This Week in Classical Music: May 25, 2020.Albéniz and Korngold. In four days we’ll celebrate the 160th anniversary of a wonderful Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz: he was born near Gerona on May 29th of 1860 (the family moved to Barcelona when Isaac was one year old).A child prodigy, he played paino publicly at the age of three and was refused entry into the Paris Conservatory only because he was just seven when he took the exams (everybody said that the jury was impressed with his talent).As a teenager he performed around Europe and even gave concerts in the Spanish-speaking American countries like Puerto Rico and Cuba.At the age of 15, Albéniz settled down, concentrating more on his studies.He was admitted to the Brussels conservatory and performed little for the next five years.By 1885, at 25, he moved to Madrid and established himself as a major figure in the music circles.He took on conducting and was composing (in concerts, he often performed his own piano music).
In 1890, after securing a suitable contract, Albéniz moved to London, where he wrote his first opera, which was published and performed that same year.He was also actively writing zarzuelas, typically Spanish dramatic compositions, a combination of opera and theater.Zarzuelas were usually rather short, like operettas they combined singing with spoken scenes and sometimes included popular songs and dance numbers.During his life, Albéniz wrote four zarzuelas and six operas, some of which he started as zarzuelas.In 1895 Albéniz moved to Paris and soon after became part of the French musical establishment; he was good friends with Vincent d'Indy, Ernest Chausson, Paul Dukas and Gabriel Fauré.
From around 1900 Albéniz began suffering from kidney disease, he felt better in warner climates and left Paris for Spain.He was also spending time in Nice.During this period, he was composing operas, unti, in 1905, he embarked on writing a series of “musical impressions” for the piano he called Iberia. It was to be his last masterpiece. Iberia was completed in 1908, and just one year later Albéniz died of acute kidney disease; he was 48 years old.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was also born this week, on May 29th of 1897.You can read more about him (and Albéniz) in one of our older entries here.Korngold was also a child prodigy, and a remarkable one: he started composing at a very young age, and, when he was nine, played a cantata, called Gold, to Gustav Mahler, who pronounced him a genius.At 11 he composed a ballet, Der Schneemann, which was performed at the Vienna Court Opera.His second piano sonata was championed by none other than Artur Schnabel.In 1914, at the age of 17, he completed two operas, Der Ring des Polykrates and Violanta.His opera Die tote Stadt premiered in 1920 and made him world-famous.His other opera, Das Wunder der Heliane (The Miracle of Heliane), premiered in 1927, was considered a flop, but at least one aria from it, Ich ging zu ihm (“I went to him”) was made famous by the soprano Renee Fleming.Here she is, singing the aria at the 2007 Prom in Albert Hall.The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by Gianandrea Noseda.
Albéniz and Korngold
This Week in Classical Music: May 25, 2020. Albéniz and Korngold. In four days we’ll celebrate the 160th anniversary of a wonderful Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz: he was born near
Gerona on May 29th of 1860 (the family moved to Barcelona when Isaac was one year old). A child prodigy, he played paino publicly at the age of three and was refused entry into the Paris Conservatory only because he was just seven when he took the exams (everybody said that the jury was impressed with his talent). As a teenager he performed around Europe and even gave concerts in the Spanish-speaking American countries like Puerto Rico and Cuba. At the age of 15, Albéniz settled down, concentrating more on his studies. He was admitted to the Brussels conservatory and performed little for the next five years. By 1885, at 25, he moved to Madrid and established himself as a major figure in the music circles. He took on conducting and was composing (in concerts, he often performed his own piano music).
In 1890, after securing a suitable contract, Albéniz moved to London, where he wrote his first opera, which was published and performed that same year. He was also actively writing zarzuelas, typically Spanish dramatic compositions, a combination of opera and theater. Zarzuelas were usually rather short, like operettas they combined singing with spoken scenes and sometimes included popular songs and dance numbers. During his life, Albéniz wrote four zarzuelas and six operas, some of which he started as zarzuelas. In 1895 Albéniz moved to Paris and soon after became part of the French musical establishment; he was good friends with Vincent d'Indy, Ernest Chausson, Paul Dukas and Gabriel Fauré.
From around 1900 Albéniz began suffering from kidney disease, he felt better in warner climates and left Paris for Spain. He was also spending time in Nice. During this period, he was composing operas, unti, in 1905, he embarked on writing a series of “musical impressions” for the piano he called Iberia. It was to be his last masterpiece. Iberia was completed in 1908, and just one year later Albéniz died of acute kidney disease; he was 48 years old.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was also born this week, on May 29th of 1897. You can read more about him (and Albéniz) in one of our older entries here. Korngold was also a child prodigy, and a remarkable one: he started composing at a very young age, and, when he was nine, played a cantata, called Gold, to Gustav Mahler, who pronounced him a genius. At 11 he composed a ballet, Der Schneemann, which was performed at the Vienna Court Opera. His second piano sonata was championed by none other than Artur Schnabel. In 1914, at the age of 17, he completed two operas, Der Ring des Polykrates and Violanta. His opera Die tote Stadt premiered in 1920 and made him world-famous. His other opera, Das Wunder der Heliane (The Miracle of Heliane), premiered in 1927, was considered a flop, but at least one aria from it, Ich ging zu ihm (“I went to him”) was made famous by the soprano Renee Fleming. Here she is, singing the aria at the 2007 Prom in Albert Hall. The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by Gianandrea Noseda.