / Roux
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 127:59
- Updated: 24 Dec 2012
Hector Berlioz La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24 "Légende dramatique en quatre parties" Faust............Andre Turp Méphistophélès...Michel Roux Marguerite.......Regine Crespin Brander..........John Shirley-Quirk London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus Pierre Monteux, conductor Recorded Live, 8 March 1962 Royal Festival Hall, London.
http://wn.com/Pierre_Monteux,_1962_Live_Berlioz_La_damnation_de_Faust_Turp_Crespin_Roux
Hector Berlioz La Damnation de Faust, Op. 24 "Légende dramatique en quatre parties" Faust............Andre Turp Méphistophélès...Michel Roux Marguerite.......Regine Crespin Brander..........John Shirley-Quirk London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus Pierre Monteux, conductor Recorded Live, 8 March 1962 Royal Festival Hall, London.
- published: 25 Jun 2012
- views: 1610
- author: jacquesurlus
André Cluytens, 1955 (Live) Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique op. 14
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 48:25
- Updated: 22 Dec 2012
Hector Berlioz Symphonie fantastique op. 14 (titre original : Épisode de la vie d'un artiste, symphonie fantastique en cinq parties) I: Rêveries -- Passions (Daydreams -- Passions) II: Un bal (A ball) III: Scène aux champs (Scene in the Country) IV: Marche au supplice (March to the Scaffold) V: Songe d'une nuit de sabbat (Dream of a Witches' Sabbath) Česká filharmonie (Czech Philharmonic) André Cluytens, conductor Recording Live; 30 May 1955 Smetana Hall Prague Spring International Music Festival
http://wn.com/André_Cluytens,_1955_Live_Berlioz,_Symphonie_fantastique_op_14
Hector Berlioz Symphonie fantastique op. 14 (titre original : Épisode de la vie d'un artiste, symphonie fantastique en cinq parties) I: Rêveries -- Passions (Daydreams -- Passions) II: Un bal (A ball) III: Scène aux champs (Scene in the Country) IV: Marche au supplice (March to the Scaffold) V: Songe d'une nuit de sabbat (Dream of a Witches' Sabbath) Česká filharmonie (Czech Philharmonic) André Cluytens, conductor Recording Live; 30 May 1955 Smetana Hall Prague Spring International Music Festival
- published: 27 Mar 2012
- views: 842
- author: jacquesurlus
Leonard Slatkin, Orchestre national de Lyon - Berlioz Symphonie fantastique
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:37
- Updated: 27 Dec 2012
Excerpt from a performance at the Auditorium de Lyon. Opening concert of the 2011-2012 season featuring Leonard Slatkin as its music director. September 15, 2011. Hector Berlioz Symphonie fantastique 4. Marche au supplice (March to the Scaffold) Orchestre national de Lyon Leonard Slatkin, conductor Each year, medici.tv webcasts over 100 free live concerts and offers a catalogue of over 1 000 classical music films available through subscription. More information on www.medici.tv
http://wn.com/Leonard_Slatkin,_Orchestre_national_de_Lyon_Berlioz_Symphonie_fantastique
Excerpt from a performance at the Auditorium de Lyon. Opening concert of the 2011-2012 season featuring Leonard Slatkin as its music director. September 15, 2011. Hector Berlioz Symphonie fantastique 4. Marche au supplice (March to the Scaffold) Orchestre national de Lyon Leonard Slatkin, conductor Each year, medici.tv webcasts over 100 free live concerts and offers a catalogue of over 1 000 classical music films available through subscription. More information on www.medici.tv
- published: 19 Sep 2011
- views: 11226
- author: medicitv
2011 Texas All-State Symphony Orchestra Video 2
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:00
- Updated: 13 Aug 2012
Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz Part 2 conducted by Guillermo Figueroa II. A Ball Recorded live in concert by Mark Records at the Texas Music Educators Assn. Conference San Antonio, Texas February 2011 The selection process for Texas All-State Orchestras differs for string and wind auditions. String students audition at the regional level (28 regions) to earn the right to submit a recorded audition for the statewide competition. There is a limit to how many students may record at the regional level for each string instrument. During the second weekend in November, panels are assembled in one large metropolitan area of the state to judge the recordings and to select the students. The top players are assigned to the Symphony Orchestra, the next group to the Philharmonic Orchestra and the final group to the String Orchestra. The evening before the conference, students audition for seating within their respective orchestra. Wind and percussion players are selected from a pool that also determines members of the All-State Bands. These are all live auditions, starting first at the regional level (28 regions), then moving to the area regions (7 areas). The top scoring wind and percussion players in each area are selected for All-State and are auditioned for seating the day before the state conference. The highest ranked wind and percussion players are allowed to choose the ensemble in which they wish to participate. The Texas All-State selection process involves ...
http://wn.com/2011_Texas_All-State_Symphony_Orchestra_Video_2
Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz Part 2 conducted by Guillermo Figueroa II. A Ball Recorded live in concert by Mark Records at the Texas Music Educators Assn. Conference San Antonio, Texas February 2011 The selection process for Texas All-State Orchestras differs for string and wind auditions. String students audition at the regional level (28 regions) to earn the right to submit a recorded audition for the statewide competition. There is a limit to how many students may record at the regional level for each string instrument. During the second weekend in November, panels are assembled in one large metropolitan area of the state to judge the recordings and to select the students. The top players are assigned to the Symphony Orchestra, the next group to the Philharmonic Orchestra and the final group to the String Orchestra. The evening before the conference, students audition for seating within their respective orchestra. Wind and percussion players are selected from a pool that also determines members of the All-State Bands. These are all live auditions, starting first at the regional level (28 regions), then moving to the area regions (7 areas). The top scoring wind and percussion players in each area are selected for All-State and are auditioned for seating the day before the state conference. The highest ranked wind and percussion players are allowed to choose the ensemble in which they wish to participate. The Texas All-State selection process involves ...
- published: 08 Jul 2011
- views: 280
- author: LFLCvideos
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Hector Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique Ronald_Zollman
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 57:12
- Updated: 27 Dec 2012
From a concert given in Carnegie Music Hall (Pittsburgh) on September 21, 2011, by the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Ronald Zollman.
http://wn.com/Hector_Berlioz_Symphonie_Fantastique_Ronald_Zollman
From a concert given in Carnegie Music Hall (Pittsburgh) on September 21, 2011, by the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Ronald Zollman.
- published: 07 Oct 2011
- views: 28492
- author: Ronald Zollman
Berlioz ：Symphonie fantastique
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 48:49
- Updated: 27 Dec 2012
Berlioz： Symphonie fantastique Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire André Cluytens ( Japan, live recording.1964) no copyright infringement intended
http://wn.com/Berlioz_：Symphonie_fantastique
Berlioz： Symphonie fantastique Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire André Cluytens ( Japan, live recording.1964) no copyright infringement intended
- published: 27 Aug 2011
- views: 219930
- author: RichardHilo
Berlioz - Roméo et Juliette - volledig live concert in HD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 105:43
- Updated: 25 Dec 2012
Live registratie van de volledige dramatische symfonie Roméo et Juliette van Hector Berlioz. Door het Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Groot Omroepkoor olv James Gaffigan (dirigent). Mmv Simon Halsey (koordirigent), Géraldine Chauvet (sopraan), Andrew Staples (tenor), Thomas Oliemans (bas). Opname vrijdag 23 maart 2012, Vredenburg Leidsche Rijn Utrecht. Concert in de serie De Vrijdag van Vredenburg (AVRO Klassiek & TROS Vocaal). Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Roméo et Juliette (1839) 1. Introduction: Combats -- Tumulte -- Intervention du prince -- Prologue -- Strophes -- Scherzetto 2. Roméo seul: Tristesse -- Bruits lointains de concert et de bal -- Grande fête chez Capulet -- Fête PAUZE 3. Nuit serène -- Le jardin de Capulet silencieux et déserte -- Scène d'amour 4. Scherzo: La reine Mab, ou la Fée des songes 5. Convoi funèbre de Juliette: 'Jetez des fl eurs pour la vierge expirée' 6. Roméo au tombeau des Capulets -- Invocation: Réveil de Juliette -- Joie délirante, désespoir -- Dernières angoisses et mort des deux amants 7. Finale: La foule accourt au cimetière -- Des Capulets et des Montagus -- Récitatif et Air du Père Laurence 'Pauvres enfants que je pleure' -- Serment de réconciliation 'Jurez donc par l'auguste symbole'
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Roméo_et_Juliette_volledig_live_concert_in_HD
Live registratie van de volledige dramatische symfonie Roméo et Juliette van Hector Berlioz. Door het Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Groot Omroepkoor olv James Gaffigan (dirigent). Mmv Simon Halsey (koordirigent), Géraldine Chauvet (sopraan), Andrew Staples (tenor), Thomas Oliemans (bas). Opname vrijdag 23 maart 2012, Vredenburg Leidsche Rijn Utrecht. Concert in de serie De Vrijdag van Vredenburg (AVRO Klassiek & TROS Vocaal). Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Roméo et Juliette (1839) 1. Introduction: Combats -- Tumulte -- Intervention du prince -- Prologue -- Strophes -- Scherzetto 2. Roméo seul: Tristesse -- Bruits lointains de concert et de bal -- Grande fête chez Capulet -- Fête PAUZE 3. Nuit serène -- Le jardin de Capulet silencieux et déserte -- Scène d'amour 4. Scherzo: La reine Mab, ou la Fée des songes 5. Convoi funèbre de Juliette: 'Jetez des fl eurs pour la vierge expirée' 6. Roméo au tombeau des Capulets -- Invocation: Réveil de Juliette -- Joie délirante, désespoir -- Dernières angoisses et mort des deux amants 7. Finale: La foule accourt au cimetière -- Des Capulets et des Montagus -- Récitatif et Air du Père Laurence 'Pauvres enfants que je pleure' -- Serment de réconciliation 'Jurez donc par l'auguste symbole'
- published: 04 Apr 2012
- views: 21554
- author: avroklassiek
Berlioz - Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 92:01
- Updated: 25 Dec 2012
I. Requiem 0:00 II. Dies irae 11:41 - Tuba mirum 17:36 III. Quid sum miser 25:36 IV. Rex tremendae 28:54 V. Quaerens me 35:51 VI. Lacrymosa 41:12 VII. Offertorium 52:26 VIII. Hostias 1:03:27 IX. Sanctus 1:07:20 X. Agnus Dei 1:18:39 London Symphony Chorus Wandsworth School Boysʼ Choir London Symphony Orchestra Sir Colin Davis Photo, Alexemanuel The dome over Napoleon, Les Invalides en.wikipedia.org
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Grande_Messe_des_Morts_Requiem
I. Requiem 0:00 II. Dies irae 11:41 - Tuba mirum 17:36 III. Quid sum miser 25:36 IV. Rex tremendae 28:54 V. Quaerens me 35:51 VI. Lacrymosa 41:12 VII. Offertorium 52:26 VIII. Hostias 1:03:27 IX. Sanctus 1:07:20 X. Agnus Dei 1:18:39 London Symphony Chorus Wandsworth School Boysʼ Choir London Symphony Orchestra Sir Colin Davis Photo, Alexemanuel The dome over Napoleon, Les Invalides en.wikipedia.org
- published: 01 Feb 2011
- views: 51328
- author: oppie47
HECTOR BERLIOZ - SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE op. 14
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 51:19
- Updated: 12 Dec 2012
I. Rêveries; Passions - II. Un bal - III. Scene aux champs-IV. Marche au supplice - V. Songe d'un nuit de sabbat - - BSO - Georges Prêtre
http://wn.com/HECTOR_BERLIOZ_SYMPHONIE_FANTASTIQUE_op_14
I. Rêveries; Passions - II. Un bal - III. Scene aux champs-IV. Marche au supplice - V. Songe d'un nuit de sabbat - - BSO - Georges Prêtre
- published: 16 Feb 2012
- views: 6433
- author: nonsonocretino1
Hector Berlioz - Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem), Op. 5 (1/4) Kyrie and Dies Irae
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 25:21
- Updated: 16 Dec 2012
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Grande messe des morts (Requiem), Op. 5, H 75 (March 1837 -- 29 June 1837) First Performance: Paris, Invalides, 5 December 1837, conducted by François Antoine Habeneck I. Requiem et Kyrie. Introït II. Dies iræ. Prose -- Tuba mirum (11:35) London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus and Wandsworth School Boys' Choir conducted by Sir Colin Davis rec. London, November 1969. Philips 416 283-2 Arranger: Leopold Damrosch (1832--1885), piano reduction Language: Latin Publisher Info.: New York: G. Schirmer, 1866, plate 1 Copyright: Public Domain The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) was composed in 1837. The Grande Messe des Morts is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four antiphonal offstage brass ensembles placed at the corners of the concert stage. The work derives its text from the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. It has a duration of approximately ninety minutes, although there are faster recordings of under seventy-five minutes. In 1837, Adrien de Gasparin, the Minister of the Interior of France, asked Berlioz to compose a Requiem Mass to remember soldiers who died in the Revolution of July 1830. Berlioz accepted the request, having already wanted to compose a large orchestral work. Meanwhile, the orchestra was growing in size and quality, and the use of woodwinds and brass was expanding due to the increasing ease of intonation afforded by modern instruments. Berlioz later ...
http://wn.com/Hector_Berlioz_Grande_Messe_des_Morts_Requiem,_Op_5_1_4_Kyrie_and_Dies_Irae
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Grande messe des morts (Requiem), Op. 5, H 75 (March 1837 -- 29 June 1837) First Performance: Paris, Invalides, 5 December 1837, conducted by François Antoine Habeneck I. Requiem et Kyrie. Introït II. Dies iræ. Prose -- Tuba mirum (11:35) London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus and Wandsworth School Boys' Choir conducted by Sir Colin Davis rec. London, November 1969. Philips 416 283-2 Arranger: Leopold Damrosch (1832--1885), piano reduction Language: Latin Publisher Info.: New York: G. Schirmer, 1866, plate 1 Copyright: Public Domain The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) was composed in 1837. The Grande Messe des Morts is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four antiphonal offstage brass ensembles placed at the corners of the concert stage. The work derives its text from the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. It has a duration of approximately ninety minutes, although there are faster recordings of under seventy-five minutes. In 1837, Adrien de Gasparin, the Minister of the Interior of France, asked Berlioz to compose a Requiem Mass to remember soldiers who died in the Revolution of July 1830. Berlioz accepted the request, having already wanted to compose a large orchestral work. Meanwhile, the orchestra was growing in size and quality, and the use of woodwinds and brass was expanding due to the increasing ease of intonation afforded by modern instruments. Berlioz later ...
- published: 13 May 2012
- views: 3215
- author: bartje11
Hector Berlioz - Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem), Op. 5 (3/4)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 25:50
- Updated: 16 Dec 2012
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Grande messe des morts (Requiem), Op. 5, H 75 (March 1837 -- 29 June 1837) First Performance: Paris, Invalides, 5 December 1837, conducted by François Antoine Habeneck VI. Lacrimosa VII. Offertoire. Chœur des âmes du Purgatoire (11:08) VIII. Hostias (22:06) London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus and Wandsworth School Boys' Choir conducted by Sir Colin Davis rec. London, November 1969. Philips 416 283-2 Arranger: Leopold Damrosch (1832--1885), piano reduction Language: Latin Publisher Info.: New York: G. Schirmer, 1866, plate 1 Copyright: Public Domain The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) was composed in 1837. The Grande Messe des Morts is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four antiphonal offstage brass ensembles placed at the corners of the concert stage. The work derives its text from the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. It has a duration of approximately ninety minutes, although there are faster recordings of under seventy-five minutes. In 1837, Adrien de Gasparin, the Minister of the Interior of France, asked Berlioz to compose a Requiem Mass to remember soldiers who died in the Revolution of July 1830. Berlioz accepted the request, having already wanted to compose a large orchestral work. Meanwhile, the orchestra was growing in size and quality, and the use of woodwinds and brass was expanding due to the increasing ease of intonation afforded by modern ...
http://wn.com/Hector_Berlioz_Grande_Messe_des_Morts_Requiem,_Op_5_3_4
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Grande messe des morts (Requiem), Op. 5, H 75 (March 1837 -- 29 June 1837) First Performance: Paris, Invalides, 5 December 1837, conducted by François Antoine Habeneck VI. Lacrimosa VII. Offertoire. Chœur des âmes du Purgatoire (11:08) VIII. Hostias (22:06) London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus and Wandsworth School Boys' Choir conducted by Sir Colin Davis rec. London, November 1969. Philips 416 283-2 Arranger: Leopold Damrosch (1832--1885), piano reduction Language: Latin Publisher Info.: New York: G. Schirmer, 1866, plate 1 Copyright: Public Domain The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) was composed in 1837. The Grande Messe des Morts is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four antiphonal offstage brass ensembles placed at the corners of the concert stage. The work derives its text from the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. It has a duration of approximately ninety minutes, although there are faster recordings of under seventy-five minutes. In 1837, Adrien de Gasparin, the Minister of the Interior of France, asked Berlioz to compose a Requiem Mass to remember soldiers who died in the Revolution of July 1830. Berlioz accepted the request, having already wanted to compose a large orchestral work. Meanwhile, the orchestra was growing in size and quality, and the use of woodwinds and brass was expanding due to the increasing ease of intonation afforded by modern ...
- published: 15 May 2012
- views: 975
- author: bartje11
Louis Hector Berlioz: Requiem (Lyon 2012)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 86:12
- Updated: 13 Dec 2012
Louis Hector Berlioz: Requiem (Lyon 2012). Director: Leonard Slatkin, Tenor: Steve Davislim, Orchestre National de Lyon, Choeurs de Lyon.
http://wn.com/Louis_Hector_Berlioz_Requiem_Lyon_2012
Louis Hector Berlioz: Requiem (Lyon 2012). Director: Leonard Slatkin, Tenor: Steve Davislim, Orchestre National de Lyon, Choeurs de Lyon.
- published: 10 Nov 2012
- views: 369
- author: Claudine Shim
Hector Berlioz Te Deum Abbado
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 46:30
- Updated: 26 Dec 2012
www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/Hector_Berlioz_Te_Deum_Abbado
Hector Berlioz - Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem), Op. 5 Sanctus & Agnus Dei
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 24:37
- Updated: 01 Dec 2012
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Grande messe des morts (Requiem), Op. 5, H 75 (March 1837 -- 29 June 1837) First Performance: Paris, Invalides, 5 December 1837, conducted by François Antoine Habeneck IX. Sanctus X. Agnus Dei Ronald Dowd, tenor London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus and Wandsworth School Boys' Choir conducted by Sir Colin Davis rec. London, November 1969. Philips 416 283-2 Arranger: Leopold Damrosch (1832--1885), piano reduction Language: Latin Publisher Info.: New York: G. Schirmer, 1866, plate 1 Copyright: Public Domain The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) was composed in 1837. The Grande Messe des Morts is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four antiphonal offstage brass ensembles placed at the corners of the concert stage. The work derives its text from the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. It has a duration of approximately ninety minutes, although there are faster recordings of under seventy-five minutes. In 1837, Adrien de Gasparin, the Minister of the Interior of France, asked Berlioz to compose a Requiem Mass to remember soldiers who died in the Revolution of July 1830. Berlioz accepted the request, having already wanted to compose a large orchestral work. Meanwhile, the orchestra was growing in size and quality, and the use of woodwinds and brass was expanding due to the increasing ease of intonation afforded by modern instruments. Berlioz later wrote, "if I were ...
http://wn.com/Hector_Berlioz_Grande_Messe_des_Morts_Requiem,_Op_5_Sanctus_Agnus_Dei
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Grande messe des morts (Requiem), Op. 5, H 75 (March 1837 -- 29 June 1837) First Performance: Paris, Invalides, 5 December 1837, conducted by François Antoine Habeneck IX. Sanctus X. Agnus Dei Ronald Dowd, tenor London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus and Wandsworth School Boys' Choir conducted by Sir Colin Davis rec. London, November 1969. Philips 416 283-2 Arranger: Leopold Damrosch (1832--1885), piano reduction Language: Latin Publisher Info.: New York: G. Schirmer, 1866, plate 1 Copyright: Public Domain The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) was composed in 1837. The Grande Messe des Morts is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four antiphonal offstage brass ensembles placed at the corners of the concert stage. The work derives its text from the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. It has a duration of approximately ninety minutes, although there are faster recordings of under seventy-five minutes. In 1837, Adrien de Gasparin, the Minister of the Interior of France, asked Berlioz to compose a Requiem Mass to remember soldiers who died in the Revolution of July 1830. Berlioz accepted the request, having already wanted to compose a large orchestral work. Meanwhile, the orchestra was growing in size and quality, and the use of woodwinds and brass was expanding due to the increasing ease of intonation afforded by modern instruments. Berlioz later wrote, "if I were ...
- published: 15 May 2012
- views: 1178
- author: bartje11
Walter Braunfels - Phantastische Erscheinungen eines Themas von Hector Berlioz, Op. 25 (1914-17)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 49:16
- Updated: 04 Oct 2012
Phantastische Erscheinungen eines Themas von Hector Berlioz (Fantastic Appearances of a Theme by Hector Berlioz), Op. 25 (1914-17) - Einleitung. Allegretto con fuoco [0:00] - 1. Erscheinung. Thema [0:28] - 2. Erscheinung. Moderato [2:02] - 3. Erscheinung. Gemessen [4:06] - 4. Erscheinung. Mit Breite, doch nicht zu langsam und etwas frei [8:42] - 5. Erscheinung. Andante [14:45] - 6. Erscheinung. Ruhig [17:58] - 7. Erscheinung. Sehr schnell [21:57] - 8. Erscheinung. Lebhaft, sehr frei im Vortrag [26:06] - 10. Erscheinung. Lebhaft [30:04] - 11. Erscheinung. Moderato [31:03] - 12. Erscheinung. Breit und wuchtig [36:37] - Finale. Lebhaft [41:41] This orchestral work by German composer Walter Braunfels (1882-1954) is a set of twelve (loose) variations on the theme of Mephistopheles' "Flea Song" from the opera "The Damnation of Faust" Hector Berlioz (1803-1869). Braunfels described his inspiration, "During my young years Frank Wedekind had spoken to me about his flea ballet. Nothing came of the composition at the time. But when I later heard 'Le damnation de Faust' [by Berlioz], I could not stop thinking of Mephisto's flea song, and I began to compose a piece: life, deeds, and opinions of a flea. The 'Fantastic Appearances' later developed from this [...]." At the same time, Braunfels draws upon his own impressions and personal experiences during the First World War for inspiration in this piece. The work begins with an ominous, demonic introduction, evocations of screaming and ...
http://wn.com/Walter_Braunfels_Phantastische_Erscheinungen_eines_Themas_von_Hector_Berlioz,_Op_25_1914-17
Phantastische Erscheinungen eines Themas von Hector Berlioz (Fantastic Appearances of a Theme by Hector Berlioz), Op. 25 (1914-17) - Einleitung. Allegretto con fuoco [0:00] - 1. Erscheinung. Thema [0:28] - 2. Erscheinung. Moderato [2:02] - 3. Erscheinung. Gemessen [4:06] - 4. Erscheinung. Mit Breite, doch nicht zu langsam und etwas frei [8:42] - 5. Erscheinung. Andante [14:45] - 6. Erscheinung. Ruhig [17:58] - 7. Erscheinung. Sehr schnell [21:57] - 8. Erscheinung. Lebhaft, sehr frei im Vortrag [26:06] - 10. Erscheinung. Lebhaft [30:04] - 11. Erscheinung. Moderato [31:03] - 12. Erscheinung. Breit und wuchtig [36:37] - Finale. Lebhaft [41:41] This orchestral work by German composer Walter Braunfels (1882-1954) is a set of twelve (loose) variations on the theme of Mephistopheles' "Flea Song" from the opera "The Damnation of Faust" Hector Berlioz (1803-1869). Braunfels described his inspiration, "During my young years Frank Wedekind had spoken to me about his flea ballet. Nothing came of the composition at the time. But when I later heard 'Le damnation de Faust' [by Berlioz], I could not stop thinking of Mephisto's flea song, and I began to compose a piece: life, deeds, and opinions of a flea. The 'Fantastic Appearances' later developed from this [...]." At the same time, Braunfels draws upon his own impressions and personal experiences during the First World War for inspiration in this piece. The work begins with an ominous, demonic introduction, evocations of screaming and ...
- published: 17 Feb 2011
- views: 2621
- author: musicanth
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique - Muti/WPh(2007Live)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 54:45
- Updated: 28 Dec 2012
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Symphonie fantastique op.14 Riccardo Muti Wiener Philharmoniker Festspielhaus, Salzburg, 12 8/2007
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Symphonie_fantastique_Muti_WPh2007Live
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Symphonie fantastique op.14 Riccardo Muti Wiener Philharmoniker Festspielhaus, Salzburg, 12 8/2007
- published: 04 Nov 2011
- views: 41982
- author: magischmeisjeorkest
Hector Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique Anima Eterna
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 61:23
- Updated: 19 Dec 2012
http://wn.com/Hector_Berlioz_Symphonie_Fantastique_Anima_Eterna
Hector Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 49:23
- Updated: 19 Dec 2012
Pierre Monteux, conductor San Francisco Symphony 17-28 February, 15 April 1945 00:00, 1st mov. 13:18, 2nd mov. 19:03, 3rd mov. 34:54, 4th mov. 39:47, 5th mov.
http://wn.com/Hector_Berlioz_Symphonie_fantastique
Pierre Monteux, conductor San Francisco Symphony 17-28 February, 15 April 1945 00:00, 1st mov. 13:18, 2nd mov. 19:03, 3rd mov. 34:54, 4th mov. 39:47, 5th mov.
- published: 19 Nov 2012
- views: 136
- author: kutapika
Oskar Fried - Berlioz Symphonie fantastique
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 50:41
- Updated: 20 Jun 2012
Rec:1937 Oskar Fried (August 10, 1871 -- July 5, 1941) was a German conductor and composer. An admirer of Gustav Mahler, Fried was the first conductor to record a Mahler symphony. Fried also held the distinction of being the first foreign conductor to perform in Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution, Fried eventually left his homeland to work in the Soviet Union after the political rise of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party, and became a Soviet citizen in 1940. Born in Berlin, the son of a Jewish shopkeeper, he worked as a clown, a stable boy and a dog trainer before studying composition with Iwan Knorr (1891-92, Hoch Conservatory) and Engelbert Humperdinck (as private student) in Frankfurt. He later moved to Düsseldorf to study painting and art history. After a spell in Paris, he returned to Berlin in 1898 to study counterpoint with Xaver Scharwenka. The performance of his composition Das trunkene Lied ("the drunken song") for chorus and orchestra brought Fried his first public success and led to his appointment in 1904 as the conductor of a Berlin choral society. Fried first met Gustav Mahler in 1905. The meeting resulted in an invitation to conduct Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony in Berlin in November 1905 (Otto Klemperer led the offstage band during this performance).The next year Fried introduced Russia to Mahler's music when he performed the same work in St Petersburg. From 1907 to 1910 he directed a choral society known as the Sternscher Gesangverein in Berlin. In 1913 ...
http://wn.com/Oskar_Fried_Berlioz_Symphonie_fantastique
Rec:1937 Oskar Fried (August 10, 1871 -- July 5, 1941) was a German conductor and composer. An admirer of Gustav Mahler, Fried was the first conductor to record a Mahler symphony. Fried also held the distinction of being the first foreign conductor to perform in Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution, Fried eventually left his homeland to work in the Soviet Union after the political rise of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party, and became a Soviet citizen in 1940. Born in Berlin, the son of a Jewish shopkeeper, he worked as a clown, a stable boy and a dog trainer before studying composition with Iwan Knorr (1891-92, Hoch Conservatory) and Engelbert Humperdinck (as private student) in Frankfurt. He later moved to Düsseldorf to study painting and art history. After a spell in Paris, he returned to Berlin in 1898 to study counterpoint with Xaver Scharwenka. The performance of his composition Das trunkene Lied ("the drunken song") for chorus and orchestra brought Fried his first public success and led to his appointment in 1904 as the conductor of a Berlin choral society. Fried first met Gustav Mahler in 1905. The meeting resulted in an invitation to conduct Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony in Berlin in November 1905 (Otto Klemperer led the offstage band during this performance).The next year Fried introduced Russia to Mahler's music when he performed the same work in St Petersburg. From 1907 to 1910 he directed a choral society known as the Sternscher Gesangverein in Berlin. In 1913 ...
