February 27, 2012. Rossini, Chopin, Vivaldi. What a week - anniversaries of not one but three great composers. And because it’s a leap year, we can celebrate Gioachino Rossinion his exact birthday, February 29th. He was born in 1792 in Pesaro, a city on the Adriatic coast. Both of his parents were musicians, and his father gave him his first music lessons. When the family moved to Bologna, Gioachino took lessons from one Giuseppe Prinetti, a cembalo player who also distilled and sold brandy on a side. Rossini’s earliest surviving compositions are the six Sonate a quattro, scored for two violins, cello and double bass; he was twelve at the time. He composed his first opera, Demetrio e Polibio, just one year later. By the age of 21 he was famous throughout Italy, having written a very successful opera Tancredi. He was given a very lucrative contract as the music director of two theaters in Naples, the famous Teatro di San Carlo and Teatro del Fondo (as part of the agreement he was to write an opera a year for each theater). In 1816, when he was 24, he created what was to become his most successful opera, Il barbiere di Siviglia. It was written in just two or three weeks (later in his life Rossini boasted that he wrote it in 12 days). The premiere was a failure, as it was sabotaged by the whistling and booing supporters of Rossini’s rival,the composer Giovanni Paisiello, but the subsequent performances went triumphantly well. Rossini retired from composing at the age of 37. He moved from Bologna to Florence and then Paris. He became a gourmand, an excellent chef and a famous host. Later in life he returned to composition, writing a number of pieces he called Sins of Old Age. Rossini died in 1868. He was reburied in Florence’s Basilica di Santa Croce several years later. We’ll hear two of his pieces: one, the overture to the opera La Gazza Ladra, performed by The Texas Festival Orchestra, Michael Guttler conducting (here); another – the famous song La Danza (Tarantella), from Serate Musicali. It’s sung here by the Canadian soprano Lucia Cesaroni. Brent Funderburk is on the piano.
Frédéric Chopin was born 202 years ago, either on February 22 or March 1 of 1810 in Żelazowa Wola, Poland. Here are several Polonaises: Op. 26 no 1; Op 40 no 1; Op 40 no 2; Op 26 no 2; Op 44; and Op 53. They are performed by the extraordinary Russian piano virtuoso Lazar Berman (2/261930 – 2/6/2005). This live recording was provided to us by Istituto Europeo di Musica.
And finally, Antonio Vivaldi, il Prete Rosso, was born on March 4, 1678 in the Most Serene Republic of Venice. Vivaldi was without a doubt one of the greatest Baroque composers and influenced many composers, Johann Sebastian Bach among them. Famous during his life, he lost popularity soon after his death (it was waning even during the last years of his life, while he was living in Vienna). As hard as it is to imagine these days, with music from the Four Seasons playing in every shop, the revival of Vivaldi’s music happened only in the 20th century. Fritz Kreisler’s concerto in style of Vivaldi spurred the interest; later on the Italian composer Alfredo Casella published many of previously unknown manuscripts. General interest in Baroque music, which started in the late 1950s, cemented Vivaldi’s fame. Here’s Harpsichord Concerto in A Major. It’s performed by David Schrader and Baroque Band.
Rossini, Chopin, Vivaldi 2012
February 27, 2012. Rossini, Chopin, Vivaldi. What a week - anniversaries of not one but three great composers. And because it’s a leap year, we can celebrate Gioachino Rossini
on his exact birthday, February 29th. He was born in 1792 in Pesaro, a city on the Adriatic coast. Both of his parents were musicians, and his father gave him his first music lessons. When the family moved to Bologna, Gioachino took lessons from one Giuseppe Prinetti, a cembalo player who also distilled and sold brandy on a side. Rossini’s earliest surviving compositions are the six Sonate a quattro, scored for two violins, cello and double bass; he was twelve at the time. He composed his first opera, Demetrio e Polibio, just one year later. By the age of 21 he was famous throughout Italy, having written a very successful opera Tancredi. He was given a very lucrative contract as the music director of two theaters in Naples, the famous Teatro di San Carlo and Teatro del Fondo (as part of the agreement he was to write an opera a year for each theater). In 1816, when he was 24, he created what was to become his most successful opera, Il barbiere di Siviglia. It was written in just two or three weeks (later in his life Rossini boasted that he wrote it in 12 days). The premiere was a failure, as it was sabotaged by the whistling and booing supporters of Rossini’s rival, the composer Giovanni Paisiello, but the subsequent performances went triumphantly well. Rossini retired from composing at the age of 37. He moved from Bologna to Florence and then Paris. He became a gourmand, an excellent chef and a famous host. Later in life he returned to composition, writing a number of pieces he called Sins of Old Age. Rossini died in 1868. He was reburied in Florence’s Basilica di Santa Croce several years later. We’ll hear two of his pieces: one, the overture to the opera La Gazza Ladra, performed by The Texas Festival Orchestra, Michael Guttler conducting (here); another – the famous song La Danza (Tarantella), from Serate Musicali. It’s sung here by the Canadian soprano Lucia Cesaroni. Brent Funderburk is on the piano.
Frédéric Chopin was born 202 years ago, either on February 22 or March 1 of 1810 in Żelazowa Wola, Poland. Here are several Polonaises: Op. 26 no 1; Op 40 no 1; Op 40 no 2; Op 26 no 2; Op 44; and Op 53. They are performed by the extraordinary Russian piano virtuoso Lazar Berman (2/261930 – 2/6/2005). This live recording was provided to us by Istituto Europeo di Musica.
And finally, Antonio Vivaldi, il Prete Rosso, was born on March 4, 1678 in the Most Serene Republic of Venice. Vivaldi was without a doubt one of the greatest Baroque composers and influenced many
composers, Johann Sebastian Bach among them. Famous during his life, he lost popularity soon after his death (it was waning even during the last years of his life, while he was living in Vienna). As hard as it is to imagine these days, with music from the Four Seasons playing in every shop, the revival of Vivaldi’s music happened only in the 20th century. Fritz Kreisler’s concerto in style of Vivaldi spurred the interest; later on the Italian composer Alfredo Casella published many of previously unknown manuscripts. General interest in Baroque music, which started in the late 1950s, cemented Vivaldi’s fame. Here’s Harpsichord Concerto in A Major. It’s performed by David Schrader and Baroque Band.