- published: 22 Feb 2012
- views: 1755
- author: supokapo
Hector Berlioz:Symphonie fantastique Christoph Eschenbach
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 55:46
- Updated: 23 Nov 2012
Christoph Eschenbach Orchestre de Paris
http://wn.com/Hector_BerliozSymphonie_fantastique_Christoph_Eschenbach
Dame Gwyneth Jones-La Mort de Cléopâtre, Hector Berlioz, Cond. Thomas Schippers
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 22:48
- Updated: 23 Dec 2012
La Mort de Cléopâtre, Composer: Hector Berlioz, Cléopâtre : Gwyneth Jones, Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della RAI, Conductor : Thomas Schippers. 1972
http://wn.com/Dame_Gwyneth_Jones-La_Mort_de_Cléopâtre,_Hector_Berlioz,_Cond_Thomas_Schippers
La Mort de Cléopâtre, Composer: Hector Berlioz, Cléopâtre : Gwyneth Jones, Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della RAI, Conductor : Thomas Schippers. 1972
- published: 09 Dec 2012
- views: 28
- author: andreideathboy
Misa de requiem - Hector Berlioz
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 94:19
- Updated: 26 Dec 2012
http://wn.com/Misa_de_requiem_Hector_Berlioz
Hector Berlioz Harold en Italie, Symphonie en quatre parties avec un alto principal, Bernstein
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 44:28
- Updated: 23 Dec 2012
http://wn.com/Hector_Berlioz_Harold_en_Italie,_Symphonie_en_quatre_parties_avec_un_alto_principal,_Bernstein
Hector Berlioz "Grande Symphonie funebre et triomphale"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 32:42
- Updated: 20 Dec 2012
Grand Funeral and Triumphal Symphony Hector Berlioz - "Grande Symphonie funebre et triomphale", Op. 15. Central Military Band of the Russian Ministry of Defence. Conductor: Valery Khalilov and Sergei Durygin (chorus) Soloist: Erkin Yusupov (trombone) Tchaikovsky Concert Hall of the Moscow Philharmonic 1. Marche funèbre (Funeral march, Похоронный марш) 2. Oraison funèbre (Funeral oration, Похоронная речь) 3. Apothéose (Apotheosis, Апофеоз) Гектор Берлиоз "Траурно-триумфальная симфония Op.15, H 80a, b-moll" Центральный военный оркестр МО РФ. Дирижер Валерий Халилов и Сергей Дурыгин(хормейстер) Солист: Эркин Юсупов(тромбон) Московская Филармония - Концертный зал имени Чайковского
http://wn.com/Hector_Berlioz_Grande_Symphonie_funebre_et_triomphale
Grand Funeral and Triumphal Symphony Hector Berlioz - "Grande Symphonie funebre et triomphale", Op. 15. Central Military Band of the Russian Ministry of Defence. Conductor: Valery Khalilov and Sergei Durygin (chorus) Soloist: Erkin Yusupov (trombone) Tchaikovsky Concert Hall of the Moscow Philharmonic 1. Marche funèbre (Funeral march, Похоронный марш) 2. Oraison funèbre (Funeral oration, Похоронная речь) 3. Apothéose (Apotheosis, Апофеоз) Гектор Берлиоз "Траурно-триумфальная симфония Op.15, H 80a, b-moll" Центральный военный оркестр МО РФ. Дирижер Валерий Халилов и Сергей Дурыгин(хормейстер) Солист: Эркин Юсупов(тромбон) Московская Филармония - Концертный зал имени Чайковского
- published: 29 Jan 2011
- views: 18402
- author: PetrovFed
Berlioz: Symphony Fantastique Op. 14 / Sir Colin Davis & LSO
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 55:35
- Updated: 15 Oct 2012
Hector Berlioz: Symphony Fantastique Op. 14 Sir Colin Davis & London Symphony Orchestra. Symphonie fantastique: Épisode de la vie d'un Artiste...en cinq parties (Fantastic Symphony: An Episode in the Life of an Artist, in Five Parts), Op. 14, is a program symphony written by the French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. It is an important representative piece of the early Romantic period, and is still very popular with concert audiences worldwide. The first performance took place at the Paris Conservatoire in December 1830. The work was repeatedly revised between 1831 and 1845 and subsequently became a favourite in Paris. The symphony is a piece of program music which tells the story of "an artist gifted with a lively imagination" who has "poisoned himself with opium" in the "depths of despair" because of "hopeless love." Berlioz provided his own program notes for each movement of the work (see below). He prefaces his notes with the following instructions: The composer's intention has been to develop various episodes in the life of an artist, in so far as they lend themselves to musical treatment. As the work cannot rely on the assistance of speech, the plan of the instrumental drama needs to be set out in advance. The following programme must therefore be considered as the spoken text of an opera, which serves to introduce musical movements and to motivate their character and expression. There are five movements, instead of the four movements which were conventional for ...
http://wn.com/Berlioz_Symphony_Fantastique_Op_14_Sir_Colin_Davis_LSO
Hector Berlioz: Symphony Fantastique Op. 14 Sir Colin Davis & London Symphony Orchestra. Symphonie fantastique: Épisode de la vie d'un Artiste...en cinq parties (Fantastic Symphony: An Episode in the Life of an Artist, in Five Parts), Op. 14, is a program symphony written by the French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. It is an important representative piece of the early Romantic period, and is still very popular with concert audiences worldwide. The first performance took place at the Paris Conservatoire in December 1830. The work was repeatedly revised between 1831 and 1845 and subsequently became a favourite in Paris. The symphony is a piece of program music which tells the story of "an artist gifted with a lively imagination" who has "poisoned himself with opium" in the "depths of despair" because of "hopeless love." Berlioz provided his own program notes for each movement of the work (see below). He prefaces his notes with the following instructions: The composer's intention has been to develop various episodes in the life of an artist, in so far as they lend themselves to musical treatment. As the work cannot rely on the assistance of speech, the plan of the instrumental drama needs to be set out in advance. The following programme must therefore be considered as the spoken text of an opera, which serves to introduce musical movements and to motivate their character and expression. There are five movements, instead of the four movements which were conventional for ...
- published: 12 Apr 2012
- views: 1871
- author: Maarten Kroon
Stücke von Hector Berlioz und Camille Saint-Saëns
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 34:46
- Updated: 04 Dec 2012
Hector Berlioz, Le Carnaval Romain - Overtüre op. 9 Hector Berlioz, La Damnation de Faust - "D'amour l'ardente flamme" Camille Saint-Saëns, Samson et Dalila - Bacchanale Camille Saint-Saëns, Samson et Dalila - "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix"
http://wn.com/Stücke_von_Hector_Berlioz_und_Camille_Saint-Saëns
Hector Berlioz, Le Carnaval Romain - Overtüre op. 9 Hector Berlioz, La Damnation de Faust - "D'amour l'ardente flamme" Camille Saint-Saëns, Samson et Dalila - Bacchanale Camille Saint-Saëns, Samson et Dalila - "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix"
- published: 15 Jan 2011
- views: 248
- author: Haddu4all
Callas at Juilliard 61 -- Berlioz: "D'amour, l'ardente flamme" (La Damnation de Faust)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 29:18
- Updated: 01 Aug 2012
Maria Callas, master class at Juilliard Hector Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust "D'amour, l'ardente flamme" - Marguerite (mezzo-soprano) Student: Anita Terzian Entire master class: www.youtube.com For a sortable chart of all the lessons, see: sites.google.com . .
http://wn.com/Callas_at_Juilliard_61_-_Berlioz_D'amour,_l'ardente_flamme_La_Damnation_de_Faust
Maria Callas, master class at Juilliard Hector Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust "D'amour, l'ardente flamme" - Marguerite (mezzo-soprano) Student: Anita Terzian Entire master class: www.youtube.com For a sortable chart of all the lessons, see: sites.google.com . .
- published: 22 Dec 2010
- views: 1144
- author: Operalala
105:43
Berlioz - Roméo et Juliette - volledig live concert in HD
Live registratie van de volledige dramatische symfonie Roméo et Juliette van Hector Berlio...
published: 04 Apr 2012
author: avroklassiek
Berlioz - Roméo et Juliette - volledig live concert in HD
Live registratie van de volledige dramatische symfonie Roméo et Juliette van Hector Berlioz. Door het Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Groot Omroepkoor olv James Gaffigan (dirigent). Mmv Simon Halsey (koordirigent), Géraldine Chauvet (sopraan), Andrew Staples (tenor), Thomas Oliemans (bas). Opname vrijdag 23 maart 2012, Vredenburg Leidsche Rijn Utrecht. Concert in de serie De Vrijdag van Vredenburg (AVRO Klassiek & TROS Vocaal). Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Roméo et Juliette (1839) 1. Introduction: Combats -- Tumulte -- Intervention du prince -- Prologue -- Strophes -- Scherzetto 2. Roméo seul: Tristesse -- Bruits lointains de concert et de bal -- Grande fête chez Capulet -- Fête PAUZE 3. Nuit serène -- Le jardin de Capulet silencieux et déserte -- Scène d'amour 4. Scherzo: La reine Mab, ou la Fée des songes 5. Convoi funèbre de Juliette: 'Jetez des fl eurs pour la vierge expirée' 6. Roméo au tombeau des Capulets -- Invocation: Réveil de Juliette -- Joie délirante, désespoir -- Dernières angoisses et mort des deux amants 7. Finale: La foule accourt au cimetière -- Des Capulets et des Montagus -- Récitatif et Air du Père Laurence 'Pauvres enfants que je pleure' -- Serment de réconciliation 'Jurez donc par l'auguste symbole'
- published: 04 Apr 2012
- views: 22105
- author: avroklassiek
48:49
Berlioz ：Symphonie fantastique
Berlioz： Symphonie fantastique Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire André...
published: 27 Aug 2011
author: RichardHilo
Berlioz ：Symphonie fantastique
Berlioz： Symphonie fantastique Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire André Cluytens ( Japan, live recording.1964) no copyright infringement intended
- published: 27 Aug 2011
- views: 223320
- author: RichardHilo
2:53
Veni Creator -- Hector Berlioz
Veni Creator -- Hector Berlioz Performed by the William and Mary Women's Chorus 2007 - 200...
published: 26 Feb 2011
author: wmwomenschorus
Veni Creator -- Hector Berlioz
Veni Creator -- Hector Berlioz Performed by the William and Mary Women's Chorus 2007 - 2008
- published: 26 Feb 2011
- views: 1816
- author: wmwomenschorus
4:44
H.Berlioz La Damnation de Faust - Kakhidze - Paris live 1992
Jansug Kakhidze en.wikipedia.org Louis Hector Berlioz La Damnation de Faust Orchestre de P...
published: 04 Jul 2010
author: ditogam
H.Berlioz La Damnation de Faust - Kakhidze - Paris live 1992
Jansug Kakhidze en.wikipedia.org Louis Hector Berlioz La Damnation de Faust Orchestre de Paris May 1992
- published: 04 Jul 2010
- views: 920
- author: ditogam
5:46
Nicolai Gedda/Shirley Verrett- Duet, (Berlioz, Les Troyens) Live 1969
Tenor Nicolai Gedda (1925-) and soprano Shirley Verrett (1931-) sing the duet from act 4 o...
published: 30 May 2009
author: ShawDAMAN
Nicolai Gedda/Shirley Verrett- Duet, (Berlioz, Les Troyens) Live 1969
Tenor Nicolai Gedda (1925-) and soprano Shirley Verrett (1931-) sing the duet from act 4 of the Trojans by Hector Berlioz. (not a favorite of mine, but this music is sublime.) This is from a live concert performance in Rome, 1969. Rome Opera Orchestra conducted by Georges Prêtre. Beautiful B from Gedda at about 4:37. :-O Enjoy =)
- published: 30 May 2009
- views: 6948
- author: ShawDAMAN
9:21
Hector Berlioz - Le Corsaire Overture, Op. 21
Performed by the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Eiji Oue....
published: 30 Apr 2011
author: india4ever
Hector Berlioz - Le Corsaire Overture, Op. 21
Performed by the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Eiji Oue.
- published: 30 Apr 2011
- views: 4600
- author: india4ever
6:33
MYO OF NY - Hector Berlioz Symph Fantastique 5th Mvt Excerpt.mov
The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York (Nassau Principal Orchestra), Scott Stickley ...
published: 31 May 2010
author: myonyorch
MYO OF NY - Hector Berlioz Symph Fantastique 5th Mvt Excerpt.mov
The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York (Nassau Principal Orchestra), Scott Stickley conductor perform Hector Berlioz "Symphonie Fantastique" 5th Mvt (from Dies Irae) Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, Brookville, NY March 22, 2010
- published: 31 May 2010
- views: 745
- author: myonyorch
7:49
Berlioz - Dies Irae {Turn up the volume!!}
The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) by Hector Berlioz was composed in 1837. Lon...
published: 14 Dec 2009
author: bartje11
Berlioz - Dies Irae {Turn up the volume!!}
The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) by Hector Berlioz was composed in 1837. London Symphony Orchestra / Wandsworth School Boys' Choir / London Symphony Chorus The Grande Messe des Morts is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four antiphonal brass ensembles placed at the corners of the concert stage. The work derives its text from the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. It has a duration of approximately ninety minutes, although there are faster recordings of under seventy-five minutes. I was lucky to attend a performance and rehearsal of the Requiem in the Hague way back in the seventies. It was an incredible experience. The 4 brass groups were in the corners of the concert hall, which made the audience sit in between them and the orchestra and choirs. Amazing sound! The timpani's were situated next to each other in a long row. You could hear and see them rolling back and forth in big waves. Nothing comes close to that sound. Only a genius like Berlioz could come up with a score like this.
- published: 14 Dec 2009
- views: 104748
- author: bartje11
5:12
Giuseppe di Stefano. Absence. Hector Berlioz. Live Wien.
Giuseppe di Stefano, tenor. Rudolf Bibl. piano...
published: 13 May 2010
author: Jose Antonio Navarro
Giuseppe di Stefano. Absence. Hector Berlioz. Live Wien.
Giuseppe di Stefano, tenor. Rudolf Bibl. piano
- published: 13 May 2010
- views: 1367
- author: Jose Antonio Navarro
20:14
La Mort De Cleopatre, Berlioz - Kyra Vayne, Premiere Recording, Live 1961
Hector Berlioz's dramatic cantata for the Prix de Rome 1829: La Mort De Cleopatre. BBC Sco...
published: 26 Dec 2010
author: mendesboyge
La Mort De Cleopatre, Berlioz - Kyra Vayne, Premiere Recording, Live 1961
Hector Berlioz's dramatic cantata for the Prix de Rome 1829: La Mort De Cleopatre. BBC Scottish Orchestra Director: Norman Del Mar 25 August 1961, World Premiere Recording for the BBC Youtube now accepts videos longer than 15 mins so it can be re-posted as one clip here.
- published: 26 Dec 2010
- views: 799
- author: mendesboyge
11:55
Berlioz Requiem - Agnus Dei (7)
www.pineclassics.com - Public Domain Classical Music service except US. Léopold Simoneau (...
published: 11 Apr 2011
author: fugue1960
Berlioz Requiem - Agnus Dei (7)
www.pineclassics.com - Public Domain Classical Music service except US. Léopold Simoneau (tenor) Charles Munch (conductor) Boston Symphony Orchestra New England Conservatory Chorus
- published: 11 Apr 2011
- views: 25701
- author: fugue1960
7:17
Berlioz Fantastique 4th movement - Noam Zur - Conductor
Noam Zur Conducts the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, May 2005 Youth concert www.ArtPro.co....
published: 21 Oct 2006
author: apweb
Berlioz Fantastique 4th movement - Noam Zur - Conductor
Noam Zur Conducts the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, May 2005 Youth concert www.ArtPro.co.il
- published: 21 Oct 2006
- views: 145847
- author: apweb
9:46
Jessye Norman as Cassandra in Les Troyens
The 15th Metropolitan Opera Performance of Hector Berllioz Les Troyens Conductor James Lev...
published: 12 Jan 2009
author: Felipe Ruiz de Chávez
Jessye Norman as Cassandra in Les Troyens
The 15th Metropolitan Opera Performance of Hector Berllioz Les Troyens Conductor James Levine, Staged by Fabrizio Melano Several of the Trojan women are praying at the altar of Vesta/Cybele for their soldiers to receive divine aid. Cassandre reports that Énée and other Trojan warriors have rescued Priam's palace treasure and relieved people at the citadel. She prophesies that Énée and the survivors will found a new Troy in Italy. But she says also that Chorèbe is dead, and resolves to die. The other women acknowledge that Cassandre was correct in her prophecies and their error in dismissing her. Cassandre then calls upon the Trojan women to join her in death, to prevent being defiled by the invading Greeks. One group of women admits to fear of death, and Cassandre dismisses them from her sight. The remaining women unite with Cassandre in their determination to die. A Greek captain observes the women during this scene, with admiration for their courage. Greek soldiers then come on the scene, demanding the Trojan treasure from the women. Cassandre defiantly mocks the soldiers, then suddenly stabs herself. Polyxène takes the same dagger and does likewise. The remaining women scorn the Greeks as being too late to find the treasure, and commit mass suicide, to the horror of the Greek soldiers. Cassandre summons one last cry of "Italy!" before she collapses, dead.
- published: 12 Jan 2009
- views: 19713
- author: Felipe Ruiz de Chávez
14:24
2011 Texas All-State Symphony Orchestra Video 3
Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz Part 3 conducted by Guillermo Figueroa III. Scene ...
published: 28 Jul 2011
author: LFLCvideos
2011 Texas All-State Symphony Orchestra Video 3
Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz Part 3 conducted by Guillermo Figueroa III. Scene in the Country Recorded live in concert by Mark Records at the Texas Music Educators Assn. Conference San Antonio, Texas February 2011 The selection process for Texas All-State Orchestras differs for string and wind auditions. String students audition at the regional level (28 regions) to earn the right to submit a recorded audition for the statewide competition. There is a limit to how many students may record at the regional level for each string instrument. During the second weekend in November, panels are assembled in one large metropolitan area of the state to judge the recordings and to select the students. The top players are assigned to the Symphony Orchestra, the next group to the Philharmonic Orchestra and the final group to the String Orchestra. The evening before the conference, students audition for seating within their respective orchestra. Wind and percussion players are selected from a pool that also determines members of the All-State Bands. These are all live auditions, starting first at the regional level (28 regions), then moving to the area regions (7 areas). The top scoring wind and percussion players in each area are selected for All-State and are auditioned for seating the day before the state conference. The highest ranked wind and percussion players are allowed to choose the ensemble in which they wish to participate. The Texas All-State selection process ...
- published: 28 Jul 2011
- views: 425
- author: LFLCvideos
Vimeo results:
0:54
berlioz
prod. : InVisu
chef op. : ewen barraud
chef d'orchestre : Grégorie Le Maine
tourné au 5D e...
published: 02 Apr 2012
author: serge miot
berlioz
prod. : InVisu
chef op. : ewen barraud
chef d'orchestre : Grégorie Le Maine
tourné au 5D en 4 passes.
4:13
Berlioz - Biografia
Com base em informações e imagens disponíveis na Net, com fundo sonoro de Berlioz... uma e...
published: 13 Dec 2010
author: Mário de Melo
Berlioz - Biografia
Com base em informações e imagens disponíveis na Net, com fundo sonoro de Berlioz... uma experiência!
Youtube results:
54:45
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique - Muti/WPh(2007Live)
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Symphonie fantastique op.14 Riccardo Muti Wiener Philharmoniker...
published: 04 Nov 2011
author: magischmeisjeorkest
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique - Muti/WPh(2007Live)
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Symphonie fantastique op.14 Riccardo Muti Wiener Philharmoniker Festspielhaus, Salzburg, 12 8/2007
- published: 04 Nov 2011
- views: 42392
- author: magischmeisjeorkest
6:49
2011 Texas All-State Symphony Orchestra Video 4
Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz Part 4 conducted by Guillermo Figueroa IV. March t...
published: 08 Jul 2011
author: LFLCvideos
2011 Texas All-State Symphony Orchestra Video 4
Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz Part 4 conducted by Guillermo Figueroa IV. March to the Scaffold Recorded live in concert by Mark Records at the Texas Music Educators Assn. Conference San Antonio, Texas February 2011 The selection process for Texas All-State Orchestras differs for string and wind auditions. String students audition at the regional level (28 regions) to earn the right to submit a recorded audition for the statewide competition. There is a limit to how many students may record at the regional level for each string instrument. During the second weekend in November, panels are assembled in one large metropolitan area of the state to judge the recordings and to select the students. The top players are assigned to the Symphony Orchestra, the next group to the Philharmonic Orchestra and the final group to the String Orchestra. The evening before the conference, students audition for seating within their respective orchestra. Wind and percussion players are selected from a pool that also determines members of the All-State Bands. These are all live auditions, starting first at the regional level (28 regions), then moving to the area regions (7 areas). The top scoring wind and percussion players in each area are selected for All-State and are auditioned for seating the day before the state conference. The highest ranked wind and percussion players are allowed to choose the ensemble in which they wish to participate. The Texas All-State selection process ...
- published: 08 Jul 2011
- views: 504
- author: LFLCvideos
6:34
Berlioz / Liszt Symphonie Fantastique "Un Bal" EFNK
French pianist Eric Ferrand-N'Kaoua plays Liszt's transcription of "A Ball" from Hector Be...
published: 07 Oct 2009
author: EFNKpiano
Berlioz / Liszt Symphonie Fantastique "Un Bal" EFNK
French pianist Eric Ferrand-N'Kaoua plays Liszt's transcription of "A Ball" from Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, 2nd movementt, Live at the 2009 Berlioz Festival in Berlioz''s birthplace, France. See the first movement at youtu.be and also www.youtube.com www.efnk-piano.com For full-screen, click on the 4 arrows button.
- published: 07 Oct 2009
- views: 11592
- author: EFNKpiano
4:42
GUIDO CANTELLI - Berlioz - Rakoczy March
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Rakoczy March (from the opera La Damnation de Faust - Act I) NB...
published: 16 Oct 2008
author: ichnusa66
GUIDO CANTELLI - Berlioz - Rakoczy March
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Rakoczy March (from the opera La Damnation de Faust - Act I) NBC Symphony Orchestra Guido Cantelli, conductor (Live recording, New York, 1951)
- published: 16 Oct 2008
- views: 13152
- author: ichnusa66
57:12
Hector Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique Ronald_Zollman
From a concert given in Carnegie Music Hall (Pittsburgh) on September 21, 2011, by the Car...
published: 07 Oct 2011
author: Ronald Zollman
Hector Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique Ronald_Zollman
From a concert given in Carnegie Music Hall (Pittsburgh) on September 21, 2011, by the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Ronald Zollman.
- published: 07 Oct 2011
- views: 28492
- author: Ronald Zollman
48:49
Berlioz ：Symphonie fantastique
Berlioz： Symphonie fantastique Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire André...
published: 27 Aug 2011
author: RichardHilo
Berlioz ：Symphonie fantastique
Berlioz： Symphonie fantastique Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire André Cluytens ( Japan, live recording.1964) no copyright infringement intended
- published: 27 Aug 2011
- views: 219930
- author: RichardHilo
105:43
Berlioz - Roméo et Juliette - volledig live concert in HD
Live registratie van de volledige dramatische symfonie Roméo et Juliette van Hector Berlio...
published: 04 Apr 2012
author: avroklassiek
Berlioz - Roméo et Juliette - volledig live concert in HD
Live registratie van de volledige dramatische symfonie Roméo et Juliette van Hector Berlioz. Door het Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Groot Omroepkoor olv James Gaffigan (dirigent). Mmv Simon Halsey (koordirigent), Géraldine Chauvet (sopraan), Andrew Staples (tenor), Thomas Oliemans (bas). Opname vrijdag 23 maart 2012, Vredenburg Leidsche Rijn Utrecht. Concert in de serie De Vrijdag van Vredenburg (AVRO Klassiek & TROS Vocaal). Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Roméo et Juliette (1839) 1. Introduction: Combats -- Tumulte -- Intervention du prince -- Prologue -- Strophes -- Scherzetto 2. Roméo seul: Tristesse -- Bruits lointains de concert et de bal -- Grande fête chez Capulet -- Fête PAUZE 3. Nuit serène -- Le jardin de Capulet silencieux et déserte -- Scène d'amour 4. Scherzo: La reine Mab, ou la Fée des songes 5. Convoi funèbre de Juliette: 'Jetez des fl eurs pour la vierge expirée' 6. Roméo au tombeau des Capulets -- Invocation: Réveil de Juliette -- Joie délirante, désespoir -- Dernières angoisses et mort des deux amants 7. Finale: La foule accourt au cimetière -- Des Capulets et des Montagus -- Récitatif et Air du Père Laurence 'Pauvres enfants que je pleure' -- Serment de réconciliation 'Jurez donc par l'auguste symbole'
- published: 04 Apr 2012
- views: 21554
- author: avroklassiek
92:01
Berlioz - Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem)
I. Requiem 0:00 II. Dies irae 11:41 - Tuba mirum 17:36 III. Quid sum miser 25:36 IV. Rex t...
published: 01 Feb 2011
author: oppie47
Berlioz - Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem)
I. Requiem 0:00 II. Dies irae 11:41 - Tuba mirum 17:36 III. Quid sum miser 25:36 IV. Rex tremendae 28:54 V. Quaerens me 35:51 VI. Lacrymosa 41:12 VII. Offertorium 52:26 VIII. Hostias 1:03:27 IX. Sanctus 1:07:20 X. Agnus Dei 1:18:39 London Symphony Chorus Wandsworth School Boysʼ Choir London Symphony Orchestra Sir Colin Davis Photo, Alexemanuel The dome over Napoleon, Les Invalides en.wikipedia.org
- published: 01 Feb 2011
- views: 51328
- author: oppie47
51:19
HECTOR BERLIOZ - SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE op. 14
I. Rêveries; Passions - II. Un bal - III. Scene aux champs-IV. Marche au supplice - V. Son...
published: 16 Feb 2012
author: nonsonocretino1
HECTOR BERLIOZ - SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE op. 14
I. Rêveries; Passions - II. Un bal - III. Scene aux champs-IV. Marche au supplice - V. Songe d'un nuit de sabbat - - BSO - Georges Prêtre
- published: 16 Feb 2012
- views: 6433
- author: nonsonocretino1
25:21
Hector Berlioz - Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem), Op. 5 (1/4) Kyrie and Dies Irae
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Grande messe des morts (Requiem), Op. 5, H 75 (March 1837 -- 29...
published: 13 May 2012
author: bartje11
Hector Berlioz - Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem), Op. 5 (1/4) Kyrie and Dies Irae
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Grande messe des morts (Requiem), Op. 5, H 75 (March 1837 -- 29 June 1837) First Performance: Paris, Invalides, 5 December 1837, conducted by François Antoine Habeneck I. Requiem et Kyrie. Introït II. Dies iræ. Prose -- Tuba mirum (11:35) London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus and Wandsworth School Boys' Choir conducted by Sir Colin Davis rec. London, November 1969. Philips 416 283-2 Arranger: Leopold Damrosch (1832--1885), piano reduction Language: Latin Publisher Info.: New York: G. Schirmer, 1866, plate 1 Copyright: Public Domain The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) was composed in 1837. The Grande Messe des Morts is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four antiphonal offstage brass ensembles placed at the corners of the concert stage. The work derives its text from the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. It has a duration of approximately ninety minutes, although there are faster recordings of under seventy-five minutes. In 1837, Adrien de Gasparin, the Minister of the Interior of France, asked Berlioz to compose a Requiem Mass to remember soldiers who died in the Revolution of July 1830. Berlioz accepted the request, having already wanted to compose a large orchestral work. Meanwhile, the orchestra was growing in size and quality, and the use of woodwinds and brass was expanding due to the increasing ease of intonation afforded by modern instruments. Berlioz later ...
- published: 13 May 2012
- views: 3215
- author: bartje11
25:50
Hector Berlioz - Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem), Op. 5 (3/4)
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Grande messe des morts (Requiem), Op. 5, H 75 (March 1837 -- 29...
published: 15 May 2012
author: bartje11
Hector Berlioz - Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem), Op. 5 (3/4)
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Grande messe des morts (Requiem), Op. 5, H 75 (March 1837 -- 29 June 1837) First Performance: Paris, Invalides, 5 December 1837, conducted by François Antoine Habeneck VI. Lacrimosa VII. Offertoire. Chœur des âmes du Purgatoire (11:08) VIII. Hostias (22:06) London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus and Wandsworth School Boys' Choir conducted by Sir Colin Davis rec. London, November 1969. Philips 416 283-2 Arranger: Leopold Damrosch (1832--1885), piano reduction Language: Latin Publisher Info.: New York: G. Schirmer, 1866, plate 1 Copyright: Public Domain The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) was composed in 1837. The Grande Messe des Morts is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four antiphonal offstage brass ensembles placed at the corners of the concert stage. The work derives its text from the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. It has a duration of approximately ninety minutes, although there are faster recordings of under seventy-five minutes. In 1837, Adrien de Gasparin, the Minister of the Interior of France, asked Berlioz to compose a Requiem Mass to remember soldiers who died in the Revolution of July 1830. Berlioz accepted the request, having already wanted to compose a large orchestral work. Meanwhile, the orchestra was growing in size and quality, and the use of woodwinds and brass was expanding due to the increasing ease of intonation afforded by modern ...
- published: 15 May 2012
- views: 975
- author: bartje11
86:12
Louis Hector Berlioz: Requiem (Lyon 2012)
Louis Hector Berlioz: Requiem (Lyon 2012). Director: Leonard Slatkin, Tenor: Steve Davisli...
published: 10 Nov 2012
author: Claudine Shim
Louis Hector Berlioz: Requiem (Lyon 2012)
Louis Hector Berlioz: Requiem (Lyon 2012). Director: Leonard Slatkin, Tenor: Steve Davislim, Orchestre National de Lyon, Choeurs de Lyon.
- published: 10 Nov 2012
- views: 369
- author: Claudine Shim
46:30
Hector Berlioz Te Deum Abbado
www.youtube.com...
published: 19 May 2012
author: HaydnHouse
Hector Berlioz Te Deum Abbado
www.youtube.com
- published: 19 May 2012
- views: 13674
- author: HaydnHouse
24:37
Hector Berlioz - Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem), Op. 5 Sanctus & Agnus Dei
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Grande messe des morts (Requiem), Op. 5, H 75 (March 1837 -- 29...
published: 15 May 2012
author: bartje11
Hector Berlioz - Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem), Op. 5 Sanctus & Agnus Dei
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Grande messe des morts (Requiem), Op. 5, H 75 (March 1837 -- 29 June 1837) First Performance: Paris, Invalides, 5 December 1837, conducted by François Antoine Habeneck IX. Sanctus X. Agnus Dei Ronald Dowd, tenor London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus and Wandsworth School Boys' Choir conducted by Sir Colin Davis rec. London, November 1969. Philips 416 283-2 Arranger: Leopold Damrosch (1832--1885), piano reduction Language: Latin Publisher Info.: New York: G. Schirmer, 1866, plate 1 Copyright: Public Domain The Grande Messe des morts, Op. 5 (or Requiem) was composed in 1837. The Grande Messe des Morts is one of Berlioz's best-known works, with a tremendous orchestration of woodwind and brass instruments, including four antiphonal offstage brass ensembles placed at the corners of the concert stage. The work derives its text from the traditional Latin Requiem Mass. It has a duration of approximately ninety minutes, although there are faster recordings of under seventy-five minutes. In 1837, Adrien de Gasparin, the Minister of the Interior of France, asked Berlioz to compose a Requiem Mass to remember soldiers who died in the Revolution of July 1830. Berlioz accepted the request, having already wanted to compose a large orchestral work. Meanwhile, the orchestra was growing in size and quality, and the use of woodwinds and brass was expanding due to the increasing ease of intonation afforded by modern instruments. Berlioz later wrote, "if I were ...
- published: 15 May 2012
- views: 1178
- author: bartje11
49:16
Walter Braunfels - Phantastische Erscheinungen eines Themas von Hector Berlioz, Op. 25 (1914-17)
Phantastische Erscheinungen eines Themas von Hector Berlioz (Fantastic Appearances of a Th...
published: 17 Feb 2011
author: musicanth
Walter Braunfels - Phantastische Erscheinungen eines Themas von Hector Berlioz, Op. 25 (1914-17)
Phantastische Erscheinungen eines Themas von Hector Berlioz (Fantastic Appearances of a Theme by Hector Berlioz), Op. 25 (1914-17) - Einleitung. Allegretto con fuoco [0:00] - 1. Erscheinung. Thema [0:28] - 2. Erscheinung. Moderato [2:02] - 3. Erscheinung. Gemessen [4:06] - 4. Erscheinung. Mit Breite, doch nicht zu langsam und etwas frei [8:42] - 5. Erscheinung. Andante [14:45] - 6. Erscheinung. Ruhig [17:58] - 7. Erscheinung. Sehr schnell [21:57] - 8. Erscheinung. Lebhaft, sehr frei im Vortrag [26:06] - 10. Erscheinung. Lebhaft [30:04] - 11. Erscheinung. Moderato [31:03] - 12. Erscheinung. Breit und wuchtig [36:37] - Finale. Lebhaft [41:41] This orchestral work by German composer Walter Braunfels (1882-1954) is a set of twelve (loose) variations on the theme of Mephistopheles' "Flea Song" from the opera "The Damnation of Faust" Hector Berlioz (1803-1869). Braunfels described his inspiration, "During my young years Frank Wedekind had spoken to me about his flea ballet. Nothing came of the composition at the time. But when I later heard 'Le damnation de Faust' [by Berlioz], I could not stop thinking of Mephisto's flea song, and I began to compose a piece: life, deeds, and opinions of a flea. The 'Fantastic Appearances' later developed from this [...]." At the same time, Braunfels draws upon his own impressions and personal experiences during the First World War for inspiration in this piece. The work begins with an ominous, demonic introduction, evocations of screaming and ...
- published: 17 Feb 2011
- views: 2621
- author: musicanth
54:45
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique - Muti/WPh(2007Live)
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Symphonie fantastique op.14 Riccardo Muti Wiener Philharmoniker...
published: 04 Nov 2011
author: magischmeisjeorkest
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique - Muti/WPh(2007Live)
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Symphonie fantastique op.14 Riccardo Muti Wiener Philharmoniker Festspielhaus, Salzburg, 12 8/2007
- published: 04 Nov 2011
- views: 41982
- author: magischmeisjeorkest
61:23
Hector Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique Anima Eterna
...
published: 21 Mar 2012
author: HaydnHouse
Hector Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique Anima Eterna
- published: 21 Mar 2012
- views: 13698
- author: HaydnHouse
49:23
Hector Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique
Pierre Monteux, conductor San Francisco Symphony 17-28 February, 15 April 1945 00:00, 1st ...
published: 19 Nov 2012
author: kutapika
Hector Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique
Pierre Monteux, conductor San Francisco Symphony 17-28 February, 15 April 1945 00:00, 1st mov. 13:18, 2nd mov. 19:03, 3rd mov. 34:54, 4th mov. 39:47, 5th mov.
- published: 19 Nov 2012
- views: 136
- author: kutapika
Vimeo results:
0:54
berlioz
prod. : InVisu
chef op. : ewen barraud
chef d'orchestre : Grégorie Le Maine
tourné au 5D e...
published: 02 Apr 2012
author: serge miot
berlioz
prod. : InVisu
chef op. : ewen barraud
chef d'orchestre : Grégorie Le Maine
tourné au 5D en 4 passes.
4:13
Berlioz - Biografia
Com base em informações e imagens disponíveis na Net, com fundo sonoro de Berlioz... uma e...
published: 13 Dec 2010
author: Mário de Melo
Berlioz - Biografia
Com base em informações e imagens disponíveis na Net, com fundo sonoro de Berlioz... uma experiência!
Youtube results:
50:41
Oskar Fried - Berlioz Symphonie fantastique
Rec:1937 Oskar Fried (August 10, 1871 -- July 5, 1941) was a German conductor and composer...
published: 22 Feb 2012
author: supokapo
Oskar Fried - Berlioz Symphonie fantastique
Rec:1937 Oskar Fried (August 10, 1871 -- July 5, 1941) was a German conductor and composer. An admirer of Gustav Mahler, Fried was the first conductor to record a Mahler symphony. Fried also held the distinction of being the first foreign conductor to perform in Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution, Fried eventually left his homeland to work in the Soviet Union after the political rise of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party, and became a Soviet citizen in 1940. Born in Berlin, the son of a Jewish shopkeeper, he worked as a clown, a stable boy and a dog trainer before studying composition with Iwan Knorr (1891-92, Hoch Conservatory) and Engelbert Humperdinck (as private student) in Frankfurt. He later moved to Düsseldorf to study painting and art history. After a spell in Paris, he returned to Berlin in 1898 to study counterpoint with Xaver Scharwenka. The performance of his composition Das trunkene Lied ("the drunken song") for chorus and orchestra brought Fried his first public success and led to his appointment in 1904 as the conductor of a Berlin choral society. Fried first met Gustav Mahler in 1905. The meeting resulted in an invitation to conduct Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony in Berlin in November 1905 (Otto Klemperer led the offstage band during this performance).The next year Fried introduced Russia to Mahler's music when he performed the same work in St Petersburg. From 1907 to 1910 he directed a choral society known as the Sternscher Gesangverein in Berlin. In 1913 ...
- published: 22 Feb 2012
- views: 1755
- author: supokapo
55:46
Hector Berlioz:Symphonie fantastique Christoph Eschenbach
Christoph Eschenbach Orchestre de Paris...
published: 25 May 2012
author: HelloEkaterina
Hector Berlioz:Symphonie fantastique Christoph Eschenbach
Christoph Eschenbach Orchestre de Paris
- published: 25 May 2012
- views: 369
- author: HelloEkaterina
22:48
Dame Gwyneth Jones-La Mort de Cléopâtre, Hector Berlioz, Cond. Thomas Schippers
La Mort de Cléopâtre, Composer: Hector Berlioz, Cléopâtre : Gwyneth Jones, Orchestra Sinfo...
published: 09 Dec 2012
author: andreideathboy
Dame Gwyneth Jones-La Mort de Cléopâtre, Hector Berlioz, Cond. Thomas Schippers
La Mort de Cléopâtre, Composer: Hector Berlioz, Cléopâtre : Gwyneth Jones, Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della RAI, Conductor : Thomas Schippers. 1972
- published: 09 Dec 2012
- views: 28
- author: andreideathboy
94:19
Misa de requiem - Hector Berlioz
...
published: 21 Apr 2012
author: OPERAMANIA45
Misa de requiem - Hector Berlioz
- published: 21 Apr 2012
- views: 3082
- author: OPERAMANIA45
photo: AP / New York City Police Department
30 Dec 2012
A woman who told police she shoved a man to his death off a subway platform because she has hated Muslims since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US and thought he was one was charged on Saturday with murder as a hate crime, prosecutors said ... Menendez, 31, was awaiting arraignment on the charge on Saturday evening, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. She faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted ... On Dec ... ....(size: 3.0Kb)
photo: AP / Felicia Fonseca
01 Jan 2013
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. For good reason Mark Charles, a member of the Navajo Nation, is deeply offended that buried on page 45 of the 2010 Defense Appropriation Act (after pages on the maintenance and operation of the United States Military) is an "official" apology to Native American People ... political leaders and officials find it extremely difficult in expressing remorse for past mistakes ... Escorted by the U.S....(size: 5.6Kb)
photo: AP / Shaam News Network
30 Dec 2012
London. UN-Arab League envoy to Damascus, Lakhdar Brahimi, has said that a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Syria seemed far away, adding that the country risked being slithering into ‘hell’ ... (ANI). For Zee News’s Updates, follow us on Twitter , Facebook, Google+, Pinterest. First Published ... ....(size: 1.7Kb)
photo: AP / John MacDougall
31 Dec 2012
Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that the German economic climate in 2013 will be "even more difficult". In her new year message, she also cautioned that the eurozone debt crisis was far from over. However, she did say that reforms designed to address the roots of the problem were beginning to bear fruit ... In a taped interview to be broadcast later on Monday, Mrs Merkel urged Germans to be more patient ... Voters 'wary' ... ....(size: 2.3Kb)
photo: AP / Abdullah Al-Yasin
01 Jan 2013
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrians woke on New Year's Day to countrywide aerial bombardment, while President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebels fighting to topple him clashed on the outskirts of the capital. Free Syrian Army fighters and civilians search for bodies under rubble after an air strike by a fighter jet loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo's al-Marja district December 31, 2012. REUTERS/Muzaffar Salman (SYRIA - Tags ... ....(size: 4.9Kb)
The Wichita Eagle
30 Dec 2012
THEATER. “Shakespeare’s MacBethlehem Christmas or Wherefore Art Thou, Saint Nick?” and “Colors of Christmas,” comedy and musical revue, Mosley Street Melodrama, 234 N. Mosley, dinner 5.15-6.30 p.m. Sun., show 6.50 p.m. Tickets $27. Call 316-263-0222. “Berlioz’s Les Troyens,” live in HD, 11 a.m. Sat., Louise C. Murdock Theatre, 536 N. Broadway. Tickets $24, $22 seniors, $18 students ... Jan ... G....(size: 4.9Kb)
The Examiner
29 Dec 2012
Normal. 0. false. false. false. EN-US. X-NONE. X-NONE. /* Style Definitions */. table.MsoNormalTable. {mso-style-name."Table Normal";. mso-tstyle-rowband-size.0;. mso-tstyle-colband-size.0;. mso-style-noshow.yes;. mso-style-priority.99; ... Deborah Voigt as Cassandra and Dwayne Croft as Coroebus in Berlioz's "Les Troyens." ... Berlioz’ epic “Les Troyens” begins the 2013 half of the season featuring opera divas Susan Graham and Deborah Voigt ... ....(size: 2.8Kb)
The Examiner
28 Dec 2012
2012 Indianapolis Performing Arts Top Ten Events ... Click on titles to access links to Examiner.com reviews of each show. “Evening With The Stars” ... Photo credit. . Gene Schiavone ... The Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, led by artistic director extraordinaire Eric Stark, celebrated its 75th anniversary by teaming up with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra at the Hilbert Circle Theatre for this presentation of Hector Berlioz’s masterpiece ... ....(size: 4.3Kb)
PhysOrg
28 Dec 2012
Dr ... His main area of research is solid-state lighting. Phys.org ... It would also be nice if the music and reputation of Giacomo Meyerbeer could be restored to where Berlioz, Bizet and Saint Saens placed them, viz, on a par with "Beethoven, Leonardo and Raphael" (Bizet), and not in the pit in which Wagner, Schumann and Mendelssohn ["That jew banker who happens to write music" (Wagner)] successfully buried them during the 20th century. ....(size: 4.8Kb)
The New York Times
27 Dec 2012
When, close to midnight on Wednesday, the American tenor Bryan Hymel appeared for his curtain call at the end of the Metropolitan Opera’s performance of the Berlioz epic “Les Troyens,” the entire cast lined up onstage and applauded along with the audience during the prolonged ovation ... The tenor Bryan Hymel in the Metropolitan Opera production of the Berlioz epic "Les Troyens" on Wednesday night....(size: 9.5Kb)
The Roanoke Times
27 Dec 2012
FRIDAY. Holiday Teacher Open House. Public, private and home school educators and their families will get free admission to the museum for an opportunity to see the exhibits and learn how field trips can support their teaching. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free for all public, private and home school educators and their families. Virginia Museum of Transportation, Roanoke. www.vmt.org. FRIDAY. Me at the Museum. New Year’s ... O ... Berlioz’s “Les Troyens” Noon ... ....(size: 2.9Kb)
The New York Times
27 Dec 2012
Classical. Connect With Us on Twitter. Follow @nytimesarts for arts and entertainment news. Arts Twitter List. Critics, Reporters and Editors ... Go to Event Listings » ... nytimes.com/classical. Opera ... ‘Les Troyens’ (Saturday and Tuesday) It is always a privilege to hear Berlioz’s epic masterpiece, and it is great to have the director Francesca Zambello’s visually striking 2003 production back at the Metropolitan Opera ... ....(size: 15.9Kb)
noodls
26 Dec 2012
(Source. DePauw University) December 26, 2012. Email. Robert T ... Maril was a voice performance major at DePauw and earned a M.M ... With New York City's Harbor Opera, he has sung the roles of Claudio in Berlioz's Beatrice et Benedict and Pandolfe in Massenet's Cendrillon ... distributed by ... (noodl....(size: 2.0Kb)
The Tribune San Luis Obispo
25 Dec 2012
Search Events. Restaurants Movies Music Add an Event Performing Arts Venues. Photos & Videos. Hawthorne Teacher's Last Christmas Musical... Charles Paddock Zoo Christmas for Animals... Holiday coloring contest 2012. The Galluzzo home in Los Osos. Favorite holiday sweaters from SLO County... McClatchy cartoons for the week of 12... Grizzly Youth Academy Graduation ... < Previous Story Berlioz's 'Troyens' revived at Metropolitan Opera ... ....(size: 14.2Kb)
Fresno Bee
23 Dec 2012
NEW YORK -- Marcello Giordani struggled mightily, his top notes effortful and thin. It turned out the tenor's third performance of Aeneas in the Metropolitan Opera's revival of Berlioz's "Les Troyens" would be his last ... 5 that will be broadcast to theaters around the world ... ....(size: 1.3Kb)
The New York Times
23 Dec 2012
The Metropolitan Opera announced on Saturday two casting changes for coming performances. The first will be on Wednesday, when the tenor Bryan Hymel is scheduled to make his Met debut in Berlioz’s “Troyens.” Mr. Hymel will step in for the tenor Marcello Giordani as Aeneas for the final four performances of “Les Troyens,” including the “Live in HD” global transmission on Jan. 5 ... 17 ... ....(size: 5.3Kb)
Seattle Post
23 Dec 2012
NEW YORK (AP) — Marcello Giordani struggled mightily, his top notes effortful and thin. It turned out the tenor's third performance of Aeneas in the Metropolitan Opera's revival of Berlioz's "Les Troyens" would be his last. The Met announced Saturday that Giordani was withdrawing from the remaining four performances and was retiring the taxing role from his repertory ... 5 that will be broadcast to theaters around the world ... ___. Online.....(size: 3.3Kb)
Sacramento Bee
23 Dec 2012
NEW YORK -- Marcello Giordani struggled mightily, his top notes effortful and thin. It turned out the tenor's third performance of Aeneas in the Metropolitan Opera's revival of Berlioz's "Les Troyens" would be his last. The Met announced Saturday that Giordani was withdrawing from the remaining four performances and was retiring the taxing role from his repertory ... 5 that will be broadcast to theaters around the world ... ---. Online.....(size: 3.3Kb)
"Berlioz" redirects here. For other people of that name, see Berlioz (disambiguation).
Hector Berlioz[1] (pronounced: [ɛktɔʁ bɛʁˈljoːz]; 11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts (Requiem). Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a conductor, he performed several concerts with more than 1,000 musicians.[2] He also composed around 50 songs. His influence was critical for the further development of Romanticism, especially in composers like Richard Wagner, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Franz Liszt, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler and many others.[3]
Contents |
Life and career[link]
Early years[link]
Hector Berlioz was born in France at La Côte-Saint-André[4] in the département of Isère, near Grenoble. His father, a respected[5] provincial physician[6] and scholar, was responsible for much of the young Berlioz's education.[5] His father, Louis-Joseph Berlioz, was an atheist,[6] with a liberal outlook;[7] his mother, Marie-Antoinette, was an orthodox Roman Catholic.[5][6] He had five siblings in all, three of whom did not survive to adulthood.[8] The other two, Nanci and Adèle, remained close to Berlioz throughout his life.[7]
Berlioz was not a child prodigy, unlike some other famous composers of the time; he began studying music at age 12, when he began writing small compositions and arrangements. As a result of his father's discouragement, he never learned to play the piano, a peculiarity he later described as both beneficial and detrimental.[9] He became proficient at guitar, flageolet and flute.[7][10] He learned harmony by textbooks alone—he was not formally trained.[7][10] The majority of his early compositions were romances and chamber pieces.[10][11]
While yet at age 12, as recalled in his Mémoires, he experienced his first passion for a woman, an 18-year-old next door neighbour named Estelle Fornier (née Dubœuf).[5][12] Berlioz appears to have been innately Romantic, this characteristic manifesting itself in his love affairs, adoration of great romantic literature,[13] and his weeping at passages by Virgil [7] (by age twelve he had learned to read Virgil in Latin and translate it into French under his father's tutelage), Shakespeare, and Beethoven.
Student life[link]
Paris[link]
In March 1821, he graduated from high school in Grenoble, and in October, at age 18, Berlioz was sent to Paris to study medicine,[6][14] a field for which he had no interest and, later, outright disgust after viewing a human corpse being dissected.[5][6] (He gives a colorful account in his Mémoires.)[15] He began to take advantage of the institutions he now had access to in the city, including his first visit to the Paris Opéra, where he saw Iphigénie en Tauride by Christoph Willibald Gluck, a composer whom he came to admire above all, jointly alongside Ludwig van Beethoven.
He also began to visit the Paris Conservatoire library, seeking out scores of Gluck's operas and making personal copies of parts of them. He recalled in his Mémoires his first encounter with Luigi Cherubini, the Conservatoire's then music director. Cherubini attempted to throw the impetuous Berlioz out of the library since he was not a formal music student at that time.[16][17] Berlioz also heard two operas by Gaspare Spontini, a composer who influenced him through their friendship, and whom he later championed when working as a critic. From then on, he devoted himself to composition. He was encouraged in his endeavors by Jean-François Le Sueur, director of the Royal Chapel and professor at the Conservatoire. In 1823, he wrote his first article—a letter to the journal Le corsaire defending Spontini's La vestale. By now he had composed several works including Estelle et Némorin and Le passage de la mer Rouge (The Crossing of the Red Sea) – both now lost – the latter of which convinced Lesueur to take Berlioz on as one of his private pupils.[5]
Despite his parents' disapproval,[13] in 1824 he formally abandoned his medical studies[6] to pursue a career in music. He composed the Messe solennelle. This work was rehearsed and revised after the rehearsal but not performed until the following year. Berlioz later claimed to have burnt the score,[18] but it was re-discovered in 1991.[19][20] Later that year or in 1825, he began to compose the opera Les francs-juges, which was completed the following year but went unperformed. The work survives only in fragments;[21] the overture has been much recorded and is sometimes played in concert.
In 1826 he began attending the Conservatoire[14] to study composition under Le Sueur and Anton Reicha. He also submitted a fugue to the Prix de Rome, but was eliminated in the primary round. Winning the prize would become an obsession until he finally won it in 1830, with his new cantata every year until he succeeded at his fourth attempt. The reason for this interest in the prize was not just academic recognition. The prize included a five year pension[22]-much needed income for the struggling composer. In 1827 he composed the Waverly overture after Walter Scott's[14] Waverley novels. He also began working as a chorus singer at a vaudeville theatre to contribute towards an income.[6][12] Later that year, he attended a production by a traveling English theater company at the Odéon theatre with the Irish-born actress Harriet Smithson playing Ophelia and Juliet in the Shakespeare plays Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. He immediately became infatuated by both actress[13] and playwright.[14] Prone to violent impulses, Berlioz began flooding her hotel room with love letters which both confused and terrified her. Predictably, his advances on her went nowhere.[6]
In 1828 Berlioz heard Beethoven's third and fifth symphonies performed at the Paris Conservatoire – an experience that he found overwhelming.[23] He also read Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust for the first time (in French translation), which would become the inspiration for Huit scènes de Faust (his Opus 1), much later re-developed as La damnation de Faust. He also came into contact with Beethoven's string quartets[24] and piano sonatas, and recognised the importance of these immediately. He began to study English so that he could read Shakespeare. Around the same time, he also began to write musical criticism.[6]
He began and finished composition of the Symphonie fantastique in 1830, a work which would bring Berlioz much fame and notoriety. He entered into a relationship with – and subsequently became engaged to – Camille Moke, despite the symphony being inspired by Berlioz's obsession with Harriet Smithson. As his fourth cantata for submittal to the Prix de Rome neared completion, the July Revolution broke out. "I was finishing my cantata when the revolution broke out", he recorded in his Mémoires, "I dashed off the final pages of my orchestral score to the sound of stray bullets coming over the roofs and pattering on the wall outside my window. On the 29th I had finished, and was free to go out and roam about Paris 'till morning, pistol in hand".[25] Shortly later, he finally won the prize[26][27] with the cantata Sardanapale. He also arranged the French national anthem La Marseillaise and composed an overture to Shakespeare's The Tempest, which was the first of his pieces to play at the Paris Opéra, but an hour before the performance began, quite ironically, a sudden storm created the worst rain in Paris for 50 years, meaning the performance was almost deserted.[28] Berlioz met Franz Liszt who was also attending the concert. This proved to be the beginning of a long friendship. Liszt would later transcribe the entire Symphonie fantastique for piano to enable more people to hear it.
Italy[link]
On 30 December 1831, Berlioz left France for Rome, prompted by a clause in the Prix de Rome which required winners to spend two years studying there. Although none of his major works were actually written in Italy, his travels and experiences there would later influence and inspire much of his music. This is most evident in the thematic aspects of his music, particularly Harold en Italie (1834), a work inspired by Lord Byron's Childe Harold. Berlioz later recalled that his, "intention was to write a series of orchestral scenes, in which the solo viola would be involved as a more or less active participant [with the orchestra] while retaining its own character. By placing it among the poetic memories formed from my wanderings in Abruzzi, I wanted to make the viola a kind of melancholy dreamer in the manner of Byron's Childe-Harold."[29]
While in Rome, he stayed at the French Academy in the Villa Medici. He found the city distasteful, writing, "Rome is the most stupid and prosaic city I know; it is no place for anyone with head or heart."[7] He therefore made an effort to leave the city as often as possible, making frequent trips to the surrounding country. During one of these trips, while Berlioz enjoyed an afternoon of sailing, he encountered a group of Carbonari. These were members of a secret society of Italian patriots based in France with the aim of creating a unified Italy.[30]
During his stay in Italy, he received a letter from the mother of his fiancée informing him that she had called off their engagement. Instead her daughter was to marry Camille Pleyel (son of Ignaz Pleyel), a rich piano manufacturer. Enraged, Berlioz decided to return to Paris and take revenge on Pleyel, his fiancée, and her mother by killing all three of them. He created an elaborate plan, going so far as to purchase a dress, wig and hat with a veil (with which he was to disguise himself as a woman in order to gain entry to their home).[31] He even stole a pair of double-barrelled pistols from the Academy to kill them with, saving a single shot for himself.[31] Planning out his action with great care, Berlioz purchased phials of strychnine and laudanum[31] to use as poisons in the event of a pistol jamming.
Despite this careful planning, Berlioz failed to carry through with the plot. By the time he had reached Genoa, he realised he left his disguise in the side pocket of a carriage during his journey. After arriving in Nice (at that time, part of Italy), he reconsidered the entire plan, deciding it to be inappropriate and foolish.[31] He sent a letter to the Academy in Rome, requesting that he be allowed to return. This request was accepted,[12] and he prepared for his trip back.
Before returning to Rome, Berlioz composed the overtures to King Lear in Nice[8] and Rob Roy,[10] and began work on a sequel to the Symphonie fantastique, Le retour à la vie (The Return to Life),[32] renamed Lélio in 1855.
Upon his return to Rome, Berlioz posed for a portrait painting by Émile Signol (completed in April 1832), which Berlioz did not consider to be a good likeness of himself.[33]
Berlioz continued to travel throughout his stay in Italy. He visited Pompeii, Naples, Milan, Tivoli, Florence, Turin and Genoa. Italy was important in providing Berlioz with experiences that would be impossible in France. At times, it was as if he himself was actually experiencing the Romantic tales of Byron in person; consorting with brigands, corsairs, and peasants.[7] He returned to Paris in November 1832.
Decade of productivity[link]
Between 1830 and 1840, Berlioz wrote many of his most popular and enduring works.[20] The foremost of these are the Symphonie fantastique (1830), Harold en Italie (1834), the Grande messe des morts (Requiem) (1837) and Roméo et Juliette (1839).
On Berlioz's return to Paris, a concert including Symphonie fantastique (which had been extensively revised in Italy)[34] and Le retour à la vie was performed, with among others in attendance: Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Heinrich Heine, Niccolò Paganini, Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin, George Sand, Alfred de Vigny, Théophile Gautier, Jules Janin and Harriet Smithson. At this time, Berlioz also met playwright Ernest Legouvé who became a lifelong friend. A few days after the performance, Berlioz and Harriet were finally introduced and entered into a relationship. Despite Berlioz not understanding spoken English and Harriet not knowing any French,[12] on 3 October 1833, they married in a civil ceremony at the British Embassy with Liszt as one of the witnesses.[8] The following year their only child, Louis Berlioz, was born – a source of initial disappointment, anxiety and eventual pride to his father.[7] Unfortunately for Berlioz, he was soon to discover that living under the same roof as the Beloved was far less appealing than worship from afar. Their marriage proved a disaster as both were prone to violent personality clashes and outbursts of temper.
In 1834, virtuoso violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini commissioned Berlioz to compose a viola concerto,[14] intending to premiere it as soloist. This became the symphony for viola and orchestra, Harold en Italie. Paganini changed his mind about playing the piece himself when he saw the first sketches for the work; he expressed misgivings over its outward lack of complexity.[citation needed] The premiere of the piece was held later that year. After initially rejecting the piece, Paganini, as Berlioz's Mémoires recount, knelt before Berlioz in front of the orchestra after hearing it for the first time and proclaimed him a genius and heir to Beethoven.[35][36] The next day he sent Berlioz a gift of 20,000 francs,[8][12] the generosity of which left Berlioz uncharacteristically lost for words.[37] Around this time, Berlioz decided to conduct most of his own concerts, tired as he was of conductors who did not understand his music. This decision launched what was to become a lucrative and creatively fruitful career in conducting music both by himself and other leading composers.
Berlioz composed the opera Benvenuto Cellini in 1836. He was to spend much effort and money in the following decades trying to have it performed successfully. Benvenuto Cellini was premiered at the Paris Opéra on September 10, but was a failure due to a hostile audience.[26][32] One of his most enduring pieces followed Benvenuto Cellini—the Grande messe des morts, first performed at Les Invalides[38] in December of that year.[39] Its gestation was difficult; because it was a state-commissioned work[27][36] much bureaucracy had to be endured. There was also opposition from Luigi Cherubini, who was at the time the music director of the Paris Conservatoire. Cherubini felt that a government-sponsored commission should naturally be offered to himself rather than the young Berlioz, who was considered an eccentric.[5] Regardless of the animosity between the two composers, Berlioz learned from and admired Cherubini's music,[40] such as the requiem.[41]
Thanks to the money Paganini had given him after hearing Harold, Berlioz was able to pay off Harriet's and his own debts and suspend his work as a critic. This allowed him to focus on writing the "dramatic symphony" Roméo et Juliette for voices, chorus and orchestra. Berlioz later identified the "love scene" from this choral symphony, as he called it, as his favourite composition.[citation needed] (He considered his Requiem his best work, however: "If I were threatened with the destruction of the whole of my works save one, I should crave mercy for the Messe des morts".)[42] It was a success both at home and abroad, unlike later great vocal works such as La damnation de Faust and Les Troyens, which were commercial failures. Roméo et Juliette was premiered in a series of three concerts later in 1839 to distinguished audiences, one including Richard Wagner.
The same year Roméo premiered, Berlioz was appointed Conservateur Adjoint (Deputy Librarian) Paris Conservatoire Library. Berlioz supported himself and his family by writing musical criticism for Paris publications, primarily Journal des débats for over thirty years, and also Gazette musicale and Le rénovateur.[10] While his career as a critic and writer[14] provided him with a comfortable income, and he had an obvious talent for writing, he came to detest[20][26][43] the amount of time spent attending performances to review, as it severely limited his free time to promote his own composition[14] and produce more compositions. Despite his prominent position in musical criticism, he did not use his articles to promote his own works.[32]
Mid-life[link]
After the 1830s, Berlioz found it increasingly difficult to achieve recognition for his music in France. As a result, he began to travel to other countries more often. Between 1842 and 1863 he traveled to Germany, England, Austria, Russia and elsewhere,[10][13] where he conducted operas and orchestral music – both his own and others'. During his lifetime, Berlioz was as famous a conductor as he was as a composer.[43]
In 1840, the Grande symphonie funèbre et triomphale was commissioned to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the July Revolution of 1830. Owing to a strict deadline, it was performed only days after it was completed. The performance was held in the open air on July 28, conducted by Berlioz himself, at the Place de la Bastille. The piece was difficult to hear owing to the crowds and timpani of the drum corps. This was later remedied by a concert performance a month later, and Wagner voiced his approval of the work.[36] The following year he began but later abandoned the composition of a new opera, La nonne sanglante; some fragments survive.[44]
In 1841, Berlioz wrote recitatives for a production of Weber's Der Freischütz at the Paris Opéra and also orchestrated Weber's Invitation to the Dance to add ballet music to it (he titled the ballet L'Invitation à la valse,[45] and the original piano piece has often been mistitled as a result). Later that year Berlioz finished composing the song cycle Les nuits d'été for piano and voices (later to be orchestrated). He also entered into a relationship with singer Marie Recio who would become his second wife.
In 1842, Berlioz embarked on a concert tour of Brussels, Belgium from September to October. In December he began a tour in Germany which continued until the middle of next year. Towns visited included Berlin, Hanover, Leipzig, Stuttgart, Weimar, Hechingen, Darmstadt, Dresden, Brunswick, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Mannheim. In Leipzig he met Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann, the latter of whom had written an enthusiastic article on the Symphonie fantastique. He also met Heinrich Marschner in Hanover, Wagner in Dresden and Giacomo Meyerbeer in Berlin.[44] Back in Paris, Berlioz began to compose the concert overture Le carnaval romain, based on[14] music from Benvenuto Cellini. The work was finished the following year and was premiered shortly after. Nowadays it is among the most popular of his overtures.
In early 1844, Berlioz's highly influential[6][46] Treatise on Instrumentation was published for the first time. At this time Berlioz was producing several serialisations for music journals which would eventually be collected into his Mémoires and Les soirées de l’orchestre (Evenings with the Orchestra).[44] He took a recuperation trip to Nice late that year, during which he composed the concert overture La tour de Nice (The Tower of Nice), later to be revised and renamed Le Corsaire.[44] With their marriage a failure, Berlioz and Harriet Smithson separated, the latter having become an alcoholic due to the collapse of her acting career.[6] Berlioz moved in with a mistress Marie Recio. He continued to provide for Harriet for the rest of her life. He also met Mikhail Glinka (whom he had initially met in Italy and who remained a close friend), who was in Paris between 1844-5 and persuaded Berlioz to embark on one of two tours of Russia. Berlioz's joke "If the Emperor of Russia wants me, then I am up for sale" was taken seriously.[8] The two tours of Russia (the second in 1867) proved so financially successful[8] that they secured Berlioz's finances despite the large amounts of money he was losing in writing unsuccessful compositions. In 1845 he embarked on his first large-scale concert tour of France. He also attended and wrote a report on the inauguration of a statue to Beethoven in Bonn,[44] and began composing La damnation de Faust, incorporating the earlier Huit scènes de Faust. On his return to Paris, the recently completed La damnation de Faust was premiered at the Opéra-Comique, but after two performances, the run was discontinued and the work was a popular failure[47] (perhaps owing to its halfway status between opera and cantata), despite receiving generally favourable critical reviews.[48] This left Berlioz heavily in debt[44] to the tune of 5-6000 francs.[48] Becoming ever more disenchanted with his prospects in France, he wrote:
Great success, great profit, great performances, etc. etc. ... France is becoming more and more philistine towards music, and the more I see of foreign lands the less I love my own. Art, in France, is dead; so I must go where it is still to be found. In England apparently there has been a real revolution in the musical consciousness of the nation in the last ten years. We shall see.[7]
In 1847, during a seven-month visit to England, he was appointed conductor at the London Drury Lane Theatre[44] by its then-musical director, the popular French musician Louis Antoine Jullien. He was impressed with its quality when he first heard the orchestra perform at a promenade concert.[49] In London he also learnt that he knew far more English than he had supposed, although still did not understand half of what was said in conversation.[49] He began writing his Mémoires. During his stay in England, the February Revolution broke out in France. Berlioz arrived back in France in 1848, only to be informed that his father had died shortly after his return. He went back to his birthplace to mourn his father along with his sisters.[44] Meanwhile, Harriet's health was declining due to alcohol abuse and she suffered a series of strokes that left her an invalid. Berlioz paid for four servants to look after her on a permanent basis and visited her almost daily.[44] He began composition of his Te Deum.
In 1850 he became head librarian at the Paris Conservatoire, the only official post he would ever hold, and a valuable source of income.[44] During this year Berlioz also conducted an experiment on his many vocal critics. He composed a work entitled the Shepherd's Farewell and performed it in two concerts[50] under the guise of it being by a composer named Pierre Ducré. This composer was of course a fictional construct by Berlioz.[51] The trick worked, and the critics praised the work by 'Ducré' and claimed it was an example that Berlioz would do well to follow. "Berlioz could never do that!", he recounts in his Mémoires, was one of the comments.[50] Berlioz later incorporated the piece into La fuite en Egypte from L'enfance du Christ.[52] In 1852, Liszt revived Benvenuto Cellini[32] in what was to become the "Weimar version" of the opera, containing modifications made with the approval of Berlioz.[53] The performances were the first since the disastrous premiere of 1838. Berlioz travelled to London in the following year to stage it at Theatre Royal, Covent Garden but withdrew it after one performance owing to the hostile reception.[7] It was during this visit that he witnessed a charity performance involving six thousand five hundred children singing in St Paul's Cathedral.[54] Harriet Smithson died in 1854. L'enfance du Christ was completed later that year and was well-received upon its premiere. Unusually for a late Berlioz work, it appears to have remained popular long after his death.[47] In October, Berlioz married Marie Recio. In a letter written to his son, he said that having lived with her for so long, it was his duty to do so. In early 1855 Le retour à la vie was revised and renamed Lélio. Shortly afterwards, the Te Deum received its premiere with Berlioz conducting. During a short visit to London, Berlioz had a long conversation with Wagner over dinner. A second edition of Treatise on Instrumentation was also published, with a new chapter detailing aspects of conducting.[44]
[edit] Les Troyens
In 1856 Berlioz visited Weimar where he attended a performance of Benvenuto Cellini, conducted by Liszt. His time with Liszt also highlighted Berlioz's increasing lack of appreciation for Wagner's music, much to Liszt's annoyance.[55]
Berlioz was convinced by Princess Sayn-Wittgenstein – with whom he had corresponded for some time – that he should begin to compose a new opera. This work would eventually become Les Troyens,[44] a monumental grand opera with a libretto (which he wrote himself) based on Books Two and Four of Virgil's Aeneid. The idea of creating an opera based on the Aeneid had already been in his mind several years,[7] by the time Sayn-Wittgenstein had approached him, and despite a long disillusionment, his creative flame seems to have remained lit. Les Troyens proved to be a very personal work for Berlioz, as it paid homage to his first literary love, whom he still cherished- even after his discoveries of Shakespeare and Goethe.[56] The opera was planned around five acts, similar in size to the grand opera of Meyerbeer. It was composed with the Paris Opéra in mind, a most prestigious venue. Berlioz's chances of securing a production in which his work would receive attention equal to its merits were negligible from the start – a fact he must have been aware of.[7][56] Despite these grim prospects, Berlioz saw the work through to its completion in 1858.
The onset of an intestinal illness which would plague Berlioz for the rest of his life had now become apparent to him.[44] During a visit to Baden-Baden, Edouard Bénazet commissioned a new opera from Berlioz, but due to the illness that opera was never written.[44] Two years later, however, Berlioz instead began work on Béatrice et Bénédict, which Bénazet accepted;[7] it was completed on 25 February 1862. As for Les Troyens, in 1860 the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris had agreed to stage it, only to reject it the following year. It was soon picked up again by the Paris Opéra.[44]
Marie Recio, Berlioz's wife, died unexpectedly of a stroke at the age of 48, on 13 June 1862. Berlioz soon met a young woman named Amélie[57] at Montmartre Cemetery, and though she was only 24, they developed a close relationship despite a 35-year age difference.[44]
The first performances of Béatrice et Bénédict were held at Baden-Baden on 9th and August 11. The work had had extensive rehearsals for many months, and despite problems Berlioz found in making the musicians play as delicately as he would like, and even discovering that the orchestra pit was too small before the premiere, the work was a success.[58] Berlioz later remarked that his conducting was much improved owing to the considerable pain he was in on the day, allowing him to be "emotionally detached" and "less excitable".[58] Béatrice was sung by Madame Charton-Demeur. Both she and her husband were staunch supporters of Berlioz's music, and she was present at Berlioz's deathbed.
Les Troyens was dropped by the Paris Opéra with the excuse that it was too expensive to stage; it was replaced by Wagner's Tannhäuser.[12] The work was attacked by his opponents for its length and demands, and with memories of the failure of Benvenuto Cellini at the Opéra were still fresh.[7] It was then accepted by the new director of the recently re-built Théâtre-Lyrique. In 1863 Berlioz published his last signed article for the Journal des débats.[44] After resigning, an act which should have raised his spirits given how much he detested his job, his disillusionment became even stronger.[7] He also busied himself judging entrants for the Prix de Rome – arguing successfully for the eventual winner, the 21 year old Jules Massenet.[59] Amélie requested that they end their relationship, which Berlioz did, to his despair.[44] The staging of Les Troyens was fraught with difficulties when performed in a truncated form at the Théâtre-Lyrique. It was eventually premiered on November 4 and ran for 21 performances until December 20. Madame Charton-Demeur sang the role of Didon. It was first performed in Paris without cuts as recently as 2003 at the Théâtre du Châtelet, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner.[60]
Later years[link]
In 1864 Berlioz was made Officier de la Légion d'honneur. On August 22, Berlioz heard from a friend that Amélie, who had been suffering from poor health, had died at the age of 26. A week later, while walking in the Montmartre Cemetery, he discovered Amélie's grave: she had been dead for six months.[44] By now, Berlioz was a lonely man. Most of his family and friends had died, including two of his sisters. Events like these became all too common in his later life, as his continued isolation from the musical scene increased as the focus shifted to Germany.[7] He wrote:
I am in my 61st year; past hopes, past illusions, past high thoughts and lofty conceptions. My son is almost always far away from me. I am alone. My contempt for the folly and baseness of mankind, my hatred of its atrocious cruelty, have never been so intense. And I say hourly to Death: 'When you will'. Why does he delay?[7]
Berlioz met Estelle Fornier – the object of his childhood affections – in Lyon for the first time in 40 years, and began a regular correspondence with her.[44] Berlioz soon realised that he still longed for her, and eventually she had to inform him that as a married woman there was no possibility that they could become closer than friends.[61] By 1865, an initial printing of 1200 copies of his Mémoires was completed. A few copies were distributed amongst his friends, but the bulk were, slightly morbidly, stored in his office at the Paris Conservatoire, to be sold upon his death.[7] He travelled to Vienna in December 1866 to conduct the first complete performance there of La damnation de Faust. In 1867 Berlioz's son Louis, a merchant shipping captain, died[10] of yellow fever[6] in Havana.[12] After learning this, Berlioz burnt a large number of documents and other mementos which he had accumulated during his life,[44] keeping only a conducting baton given to him by Mendelssohn and a guitar given to him by Paganini.[12] He then wrote his will. The intestinal pains had been gradually increasing, and had now spread to his stomach, and whole days were passed in agony. At times he experienced spasms in the street so intense that he could barely move.[62] Later that year he embarked on his second concert tour of Russia, which would also be his last of any kind. The tour was extremely lucrative for him, so much so that Berlioz turned down an offer of 100,000 francs from American Steinway to perform in New York.[8] In Saint Petersburg, Berlioz experienced a special pleasure at performing with the "first-rate" orchestra of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory.[8] He returned to Paris in 1868, exhausted, with his health damaged due to the Russian winter.[12] He immediately traveled to Nice to recuperate in the Mediterranean climate, but slipped on some rocks by the sea shore, possibly due to a stroke, and had to return to Paris, where he lived as an invalid.[12] In August 1868, he made his last trip to Grenoble where lived his sister and her family. Invited by Mayor Jean Vendre during three days of festivities for the inauguration of a statue of Napoleon, he presided a music festival.[63]
On 8 March 1869,[4] Berlioz died at his Paris[46] home, No.4 rue de Calais, at 30 minutes past midday. He was surrounded by friends at the time. His funeral was held at the recently completed Église de la Trinité[64] on March 11, and he was buried in Montmartre Cemetery with his two wives, who were exhumed and re-buried next to him. His last words were reputed to be "Enfin, on va jouer ma musique"[43][65][66] ("At last, they are going to play my music").[67]
Religious views[link]
Berlioz often stated in his letters that he was an atheist.[citation needed] In a letter which was written shortly before his death, he wrote in regard to religion, "I believe nothing."[68] The Catholic Encyclopedia, for its part, claims Berlioz as a Catholic, but appears to concede that he did not remain faithful to Catholicism.[69]
Berlioz as a conductor[link]
Berlioz's work as a conductor was highly influential[43] and brought him fame across Europe.[10][13] He was considered by Charles Hallé, Hans von Bülow and others to be the greatest conductor of his era.[70] Berlioz initially began conducting due to frustrations over the inability of other conductors – more used to performing older and simpler music – to master his advanced and progressive works,[71] with their extended melodies[43] and rhythmic complexity.[36] He began with more enthusiasm than mastery,[71] and was not formally trained,[71] but through perseverance his skills improved. He was also willing to take advice from others, as evidenced by Spontini criticising his early use of large gestures while conducting.[70] One year later, according to Hallé, his movements were much more economical, enabling him to control more nuance in the music.[70] His expert understanding of the way the sound of each instrument interacts with each other (demonstrated in his Treatise on Instrumentation) was attested to by the critic Louis Engel, who mentions how Berlioz once noticed, amidst an orchestral tutti, a minute pitch difference between two clarinets.[70] Engel offers an explanation of Berlioz's ability to detect such things as in part due to the sheer nervous energy he was experiencing during conducting.[70]
Despite this talent, Berlioz never held an employed position of conductor during his lifetime, forced to be content with only guest conducting. This was almost not the case. In late 1835, he was approached by the management of a new concert hall in Paris, the Gymnase Musical, and offered a position as their musical director.[72] To Berlioz this was an ideal opportunity. Not only would it give him a large annual salary (between 6000 to 12,000 francs),[72] but it would also give him a platform from which to perform his own music, and the music of fellow progressives. Berlioz accepted the offer, and signed the contract for the position.[72] However, a new decree issued by the revolutionary government forced him to change his mind. The obstacle was one of the many restrictions that the revolutionary government had placed on the running of musical establishments, forbidding the performance of vocal music,[72] so they did not compete with the influential Paris Opéra (among other organisations). There were passionate arguments and attempts to circumvent this restriction, but they fell on deaf ears, and the Gymnase Musical became a dance hall instead.[72] This left Berlioz dejected, and would prove to have been a crucial cross-roads in his life, forcing him to work long hours as a critic, which severely impaired his free time available for composition.
From then on, he conducted at many different occasions, but mainly during grand tours of various countries where he was paid handsomely for visiting. In particular, towards the end of his life, he made a lot of money by touring Russia twice, the final visit proving extremely lucrative and also being the final conducting tour before his death. This enabled him not only to perform his music to a wider audience, but also to increase his influence across Europe – for example, his orchestration was studied by many Russian composers. Not just fellow hyper-Romantic Tchaikovsky, but also members of The Five are indebted to these techniques, including Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, but even Modest Mussorgsky – often portrayed as uninterested in refined orchestration – revered Berlioz[73] and died with a copy of Berlioz's Treatise on Instrumentation on his bed.[66] Similarly, his conducting technique as described by contemporary sources appears to set the groundwork for the clarity and precision favoured in the French School of conducting right up to the present, exemplified by such figures as Pierre Monteux, Désiré-Émile Inghelbrecht, Paul Paray, Charles Munch, André Cluytens, Pierre Boulez and Charles Dutoit.
Legacy[link]
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Although neglected in France for much of the 19th century, the music of Berlioz has often been cited as extremely influential in the development of the symphonic form,[74] instrumentation,[75] and the depiction in music of programmatic and literary ideas, features central to musical Romanticism. He was considered extremely progressive for his day, and he, Wagner, and Liszt have been called the "Great Trinity of Progress" of 19th century Romanticism.[citation needed] Richard Pohl, the German critic in Schumann's musical journal, the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, called Berlioz "the true pathbreaker".[citation needed] Liszt was an enthusiastic performer and supporter, and Wagner himself, after first expressing great reservations about Berlioz, wrote to Liszt saying: "we, Liszt, Berlioz and Wagner, are three equals, but we must take care not to say so to him."[citation needed] As Wagner here implies, Berlioz himself was indifferent to the idea of what was called "la musique du passé" (music of the past), and clearly influenced both Liszt and Wagner (and other forward-looking composers) although he increasingly began to dislike many of their works.[citation needed] Wagner's remark also suggests the strong ethnocentrism characteristic of European composers of the time on both sides of the Rhine. Berlioz not only influenced Wagner through his orchestration and breaking of conventional forms, but also in his use of the idée fixe in the Symphonie fantastique which foreshadows the leitmotif.[76][77] Liszt came to see Berlioz not only as a composer to support, but also to learn from, considering Berlioz an ally in his aim for "A renewal of music through its closer union with poetry".[78]
During his centenary in 1903, while receiving attention from all leading musical reference books, he was still not generally accepted as being one of the great composers.[54] Some of his music was still in neglect and his following was smaller than other, mainly German, composers. Even half a century did not change much,[54] and it took until the 1960s for the right questions to be asked about his work, and for it to be viewed in a more balanced and sympathetic light. One of the pivotal events in this fresh ignition of interest in the composer was a performance of Les Troyens by Rafael Kubelík in 1957 at Covent Garden.[79] The music of Berlioz enjoyed a revival during the 1960s and 1970s, due in large part to the efforts of French conductor Charles Munch and of British conductor Sir Colin Davis, who recorded his entire oeuvre, bringing to light a number of Berlioz's lesser-known works. An unusual (but telling) example of the increase of Berlioz's fame in the 60s was an explosion of forged autographs, manuscripts, and letters, evidently created to cater for a much greater interest in the composer.[80] Davis's recording of Les Troyens was the first near-complete recording of that work. The work, which Berlioz never saw staged in its entirety during his life, is now a part of the international repertoire,[60] if still something of a rarity. Les Troyens was the first opera performed at the newly built Opéra Bastille in Paris on 17 March 1990 in a production claimed to be complete, but lacking the ballets.[79]
In 2003, the bicentenary of Berlioz's birth, his achievements and status are much more widely recognised,[81] and his music is viewed as both serious and original, rather than an eccentric novelty.[54] Newspaper articles reported his colourful life with zeal, very many festivals dedicated to the composer were held,[81][82] readings of his books[83] and a one-hour French television dramatised biography[84] all helped to create a lot of exposure to the composer's life and music – far more than the previous centenary anniversary. Numerous recording projects were begun or reissued,[85] and broadcasts of his music increased.[82] Prominent Berlioz conductor Colin Davis had already been in the process of recording much of Berlioz's music on the LSO Live label, and has continued this project to this date with a L'enfance du Christ recording issued in 2007. The internet was also a factor in the celebrations, with the comprehensive hberlioz.com site (which has been online since 1997) being an easily available source of information to anyone interested in the composer. The 'Berlioz 2003' celebrations, organised by French academic institutions,[81] also had a prominent website, listing events, publications and gatherings[81] the domain of which has now lapsed. There was also a site maintained by the Association nationale Hector Berlioz.[86] A proposal was made to remove his remains to the Panthéon, and while initially encouraged by French President Jacques Chirac,[81][87] it was postponed by him, claimed to be because it was too shortly after Alexandre Dumas was moved there.[88] He may have also been influenced by a political dispute over Berlioz's worthiness as a republican,[66][75] since Berlioz, who regularly met kings and princes, had severely criticized the 1848 Revolution, speaking of the "odious and stupid republic".[citation needed] There were also objections from supporters of Berlioz, some of whom claimed that Berlioz was an anti-establishment figure and would have no interest in such a ceremony, and that he was happy to be buried next to his two wives in the location he has been in for almost 150 years.[75] Since Chirac retired as President, the future of Berlioz's resting place is still unclear.[88]
Peter Cornelius counted Berlioz as one of the Three Bs at the heights of classical music alongside Bach and Beethoven. Commemorations of Berlioz include the 2000-seat Opera Berlioz at the Corum arts centre in Montpellier, Berlioz Point in Antarctica and asteriod 69288 Berlioz.
Influences[link]
Literature[link]
Berlioz had a keen affection for literature, and many of his best compositions are inspired by literary works. For Symphonie fantastique, Berlioz was inspired in part by Thomas de Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-Eater. For La damnation de Faust, Berlioz drew on Goethe's Faust; for Harold en Italie, he drew on Byron's Childe Harold; for Benvenuto Cellini, he drew on Cellini's own autobiography. For Roméo et Juliette, Berlioz turned, of course, to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. For his magnum opus, the monumental opera Les Troyens, Berlioz turned to Virgil's epic poem The Aeneid. In his last opera, the comic opera Béatrice et Bénédict, Berlioz prepared a libretto based loosely on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. His composition "Tristia" (for orchestra and chorus) drew its inspiration from Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Shakespeare[link]
In 1827, Berlioz watched Irish actress Harriet Smithson at the Odéon theatre playing Ophelia and Juliet in Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. This led to two intense infatuations. One was to Smithson, which would result in a disastrous marriage. The other was to Shakespeare, which would become a lifelong love.[14] He followed the rest of the 1827 season closely, until the company moved to the Salle Favart, and began learning the plays from pocket translations on sale.[89] Though the performances were in English, of which Berlioz knew virtually none, he was still able to grasp the grandeur and sublimnity of Shakespeare's language along with the richness of the plays' dramatic design.[90]
The timing for these performances, not just for Berlioz' career but also for French Romanticism in general, could not have been more apt. Berlioz was on the verge of producing his most Romantic works—as were the writers Vigny, Dumas, Gautier and several others in attendance that night. Shakespeare served as a model for French Romanticism,[91] with Hugo extolling Shakespeare as a challenge to French classicism and the model for the new Romantic theater.[90]
Shakespeare for Berlioz represented the summit of poetic utterance, with the bard's veracity of dramatic expression and freedom from formal constraints resounding in the composer's spirit. More profoundly, Shakespeare became a source, by way of its dramatic truth, for Berlioz' fundamental notion of expressive truth;[90] this was how he could call Romeo and Juliet "the supreme drama of my life."[92] He read from the plays constantly, often aloud for anyone who would listen. He quoted from them for the rest of his life and would associate any personal upheaval with its Shakespearian counterpart.[93]
Berlioz was especially taken with Shakespeare's ability to pinpoint the heart of a dramatic conflict and penetrating the secrets of intense love. These secrets, Berlioz suggested in the text of Roméo et Juliette the playwright took with him to heaven. Time and again through the years, Berlioz would distill the favorite image of a play and distill it into musical terms. Roméo et Juliette may have been the first. Later came The Tempest, King Lear, a funeral march for the final scene in Hamlet, the love scene for Les Troyens (which, some claim, Berlioz took from The Merchant of Venice), and Béatrice and Benedict.[94]
[edit] Faust
Berlioz discovered Goethe's Faust through Gérard de Nerval's translation, published in December 1827. Its impact on Berlioz was, again, profound and immediate, with the Faustian concept of man striking several chords with the composer. He described Shakespeare and Goethe in an 1828 letter as "the silent confidants of my suffering; they hold the key to my life."[95] In any event, Shakespearian tragedy and Faustian mystique became of one type in his mind.[96]
The Romantics[link]
Simultaneous with Berlioz's discovery of Shakespeare was his immersion in the texts of true Romanticism. These included the works of Thomas Moore, Sir Walter Scott and Lord Byron. All three inspired Berlioz to compose works based on theirs. He also immersed himself in Chateaubriand, E. T. A. Hoffmann, James Fenimore Cooper and his compatriots Victor Hugo, Alfred de Vigny, Alfred de Musset and Gérard de Nerval. He later added Honoré de Balzac, Gustave Flaubert and Théophile Gautier to his list of favorites; he also used Gautier's poems as texts for his song cycle Les nuits d'été.[97]
Perhaps as a result of this reading and seeing himself as an archetypical tragic hero, Berlioz began to weave personal references into his music. It may in fact have been his love for Shakespeare, shared with the other young artist-heroes of 19th-century France, that drew Berlioz firmly into the brotherhood of Romanticism.
Music[link]
Beethoven[link]
Berlioz writes in his Memoirs,
In an artist's life one thunderclap sometimes follows swiftly on another ... I had just had the successive revelations of Shakespeare and Weber. Now at another point on the horizon I saw the giant form of Beethoven rear up. The shock was almost as great as that of Shakespeare had been. Beethoven opened before me a new world of music, as Shakespeare had revealed a new universe of poetry.[98]
He was able to hear Beethoven's works through the performances of the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, an orchestra founded by François Antoine Habeneck and his colleagues to promote modern orchestral music. The inaugural concert, on 9 March 1828, featured the French premiere of the Eroica Symphony.[99] Despite protests from French and Italian composers,[98] by the end of the first season Habeneck and the orchestra had also performed the Fifth Symphony, the Third Piano Concerto, the Violin Concerto as well as other works.[100]
For Berlioz the experience of hearing the Eroica brought the last and greatest revelation of the power of instrumental music as an expressive language, along with the freedom of action with which it could be expressive.[101] He understood at once that the symphony was a dramatic form to an extent that he had not previously realized,[102] and that in Beethoven he saw a way to the dramatic manner in which he desired to compose.
Most tellingly, hearing the Eroica inspired Berlioz to widen his horizons for the first time past opera and other vocal works and consider the expressive power of purely instrumental music.[95] Prior to this, he had defaulted to the dominant view of the Parisian music establishment, as typified by Le Sueur: that the symphony was a lesser form of composition that Mozart and Haydn had already taken as far as possible.[103] Berlioz would go on to find instrumental music to be far more penetrating in expression and articulation than vocal setting.[95] "Now that I have heard that terrifying giant Beethoven", he wrote, "I know exactly where my musical art stands; the question is to take it from there and push it further."[104]
Other composers[link]
Next to those of Beethoven, Berlioz showed deep reverence for the works of Gluck, Mozart, Méhul, Weber and Spontini, as well as respect for some of those of Rossini, Meyerbeer and Verdi.
Curiously perhaps, the adventures in chromaticism of his prominent contemporaries and associates Chopin and Wagner seemed to have had little effect on Berlioz's style.
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Works[link]
Musical works[link]
The five movement Symphonie fantastique, partly due to its fame, is considered by most to be Berlioz's most outstanding work,[105] and the work had a considerable impact when first performed in 1830, 3 years after the death of Beethoven and 2 years after that of Schubert.[5][46] It is famous for its innovations in the form of the programmatic symphony. The story behind this work relates to Berlioz himself and can be considered somewhat autobiographical.[106]
In addition to the Symphonie fantastique, some other orchestral works of Berlioz currently in the standard orchestral repertoire include his "légende dramatique" La damnation de Faust and "symphonie dramatique" Roméo et Juliette (both large-scale works for mixed voices and orchestra), and his concertante symphony (for viola and orchestra) Harold en Italie, several concert overtures also remain enduringly popular, such as Le Corsaire and Le Carnaval romain. Amongst his more vocally oriented works, the song cycle Les nuits d'été and the oratorio L'enfance du Christ have retained enduring appeal, as have the quasi-liturgical Te Deum and Grande messe des morts.
The unconventional music of Berlioz irritated the established concert and opera[7] scene. Berlioz often had to arrange for his own performances as well as pay for them himself. This took a heavy toll on him financially[48] and emotionally. The nature of his large works – sometimes involving hundreds of performers[107] – made financial success difficult. His journalistic abilities became essential for him to make a living and he survived as a witty critic,[14] emphasizing the importance of drama and expressiveness in musical entertainment. It was perhaps this expense which prevented Berlioz from composing more opera than he did. His talent in the genre is obvious, but opera is the most expensive of all classical forms, and Berlioz in particular struggled to arrange stagings of his operas, due in part to the unwillingness of conservative Paris opera companies to perform his work.[26]
Literary works[link]
While Berlioz is best known as a composer, he was also a prolific writer, and supported himself for many years by writing musical criticism, utilising a bold, vigorous style, at times imperious and sarcastic. He wrote for many journals, including the Rénovateur,[108] Journal des débats and Gazette musicale.[109] He was active in the Débats for over thirty years until submitting his last signed article in 1863.[44] Almost from the founding, Berlioz was a key member of the editorial board of the Gazette as well as a contributor, and acted as editor on several occasions[110] while the owner was otherwise engaged. Berlioz took full advantage of his times as editor, allowing himself to increase his articles written on music history rather than current events, evidenced by him publishing seven articles on Gluck in the Gazette between June 1834 and January 1835.[110] An example of the amount of work he produced is indicated in his producing over one-hundred articles[110] for the Gazette between 1833 and 1837. This is a conservative estimate, as not all of his submissions were signed.[110] In 1835 alone, due to one of his many times of financial difficulty, he wrote four articles for the Monde dramatique, twelve for the Gazette, nineteen for the Débats and thirty-seven for the Rénovateur.[111] These were not mere scribbles, but in-depth articles and reviews with little duplication,[111] which took considerable time to write.
Another noteworthy indicator of the importance Berlioz placed on journalistic integrity and even-handedness were the journals which he both did and did not write for.[which?] During the middle of the 1830s the Gazette was considered an intellectual journal, strongly supporting the progressive arts and Romanticism in general, and opposing anything which it considers as debasing this.[110] Exemplified in its long-standing criticism of Henri Herz, and his seemingly endless stream of variations on opera themes, but to its credit, it also positively reviewed his music on occasion.[112] Its writers included Alexandre Dumas, Honoré de Balzac and George Sand.[110] The Gazette wasn't even unanimous in its praise of Berlioz's music, although it always recognised him as an important and serious composer to be respected.[112] An example of another journal of the same time is the Revue musicale, which thrived on personal attacks, many against Berlioz himself from the pen of critic François-Joseph Fétis.[113] At one point, Robert Schumann was motivated to publish a detailed rebuttal of one of Fétis' attacks on Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique[34] in his own Neue Zeitschrift für Musik journal.[113] Fétis would later contribute to the debasement of the reputation of the Gazette when his journal failed and was absorbed by the Gazette, he found himself on the editorial board.[113]
The books which Berlioz has become acclaimed for were compiled from his journal articles.[44] Les soirées de l’orchestre (Evenings with the Orchestra) (1852), a scathing satire[114] of provincial musical life in 19th century France, and the Treatise on Instrumentation, a pedagogic work, were both serialised originally in the Gazette musicale.[44] Many parts of the Mémoires (1870) were originally published in the Journal des débats, as well as Le monde illustré.[115] The Mémoires paint a magisterial (if biased) portrait of the Romantic era through the eyes of one of its chief protagonists. Evenings with the Orchestra is more overtly fictional than his other two major books, but its basis in reality is its strength,[114] making the stories it recounts all the funnier due to the ring of truth. W. H. Auden praises it, saying "To succeed in [writing these tales], as Berlioz most brilliantly does, requires a combination of qualities which is very rare, the many-faceted curiosity of the dramatist with the aggressively personal vision of the lyric poet."[116] The Treatise established his reputation as a master of orchestration.[10] The work was closely studied by Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss and served as the foundation for a subsequent textbook by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, who, as a music student, attended the concerts Berlioz conducted in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.[66]
References[link]
- ^ baptised Louis-Hector Berlioz, See MacDonald, "Berlioz, (Louis-)Hector", New Grove, 2:581.
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- ^ Blas Matamoros – "Hector Berlioz: Un genio Francés", essay edited by Grupo Santillana and La Nación, Buenos Aires, 2004
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- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x "HBerlioz.com". HBerlioz.com. http://www.hberlioz.com/Works/biography.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ Answers.com
- ^ a b c "Internet Public Library". Ipl.org. http://www.ipl.org/div/mushist/rom/berlioz.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ a b Bartleby.com
- ^ a b c Cairns, David (1999, 2000). Berlioz: Servitude and Greatness, 1832-1869. Paperback, p.361-5 Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-028727-2
- ^ a b Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 395
- ^ a b Berlioz/Cairns – Memoirs p. 527
- ^ "HumanitiesWeb.org". HumanitiesWeb.org. http://www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=c&p=c&a=b&ID=44. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ "Completely Berlioz". Groups.msn.com. 2008-10-23. http://groups.msn.com/CompletelyBerlioz/biography.msnw. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 494
- ^ a b c d "HBerlioz.com". HBerlioz.com. http://www.hberlioz.com/Special/mwright.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 587-8
- ^ a b Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 591
- ^ "Completely Berlioz". Groups.msn.com. 2008-10-23. http://groups.msn.com/CompletelyBerlioz/theazofberlioz.msnw. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ a b Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 682
- ^ Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 699
- ^ a b "HBerlioz.com". HBerlioz.com. http://www.hberlioz.com/Troyens/LesTroyens-e.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 660+6 bottom caption
- ^ Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 754
- ^ The Hector Berlioz website, Berlioz in Grenoble
- ^ Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 779
- ^ "French gov Ministry for Foreign Affairs". Diplomatie.gouv.fr. http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/article-imprim.php3?id_article=19681. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ a b c d "Scena.org". Scena.org. 2003-12-10. http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/031210-NL-Berlioz.html. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ Economist review of David Cairns's biography of Berlioz
- ^ Boult, G. K. Life of Berlioz. 1903
- ^ "Hector Berlioz". The Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02495a.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-12. "...The Childhood of Christ, songs, choruses, etc. ... give us an idea of what he might have been had he remained faithful to Catholic ideals."
- ^ a b c d e Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 100
- ^ a b c Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 99
- ^ a b c d e Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 101
- ^ Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 761
- ^ Mascagni.org
- ^ a b c "Row mars Berlioz anniversary". BBC News. 2003-02-16. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2768351.stm. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ "FilmSound.org". FilmSound.org. http://filmsound.org/gustavo/leitmotif-revisted.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ "The Literary Encyclopedia". Litencyc.com. 2004-01-29. http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1355. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 470
- ^ a b KBAQ.org
- ^ "HBerlioz.com". HBerlioz.com. http://www.hberlioz.com/Special/rmacnutt.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ a b c d e Stevens, David (2000-04-28). "International Herald Tribune". International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht.com/articles/2000/04/28/berlioz.t.php. Retrieved 2010-03-13. [dead link]
- ^ a b "HBerlioz.com". HBerlioz.com. http://www.hberlioz.com/events/celebrations.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ "The Memoirs of Hector Berlioz: a Radio Series in Twenty-one Half-hour Parts". Berlioz.50webs.com. http://berlioz.50webs.com/. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ IMDb.com Moi, Hector Berlioz (2003)
- ^ "HBerlioz.com". HBerlioz.com. http://www.hberlioz.com/music/discs.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ "Berlioz 2003". Berlioz-anhb.com. http://www.berlioz-anhb.com/berlioz2003/berlioz200x_festival.php4. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ "HBerlioz.com". HBerlioz.com. http://www.hberlioz.com/Paris/BPPantheon.html. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ a b N. Paglinauan (2003-06-21). "NPR.org". NPR.org. http://www.npr.org/programs/pt/features/berlioz.html. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ Holomon, 46.
- ^ a b c MacDonald, "Berlioz, (Louis-)Hector", New Grove, 2:581.
- ^ Holomon, 45.
- ^ Quoted in Holomon, 46.
- ^ Holomon, 93.
- ^ Holomon, 92-93.
- ^ a b c MacDonald, New Grove, 2:582.
- ^ Holomon, 92.
- ^ MacDonald, New Grove, 2:582-3.
- ^ a b Memoirs, 104.
- ^ Holoman, 48.
- ^ Holoman, 48-49.
- ^ Cairns, 1:265.
- ^ Cairns, 1:265-6.
- ^ Cairns, 1:261.
- ^ Quoted in Holoway, 93.
- ^ "HBerlioz.com". HBerlioz.com. http://www.hberlioz.com/Scores/sfantastique.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ "NPR.org". NPR.org. http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/milestones/990716.motm.symphfan.html. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ "Matthew B. Tepper". Home.earthlink.net. 1936-03-02. http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/append-d.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ "HBerlioz.com". HBerlioz.com. 1997-07-18. http://www.hberlioz.com/others/Berlioz_sur_Berlioz-e.htm. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 95
- ^ a b c d e f Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 96
- ^ a b Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 85
- ^ a b Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 97
- ^ a b c Cairns – Berlioz vol. 2, p. 98
- ^ a b Hector Berlioz. "GreenManReview.com". GreenManReview.com. http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/book_berlioz_evenings.html. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
- ^ HBerlioz.com[dead link]
- ^ "University of Chigago Press". Press.uchicago.edu. http://www.press.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/hfs.cgi/00/11988.ctl. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
External links[link]
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Book: Hector Berlioz |
| Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print. | |
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Hector Berlioz |
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- Works by Hector Berlioz at Project Gutenberg
- The Hector Berlioz Website Comprehensive Berlioz reference site, including scores, analysis and libretti
- Works by Hector Berlioz full scores and set of parts
- Association Nationale Hector Berlioz The French National Berlioz Society
- The U.K. Berlioz Society Website
- Festival Berlioz Held in his birthplace it commemorates him and his work
- Free scores by Berlioz at the International Music Score Library Project
- Grande ouverture de Benvenuto Cellini / par Hector Berlioz; for piano four hands
- Le carnaval romain, for piano four hands
- Free scores by Hector Berlioz in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
- Free scores by Hector Berlioz in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
- Memorial Page at FindaGrave
- Berlioz cylinder recordings the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara library
Works[link]
- The Lied and Art Song Texts Page List of the musical settings for most of Berlioz's major works, with translations into various languages, as maintained by Emily Ezust
- The Complete Berlioz List of works by Berlioz @ UC Davis
- The Berlioz Song Site Scores and texts of Berlioz songs for voice and piano
Writings[link]
- The Orchestral Conductor by Hector Berlioz
- A treatise upon modern instrumentation and orchestration by Hector Berlioz
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Berlioz, Hector |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | French composer |
| Date of birth | 1803-12-11 |
| Place of birth | La Côte-Saint-André, Isère, France |
| Date of death | 1869-03-08 |
| Place of death | Paris |
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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hector_Berlioz
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
For the former Formula One driver, see Colin Davis (racing driver).
For the TV character, see List of minor Chuck characters#Colin Davis.
Sir Colin Rex Davis, CH, CBE (born 25 September 1927) is an English conductor. His repertoire is broad, but among the composers with whom he is particularly associated are Mozart, Berlioz, Elgar, Sibelius, Stravinsky and Tippett.
He studied as a clarinettist, but was intent on becoming a conductor. After struggles as a freelance conductor from 1949 to 1957, he gained a series of appointments with orchestras including the BBC Scottish Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has been associated with the London Symphony Orchestra for over 50 years, including over ten years as its principal conductor. He has also held the musical directorships of Sadler's Wells Opera and the Royal Opera House, where he was principal conductor for over fifteen years. His guest conductorships include the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Dresden Staatskapelle, among many others.
As a teacher, Davis holds posts at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and the Carl Maria von Weber High School of Music in Dresden. He made his first gramophone recordings in 1958, and his discography built up in the succeeding five decades is extensive, with a large number of studio recordings for Philips Records and a growing catalogue of live recordings for the London Symphony Orchestra's own label.
Contents |
Biography[link]
Early years[link]
Davis was born in Weybridge, Surrey, the youngest of three sons among seven siblings, to Reginald George and Lillian Davis.[1][2] The family was musical, and Davis was exposed to music from his early years. He recalled, "I can still see Sargent conducting the first concert I ever attended. I can still hear Melchior in the final scene of Siegfried – an old 78 playing on my father's gramophone. … I can also remember the moment I decided to make music my life. I was 13 or 14 at the time and the performance was of Beethoven's Eighth. Doors were suddenly opened. I became totally involved, even obsessed by music, although I was frightfully enclosed by my likes and dislikes. Today I'm game for anything."[3]
Davis was educated at Christ's Hospital and then won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied the clarinet with Frederick Thurston.[4] As a clarinettist he was overshadowed by his fellow-student Gervase de Peyer, but he had in any case already set his mind to conducting. He was, however, not eligible for the conducting class at the college, because he could not play the piano.[5]
His ambitions to conduct were further disrupted by compulsory military service, which was in force in Britain at that time. After leaving the college, Davis served as a clarinettist in the band of the Household Cavalry. Stationed at Windsor he had continual opportunities to attend concerts in London under conductors including Sir Thomas Beecham and Bruno Walter. After completing his military service, he launched himself in 1949 into what he later described as the "freelance wilderness", where he remained until 1957.[2] His first conducting work was with the Kalmar Orchestra, which he co-founded with other former students of the Royal College. He made a good impression and was invited to conduct the recently founded Chelsea Opera Group in Don Giovanni. In the early years of his career he also took some engagements as an orchestral clarinettist.[6] What seemed at first to be a full-time conducting appointment, for the Original Ballet Russe in 1952, came to an abrupt end after three months, when the company collapsed. In between sparse conducting engagements, Davis worked as a coach and lecturer, including spells at the Cambridge University Musical Society and the Bryanston Summer School, where a performance of L'enfance du Christ awakened his love of Berlioz's music.[7]
BBC and Sadler's Wells[link]
His first breakthrough came in 1957, when at his third attempt he secured the post of assistant conductor of the BBC Scottish Orchestra (now the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra). The chief conductor of the orchestra generally chose to conduct the standard repertoire pieces himself, leaving Davis with modern works and non-standard repertoire works including those of Berlioz.[8] By 1959 he had developed to the extent that, after a concert of Stravinsky and Mozart with the London Mozart Players, the chief music critic of The Observer, Peter Heyworth, wrote, "Mr Davis conducted two works in a manner that showed that he is not only outstanding among our younger conductors, but probably the best we have produced since Sir Thomas Beecham, his senior by forty-eight years."[9]
Davis first found wide acclaim when he stood in for an ill Otto Klemperer in a performance of Don Giovanni, at the Royal Festival Hall in 1959. A year later, Beecham invited him to collaborate with him in preparing The Magic Flute at Glyndebourne. Beecham was taken ill, and Davis conducted the opera. After the Don Giovanni, The Times wrote, "A superb conductor of Mozart declared himself last night at the Festival Hall…. Mr Davis emerged as a conductor ripe for greatness."[10] Neville Cardus in The Guardian was less enthusiastic but nevertheless considered that Davis "had his triumphs" in the performance.[11] After The Magic Flute, The Times called Davis "master of Mozart's idiom, style and significance",[12] although Heyworth in The Observer was disappointed by his tempi, judging them to be too slow.[13]
In 1960 Davis made his début at the Proms in a programme of Britten, Schumann, Mozart and Berlioz.[14] In the same year, he was appointed chief conductor of Sadler's Wells Opera, and in 1961 he was made musical director of the company, with whom he built up a large repertoire of operas, conducting in London and on tour.[15] Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians wrote of this period, "He excelled in Idomeneo, The Rake's Progress and Oedipus rex, and Fidelio; his Wagner, Verdi and Puccini were less successful. He introduced Weill's Mahagonny, and Pizzetti's Assassinio nella cattedrale to the British public and conducted the première of Bennett's The Mines of Sulphur (1965)."[16] Together with the stage director Glen Byam Shaw, he worked to present operas in a way that gave due weight to the drama as well as the music.[17] In his early years, Davis was known as something of a firebrand with a short fuse in rehearsals, and his departure from Sadler's Wells in 1965 was not without acrimony.[18]
After he left Sadler's Wells it was widely expected that he would be offered the chief conductorship of the London Symphony Orchestra, but the post went to István Kertész. Soon afterwards Davis was offered the post of chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, though the appointment was not effective until September 1967.[19] At first, so far as the public was concerned, his tenure was overshadowed, at least during the orchestra's most conspicuous concert seasons, the Proms, by the memory of Sir Malcolm Sargent, who had been an immensely popular figure as chief conductor of the Proms until 1966. Sargent had been "a suave father figure"[20] to the promenaders, and it took some time for the much younger Davis to be accepted.[19] The BBC's official historian of the Proms later wrote, "Davis never really identified himself with the Proms in the way that Sargent had done.[20] Davis was uncomfortable with the traditional hullabaloo of the Last Night of the Proms and attempted, unsuccessfully, to modernise it.[21] The BBC's Controller of Music, William Glock, was a long-standing admirer of Davis, and encouraged him to put on adventurous programmes, with a new emphasis on modern music, both at the Proms and throughout the rest of the orchestra's annual schedule.[22]
Covent Garden[link]
In 1970, Sir David Webster, who ran the Royal Opera and the Royal Ballet companies at Covent Garden, invited Davis to succeed Georg Solti as principal conductor of the opera.[23] At about the same time, the Boston Symphony Orchestra invited him to become its musical director, but Davis felt that if Covent Garden needed him, it was his duty to take on the post.[17] Webster's vision was that Davis and the stage director Peter Hall, formerly of the Royal Shakespeare Company, would work in equal partnership as musical director and director of productions. After early successes together, including the première of Michael Tippett's The Knot Garden in December 1970, Hall left to succeed Laurence Olivier as director of the National Theatre. Webster had retired by that time, leaving Davis, together with Webster's successor as General Administrator, John Tooley, to run the Royal Opera.[23]
Davis's early months in charge at Covent Garden were marked by dissatisfaction among some of the audience, and booing was heard at a "disastrous" Nabucco in 1971, and his conducting of Wagner's Ring was at first compared unfavourably with that of his predecessor.[24] Among his successes were Berlioz's massive Les Troyens and Benvenuto Cellini, Verdi's Falstaff, the major Mozart operas, and, as one critic put it, he "confirmed his preeminence as a Britten and Stravinsky interpreter" with productions of Peter Grimes and The Rake's Progress.[24] Davis conducted more than 30 operas during his fifteen-year tenure,[16] but "since people like Maazel, Abbado and Muti would only come for new productions", Davis yielded the baton to these foreign conductors, giving up the chance to conduct several major operas, including Der Rosenkavalier, Rigoletto and Aida.[24]
In addition to the standard operatic repertoire, Davis conducted a number of atonal and other modern operas, including Alban Berg's Lulu and Wozzeck, Tippett's The Knot Garden and The Ice Break (of which he is the dedicatee),[16] and Alexander Zemlinsky's The Dwarf and Eine Florentinische Tragödie.[25] With later stage directors at Covent Garden, Davis preferred to work with those who respected the libretto: "I have a hankering for producers who don't feel jealous of composers for being better than they are, and want to impose their, often admittedly clever, ideas on the work in hand."[26] Davis hoped that Goetz Friedrich, with whom he worked on Wagner's Ring cycle, would take on the role of principal producer vacated by Hall, "but it seemed that nobody wanted to commit themselves."[24]
During his Covent Garden tenure, Davis was also principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1971 to 1975 and of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1972 to 1984.[2] Another guest conducting engagement was in 1977, when he became the first English conductor to appear at Bayreuth, where he conducted the opening opera of the festival, Tannhäuser. Despite the Bayreuth habitués' suspicion of newcomers,[27] Davis's Tannhäuser was "highly successful".[28] He debuted at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, in 1969, the Vienna State Opera in 1986 and the Bavarian State Opera in 1994.[2]
Bavarian Radio Symphony and London Symphony Orchestras[link]
From 1983 to 1993, Davis was chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, with whom he developed his concert hall repertoire, including symphonies by Bruckner and Mahler.[18] He was offered but declined the chief conductorships of the Cleveland Orchestra in succession to Maazel and the New York Philharmonic in succession to Zubin Mehta.[29] As a principal guest conductor he was associated with the Dresden Staatskapelle, which appointed him honorary conductor (Ehrendirigent) in 1990, the first in the orchestra's 460-year-history.[30] From 1998–2003, he was principal guest conductor of the New York Philharmonic.[2]
In 1995, Davis was appointed principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. It was the culmination of a long association with the orchestra. He had first conducted the LSO in 1959, and in 1964 he headed the orchestra's first world tour. He became principal guest conductor in 1975 and was at the helm in the LSO's first major series at its new home, the Barbican Centre, in a Berlioz/Tippett festival in 1983.[30] In 1997 he conducted the LSO's first residency at Lincoln Center in New York City.[30] Davis was the longest-serving principal conductor in the history of the LSO holding the post from 1995 until 2006, after which the orchestra appointed him President of the LSO, an honour previously held only by Arthur Bliss, William Walton, Karl Böhm and Leonard Bernstein.[31] On 21 June 2009, 50 years to the day after his first LSO performance, a special concert was given at the Barbican, at which present-day players were joined by many past members of the orchestra.[30] Davis's programme for the concert was Mozart's Symphony No 40 in G minor, and Brahms's Piano Concerto No 2, with Nelson Freire as soloist.[32]
During his time with the LSO, both as principal conductor and later as president, Davis has conducted series and cycles of the music of Sibelius, Berlioz, Bruckner, Mozart, Elgar, Beethoven, and Brahms,[30] and in 2009 began presenting a cycle of the symphonies of Carl Nielsen.[33] Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians wrote, "He conducted a Sibelius cycle in 1992 and a concert performance of Les Troyens the following year, both of which have become the stuff of legend. More recently he has added grand performances of Bruckner, Richard Strauss and Elgar, the première of Tippett's last major work, The Rose Lake (1995), and a Berlioz cycle begun with Benvenuto Cellini in 1999 and crowned by an incandescent Les Troyens in December 2000, all confirming his partnership with the LSO as one of the most important of its time."[16]
Teacher[link]
Davis is president of the Landesgymnasium für Musik "Carl Maria von Weber" in Dresden,[34] and holds the International Chair of Orchestral Studies at the Royal Academy of Music, London.[35] Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, principal of the academy, wrote of Davis, "As the Academy's International Chair of Conducting over 25 years, Sir Colin has helmed six opera productions and over sixty concerts, classes and chamber music projects. Such extraordinary generosity from a major international conductor is surely unique. He has inspired a whole generation here, as did Henry Wood and John Barbirolli before him."[30]
Recordings[link]
Davis's discography is extensive. He made his first records in 1958 for the World Record Club: three Mozart symphonies and the Oboe Concerto with Leon Goossens. He made several records for the small independent label L'Oiseau Lyre, including a 1960 L'enfance du Christ and a 1962 Béatrice et Bénédict which, at January 2010, were both still available on CD. For EMI he made both operatic and orchestral recordings, the former with Sadler's Wells forces, including excerpts from Carmen and a complete Oedipus Rex, and the latter including Harold in Italy with Yehudi Menuhin, and what remains one of his best-known recordings, a 1961 Beethoven Seventh Symphony.[36][37]
Philips and RCA[link]
In the 1960s, Davis signed as an exclusive artist for Philips Records, with whom he made an extensive range of recordings in the symphonic repertoire and a large number of operatic recordings, including the major Mozart operas; operas by Tippett, Britten, Verdi and Puccini; and a comprehensive survey of the operas of Berlioz, culminating in an award-winning first recording of the complete Les Troyens issued in May 1970.[18][38]
Davis's 1966 Philips recording of Handel's Messiah was regarded as revelatory at the time of its issue for its departure from the large-scale Victorian-style performances that had been customary before then.[39] Other Philips recordings included a 1982 set of Haydn's twelve London Symphonies with the Concertgebouw Orchestra "distinguished by performances of tremendous style and authority, and a sense of rhythmic impetus that is most exhilarating";[40] and a 1995 Beethoven symphony cycle with the Dresden Staatskapelle, of which The Gramophone wrote, "There has not been a Beethoven cycle like this since Klemperer's heyday."[41]
Davis made a number of records with the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Philips, including the first of his three Sibelius cycles, which remains in the CD catalogues. They also recorded works by Debussy, Grieg, Schubert, Schumann, and Tchaikovsky.
For RCA, Davis recorded complete symphony cycles of Sibelius (with the LSO), Brahms (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, 1989–98), and Schubert (Dresden Staatskapelle, 1996).
LSO Live[link]
Davis's terms as chief conductor, and latterly president, of the LSO have coincided with the orchestra's decision to launch its own record label, issuing live recordings (patched where necessary with takes from rehearsals) at budget prices. Davis's recordings on the LSO Live label include Beethoven's opera Fidelio (2006), a wide range of Berlioz works, including a second recording of Les Troyens (2000), La Damnation de Faust (2000), Roméo et Juliette (2000), Béatrice et Bénédict (2000), Harold en Italie (2003), and the Symphonie Fantastique (2000); Britten's Peter Grimes (2004); Dvořák's Symphonies Nos. 6–9 (1999–2004); five Elgar sets: the Enigma Variations (2007) and the Introduction and Allegro for Strings (2005), the three symphonies (2001), and The Dream of Gerontius (2005); Handel's Messiah (2006); Haydn's Die Schöpfung (2007); Holst's The Planets (2002); James MacMillan's St John Passion, (2008) The World's Ransoming and The Confession of Isobel Gowdie (2007); Mozart's Requiem (2007); Nielsen's Symphonies Nos. 4-5 (2011); a third Sibelius symphony cycle (2002–2008); Smetana's Má vlast (2005); Tippett's A Child of our Time (2007), Verdi's Falstaff (2004), Requiem (2009), and Otello (2010); and Walton's First Symphony (2005).[42]
Awards[link]
Davis was appointed CBE in 1965,[43] knighted in 1980[44] and appointed Companion of Honour in 2001.[45] He was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society's gold medal in 1995,[2] the Queen's Medal for Music, 2009,[46] and has numerous international awards, including Commendatore of the Republic of Italy, 1976; Commander's Cross, Order of Merit (Germany), 1987; Commandeur, l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France), 1990; Commander, Order of the Lion (Finland), 1992; Order of Merit (Bavaria), 1993; Officier, Légion d'Honneur (France), 1999 (Chevalier, 1982); Order of Maximilian (Bavaria), 2000.[2]
Other awards include Pipe Smoker of the Year in 1996,[47] Male Artist of the Year in the Classical Brit Awards 2008,[47] and the Grammy Award in 2006 for Best Opera for his LSO Live recording of Verdi's Falstaff.[30]
Personal life[link]
In 1949, Davis married the soprano April Cantelo. They had two children, Suzanne and Christopher. Their marriage ended in 1964, and in that same year, Davis married Ashraf Naini, known as Shamsi. To satisfy both the Iranian and British authorities, the couple were married three times, once in Iran and twice in the UK, in the Iranian Embassy as well as in a regular UK civil ceremony; they had five children.[48] One of their children is the conductor Joseph Wolfe, who chose a different surname, because he wanted to "create some space to grow and develop my own identity as a musician."[49] Lady Davis died in June 2010.[50]
Notes[link]
- ^ Blyth, p. 4
- ^ a b c d e f g "Davis, Sir Colin (Rex)", Who's Who, 2010, A & C Black, 2010; online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2009, accessed 9 Jan 2010
- ^ The Gramophone, December 1967, p. 39
- ^ Blyth, pp. 6–8
- ^ Blyth, p. 8
- ^ Blyth, pp. 9–10
- ^ Blyth, p. 10
- ^ Blyth, p. 11
- ^ Heyworth, Peter, "Best Since Beecham", The Observer, 6 September 1959, p. 23
- ^ "Outstanding Don Giovanni under Mr. Colin Davis", The Times, 19 October 1959, p. 6
- ^ "Schwarzkopf dominant in concert version of Don Giovanni", The Guardian, 20 October 1959, p. 7
- ^ "Mozart Genius at its Peak", The Times, 29 July 1960, p. 13
- ^ Heyworth, Peter. "Disenchanted Flute", The Observer, 31 July 1960, p. 18
- ^ The Times, 3 August 1960, p. 5
- ^ Blyth, p. 13
- ^ a b c d "Colin Davis", Grove's Dictionary, Oxford Music Online, accessed 9 January 2009
- ^ a b Blyth, p. 21
- ^ a b c "Davis, Colin", Naxos.com, accessed 10 January 2010
- ^ a b Orga, p. 158
- ^ a b Cox, p. 192
- ^ Orga, p. 166
- ^ Blyth, p. 16
- ^ a b Haltrecht, p. 101
- ^ a b c d Canning, Hugh. "Forget the booing, remember the triumph", The Guardian, 19 July 1986, p. 11
- ^ Royal Opera House programme booklets for 30 September 1983, 3 April 1970, 2 December 1970, 6 December 1972, 11 July 1977 and 7 October 1985
- ^ The Gramophone, July 1981, p. 23
- ^ 26 July 1977, p. 9
- ^ The Times, 25 July 1977, p. 9; and 26 July 1977, p. 9
- ^ Morrison, p. 217. The posts were then offered to and accepted by Christoph von Dohnányi and Kurt Masur respectively
- ^ a b c d e f g Mackenzie, Lennox, "50 years with Sir Colin Davis", LSO.co.uk, accessed 10 January 2010
- ^ LSO concert programme booklet, 9 January 2007
- ^ LSO concert programme booklet, 21 June 2009
- ^ LSO concert programme note, 1 October 2009
- ^ "Schirmherr: Sir Colin Davis". http://www.landesmusikgymnasium.de/index.php?id=58. accessed 30 October 2011
- ^ "Colin Davis", Royal Academy of Music, accessed 10 January 2010
- ^ "Discography", Blyth, pp. 60–61
- ^ The Gramophone, February 1996, p. 8
- ^ The Gramophone, May 1970, p. 84
- ^ The Gramophone, November 1966, p. 77. It was produced by Mercury Records' Harold Lawrence and recorded by Philips engineer Hans Lauterslager using the Mercury 3-spaced-omni mic technique, called "M3" by Philips. See Lauterslager, Hans: presentation at Audio Engineering Society Amsterdam 2008 Historical Event. Presentation included listing of Philips M3 recording sessions. The recording was reissued on CD by Philips in the 1990s as a 2-CD set in the "Duo" series.
- ^ The Gramophone, June 1982, p. 33
- ^ The Gramophone, December 1995, p. 75
- ^ LSO Live catalogue, accessed 10 January 2010
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 43529. p. 10. 29 December 1964, accessed 15 September 2009
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 48059. p. 288. 7 January 1980. accessed 15 September 2009
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 56237. p. 5. 16 June 2001. accessed 15 September 2009.
- ^ The Official Website of the British Monarchy, accessed 11 January 2010
- ^ a b Norris, Geoffrey, "Sir Colin Davis: Knit one, purl one, conduct one", The Daily Telegraph, 15 May 2008
- ^ O'Mahony, John. "Calm after the storm", The Guardian, 21 September 2002
- ^ "Joseph Wolfe"' Classical Source, accessed 29 January 2012
- ^ Service, Tom. "Sir Colin Davis: 'You are of no account whatsoever'", The Guardian, 12 May 2011
References[link]
- Blyth, Alan (1972). Colin Davis. London: Ian Allan. OCLC 675416.
- Cox, David (1980). The Henry Wood Proms. London: BBC. ISBN 0-563-17697-0.
- Haltrecht, Montague (1975). The Quiet Showman: Sir David Webster and the Royal Opera House. London. ISBN 0-00-211163-2.
- Morrison, Richard (2004). Orchestra – The LSO: A Century of Triumph and Turbulence. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN -571-21584-X.
- Orga, Ateş (1974). The Proms. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. OCLC 1121308.
External links[link]
- Morrison, Richard. "Monarch of all he's survived", Profile of Davis at 80 – The Times, 21 September 2007
- Colin Davis at Allmusic
| Cultural offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Alexander Gibson |
Musical director, Sadler's Wells 1961–1965 |
Succeeded by Bryan Balkwill and Mario Bernardi |
| Preceded by Georg Solti |
Music director, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden 1971–1987 |
Succeeded by Bernard Haitink |
| Preceded by Rafael Kubelík |
Chief conductor, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra 1983–1993 |
Succeeded by Lorin Maazel |
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Davis, Colin |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | 25 September 1927 |
| Place of birth | |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
Leonard Bernstein ( /ˈbɜrnstaɪn/ US dict: bûrn′·stīn;[1] August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American composer, conductor, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim. According to The New York Times, he was "one of the most prodigiously talented and successful musicians in American history."[2]
His fame derived from his long tenure as the music director of the New York Philharmonic, from his conducting of concerts with most of the world's leading orchestras, and from his music for West Side Story, as well as Candide, Wonderful Town, On the Town and his own Mass.
Bernstein was also the first conductor to give numerous television lectures on classical music, starting in 1954 and continuing until his death. In addition, he was a skilled pianist,[3] often conducting piano concertos from the keyboard.
As a composer he wrote in many styles encompassing symphonic and orchestral music, ballet, film and theatre music, choral works, opera, chamber music and pieces for the piano. Many of his works are regularly performed around the world, although none has matched the tremendous popular and commercial success of West Side Story.
Contents |
Biography[link]
Early life[link]
He was born Louis Bernstein in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the son of Ukranian Jewish parents Jennie (née Resnick) and Samuel Joseph Bernstein, a hair-dressing supplies wholesaler originating from Rovno (now Ukraine).[4][5] Despite his surname he was not related to film composer Elmer Bernstein, but the two men were friends, and even shared a certain physical similarity.[6] Within the world of professional music, they were distinguished from each other by the use of the nicknames Bernstein West (Elmer) and Bernstein East (Leonard).[7]
His family spent their summers at their vacation home in Sharon, Massachusetts. His grandmother insisted that his first name be Louis, but his parents always called him Leonard, which they preferred. He officially changed his name to Leonard when he was fifteen, shortly after his grandmother's death.[8] To his friends and many others he was simply known as "Lenny."
His father, Sam Bernstein, was a businessman and owner of a bookstore in downtown Lawrence; it is standing today on the corners of Amesbury and Essex Streets. Sam initially opposed young Leonard's interest in music. Despite this, the elder Bernstein took him to orchestra concerts in his teenage years and eventually supported his music education. At a very young age, Bernstein listened to a piano performance and was immediately captivated; he subsequently began learning the piano seriously when the family acquired his cousin Lillian Goldman's unwanted piano. As a child, Bernstein attended the Garrison Grammar School and Boston Latin School.[9] As a child he was very close to his younger sister Shirley, and would often play entire operas or Beethoven symphonies with her at the piano. He had a variety of piano teachers in his youth including Helen Coates who later became his secretary.
After graduation from Boston Latin School in 1935, Bernstein attended Harvard University, where he studied music with, amongst others, Edward Burlingame Hill and Walter Piston, the author of many harmony and counterpoint textbooks. Although he majored in music with a final year thesis (1939) entitled "The Absorption of Race Elements into American Music" (reproduced in his book Findings), Bernstein's main intellectual influence at Harvard was probably the aesthetics Professor David Prall, whose multidisciplinary outlook on the arts Bernstein shared for the rest of his life. One of his friends at Harvard was philosopher Donald Davidson, with whom he played piano four hands. Bernstein wrote and conducted the musical score for the production Davidson mounted of Aristophanes' play The Birds in the original Greek. Bernstein reused some of this music in the ballet Fancy Free. During his time at Harvard he was briefly an accompanist for the Harvard Glee Club.[10] Bernstein also mounted a student production of The Cradle Will Rock, directing its action from the piano as the composer Marc Blitzstein had done at the premiere. Blitzstein, who heard about the production, subsequently became a friend and influence (both musically and politically) on Bernstein.
Bernstein also met the conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos at this time. Although he never taught Bernstein, Mitropoulos's charisma and power as a musician was a major influence on Bernstein's eventual decision to take up conducting. Mitropoulos was not stylistically that similar to Bernstein, but he probably influenced some of Bernstein's later habits such as his conducting from the keyboard, his initial practice of conducting without a baton and perhaps his interest in Mahler. The other important influence that Bernstein first met during his Harvard years was composer Aaron Copland, whom he met at a concert and then at a party afterwards on Copland's birthday in 1938. At the party Bernstein played Copland's Piano Variations, a thorny work Bernstein loved without knowing anything about its composer until that evening. Although he was not formally Copland's student as such, Bernstein would regularly seek advice from Copland in the following years about his own compositions and would often cite him as "his only real composition teacher".[11]
After completing his studies at Harvard in 1939 (graduating with a B.A. cum laude), he enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. During his time at Curtis, Bernstein studied conducting with Fritz Reiner (who anecdotally is said to have given Bernstein the only "A grade" he ever awarded), piano with Isabelle Vengerova,[12] orchestration with Randall Thompson, counterpoint with Richard Stöhr, and score reading with Renée Longy Miquelle.[13] Unlike his years at Harvard, Bernstein appears not to have greatly enjoyed the formal training environment of Curtis, although often in his later life he would mention Reiner when discussing important mentors.[11]
1940–1950[link]
After he left Curtis, Bernstein lived in New York. He shared a flat with his friend Adolph Green and often accompanied Green, Betty Comden and Judy Holliday in a comedy troupe called The Reviewers who performed in Greenwich Village. He took jobs with a music publisher, transcribing music or producing arrangements under the pseudonym Lenny Amber (the German meaning of his name in English). During this period in New York City, Bernstein enjoyed an exuberant social life that included relationships with both men and women. In 1940, Bernstein began his study at the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer institute, Tanglewood, in the conducting class of the orchestra's conductor, Serge Koussevitzky.
Bernstein's friendships with Copland (who was very close to Koussevitsky) and Mitropoulos were important in him being recommended for a place in the class. Other students in the class included Lukas Foss who also became a lifelong friend. Koussevitsky perhaps did not teach Bernstein much basic conducting technique (which he had already developed under Reiner), but instead became a sort of father figure to him, and was perhaps the major influence on Bernstein's emotional way of interpreting music. Bernstein later became Koussevitzky's conducting assistant[14] and would later dedicate his second symphony, "The Age of Anxiety", to him.[15]
On November 14, 1943, having recently been appointed assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, he made his major conducting debut at sudden notice—and without any rehearsal—after Bruno Walter came down with the flu. The next day, The New York Times carried the story on their front page and their editorial remarked, "It's a good American success story. The warm, friendly triumph of it filled Carnegie Hall and spread far over the air waves."[16] He became instantly famous because the concert was nationally broadcast, and afterwards started to appear as a guest conductor with many US orchestras. The program included works by Schumann, Miklos Rozsa, Wagner and Richard Strauss's Don Quixote with soloist Joseph Schuster, solo cellist of the orchestra. Before the concert Bernstein briefly spoke to Bruno Walter, who discussed particular difficulties in the works he was to perform. It is possible to hear this concert (apart from the Wagner work) on a recording of the CBS radio broadcast that has been issued on CD by the orchestra.
_-_1944_-_foto_van_Vechten2.jpg)
From 1945 to 1947 Bernstein was the Music Director of the New York City Symphony Orchestra, which had been founded the previous year by the conductor Leopold Stokowski. The orchestra (with support from the Mayor) was aimed at a different audience with more modern programs and cheaper tickets than the New York Philharmonic.
In addition to becoming known as a conductor, Bernstein also emerged as a composer in the same period. In January 1944 he conducted the premiere of his Jeremiah Symphony in Pittsburgh. His score to the ballet Fancy Free choreographed by Jerome Robbins opened in New York in April 1944 and this was later developed into the musical On the Town with lyrics by Comden and Green that opened on Broadway in December 1944.
After World War II, Bernstein's career on the international stage began to flourish. In 1946 he made his first trip to Europe conducting various orchestras and recorded Ravel's Piano Concerto in G as soloist and conductor with the Philharmonia Orchestra. In 1946, he conducted opera for the first time, with the American première at Tanglewood of Benjamin Britten's Peter Grimes, which had been a Koussevitzky commission. That same year, Arturo Toscanini invited Bernstein to guest conduct two concerts with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, one of which again featured Bernstein as soloist in the Ravel concerto.[17]
In 1947, Bernstein conducted in Tel Aviv for the first time, beginning a lifelong association with Israel. The next year he conducted an open air concert for troops at Beersheba in the middle of the desert during the Arab-Israeli war. In 1957, he conducted the inaugural concert of the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv; he subsequently made many recordings there. In 1967, he conducted a concert on Mt. Scopus to commemorate the reunification of Jerusalem. During the 1970s, Bernstein recorded his symphonies and other works with the Israel Philharmonic for Deutsche Grammophon.
In 1949, he conducted the world première of the Turangalîla-Symphonie by Olivier Messiaen, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Part of the rehearsal for the concert was released on CD by the orchestra. When Koussevitzky died two years later, Bernstein became head of the orchestral and conducting departments at Tanglewood, holding this position for many years.
1951–1959[link]
After much personal struggle and a turbulent on-off engagement, he married the Chilean actress Felicia Cohn Montealegre on September 10, 1951. One suggestion is that he chose to marry partly to dispel rumors about his private life to help secure a major conducting appointment, following advice from his mentor Dimitri Mitropoulos about the conservative nature of orchestra boards.[18] Bernstein's sexuality has been a matter of speculation and debate. Arthur Laurents (Bernstein's collaborator in West Side Story) said that Bernstein was "a gay man who got married. He wasn't conflicted about it at all. He was just gay."[19] Shirley Rhoades Perle, another friend of Bernstein's, said that she thought "he required men sexually and women emotionally."[20] But the early years of his marriage seem to have been happy, and no one has suggested they didn't love one another. They had three children, Jamie, Alexander, and later Nina.[21] There are reports though that Bernstein did sometimes have brief extramarital liaisons with young men, which several family friends have said his wife knew about.[20]
In 1951, Bernstein conducted the New York Philharmonic in the world première of the Symphony No. 2 of Charles Ives, which was written around half a century earlier but had never been previously performed. Throughout his career Bernstein often talked about the music of Ives, who died in 1954. The composer, old and frail, was unable (or some reports say "unwilling") to attend the concert, but his wife did. He reportedly listened to a radio broadcast of it on a radio in his kitchen some days later. A recording of the "premiere" was released in a 10 CD box set Bernstein LIVE by the orchestra, but the notes indicate it was a repeat performance from three days later, and this is perhaps what Ives heard. In any case, reports also differ on Ives's exact reaction, but some suggest he was thrilled and danced a little jig. Bernstein recorded the 2nd symphony with the orchestra in 1958 for Columbia and 1987 for Deutsche Grammophon. There is also a 1987 performance with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra available on DVD.
Bernstein was a visiting music professor from 1951 to 1956 at Brandeis University, and he founded the Creative Arts Festival there in 1952.[22] He conducted various productions at the first festival including the premiere of his opera Trouble in Tahiti and Blitzstein's English version of Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera. The festival was named after him in 2005, becoming the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts. In 1953 he was the first US conductor to appear at La Scala in Milan, conducting Maria Callas in Cherubini's Medea. The same year he produced his score to the musical Wonderful Town at very short notice, working again with his old friends Comden and Green, who wrote the lyrics.
In 1954 Bernstein made the first of his television lectures for the CBS arts program Omnibus. The live lecture, entitled "Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony", involved Bernstein explaining the work with the aid of musicians from the former NBC Symphony Orchestra (recently renamed the "Symphony of the Air") and a giant page of the score covering the floor. Bernstein subsequently performed concerts with the orchestra and recorded his Serenade for Violin with Isaac Stern. Further Omnibus lectures followed from 1955 to 1958 (later on ABC and then NBC) covering jazz, conducting, American musical comedy, modern music, J.S. Bach, and grand opera. These programs were made available in the USA in a DVD set in 2010.
In late 1956, Bernstein conducted the New York Philharmonic in concerts that were to have been conducted by Guido Cantelli, who had tragically died in an air crash in Paris. This was the first time Bernstein had conducted the orchestra in subscription concerts since 1951. Partly due to these appearances, Bernstein was named the music director of the New York Philharmonic in 1957, replacing Dimitri Mitropoulos. He began his tenure in that position in 1958, having held the post jointly with Mitropoulos from 1957 to 1958. In 1958, Bernstein and Mitropoulos took the New York Philharmonic on tour to South America. In his first season in sole charge, Bernstein included a season-long survey of American classical music. Themed programming of this sort was fairly novel at that time compared to the present day. Bernstein held the music directorship until 1969 (with a sabbatical in 1965) although he continued to conduct and make recordings with the orchestra for the rest of his life and was appointed "laureate conductor".
He became a well-known figure in the United States through his series of fifty-three televised Young People's Concerts for CBS, which grew out of his Omnibus programs. His first Young People's Concert was televised a few weeks after his tenure began as principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic. He became as famous for his educational work in those concerts as for his conducting. The Bernstein Young People's Concerts were the first and probably the most influential series of music appreciation programs ever produced on television, and they were highly acclaimed by critics.[23] Some of Bernstein's music lectures were released on records, with at least one winning a Grammy award. The programs were shown in many countries around the world, often with Bernstein dubbed into other languages. Twenty-five of them were released on DVD by Kultur Video.
Prior to taking over the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein produced the music for two shows. The first was for the operetta Candide, which was first performed in 1956 with a libretto by Lillian Hellman based on Voltaire's novel. The second was Bernstein's collaboration with the choreographer Jerome Robbins, the writer Arthur Laurents, and the lyricist Stephen Sondheim to produce the musical West Side Story. The first three had worked on it intermittently since Robbins first suggested the idea in 1949. Finally, with the addition of Sondheim to the team and a period of concentrated effort, it received its Broadway premiere in 1957 and has since proven to be Bernstein's most popular and enduring score.
In 1959, he took the New York Philharmonic on a tour of Europe and the Soviet Union, portions of which were filmed by CBS. A highlight of the tour was Bernstein's performance of Dmitri Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony, in the presence of the composer, who came on stage at the end to congratulate Bernstein and the musicians. In October, when Bernstein and the orchestra returned to the US, they recorded the symphony for Columbia. He recorded it for a second time with the orchestra on tour in Japan in 1979. Bernstein seems to have limited himself to only conducting certain Shostakovich symphonies, namely the numbers 1, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 14. He made two recordings of Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony, one with the New York Philharmonic in the 1960s and another one recorded live in 1988 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the only recording he ever made with them (including Shostakovich's Symphony No. 1).
1960–1969[link]
In 1960 Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic held a Mahler Festival to mark the centenary of the composer's birth. Bernstein, Walter and Mitropoulos conducted performances. The composer's widow, Alma, attended some of Bernstein's rehearsals. In 1960 Bernstein also made his first commercial recording of a Mahler symphony (the fourth) and over the next seven years he made the first complete cycle of recordings of all nine of Mahler's completed symphonies. (All featured the New York Philharmonic except the 8th Symphony which was recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra following a concert in the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1966.) The success of these recordings, along with Bernstein's concert performances and television talks, was an important part of the revival of interest in Mahler in the 1960s, especially in the US.
Other non-US composers that Bernstein championed to some extent at the time include the Danish composer Carl Nielsen (who was perhaps then only a little known in the US) and Jean Sibelius, whose popularity had perhaps by then started to fade. Bernstein eventually recorded a complete cycle in New York of Sibelius's symphonies and three of Nielsen's symphonies (Nos. 2, 4, and 5), as well as conducting recordings of his violin, clarinet and flute concertos. He also recorded Nielsen's 3rd Symphony with the Royal Danish Orchestra after a critically acclaimed public performance in Denmark. Bernstein championed US composers, especially those that he was close to like Aaron Copland, William Schuman and David Diamond. He also started to more extensively record his own compositions for Columbia Records. This included his three symphonies, his ballets and the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story with the New York Philharmonic. He also conducted an LP of his 1944 musical On The Town, the first (almost) complete recording of the original featuring several members of the original Broadway cast, including Betty Comden and Adolph Green. (The 1949 film version only contains four of Bernstein's original numbers.)
In one oft-reported incident, in April 1962 Bernstein appeared on stage before a performance of the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor with the pianist Glenn Gould. During rehearsals, Gould had argued for tempi much broader than normal, which did not reflect Bernstein's concept of the music. Bernstein gave a brief address to the audience starting with "Don't be frightened; Mr Gould is here..." and going on to "In a concerto, who is the boss (audience laughter)—the soloist or the conductor?" (Audience laughter grows louder). The answer is, of course, sometimes the one and sometimes the other, depending on the people involved."[24] This speech was subsequently interpreted by Harold C. Schonberg, music critic for The New York Times, as abdication of personal responsibility and an attack on Gould, whose performance Schonberg went on to criticize heavily. Bernstein always denied that this had been his intent and has stated that he made these remarks with Gould's blessing.[25] Throughout his life, he professed admiration and friendship for Gould. Schonberg was often (though not always) harshly critical of Bernstein as a conductor during his tenure as Music Director. However his views were not shared by the audiences (with many full houses) and probably not by the musicians themselves (who had greater financial security arising from Bernstein's many TV and recording activities amongst other things).
In 1962 the New York Philharmonic moved from Carnegie Hall to Philharmonic Hall (now Avery Fisher Hall) in the new Lincoln Center. The move was not without controversy because of acoustic problems with the new hall. Bernstein conducted the gala opening concert featuring vocal works by Mahler, Beethoven and Vaughan Williams, and the premiere of Aaron Copland's Connotations, a serial-work that was merely politely received. During the interval Bernstein kissed the cheek of the President's wife Jacqueline Kennedy, a break with protocol that was commented on at the time. In 1961 Bernstein had conducted at President John F. Kennedy's pre-inaugural gala, and he was an occasional guest in the Kennedy White House. He also conducted at the funeral mass in 1968 for the late President Kennedy's brother Robert Kennedy.
In 1964 Bernstein conducted Franco Zeffirelli's production of Verdi's Falstaff at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In 1966 he made his debut at the Vienna State Opera conducting Luchino Visconti's production of the same opera with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Falstaff. During his time in Vienna he also recorded the opera for Columbia Records and conducted his first subscription concert with the Vienna Philharmonic (which is made up of players from the Vienna State Opera) featuring Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with Fischer-Dieskau and James King. He returned to the State Opera in 1968 for a production of Der Rosenkavalier and in 1970 for Otto Schenk's production of Beethoven's Fidelio. Sixteen years later, at the State Opera, Bernstein conducted his sequel to Trouble in Tahiti, A Quiet Place. with the ORF orchestra. Bernstein's final farewell to the State Opera happened accidentally in 1989: following a performance of Modest Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina, he unexpectedly entered the stage and embraced conductor Claudio Abbado in front of a cheering audience.
With his commitment to the New York Philharmonic and his many other activities, Bernstein had little time for composition during the 1960s. The two major works he produced at this time were his Kaddish Symphony dedicated to the recently assassinated President John F. Kennedy and the Chichester Psalms which he produced during a sabbatical year he took from the Philharmonic in 1965 to concentrate on composition. To try to have more time for composition was probably a major factor in his decision to step down as Music Director of the Philharmonic in 1969, and to never accept such a position anywhere again.
1970–1979[link]
After stepping down from the New York Philharmonic, Bernstein continued to appear with them in most years until his death, and he toured with them to Europe in 1976 and to Asia in 1979. He also strengthened his relationship with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra – he conducted all nine completed Mahler symphonies with them (plus the adagio from the 10th) in the period from 1967 to 1976. All of these were filmed for Unitel with the exception of the 1967 Mahler 2nd, which instead Bernstein filmed with the London Symphony Orchestra in Ely Cathedral in 1973. In the late 1970s Bernstein conducted a complete Beethoven symphony cycle with the Vienna Philharmonic, and cycles of Brahms and Schumann were to follow in the 1980s. Other orchestras he conducted on numerous occasions in the 1970s include the Israel Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
In 1970 Bernstein wrote and narrated a ninety-minute program filmed on location in and around Vienna as a celebration of Beethoven's 200th birthday. It featured parts of Bernstein's rehearsals and performance for the Otto Schenk production of Fidelio, Bernstein playing the 1st piano concerto and the Ninth Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic and the young Placido Domingo amongst the soloists. The program was first telecast in 1970 on Austrian and British television, and then on CBS in the US on Christmas Eve 1971. The show, originally entitled Beethoven's Birthday: A Celebration in Vienna, won an Emmy and was issued on DVD in 2005.
Like many of his friends and colleagues, Bernstein had been involved in various left wing causes and organizations since the 1940s. He was blacklisted by the US State Department and CBS in the early 1950s, but unlike others his career was not greatly affected, and he was never required to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.[26] His political life received substantial press coverage though in 1970 due to a gathering hosted at his Manhattan apartment. Bernstein and his wife held the event seeking to raise awareness and money for the defense of several members of the Black Panther Party against a variety of charges.[27] The New York Times initially covered the gathering as a lifestyle item, but later posted an editorial harshly unfavorable to Bernstein following generally negative reaction to the widely publicized story.[28][29] This reaction culminated in June 1970 with the appearance of "Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny's", an essay by satirist Tom Wolfe featured on the cover of the New York Magazine.[30] The article contrasted the Bernsteins' comfortable lifestyle in one of the world's most expensive neighborhoods with the anti-establishment politics of the Black Panthers. It led to the popularization of "radical chic" as a critical term.[31] Both Bernstein and his wife Felicia responded to the criticism, arguing that they were motivated not by a shallow desire to express fashionable sympathy but by their concern for civil liberties.[32][33]
Bernstein's major compositions during the 1970s were probably his MASS: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers; his score for the ballet Dybbuk; his orchestral vocal work Songfest; and his US bicentenary musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue written with lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner which was his first real theatrical flop, and last original Broadway show. The world premiere of Bernstein's MASS took place on September 8, 1971. Commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy for the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., it was partly intended as an anti-war statement. Hastily written in places, the work represented a fusion not only of different religious traditions (Latin liturgy, Hebrew prayer and plenty of contemporary English lyrics) but also of different musical styles including classical and rock music. It was originally a target of criticism from the Roman Catholic Church on the one hand, and contemporary music critics who objected to its Broadway/populist elements on the other. In the present day it is perhaps seen as less blasphemous and more a piece of its era – in 2000 it was even performed in the Vatican.
In 1972 Bernstein recorded Bizet's Carmen, with Marilyn Horne in the title role and James McCracken as Don Jose, after leading several stage performances of the opera at the Metropolitan Opera. The recording was one of the first in stereo to use the original spoken dialogue between the sung portions of the opera, rather than the musical recitatives that were composed by Ernest Guiraud after Bizet's death. The recording was Bernstein's first for Deutsche Grammophon and won a Grammy.
Bernstein was appointed in 1973 to the Charles Eliot Norton Chair as Professor of Poetry at his alma mater, Harvard University, and delivered a series of six televised lectures on music with musical examples played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Taking the title from a Charles Ives work, he called the series "The Unanswered Question"; it was a set of interdisciplinary lectures in which he borrowed terminology from contemporary linguistics to analyze and compare musical construction to language. The lectures are presently available in both book and DVD form. The DVD video was not taken directly from the lectures at Harvard, rather they were recreated again at the WGBH studios for filming. This appears to be the only surviving Norton lectures available to the general public in video format. Noam Chomsky wrote in 2007 on the Znet forums about the linguistic aspects of the lecture: "I spent some time with Bernstein during the preparation and performance of the lectures. My feeling was that he was onto something, but I couldn't really judge how significant it was."
A major period of upheaval in Bernstein's personal life began in 1976 when he took the decision that he could no longer repress his homosexuality and he left his wife Felicia for a period to live with the writer Tom Cothran. The next year she was diagnosed with lung cancer and eventually Bernstein moved back in with her and cared for her until she died on June 16, 1978.[18] Cothran himself died of AIDS in 1981. Bernstein is reported to have often spoken of his terrible guilt over his wife's death.[18] Most biographies of Bernstein describe that his lifestyle became more excessive and his personal behavior sometimes cruder after her death. However his public standing and many of his close friendships appear to have remained unaffected, and he resumed his busy schedule of musical activity.
In 1978, Bernstein returned to the Vienna State Opera to conduct a revival of the Otto Schenk production of Fidelio, now featuring Gundula Janowitz and Rene Kollo in the lead roles. At the same time, Bernstein made a studio recording of the opera for Deutsche Grammophon and the opera itself was filmed by Unitel and released on DVD by Deutsche Grammophon in late 2006. In May 1978, the Israel Philharmonic played two US concerts under his direction to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Orchestra under that name. On consecutive nights, the Orchestra, with the Choral Arts Society of Washington, performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Bernstein's Chichester Psalms at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and at Carnegie Hall in New York.
In 1979, Bernstein conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for the first and only time, in two charity concerts for Amnesty International involving performances of Mahler's Ninth Symphony. The invitation for the concerts had come from the orchestra and not from its principal conductor Herbert von Karajan. There has been speculation about why Karajan never invited Bernstein to conduct his orchestra. (Karajan did conduct the New York Philharmonic during Bernstein's tenure.) The full reasons will probably never be known – reports suggest they were on friendly terms when they met, but sometimes practiced a little mutual one-upmanship.[18] One of the concerts was broadcast on radio and was posthumously released on CD by Deutsche Grammophon.
1980–1990[link]
Bernstein received the Kennedy Center Honors award in 1980. For the rest of the 1980s he continued to conduct, teach, compose and produce the occasional TV documentary. His most significant compositions of the decade were probably his opera A Quiet Place which he wrote with Stephen Wadsworth and which premiered (in its original version) in Houston in 1983; his Divertimento for Orchestra; his Halil for flute and orchestra, his Concerto for Orchestra "Jubilee Games"; and his song cycle Arias and Barcarolles, which was named after a comment President Dwight D. Eisenhower had made to him in 1960.
In 1982 in the US, PBS aired an 11-part series of Bernstein's late 1970s films for Unitel of the Vienna Philharmonic playing all nine Beethoven symphonies and various other works. Bernstein gave spoken introduction and actor Maximilian Schell was also featured on the programs, reading from Beethoven's letters. The original films have since been released on DVD by Deutsche Grammophon. In addition to conducting in New York, Vienna and Israel, Bernstein was a regular guest conductor of other orchestras in the 1980s. These included the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam with whom he recorded Mahler's First, Fourth, and Ninth Symphonies amongst other works; the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich with whom he recorded Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Haydn's Creation, Mozart's Requiem and Mass in C Minor; and the orchestra of Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome with whom he recorded some Debussy and Puccini's La Boheme.
In 1982, he and Ernest Fleischmann founded the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute as a summer training academy along the lines of Tanglewood. Bernstein served as Artistic Director and taught conducting there until 1984. Around the same time he performed and recorded some of his own works with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Deutsche Grammophon. Bernstein was also at the time a committed supporter of Nuclear Disarmament. In 1985 he took the European Community Youth Orchestra in a "Journey for Peace" tour around Europe and to Japan.
In 1985, he conducted a recording of West Side Story, the first time he had conducted the entire work. The recording, featuring what some critics felt were miscast opera singers such as Kiri Te Kanawa, José Carreras, and Tatiana Troyanos in the leading roles, was nevertheless an international bestseller. A TV documentary showing the making of the recording was made at the same time and is available on DVD.
In his later years, Bernstein's life and work was celebrated around the world (as it has been since his death). The Israel Philharmonic celebrated his involvement with them at Festivals in Israel and Austria in 1977. In 1986 the London Symphony Orchestra mounted a Bernstein Festival in London with one concert that Bernstein himself conducted attended by the Queen. In 1988 Bernstein's 70th birthday was celebrated by a lavish televised gala at Tanglewood featuring many performers who had worked with him over the years.
In December 1989 Bernstein conducted live performances and recorded in the studio his operetta Candide with the London Symphony Orchestra. The recording starred Jerry Hadley, June Anderson, Adolph Green and Christa Ludwig in the leading roles. The use of opera singers in some roles perhaps fitted the style of operetta better than some critics had thought was the case for West Side Story, and the recording (released posthumously in 1991) was universally praised. One of the live concerts from the Barbican Centre in London is available on DVD. Candide had had a troubled history, with many re-writes and writers involved. Bernstein's concert and recording were based on a "final" version that had been first performed by Scottish Opera in 1988. The opening night (which Bernstein attended in Glasgow) was conducted by Bernstein's former student John Mauceri.
On December 25, 1989, Bernstein conducted Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in East Berlin's Schauspielhaus (Playhouse) as part of a celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall. He had conducted the same work in West Berlin the previous day. The concert was broadcast live in more than twenty countries to an estimated audience of 100 million people. For the occasion, Bernstein reworded Friedrich Schiller's text of the Ode to Joy, substituting the word Freiheit (freedom) for Freude (joy).[34] Bernstein, in his spoken introduction, said that they had "taken the liberty" of doing this because of a "most likely phony" story, apparently believed in some quarters, that Schiller wrote an "Ode to Freedom" that is now presumed lost. Bernstein added, "I'm sure that Beethoven would have given us his blessing."
In the summer of 1990, Bernstein and Michael Tilson Thomas founded the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. Like his earlier activity in Los Angeles, this was a summer training school for musicians modeled on Tanglewood, and is still in existence. Bernstein was already at this time suffering from the lung disease that would lead to his death. In his opening address Bernstein said that he had decided to devote what time he had left to education. A video showing Bernstein speaking and rehearsing at the first Festival is available on DVD in Japan.
Bernstein made his final performance as a conductor at Tanglewood on August 19, 1990, with the Boston Symphony playing Benjamin Britten's "Four Sea Interludes" from Peter Grimes, and Beethoven's Seventh Symphony.[35] He suffered a coughing fit in the middle of the Beethoven performance which almost caused the concert to break down. The concert was later issued on CD by Deutsche Grammophon.
He announced his retirement from conducting on October 9, 1990,[36] and died of pneumonia and a pleural tumor five days later. He was 72 years old.[2] A longtime heavy smoker, he had battled emphysema from his mid-50s. On the day of his funeral procession through the streets of Manhattan, construction workers removed their hats and waved, yelling "Goodbye, Lenny."[37] Bernstein is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York, next to his wife and with a copy of Mahler's Fifth lying across his heart.[38]
Social activism[link]
While Bernstein is very well known for his music compositions and conducting he is also known for his outspoken political views and his strong desire to further social change. His first aspirations for social change were made apparent in his producing (as a student) a recently banned opera, The Cradle Will Rock, about disparagement between the working and upper class. As he went on in his career Bernstein would go on to fight for everything from the influences of "American Music" to the disarming of nuclear weapons.[39]
Philanthropy[link]
Among the many awards Bernstein earned throughout his life one allowed him to make one of his philanthropic dreams a reality. He had for a long time wanted to develop an international school to help promote the integration of arts into education. When he won the Japan Arts Association award for lifetime achievement,[40] he used the 100 thousand dollars that came with the award to build such a school in Nashville, that would strive to teach teachers how to better integrate music, dance, and theater into the school system which was "not working".[41] Unfortunately, the school was not able to open until shortly after Bernstein's death.
Influence and characteristics as a conductor[link]
Bernstein was one of the major figures in orchestral conducting in the second half of the 20th century. He was held in high regard amongst many musicians, including the members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, evidenced by his honorary membership; the London Symphony Orchestra, of which he was President; and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he appeared regularly as guest conductor. He was probably the main conductor from the 1960s onwards who acquired a sort of superstar status similar to that of Herbert von Karajan, although unlike Karajan he conducted relatively little opera and part of Bernstein's fame was based on his role as a composer. As the first American-born music director of the New York Philharmonic, his rise to prominence was a factor in overcoming the perception of the time that the top conductors were necessarily trained in Europe.
Bernstein's conducting was characterized by extremes of emotion with the rhythmic pulse of the music conveyed visually through his balletic podium manner. Musicians often reported that his manner in rehearsal was the same as in concert. As he got older his performances tended to be overlaid to a greater extent with a personal expressiveness which often divided critical opinion. Extreme examples of this style can be found in his Deutsche Grammophon recordings of Nimrod from Elgar's Enigma Variations (1982), the end of Mahler's 9th Symphony (1985), and the finale of Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony (1986), where in each case the tempos are well below those typically chosen.
Bernstein performed a wide repertoire from the baroque era to the 20th century, although perhaps from the 1970s onwards he tended to focus more on music from the romantic era. He was considered especially accomplished with the works of Gustav Mahler and with American composers in general, including George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, Charles Ives, Roy Harris, William Schuman, and of course himself. Some of his recordings of works by these composers would likely appear on many music critics' lists of recommended recordings. A list of his other well-thought-of recordings would probably include individual works from Haydn, Beethoven, Berlioz, Schumann, Liszt, Nielsen, Sibelius, Stravinsky, Hindemith, and Shostakovich, among others.[42] His recordings of Rhapsody in Blue (full-orchestra version) and An American in Paris for Columbia Records, released in 1959, are considered definitive by many, although Bernstein cut the Rhapsody slightly, and his more 'symphonic' approach with slower tempi is quite far from Gershwin's own conception of the piece, evident from his two recordings. (Oscar Levant, Earl Wild, and others come closer to Gershwin's own style.) Bernstein never conducted Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F, or Porgy and Bess, although he did discuss the latter in his article Why Don't You Run Upstairs and Write a Nice Gershwin Tune?, originally published in The New York Times and later reprinted in his 1959 book The Joy of Music.
In addition to being an active conductor, Bernstein was a very influential teacher of conducting. During his many years of teaching at Tanglewood and elsewhere, he directly taught or mentored many conductors who are performing now, such as Marin Alsop, Herbert Blomstedt, Edo de Waart, Alexander Frey, Paavo Järvi, John Mauceri, Eiji Oue, Seiji Ozawa (who made his US TV debut as the guest conductor on one of the Young People's Concerts), Carl St.Clair, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Jaap van Zweden. He also undoubtedly influenced the career choices of many US musicians who grew up watching his television programmes in the 1950s and 60s.
Recordings[link]
Bernstein recorded extensively from the 1950s until just a few months before his death. Aside from a few early recordings in the mid-1940s for RCA Victor, Bernstein recorded primarily for Columbia Masterworks Records, especially when he was music director of the New York Philharmonic. His typical pattern of recording at that time was to record major works in the studio immediately after they were presented in the orchestra's subscription concerts, with any spare time used to record short orchestral showpieces and similar works. Many of these performances were digitally remastered and reissued by Sony as part of their 100 Volume, 125 CDs "Royal Edition" and their later "Bernstein Century" series. In 2010 many of these recordings were repackaged in a 60 CD "Bernstein Symphony Edition".
His later recordings (starting with Bizet's Carmen in 1972) were mostly made for Deutsche Grammophon, though he would occasionally return to the Columbia Masterworks label. Notable exceptions include recordings of Gustav Mahler's Song of the Earth and Mozart's 15th piano concerto and "Linz" symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for Decca Records (1966); Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique and Harold in Italy (1976) for EMI; and Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (1981) for Philips Records, a label that like Deutsche Grammophon was part of PolyGram at that time. Unlike his studio recordings for Columbia Masterworks, most of his later Deutsche Grammophon recordings were taken from live concerts (or edited together from several concerts with additional sessions to correct errors). Many replicate repertoire that he recorded in the 1950s and 60s.
In addition to his audio recordings, many of Bernstein's concerts from the 1970s onwards were recorded on motion picture film by the German film company Unitel. This included a complete cycle of the Mahler symphonies (with the Vienna Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra), as well as complete cycles of the Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann symphonies recorded at the same series of concerts as the audio recordings by Deutsche Grammophon. Many of these films appeared on Laserdisc and are now on DVD.
In total Bernstein was awarded 16 Grammys for his recordings in various categories including several for recordings released after his death. He was also awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 1985.
Influence and characteristics as a composer[link]
Bernstein was an eclectic composer whose music fused elements of jazz, Jewish music, theatre music and the work of older composers like Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, George Gershwin, and Marc Blitzstein. Some of his works, especially his score for West Side Story, helped bridge the gap between classical and popular music. His music was rooted in tonality but in some works like his Kaddish Symphony and the opera A Quiet Place he mixed in 12-tone elements. Bernstein himself said his main motivation for composing was "to communicate" and that all his pieces, including his symphonies and concert works, "could in some sense be thought of as 'theatre' pieces."[43] According to the League of American orchestras,[44] he was the second most frequently performed American composer by US orchestras in 2008-9 behind Copland, and he was the 16th most frequently performed composer overall by US orchestras. (Some performances were probably due to the 90th anniversary of his birth in 2008.) His most popular pieces were the Overture to Candide, the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, the Serenade for Violin, Strings, Harp and Percussion and the Three Dance Episodes from On the Town. His shows West Side Story, On the Town, Wonderful Town and Candide are regularly performed, and his symphonies and concert works are programmed from time to time by orchestras around the world. Since his death many of his works have been commercially recorded by artists other than himself. The Serenade, which has been recorded more than 10 times, is probably his most recorded work not taken from an actual theatre piece.
Despite the fact that he was a popular success as a composer, Bernstein himself is reported to have been disillusioned that some of his more serious works were not rated more highly by critics, and that he himself had not been able to devote more time to composing because of his conducting and other activities.[37] Professional criticism of Bernstein's music often involves discussing the degree to which he created something new as art versus simply skillfully borrowing and fusing together elements from others. In the late 1960s, Bernstein himself reflected that his eclecticism was in part due to his lack of lengthy periods devoted to composition, and that he was still seeking to enrich his own personal musical language in the manner of the great composers of the past, all of whom had borrowed elements from others.[45] Perhaps the harshest criticism he received from some critics in his lifetime though was directed at works like his Kaddish Symphony, his MASS and the opera A Quiet Place, where they found the underlying message of the piece or the text as either mildly embarrassing, clichéd or offensive. Despite this, all these pieces have been performed, discussed and reconsidered since his death.
Although he taught conducting, Bernstein was not a teacher of composition as such, and he has no direct composing heirs. Perhaps the closest are composers like John Adams who from the 1970s onwards indirectly adopted elements of his eclectic, theatrical style.
Works[link]
Ballet[link]
- Fancy Free, 1944
- Facsimile – Choreographic Essay for Orchestra, 1946
- Dybbuk (ballet), 1974
Opera[link]
- Trouble in Tahiti, 1952
- Candide, 1956 (new libretto in 1973, operetta final revised version in 1989)
- A Quiet Place, 1983
Musicals[link]
- On The Town, 1944
- Wonderful Town, 1953
- West Side Story, 1957
- The Race to Urga (incomplete), 1969
- "By Bernstein" (a Revue), 1975
- 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, 1976
- "A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green", 1977
- The Madwoman of Central Park West, (contributed to) 1979
Incidental music and other theatre[link]
- Peter Pan, 1950
- The Lark, 1955
- The Firstborn, 1958
- Mass (theatre piece for singers, players and dancers), 1971
- "Side by Side by Sondheim"* 1976
Film scores[link]
- On the Town, 1949 (only part of his music was used)
- On the Waterfront, 1954
- West Side Story, 1961
Orchestral[link]
- Symphony No. 1, Jeremiah, 1942
- Fancy Free and Three Dance Variations from "Fancy Free,", concert premiere 1946
- Three Dance Episodes from "On the Town," concert premiere 1947
- Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety, (after W. H. Auden) for Piano and Orchestra, 1949 (revised in 1965)
- Serenade for Solo Violin, Strings, Harp and Percussion (after Plato's "Symposium"), 1954
- Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs for Solo Clarinet and Jazz Ensemble, 1949
- Symphonic Suite from "On the Waterfront", 1955
- Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story", 1961
- Symphony No. 3, Kaddish, for Orchestra, Mixed Chorus, Boys' Choir, Speaker and Soprano Solo, 1963 (revised in 1977)
- Dybbuk, Suites No. 1 and 2 for Orchestra, concert premieres 1975
- Songfest: A Cycle of American Poems for Six Singers and Orchestra, 1977
- Three Meditations from "Mass" for Violoncello and Orchestra, 1977
- Slava! A Political Overture for Orchestra, 1977
- Divertimento for Orchestra, 1980
- Halil, nocturne for Solo Flute, Piccolo, Alto Flute, Percussion, Harp and Strings, 1981
- Concerto for Orchestra, 1989 (Originally Jubilee Games from 1986, revised in 1989)
Choral[link]
- Hashkiveinu for Cantor (tenor), Mixed Chorus and Organ, 1945
- Missa Brevis for Mixed Chorus and Countertenor Solo, with Percussion, 1988
- Chichester Psalms for Boy Soprano (or Countertenor), Mixed Chorus, and Orchestra, 1965 (Reduced version for Organ, Harp and Percussion)
Chamber music[link]
- Piano Trio, 1937, Boosey & Hawkes
- Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, 1939
- Brass Music, 1959
- Dance Suite, 1988
Vocal music[link]
- I Hate Music: A cycle of Five Kids Songs for Soprano and Piano, 1943
- Big Stuff, sung by Billie Holiday
- La Bonne Cuisine: Four Recipes for Voice and Piano, 1948
- Silhouette (Galilee), 1951
- Two Love Songs, 1960
- So Pretty, 1968
- Piccola Serenata, 1988
- Arias and Barcarolles for Mezzo-Soprano, Baritone and Piano four-hands, 1988
Piano music[link]
- Music for Two Pianos, 1937
- Piano Sonata, 1938
- 7 Anniversaries, 1944
- 4 Anniversaries, 1948
- 5 Anniversaries, 1952
- Bridal Suite, 1960
- Moby Diptych, 1981 (republished as Anniversaries nos. 1 and 2 in Thirteen Anniversaries)
- Touches, 1981
- 13 Anniversaries, 1988
Other music[link]
- Other occasional works, written as gifts and other forms of memorial and tribute
- "The Skin of Our Teeth": An aborted work from which Bernstein took material to use in his "Chichester Psalms"
- "Simhu Na" (arrangement of traditional song)
- "Waltz for Mippy III" for Tuba and Piano
- "Elegy for Mippy II" for Trombone alone
- "Elegy for Mippy I" for Horn and Piano
- "Rondo for Lifey" for Trumpet and Piano
- "Fanfare for Bima" for Brass Quartet: composed in 1947 as a birthday tribute to Koussevitzky using the tune he whistled to call his cocker spaniel[46]
- "Shivaree: A Fanfare" for Double Brass Ensemble and Percussion. 1970. Commissioned by and dedicated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in honor of its Centenary. Musical material later used in "Mass."
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Bibliography[link]
- Bernstein, Leonard (1993 – reprinting) [1982]. Findings. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 0-385-42437-X.
- Bernstein, Leonard (1993 – reprinting) [1966]. The Infinite Variety of Music. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 0-385-42438-8.
- Bernstein, Leonard (2004 – reprinting) [1959]. The Joy of Music. Pompton Plains, New Jersey: Amadeus Press. ISBN 1-57467-104-9.
- Bernstein, Leonard (2006 – reprinting) [1962]. Young People's Concerts. Milwaukee; Cambridge: Amadeus Press. ISBN 1-57467-102-2.
- Bernstein, Leonard. [1976] The Unanswered Question: Six Talks at Harvard, Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-92001-5.
Videography[link]
- The Unanswered Question: Six Talks at Harvard. West Long Branch, New Jersey: Kultur Video. VHS ISBN 1-56127-570-0. DVD ISBN 0-7697-1570-2. (videotape of the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures given at Harvard in 1973.)
- Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic. West Long Branch, New Jersey: Kultur Video. DVD ISBN 0-7697-1503-6.
- Bernstein on Beethoven: A Celebration in Vienna/Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1. West Long Branch, Kultur Video. DVD
- Leonard Bernstein: Omnibus – The Historic TV Broadcasts ,2010, E1 Ent.
- Bernstein: Reflections (1978), Euroarts.
- Bernstein/Beethoven (1982), Deustche Grammophon, DVD
- Bernstein Conducts "West Side Story" (1985) (retitled The Making of West Side Story in re-releases) Deutsche Grammophon, DVD
- "The Rite of Spring" in Rehearsal
Awards[link]
Main article: List of Leonard Bernstein awards
- Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1951[47]
- Sonning Award (Denmark), 1956
- Ditson Conductor's Award, 1958
- George Peabody Medal – Johns Hopkins University, 1980
- Ernst von Siemens Music Prize 1987
- Royal Philarmonic Society Gold Medal (UK), 1987
- Knight Grand Cross Order of Merit (Italy), 1989
- Grammy Award for Best Album for Children
- Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance
- Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance
- Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording
- Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance
- Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance
- Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition
- Grammy Award for Best Classical Album
- Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
- Tony Award for Best Musical
- Special Tony Award
- Japan Arts Association Lifetime Achievement Award
- Gramophone Hall of Fame entrant[48]
Further reading[link]
- Burton, Humphrey (1994). Leonard Bernstein. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-42345-4.
- Gottlieb, Jack (ed.) (1992). Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts (revised ed.). New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 0-385-42435-3.
- Bernstein, Burton; Haws, Barbara, eds. (2008). Leonard Bernstein: American Original. Contains chapters by Alan Rich, Paul Boyer, Carol J. Oja, Tim Page, Burton Bernstein, Jonathan Rosenberg, Joseph Horowitz, Bill McGlaughlin, James M. Keller, and John Adams. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-153786-1.
- Chapin, Schuyler (1992). Leonard Bernstein: Notes from a Friend. New York: Walker. ISBN 0-8027-1216-9.
- Rozen, Brian D. (1997). The Contributions of Leonard Bernstein to Music Education: An Analysis of his 53 Young People's Concerts. Thesis (PhD). Rochester, New York: University of Rochester. OCLC 48156751.
- Laird, Paul R. (2002). Leonard Bernstein: A Guide to Research. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-8153-3517-2. (online at Google Books)
References[link]
- ^ Karlin, Fred (1994) (recording). Listening to Movies 8. New York City: Schirmer. p. 264. Bernstein's pronunciation of his own name as he introduces his Peter and the Wolf.
- ^ a b Henahan, Donal (October 15, 1990). "Leonard Bernstein, 72, Music's Monarch, Dies". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE0DA1F3DF936A25753C1A966958260. Retrieved February 11, 2009. "Leonard Bernstein, one of the most prodigally talented and successful musicians in American history, died yesterday evening at his apartment at the Dakota on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He was 72 years old. Mr. Bernstein's spokeswoman, Margaret Carson, said he died of a heart attack caused by progressive lung failure."
- ^ Laird, Paul R. Leonard Bernstein: A Guide to Research. Routledge, 2002. p. 10.
- ^ Dougary, Ginny (March 13, 2010). "Leonard Bernstein: ‘charismatic, pompous – and a great father'". The Times (UK). http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/classical/article7059407.ece. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
- ^ Oliver, Myrna (October 15, 1990). "Leonard Bernstein Dies; Conductor, Composer Music: Renaissance man of his art was 72. The longtime leader of the N.Y. Philharmonic carved a niche in history with `West Side Story.'". Los Angeles Times. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/60165868.html?dids=60165868:60165868&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+15%2C+1990&author=MYRNA+OLIVER&pub=Los+Angeles+Times+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Leonard+Bernstein+Dies%3B+Conductor%2C+Composer+Music%3A+Renaissance+man+of+his+art+was+72.+The+longtime+leader+of+the+N.Y.+Philharmonic+carved+a+niche+in+history+with+%60West+Side+Story.'&pqatl=google. Retrieved March 12, 2010.
- ^ "Great Escape composer dies at 82". BBC News. August 19, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3578820.stm.
- ^ "Introduction". Bernstein West. http://www.bernsteinwest.com/elmerbernstein1.html. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
- ^ Peyser, Joan (1987). Bernstein, a biography. New York: Beech Tree Books. pp. 22–24. ISBN 0-688-04918-4.
- ^ Peyser (1987), p. 34.
- ^ Peyser (1987), p. 39–40.
- ^ a b See for instance Bernstein's 1980 TV Documentary, Teachers and Teaching available on a Deutsche Grammophon DVD.
- ^ Peyser (1987) (Bernstein complained later that she taught him an incorrect piano technique), pp. 38–9.
- ^ "Bernstein Chronology". http://www.leonardbernstein.com/lifeswork/timeline/timeline01.asp.
- ^ "About Bernstein". Leonard Bernstein Official Site. http://www.leonardbernstein.com/about.php. Retrieved January 15, 2007.
- ^ "Leonard Bernstein – Biography". Sony Classical. http://www.sonyclassical.com/artists/bernstein/bio.html. Retrieved January 15, 2007.
- ^ Deems Taylor (July 25, 2007), Pathétique, Music-Appreciation Records
- ^ Arturo Toscanini: the NBC years – Google Books. Google Books. 2002. ISBN 978-1-57467-069-1. http://books.google.com/?id=wBD_ujAW520C&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=Leonard+Bernstein,+NBC+Symphony,+Mortimer+Frank#v=onepage&q=Leonard%20Bernstein&f=false. Retrieved September 20, 2010.
- ^ a b c d Burton,Humphrey (1994). Leonard Bernstein. New York: Doubleday.
- ^ Charles Kaiser, The Gay Metropolis, New York City: 1940–1996.
- ^ a b Meryle Secrest (1995), Leonard Bernstein: A Life.
- ^ Peyser (1987), pp. 196, 204, 322.
- ^ The Official Leonard Bernstein Web Site. http://www.leonardbernstein.com/about.php.
- ^ "Young People's Concerts". Leonard Bernstein. http://www.leonardbernstein.com/ypc_publications.htm. Retrieved September 20, 2010.
- ^ Transcription of Bernstein's Glenn Gould Introduction (from a Rutgers University webpage).
- ^ Glenn Gould: Variations, Ed. John McGreevy (1983).
- ^ Seldes, Barry (2009). Leonard Bernstein: The Political Life of an American Musician. University of California Press.
- ^ "Radical Chic". Hope for America: Performers, Politics and Pop Culture. Library of Congress. http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/hopeforamerica/causesandcontroversies/polarization/ExhibitObjects/RadicalChic.aspx. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
- ^ "False Note on Black Panthers". The New York Times. January 16, 1970.
- ^ Wolfe, Tom. "Tom Wolfe on Radical Chic and Leonard Bernstein's Party for the Black Panthers". Radical Chic: That Party at Lenny's. New York. http://nymag.com/news/features/46170/index15.html. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
- ^ Wolfe, Tom (June 8, 1970). "Radical Chic: that Party at Lenny's". New York. http://nymag.com/docs/07/05/070529radical_chic.pdf. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
- ^ "Leonard Bernstein: A political life". The Economist. May 28, 2009. http://www.economist.com/node/13726549. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
- ^ Bernstein, Felicia M. (January 21, 1970). "Letters to the Editor of The Times: Panthers' Legal Aid". The New York Times.
- ^ "The Social Activist". Bernstein: The Best of All Possible Worlds. Carnegie Hall Corporation. http://www.carnegiehall.org/bernstein/leonardbernstein/socialactivist.aspx. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
- ^ Naxos (2006). "Ode To Freedom – Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (NTSC)". Naxos.com Classical Music Catalogue. http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=2072038. Retrieved November 26, 2006.
- ^ Garrison Keillor (August 25, 2003). "The Writer's Almanac". American Public Media. http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/programs/2003/08/25. Retrieved January 17, 2007.
- ^ Name * (October 14, 2009). "» Died On This Date (October 14, 1990) Leonard Bernstein / World Renowned Composer The Music's Over". Themusicsover.wordpress.com. http://themusicsover.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/leonard-bernstein/. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
- ^ a b See the TV Documentary: Leonard Bernstein: Reaching for the Note originally shown in the series American Masters on PBS in the US, now on DVD.
- ^ Davis, Peter G. (May 17, 2011). "When Mahler Took Manhattan." Retrieved 2011-5-18. "Small wonder that Bernstein is buried with the score of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony placed over his heart."
- ^ Bernstein:The Best of All Possible Worlds. "Causes and Effecting Change". http://www.carnegiehall.org/bernstein/leonardbernstein/essays/nr_socialactivist.html.
- ^ "Temple Emanuel". http://www.emanuelnyc.org/composer.php?composer_id=28.
- ^ Harrison, Eric (1993). "The maestro's legacy reverberates in Nashville : Leonard Bernstein's dream of creating a center that integrates the arts and the classroom is in full swing". Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles). http://articles.latimes.com/1993-08-09/news/mn-22033_1_leonard-bernstein. Retrieved Oct 11, 2011.
- ^ Holmes, John L. (1982). Conductors on Record. UK: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-22990-2.
- ^ In the 1978 Peter Rosen documentary Leonard Bernstein: Reflections, now available on a Medici Arts DVD.
- ^ Retrieved January 21, 2011.
- ^ Gruen, John and Heyman, Ken (1968).The Private World of Leonard Bernstein. New York: The Viking Press.
- ^ Copland, Aaron and Perlis, Vivian (1984). Copland Since 1943, p119.
- ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
- ^ "Leonard Bernstein (composer, conductor and pianist)". Gramophone. http://www.gramophone.co.uk/HallofFame/ArtistPage/Bernstein.
External links[link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Leonard Bernstein |
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Leonard Bernstein |
- Official website
- Discography
- The Leonard Bernstein Collection at the Library of Congress Music Division
- Leonard Bernstein discography at MusicBrainz
- Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks
- Bernstein's Boston, a Harvard University research project
- FBI file on Leonard Bernstein
- Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts
- Gay Great – Leonard Bernstein
- Radical Chic, a book by Tom Wolfe describing a gathering at Bernstein's apartment of New York's social elite and the Black Panther Party.
- Leonard Bernstein: A Total Embrace of Music, written by Peter Gutmann, music journalist.
- Arias and Barcarolles, The Leonard Bernstein Pages
- Leonard Bernstein at the Internet Movie Database
- Leonard Bernstein at the Internet Broadway Database
- Leonard Bernstein at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Leonard Bernstein's maximum card from Israel
- Obituary, New York Times, October 15, 1990
- Leonard Bernstein: American Original (HarperCollins, 2008) Chapters by Alan Rich, Paul Boyer, Carol J. Oja, Tim Page, Burton Bernstein, Jonathan Rosenberg, Joseph Horowitz, Bill McGlaughlin, James M. Keller, John Adams
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Bernstein, Leonard |
| Alternative names | Bernstein, Louis |
| Short description | Composer, conductor, pedagogue, pianist, writer |
| Date of birth | August 25, 1918 |
| Place of birth | Lawrence, Massachusetts, United States |
| Date of death | October 14, 1990 |
| Place of death | New York City, New York, U.S. |
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
Leopold Anthony Stokowski (April 18, 1882 – September 13, 1977) was a British orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.
In America, Stokowski performed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the NBC Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony of the Air and many others. He was also the founder of the All-American Youth Orchestra, the New York City Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra and the American Symphony Orchestra. He conducted the music for and appeared in Disney's Fantasia and was a lifelong champion of contemporary composers, giving many premieres of new music during his 60-year conducting career. Stokowski, who made his official conducting debut in 1909, appeared in public for the last time in 1975 but continued making recordings until June 1977, a few months before his death at the age of 95.
Contents
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Early life[link]
Stokowski was the son of an English-born cabinet-maker with Polish heritage, Kopernik Joseph Boleslav Stokowski, and his Irish-born wife Annie-Marion Stokowski, née Moore. Stokowski was born Leopold Anthony Stokowski, though on occasion in later life he altered his middle name to Antoni. There is some mystery surrounding his early life. For example, he spoke with an unusual, non-British accent, though he was born and raised in London, England.[1] In addition, on occasion, Stokowski gave his birth year as 1887 instead of 1882, as in a letter to the Hugo Riemann Musiklexicon in 1950, which also gave his birthplace as Kraków, Poland. Nicolas Slonimsky, editor of Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians received a letter from a Finnish encyclopedia editor that said, "The Maestro himself told me that he was born in Pomerania, Germany, in 1889."
However, Stokowski's birth certificate (signed by J. Claxton, the registrar at the General Office, Somerset House, London, in the parish of All Souls, County of Middlesex) gives his birth on April 18, 1882, at 13 Upper Marylebone Street (now New Cavendish Street), in the Marylebone District of London. Stokowski was named after his Polish-born grandfather Leopold, who died in the English county of Surrey on January 13, 1879, at the age of 49.[2] The "mystery" surrounding his origins and accent is clarified in Oliver Daniel's 1000-page biography Stokowski – A Counterpoint of View (1982), in which (in Chapter 12) Daniel reveals that Stokowski came under the influence of his first wife, the pianist Olga Samaroff. Samaroff, née Hickenlooper, was from the American mid-west, and adopted a more exotic-sounding name to further her career. For professional and career reasons, she "urged him to emphasize only the Polish part of his background" once he became a resident of the United States.
Stokowski studied at the Royal College of Music, where he first enrolled in 1896 at the age of thirteen, making him one of the youngest students to do so. In his later life in America, Stokowski would perform six of the nine symphonies composed by his fellow organ student Ralph Vaughan Williams. Stokowski sang in the choir of the St. Marylebone Church, and later he became the Assistant Organist to Sir Walford Davies at The Temple Church. At the age of 16, Stokowski was elected to a membership in the Royal College of Organists. In 1900, Stokowski formed the choir of St. Mary's Church, Charing Cross Road, where he trained the choirboys and played the organ. In 1902, Stokowski was appointed the organist and choir director of St. James's Church, Piccadilly. He also attended The Queen's College, Oxford, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 1903.
Professional career[link]
In New York, Paris, and Cincinnati[link]
In 1905, Stokowski began work in New York City as the organist and choir director of St. Bartholomew's Church. He was very popular among the parishioners, who included members of the Vanderbilt family, but in the course of time, he resigned this position in his quest of a career as an orchestra conductor. Stokowski moved to Paris for additional study in music conducting. There he heard that the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra would be needing a new conductor when it returned from a long sabbatical. In 1908, Stokowski began a campaign to win this conducting position, writing multiple letters to the orchestra's president, Mrs. C. R. Holmes, and traveling all the way to Cincinnati, Ohio, for a personal interview.
Stokowski won out over the other applicants, and he took up his conducting duties in the fall of 1909. That was the year of his official conducting debut in Paris with the Colonne Orchestra on May 12, 1909, when Stokowski accompanied his bride-to-be, the pianist Olga Samaroff, in Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. Stokowski's conducting debut in London took place the following week on May 18 with the New Symphony Orchestra at Queen's Hall.
Stokowski as the new permanent conductor was a great success in Cincinnati, where he introduced the concept of "pop concerts." Starting with his first season in Cincinnati, he began championing living composers with performances of music by Richard Strauss, Sibelius, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Glazunov, Saint-Saëns and many others. He conducted the American premieres of new works by such composers as Elgar, whose 2nd Symphony was first presented there on November 24, 1911. He was to maintain his advocacy of contemporary music to the end of his career.
However, in early 1912, Stokowski became highly frustrated with the politics of the orchestra's Board of Directors, and he turned in his resignation. There was some dispute over whether to accept this or not, but on April 12, 1912, the Board decided to do so.
At the Philadelphia Orchestra[link]
Two months later, Stokowski was appointed the director of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and he made his conducting debut in Philadelphia on October 11, 1912. This position would bring him some of his greatest accomplishments and recognition. It has been suggested that Stokowski resigned abruptly at Cincinnati with the hidden knowledge that the conducting position in Philadelphia was his when he wanted it, or as Oscar Levant suggested in his book A Smattering of Ignorance, "he had the contract in his back pocket." Before Stokowski moved into his conducting position in Philadelphia, however, he sailed back to England to conduct two concerts at the Queen's Hall in London. On May 22, 1912, Stokowski conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in a concert which he was to repeat in its entirety 60 years later at the age of 90, and on June 14, 1912, he conducted an all-Wagner concert that featured the noted soprano Lillian Nordica. While he was director of the Philadelphia Orchastra, he was largely responsible for convincing Mary Louise Curtis Bok to set up the Curtis Institute of Music (October 13, 1924) in Philadelphia, which became and continues to be probably the finest music school in the country and perhaps the world. He helped with recruiting faculty and hired many of their graduates.
Stokowski rapidly gained a reputation as a musical showman. His flair for the theatrical included grand gestures such as throwing the sheet music on the floor to show he did not need to conduct from a score. He also experimented with new lighting arrangements in the concert hall,[3] at one point conducting in a dark hall with only his head and hands lighted, at other times arranging the lights so they would cast theatrical shadows of his head and hands. Late in the 1929-30 symphony season, Stokowski started conducting without a baton. His free-hand manner of conducting soon became one of his trademarks.
On the musical side, Stokowski nurtured the orchestra and shaped the "Stokowski" sound, or what became known as the "Philadelphia Sound".[4] He encouraged "free bowing" from the string section, "free breathing" from the brass section, and continually altered the seating arrangements of the orchestra's sections, as well as the acoustics of the hall, in response to his urge to create a better sound. Stokowski is credited as being the first conductor to adopt the seating plan that is used by most orchestras today, with first and second violins together on the conductor's left, and the violas and cellos to the right. (Preben Opperby's 1982 Stokowski biography reproduces, on page 127, four of Stokowski's various seating plans, of which illustration No. 2 shows the string sections as here described). However, like many other conductors of his generation, Stokowski also became known for modifying the orchestrations of famous compositions by such composers as Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Brahms. In one case, Stokowski revised the ending of the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, by Tchaikovsky, so that it would close quietly, taking his notion from Modest Tchaikovsky's Life and Letters of Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky (translated by Rosa Newmarch: 1906) that the composer had provided a quiet ending of his own at Balakirev's suggestion. This was in addition to the three different versions of the work made by the composer himself, in 1870, 1871 and 1881. Stokowski made major revisions to Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain, making significant alterations to Rimsky-Korsakov's adaptation of the work, and making it sound, in some places, similar to the original. In the film Fantasia, to conform to the Disney artists' story-line, depicting the battle between good and evil, the performance of Night on Bald Mountain segued into the beginning of Schubert's Ave Maria.
Many serious music critics have been horrified at the liberties Stokowski took—liberties which were common in the nineteenth century, but had mostly died out in the twentieth, when faithful adherence to the composer's scores became more common.[5] However, Stokowski often left scores completely unretouched, particularly those many hundreds of new works which he was conducting for the first time. On the other hand, he was by no means alone in his alterations to more familiar scores. Arturo Toscanini, for example, who had a reputation for "doing as written", was equally adept at making similar changes to composers' scores, as in Tchaikovsky's Manfred symphony, where Toscanini added tam-tam crashes to the end of the first movement, rewrote the wind, brass, and string parts here and there, and cut 100 bars out of the finale. Toscanini's alterations, however, nearly always tended to be much more subtle, and less frequent than Stokowski's.
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Stokowski's repertoire was broad and included many contemporary works. He was the only conductor to perform all of Arnold Schoenberg's orchestral works during the composer's own lifetime, several of which were world premieres. Stokowski gave the first American performance of Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder in 1932. It was recorded "live" on 78 rpm records and remained the only recording of this work in the catalog until the advent of the LP album. Stokowski also presented the American premieres of four of Dmitri Shostakovich's symphonies, Numbers 1, 3, 6, and 11. In 1916, Stokowski conducted the American premiere of Mahler's 8th Symphony, Symphony of a Thousand. He added works by Rachmaninoff to his repertoire, giving the world premieres of his Fourth Piano Concerto, the Three Russian Songs, the Third Symphony, and the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini; Sibelius, whose last three symphonies were given their American premieres in Philadelphia in the 1920s; and Igor Stravinsky, many of whose works were also given their first American performances by Stokowski. In 1922, he introduced Stravinsky's score for the ballet The Rite of Spring to America, gave its first staged performance there in 1930 with Martha Graham dancing the part of The Chosen One, and at the same time made the first American recording of the work.
Seldom an opera conductor, Stokowski did give the American premieres in Philadelphia of the original version of Mussorgky's Boris Godunov (1929) and Alban Berg's Wozzeck (1931). Many works by such composers as Arthur Bliss, Max Bruch, Ferruccio Busoni, Carlos Chávez, Aaron Copland, George Enescu, Manuel de Falla, Paul Hindemith, Gustav Holst, Gian Francesco Malipiero, Nikolai Myaskovsky, Walter Piston, Francis Poulenc, Sergei Prokofiev, Maurice Ravel, Ottorino Respighi, Albert Roussel, Alexander Scriabin, Elie Siegmeister, Karol Szymanowski, Edgard Varèse, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Anton Webern, and Kurt Weill, amongst countless other lesser names, received their American premieres under Stokowski's direction in Philadelphia.
In 1933, Stokowski started "Youth Concerts" for younger audiences, which are still a tradition in Philadelphia and many other American cities, and fostered youth music programs.
After disputes with the board, Stokowski began to withdraw from involvement in the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1936 onwards, allowing his co-conductor Eugene Ormandy to gradually take over. Stokowski shared principal conducting duties with Ormandy from 1936–1940; Stokowski did not appear with the Philadelphia Orchestra from December 6, 1940, when he premiered Schoenberg's Violin Concerto with Louis Krasner, until February 12, 1960, when he guest-conducted the Philadelphia in works of Mozart, de Falla, Respighi, and in a legendary performance of the Shostakovich Fifth Symphony, arguably the greatest by Stokowski. The recording of this concert's broadcast had been circulated privately among collectors over the years, though never issued commercially, but with the copyright expiring at the start of 2011, it was released in its entirety on the Pristine Audio label.
Stokowski appeared as himself in the motion picture The Big Broadcast of 1937, conducting two of his Bach transcriptions. That same year he also conducted and acted in One Hundred Men and a Girl, with Deanna Durbin and Adolphe Menjou. In 1939, Stokowski collaborated with Walt Disney to create the motion picture for which he is best known: Fantasia. He conducted all the music (with the exception of a "jam session" in the middle of the film) and included his own orchestrations for the Toccata and Fugue in D minor and Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria segments. Stokowski even got to talk to (and shake hands with) Mickey Mouse on screen, although he would later say with a smile that Mickey Mouse got to shake hands with him. Most of the music was recorded in the Academy of Music, using multi-track stereophonic sound. Stokowski also appeared in the 1947 film Carnegie Hall along with Bruno Walter, Fritz Reiner, Jascha Heifetz, Arthur Rubinstein, Ezio Pinza and other great classical musicians of the day.
On his return in 1960, Stokowski appeared with Philadelphia Orchestra as a guest conductor. He also made two LP recordings with them for Columbia Records, one including a performance of Manuel de Falla's El amor brujo, which he had introduced to America in 1922 and had previously recorded for RCA Victor with the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra in 1946, and a Bach album which featured the 5th Brandenburg Concerto and three of his own Bach transcriptions. He continued to appear as a guest conductor on several more occasions, his final Philadelphia Orchestra concert taking place in 1969.
In honor of Stokowski's vast influence on music and the Philadelphia performing arts community, on February 24, 1969, he was awarded the prestigious University of Pennsylvania Glee Club Award of Merit.[6] Beginning in 1964, this award was "established to bring a declaration of appreciation to an individual each year that has made a significant contribution to the world of music and helped to create a climate in which our talents may find valid expression."
All-American Youth Orchestra[link]
With his Philadelphia Orchestra contract having expired in 1940, Stokowski immediately formed the All-American Youth Orchestra, its players' ages ranging from 18 to 25. It toured South America in 1940 and North America in 1941 and was met with rave reviews. Although Stokowski made a number of recordings with the AAYO for Columbia, the technical standard was not as high as had been achieved with the Philadelphia Orchestra for RCA Victor. In any event, the AAYO was disbanded when America entered the war, and plans for another extensive tour in 1942 were abandoned.
NBC Symphony Orchestra[link]
During this time, Stokowski also became chief conductor of the NBC Symphony Orchestra on a three-year contract (1941–1944). The NBC's regular conductor, Arturo Toscanini, did not wish to undertake the 1941-42 NBC season because of friction with NBC management, though he did accept guest engagements with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Stokowski conducted a great deal of contemporary music with the NBC Symphony, including the U.S. premiere of Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky in 1943, the world premieres of Schoenberg's Piano Concerto (with Eduard Steuermann) and George Antheil's 4th Symphony, both in 1944, and new works by Alan Hovhaness, Stravinsky, Hindemith, Milhaud, Howard Hanson, William Schuman, Morton Gould and many others. He also conducted several British works with this orchestra, including Vaughan Williams' 4th Symphony, Holst's The Planets, and George Butterworth's A Shropshire Lad. Stokowski also made a number of recordings with the NBC Symphony for RCA Victor in 1941-42, including Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony, a work which was never in Toscanini's repertoire, and Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. Toscanini then returned as co-conductor of the NBC Symphony with Stokowski for the remaining two years of the latter's contract.
New York City Symphony Orchestra[link]
In 1944, on the recommendation of Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, Stokowski helped form the New York City Symphony Orchestra, which they intended would make music accessible for middle-class workers. Ticket prices were set low, and performances took place at convenient, after-work hours. Many early concerts were standing room only; however, a year later in 1945, Stokowski was at odds with the board (who wanted to trim expenses even further) and he resigned. Stokowski made three 78pm sets with the New York City Symphony for RCA: Beethoven's 6th Symphony, Richard Strauss's Death and Transfiguration, and a selection of orchestral music from Georges Bizet's Carmen.
Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra[link]
In 1945, he founded the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra lasted for two years before it was disbanded for live concerts, but not for recordings, which continued well into the 1960s. Stokowski's own recordings (made in 1945-46) included Brahms's 1st Symphony, Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony and a number of short popular pieces. Some of Stokowski's open-air HBSO concerts were broadcast and recorded, and have been issued on CD, including a collaboration with Percy Grainger on Edvard Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor in the summer of 1945. (It began giving live concerts again as the "Hollywood Bowl Orchestra" in 1991, under John Mauceri).[7] There was a 1949 cartoon spoof of Stokowski at the Bowl with Bugs Bunny playing the conductor in "Long-Haired Hare" by Chuck Jones.[8]
New York Philharmonic[link]
He continued to appear frequently with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, both at the Hollywood Bowl and other venues. Then in 1946 Stokowski became a chief Guest Conductor of the New York Philharmonic. His many "first performances" with them included the U.S. Premiere of Prokofiev's 6th Symphony in 1949. He also made many splendid recordings with the NYPO for Columbia, including the world premiere recordings of Vaughan Williams's 6th Symphony and Olivier Messiaen's L'Ascension also in 1949.
International career[link]
However, when in 1950 Dimitri Mitropoulos was appointed Chief Conductor of the NYPO, Stokowski began a new international career which commenced in 1951 with a nation-wide tour of England: during the Festival of Britain celebrations he conducted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the invitation of Sir Thomas Beecham. It was during this first visit that he made his debut recording with a British orchestra, the Philharmonia, of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. During that same summer he also toured and conducted in Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Austria, and Portugal, establishing a pattern of guest-conducting abroad during the summer months while spending the winter seasons conducting in the USA. This scheme was to hold good for the next 20 years during which Stokowski conducted many of the world's greatest orchestras, simultaneously making recordings with them for various labels. Thus he conducted and recorded with the main London orchestras as well as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Suisse Romande Orchestra, the French National Radio Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, the Hilversum (Netherlands) Radio Philharmonic, and so on.
Symphony of the Air, Houston Symphony Orchestra[link]
Stokowski returned to the NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1954 for a series of recording sessions for RCA. The repertoire included Beethoven's 'Pastoral' Symphony, Sibelius's 2nd Symphony, Acts 2 and 3 of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake and highlights from Saint-Saëns's Samson and Delilah with Risë Stevens and Jan Peerce. After the NBC Symphony Orchestra was disbanded as the official ensemble of the NBC radio network, it was re-formed as the Symphony of the Air with Stokowski as notional Music Director, and as such performed many concerts and made recordings from 1954 until 1963. The U.S. premiere in 1958 of Turkish composer Adnan Saygun's Yunus Emre Oratorio is among them. He made a series of Symphony of the Air recordings for the United Artists label in 1958 which included Beethoven's 7th Symphony, Shostakovich's 1st Symphony, Khatchaturian's 2nd Symphony and Respighi's The Pines of Rome.
From 1955 to 1961, Stokowski was also the Music Director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra. For his debut appearance with the orchestra he gave the first performance of the Symphony No. 2 Mysterious Mountain by Alan Hovhaness – one of many living American composers whose music he championed over the years. He also gave the U.S. premiere in Houston of Shostakovich's 11th Symphony (April 7, 1958) and made its first American recording on the Capitol label. Stokowski's other recordings with the Houston Symphony included Carl Orff's Carmina Burana and his own edition of Reinhold Glière's Symphony No. 3 Ilya Murometz, both for Capitol; and Brahms's 3rd Symphony and Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra for Everest.
American Symphony Orchestra and London[link]
In 1960, Stokowski made one of his infrequent appearances in the opera house, when he conducted Giacomo Puccini's Turandot at the New York Metropolitan, in memorable performances with a cast that included Birgit Nilsson, Franco Corelli and Anna Moffo. In 1962, at the age of 80, Stokowski founded the American Symphony Orchestra. His championship of the 20th century composer remained undiminished and perhaps his most celebrated premiere with the American Symphony Orchestra was of Charles Ives's 4th Symphony in 1965, which CBS also recorded. Stokowski served as Music Director for the ASO until May 1972 when, at the age of 90, he returned to live in England. One of his notable British guest conducting engagements in the 1960s was the first Proms performance of Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony, Resurrection, since issued on CD.[9]
He continued to conduct in public for a few more years, but failing health forced him to only make recordings. An eyewitness said that Stokowski often conducted sitting down in his later years; sometimes, as he became involved in the performance, he would stand up and conduct with remarkable energy. His last public appearance in the UK took place at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on May 14, 1974. Stokowski conducted the New Philharmonia in the 'Merry Waltz' of Otto Klemperer (in tribute to the orchestra's former Music Director who had died the previous year), Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, Ravel's Rapsodie espagnole and Brahms's 4th Symphony. Stokowski's very last public appearance took place during the 1975 Vence Music Festival in the South of France, when on July 22 he conducted the Rouen Chamber Orchestra in several of his Bach transcriptions.
Recordings[link]
Stokowski made his very first recordings, with the Philadelphia Orchestra, for the Victor Talking Machine Company in October 1917, beginning with two of Brahms' Hungarian Dances. Other works recorded in the early sessions were the scherzo from Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream incidental music and "Dance of the Blessed Spirits" from Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice.[10] He found ways to make the best use of the acoustical process, until electrical recording was introduced by Victor in the spring of 1925. Stokowski conducted the first orchestral electrical recording to be made in America (Saint-Saens's Danse Macabre) in April 1925. The following month Stokowski recorded Marche Slave by Tchaikovsky, in which he increased the double basses to best utilize the lower frequencies of early electrical recording. Stokowski was also the first conductor in America to record all four Brahms symphonies (between 1927 and 1933). He made the first U.S. recordings of the Beethoven 7th and 9th Symphonies, Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony, Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony and Nutcracker Suite, César Franck's Symphony in D minor, Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto (with the composer as soloist), Sibelius's 4th Symphony (its first recording), Shostakovich's 5th and 6th Symphonies, and many shorter works.
His early recordings were made at Victor's Camden, New Jersey studios but then, in 1926, Victor began recording the orchestra in the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra later participated in long playing, high fidelity, and stereophonic experiments, during the early 1930s, mostly for Bell Laboratories.[11] (Victor even released some LPs at this time, which were not commercially successful because they required special, expensive phonographs that most people could not afford during the Great Depression.) Stokowski continued to make recordings with the Philadelphia Orchestra, for Victor, through December 1940. One of his last 1940 sessions was the world premiere recording of Shostakovich's sixth symphony. Stokowski recorded prodigiously for various labels until shortly before his death, including RCA Victor, Columbia, Capitol, Everest, United Artists, and Decca/London 'Phase 4' Stereo.
His first commercial stereo recordings were made in 1954 for RCA Victor with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, devoted to excerpts from Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet and the complete one-act ballet Sebastian by Gian Carlo Menotti.
From 1947-1953 Stokowski recorded for RCA Victor with a specially assembled 'ad hoc' band of players drawn principally from the New York Philharmonic and NBC Symphony. The LPs were labelled as being played by 'Leopold Stokowski and his Symphony Orchestra' and the repertoire ranged from Haydn (his Imperial Symphony) to Schoenberg (Transfigured Night) by way of Schumann, Liszt, Bizet, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Vaughan Williams, Sibelius and Percy Grainger.
His Capitol recordings in the 1950s were distinguished by the use of three-track stereophonic tape recorders. Typically, Stokowski was very careful in the placement of musicians during the recording sessions and consulted with the recording staff to achieve the best possible results. Some of the sessions took place in the ballroom of the Riverside Plaza Hotel in New York City in January and February 1957; these were produced by Richard C. Jones and engineered by Frank Abbey with Stokowski's own orchestra, which was typically drawn from New York musicians (primarily members of the Symphony of the Air). The CD reissue by EMI included selections originally released on two LPs -- The Orchestra and Landmarks of a Distinguished Career -- and featured music of Dukas, Barber, Richard Strauss, Harold Farberman, Vaughan Williams, Vincent Persichetti, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Debussy, Bach (as arranged by Stokowski), and Sibelius.[12] Although he officially used the Ravel orchestration of the finale to Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition in his 1957 Capitol recording, he did add a few additional percussion instruments to the score. His Capitol recording of Holst's The Planets was made with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. EMI, which acquired Capitol and Angel Records in the 1950s, has reissued many of Stokowski's Capitol recordings on CD.
All of the music that Stokowski conducted in Fantasia was released on a 3-LP set by Disneyland Records, in the 1957 soundtrack album made from the film. After stereo became possible on phonograph records, the album was released in stereo on Buena Vista Records. With the advent of compact discs, it appeared on a 2-CD Walt Disney Records set, in conjunction with the film's 50th anniversary.
Other labels for which Stokowski recorded in the late 1950s included Everest, noted for its use of 35 mm film instead of tape and the resulting highly vivid sound. The most notable of these was a coupling of Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini and Hamlet with Stokowski conducting the New York Stadium Symphony Orchestra (the summer name for the New York Philharmonic). Other remarkable Everest's recordings of Stokowski conducting the New York Stadium Symphony Orchestra are Villa-Lobos' tone poem Uirapuru, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 and Prokofiev's ballet suite Cinderella.
Several of Stokowski's televised concerts have appeared on both Video and DVD, including Beethoven's 5th Symphony and Schubert's Unfinished with the London Philharmonic on EMI Classics 'Classic Archive' label; the Nielsen 2nd Symphony with the Danish Radio Orchestra on VAI (Video Artists International); and the Ives 4th Symphony with the American Symphony Orchestra on Classical Video Rarities.
Stokowski as transcriber[link]
Stokowski was celebrated as a transcriber of music originally written in other forms. His catalogue includes about 200 orchestral arrangements, nearly 40 of which are transcriptions of the works of J. S. Bach. During the 1920s and '30s, Stokowski arranged many of Bach's keyboard and instrumental works, as well as songs and cantata movements, for very large forces as well as just for strings alone. The most famous of them, the Toccata and Fugue in D minor, originally for organ, served as the opening item in Walt Disney's Fantasia and brought this music to a wide audience. Much admired in their day, these transcriptions are again being played now, and conductors such as Wolfgang Sawallisch, Matthias Bamert, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Seiji Ozawa, Erich Kunzel and Jose Serebrier are among many who have performed and recorded Stokowski's Bach transcriptions. These arrangements have been considered by some purists to be bastardizations of the original works, though as Stokowski pointed out, Bach himself was an inveterate transcriber of the music of others, notably Antonio Vivaldi. Today the organ works of Bach are widely heard in their original form via recordings and concerts, much more so than during Stokowski's time. Whether his transcriptions encouraged this resurgence of interest in Bach's organ music is a matter of debate. However, in this context it should be noted that Stokowski was by no means the only orchestrator of Bach's music. Other conductors who have arranged Bach for symphonic forces include John Barbirolli, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Eugene Ormandy, Otto Klemperer, Erich Leinsdorf and Malcolm Sargent, while composers' arrangements include those by Elgar, Schoenberg, Respighi, Reger, Holst, and many others. In general, modern CD recordings of these and of Stokowski's versions have been given a very warm welcome by today's critics. For example, as Raymond Tuttle wrote in Fanfare: "It is worth remembering that many people would never have found a doorway into the world of Bach had Stokowski not put one there for them. Let's not be snobs about it: Stokowski's Bach is musical sorcery of the best sort."
On the other hand, former New York Times critic Harold C. Schonberg was not overly enthusiastic about them, even going so far as to say in his book Facing the Music that it was wrong to prefer Stokowski's Bach to the real thing.
In 1939, Stokowski also made his own orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, in which he omitted two of the movements "Tuileries", and "The Marketplace at Limoges" from the score. The composer and arranger Lucien Cailliet, a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra who also acted as "house arranger", had assisted Stokowski in the copying of many of Stokowski's transcriptions, something which led to the incorrect assumption that they were Cailliet's work and not Stokowski's. In fact, many of Stokowski's penciled manuscripts still survive in the Stokowski Collection at the University of Pennsylvania. It was from these that Cailliet made good ink copies in his excellent calligraphic hand, and thus started the unfounded rumour that Stokowski's transcriptions were not his own work. Cailliet had actually created his own orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition in 1936, and as Ormandy's RCA Victor recording shows, it is quite different from Stokowski's arrangement. In recent years Stokowski's version has become an occasional popular alternative to Ravel's, both in the concert-hall and on disc, having been recorded by Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Oliver Knussen, Matthias Bamert, Jose Serebrier, and James Sedares.
Stokowski also took passages from Wagner operas and seamlessly wove them into purely orchestral "Symphonic Syntheses" in which the vocal parts were transferred to the strings or solo instruments. Many of his shorter arrangements, such as those of songs and piano pieces by Schubert, Tchaikovsky and so on, served as "encores" with which he often concluded his concerts, rather in the same manner as Sir Thomas Beecham did with his "lollipops." Many of today's conductors have taken Stokowski's transcriptions into their own repertoire and two of his former assistants, Matthias Bamert and Jose Serebrier, have both made an extensive series of recordings of them (for Chandos and Naxos respectively).
Last years[link]
Stokowski gave his last world premiere in 1973 when, at the age of 91, he conducted Havergal Brian's 28th Symphony in a BBC radio broadcast with the New Philharmonia Orchestra. He continued to make recordings even after he had retired from the concert platform, mainly with the National Philharmonic, another 'ad hoc' orchestra made up of first-desk players chosen from the main London orchestras. In 1976, he signed a recording contract with CBS Records that would have kept him active until he was 100 years old.[13] However, he died of a heart attack the following year in Nether Wallop, Hampshire at 95. His very last recordings, made shortly before his death, for Columbia, included performances of the youthful Symphony in C by Georges Bizet and Felix Mendelssohn's 4th Symphony, "Italian", with the National Philharmonic Orchestra in London.[14]
In 1979, the Leopold Stokowski Society was formed in England. In its 30 years existence, until it disbanded in 2009, it issued on Cala Records thirty-five CDs of some of Stokowski's recordings and broadcasts.
Personal life[link]
Stokowski married three times. His first wife was the American concert pianist Olga Samaroff (born Lucie Hickenlooper), to whom he was married from 1911 until 1923. They had one daughter: Sonya Stokowski, an actress, who married Willem Thorbecke and settled in the U.S. with their four children, Noel, Johan, Leif and Christine. His second wife was Johnson & Johnson heiress Evangeline Love Brewster Johnson, an artist and aviatrix, to whom he was married from 1926 until 1937 (two daughters: Gloria Luba Stokowski and Andrea Sadja Stokowski). His third wife, from 1945 until 1955, was railroad heiress Gloria Vanderbilt (born 1924), an artist and fashion designer (two sons, Leopold Stanislaus Stokowski, b. 1950 and Christopher Stokowski, b. 1952). He also had a much-publicized affair, or close friendship, with Greta Garbo during the 1930s.
After he had achieved international fame with the Philadelphia Orchestra, unsubstantiated rumours circulated that he was born "Leonard" or "Lionel Stokes" or that he had "anglicized" it to "Stokes"; this canard is readily disproved by reference not only to his birth certificate and those of his father, younger brother, and sister (which show Stokowski to have been the genuine polonised Lithuanian family name, original 'Stokauskas' where 'stoka' means 'lack or shortage'), but also by the Student Entry Registers of the Royal College of Music, Royal College of Organists, and The Queen's College, Oxford, along with other surviving documentation from his days at St. Marylebone Church, St. James's Church, and St. Bartholomew's in New York City.[15][not specific enough to verify] Upon his arrival in America, however, he briefly spelled his name as Stokovski to ensure that people could pronounce it correctly.
After Stokowski's death, Tom Burnam writes, the "concatenization of canards" that had arisen around him was revived—that his name and accent were phony; that his musical education was deficient; that his musicians did not respect him; that he cared about nobody but himself. Burnam suggests that there was a dark, hidden reason for these rumors. Stokowski deplored the segregation of symphony orchestras in which women and minorities were excluded, and, so Burnam claims, the bigots got revenge by slandering Stokowski.
Nevertheless, and notwithstanding the claims made by Tom Burnam, attitudes towards Stokowski have changed dramatically over the years since his death. In 1999, for Gramophone magazine, and quoted again in his notes for the Cala CD of Stokowski's recording of Elgar's Enigma Variations, David Mellor wrote: "One of the great joys of recent years for me has been the reassessment of Leopold Stokowski. When I was growing up there was a tendency to disparage the old man as a charlatan. Today it is all very different. Stokowski is now recognised as the father of modern orchestral standards. He possessed a truly magical gift of extracting a burnished sound from both great and second-rank ensembles. He also loved the process of recording and his gramophone career was a constant quest for better recorded sound. But the greatest pleasure of all for me is his acceptance now as an outstanding conductor of nineteenth- and twentieth-century music, including a lot that was at the cutting edge of contemporary achievement."
Mellor's words have been echoed by many other modern writers, such as Robert Matthew-Walker of International Record Review, whose comments fairly represent the opinions of many critics today: "That Stokowski was a great musician is beyond doubt; that he was a great conductor is self-evident; that he always placed himself at the service of the music may be more contentious to some ears, but in keeping with the established norms of the age into which he was born and musically nurtured, Stokowski remained loyal to those precepts from which we, in an era far removed from their prevalence, can still learn and draw aesthetic sustenance."
Stokowski is buried at East Finchley Cemetery, in north London.[16]
Notable concert premieres[link]
- Edgard Varèse, Ameriques, Philadelphia Orchestra, Philadelphia, April 9, 1926
- Sergei Rachmaninoff, Fourth Piano Concerto, composer as soloist, Philadelphia Orchestra, 1927
- Sergei Rachmaninoff, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, composer as soloist, Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore, November 7, 1934
- Sergei Rachmaninoff, Third Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, 1936
- Arnold Schoenberg, Violin Concerto, Louis Krasner as soloist, Philadelphia Orchestra, December 6, 1940
- Arnold Schoenberg, Piano Concerto, Eduard Steuermann as soloist, NBC Symphony Orchestra, New York, February 16, 1944
- Nathaniel Shilkret, Concerto for Trombone, Tommy Dorsey as soloist, New York City Symphony Orchestra, February 15, 1945
- Alan Hovhaness, Symphony No. 2, Mysterious Mountain, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Houston, 1955
- Charles Ives, Fourth Symphony, American Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York, April 26, 1965
- Jean Sibelius, Fourth Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, April 23, 1932, Victor
- Dmitri Shostakovich, Sixth Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, August 1940, Victor
- Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sixth Symphony, Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York, February 21, 1949, Columbia
- Charles Ives, Fourth Symphony, American Symphony Orchestra, April 1965, Columbia
See also[link]
- List of famous Poles
- Long-Haired Hare (1947 Bugs Bunny cartoon)
References[link]
- ^ Simon Callow (23 September 2005). "He would fix the audience with his glinting eye...". The Guardian. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1575732,00.html. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
- ^ Abram Chasins, Leopold Stokowski, a profile, pgs. 1-3 (New York: Da Capo Press, 1979)
- ^ David Lasserson (July 19, 2002). "Are concerts killing music?". The Guardian. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/fridayreview/story/0,,757640,00.html. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
- ^ David Patrick Stearns (January 26, 2007). "BADLINK - Leopold Stokowski, the father of the Philadelphia Sound". Philadelphia Inquirer. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/special_packages/academyofmusic/16545238.htm. Retrieved 2007-04-11. [dead link]
- ^ Schonberg, Harold C. (1967). The Lives of the Great Composers. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-393-02146-7.
- ^ "The University of Pennsylvania Glee Club Award of Merit Recipients". http://www.dolphin.upenn.edu/gleeclub/MEMBERS_merit.html.
- ^ "Hollywood Bowl Orchestra". http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/music/hollywood_bowl_orch.cfm. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
- ^ "History of the Hollywood Bowl". http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/about/history.cfm. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
- ^ Edward Greenfield (13 February 2004). "Mahler: Symphony No. 2, Woodland/ Baker/ BBC Chorus and Choral Soc/ LSO/ Stokowski". The Guardian. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/fridayreview/story/0,,1146460,00.html. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
- ^ Abram Chasins, pg. 93
- ^ Fox, Barry ( 24-31 December 1981). "A hundred years of stereo: fifty of hi-fi", p 910–911. Scientific American. Retrieved 2012-03-01.
- ^ EMI Classics liner notes
- ^ Paul Vaughan (13 March 2002). "Age cannot wither them". The Guardian. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,705635,00.html. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/Mendelssohn-Bizet-Italian-Symphony-Major/dp/B00000DS1T
- ^ Source: General Register Office, London.[not specific enough to verify]
- ^ East Finchley Cemetery (City of Westminster) accessed January 26, 2006
Further reading[link]
- Daniel, Oliver (1982). Stokowski: A Counterpoint of View
- Rollin Smith (2005) Stokowski and the Organ
- Paul Robinson (1977) Stokowski: The Art of the Conductor
- Abram Chasins (1979) Leopold Stokowski: A Profile
- Preben Opperby (1982) Leopold Stokowski
- William Ander Smith (1990) The Mystery of Leopold Stokowski
- Leopold Stokowski (1943) Music for All of Us
- Herbert Kupferberg (1969) Those Fabulous Philadelphians
External links[link]
- Leopold Stokowski Papers - Special Collections in Performing Arts at the University of Maryland
- Leopold Stokowski at Allmusic
- Leopold Stokowski Discography
- Leopold Stokowski CD Discography
- Leopold Stokowski's transcriptions, arrangements & compositions
- František Sláma (musician) Archive. More on the history of the Czech Philharmonic between the 1940s and the 1980s: Conductors
- Stokowski/Philadelphia Orchestra Discography and selected (RCA) Victor recordings, 1917-1940
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| Name | Stokowski, Leopold |
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| Date of birth | 1882 |
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| Date of death | 1977 |
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Hector Berlioz (pronounced: [ɛktɔʁ bɛʁˈljoːz]; 11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts (Requiem). Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a conductor, he performed several concerts with more than 1,000 musicians. He also composed around 50 songs. His influence was critical for the further development of Romanticism, especially in composers like Richard Wagner, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Franz Liszt, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler and many others.
Hector Berlioz was born in France at La Côte-Saint-André in the département of Isère, near Grenoble. His father, a respected provincial physician and scholar, was responsible for much of the young Berlioz's education. His father, Louis-Joseph Berlioz, was an atheist, with a liberal outlook; his mother, Marie-Antoinette, was an orthodox Roman Catholic. He had five siblings in all, three of whom did not survive to adulthood. The other two, Nanci and Adèle, remained close to Berlioz throughout his life.
