May 27, 2013.Albéniz and Korngold.Isaac Albéniz, the oldest of the three composers who put Spanish music back on the music map (the other two being Granados and de Falla), was born on May 29, 1860 in a small town of Camprodon in northern Catalonia.He was a piano prodigy and started performing at the age of four.Legend has it that he ran away from home twice before reaching the age of 13, each time supporting himself by playing public concert.At the age of seven he passed the piano entrance exams at the Paris Conservatory but wasn’t admitted because of his age.At 14 he briefly went to the Leipzig conservatory and when money run out, to Brussels’s Royal Conservatory where he received a grant.In 1883 he returned to Spain to teach in Madrid and Barcelona.Albéniz was composing from an early age but took the craft seriously only after meeting Felipe Pedrell, a teacher and composer, around the time he returned to Spain.Three years later, in 1886, he composed Suite española for piano. The suite consists of eight pieces, each dedicated to different regions of Spain (the last one is called Cuba, then a Spanish colony).In 1893 Albéniz moved to Paris, where he befriended Vincent d’Indy, Paul Dukas, and other composers.Between 1905 and 1909 he wrote Iberia, a set of four “books,” each containing three pieces.Iberia became his most famous and popular composition.(The wonderful Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha was one of the best interpreters of Albéniz’s music.Here she is playing Book 1 of Iberia:Evocación, El puerto and Fête-dieu à Seville).By that time Albéniz was very sick with a kidney disease.He died on May 18, 1909, age 48, in Cambo-les-Bains, a French Basque town on the border of Spain.
Erich Wolfgang Korngoldwas born on May 29, 1897 in Brno, the capital of Moravia in the Czech Republic, back then called Brünn and part of Austria-Hungary.Korngold’s story is highly unusual.He was an amazing child prodigy, and in his youth was compared to Mozart.At the age of nine he showed his cantata, Gold, to Gustav Mahler, who pronounced him a musical genius and suggested that Korngold study with Alexander von Zemlinsky. At the age of 11 he composed a ballet, which was staged at the Vienna Opera in 1910 and performed for the Emperor Franz Josef.He wrote his first orchestral piece when he was 14 and then at 17 not just one but two operas.When he was 23 he composed Die tote Stadt (The Dead City), a major opera.At that time Korngold was so famous that opera theaters competed to premier his work.In the end, it was performed simultaneously in two cities, Hamburg and Cologne (in Cologne the conductor was none other than Otto Klemperer).Later on the Nazis banned the opera (Korngold was Jewish), and it disappeared from the repertoire of the major houses.Die tote Stadt wаs revived about 30 years ago and these days is staged often.In 1923 he wrote a Concerto for Piano Left Hand for pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right hand in World War I (Ravel also wrote his famous Concerto for the Left Hand for Wittgenstein, as did Prokofiev with his concerto no. 4, although Wittgenstein never performed it).In 1934 Korngold was invited to write music for theater and film in Hollywood, which he did very successfully.He returned to Austria, but in 1938 Warner Brothers invited him back to compose the music to a new Errol Flynn movie called The Adventures of Robin Hood.While he was in California, Hitler and his army entered Austria in what became known as Anschluss (later on Korngold would say that Robin Hood saved his life). He continued writing film scores, very successfully until 1946, but that whole period was lost to the classical music.He returned to classical composition with the Violin Concerto (premiered in 1947), but his style, rich, melodic and highly romantic, was completely out of vogue: it was way behind the Second Viennese School of Schoenberg and his disciples, behind Stravinsky, Bartok and so many others.Music critics considered him a “film composer,” a disdainful designation.It’s hard to imagine a greater transformation than what Korngold’s reputation underwent, from “genius” to a complete “has-been.”The last 40 years saw somewhat of a rehabilitation: several of his operas were staged and recorded, the violin concerto became popular again, and so did some of his symphonic works.It’s clear that Korngold never fulfilled the great promise of his early years; nonetheless, he was a composer of talent, even if this talent didn’t quite fit the musical developments of the 20th century.Here is Marietta’s Lied from Die tote Stadt, sung by the incomparable Renée Fleming.And here Hilary Hahn performs Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35.Deutsche Symphonie Orchestra is conducted by Kent Nagano.
Albéniz and Korngold, 2013
May 27, 2013. Albéniz and Korngold. Isaac Albéniz, the oldest of the three composers who put Spanish music back on the music map (the other two being Granados and de Falla), was born on May 29, 1860 in a small town of Camprodon in
northern Catalonia. He was a piano prodigy and started performing at the age of four. Legend has it that he ran away from home twice before reaching the age of 13, each time supporting himself by playing public concert. At the age of seven he passed the piano entrance exams at the Paris Conservatory but wasn’t admitted because of his age. At 14 he briefly went to the Leipzig conservatory and when money run out, to Brussels’s Royal Conservatory where he received a grant. In 1883 he returned to Spain to teach in Madrid and Barcelona. Albéniz was composing from an early age but took the craft seriously only after meeting Felipe Pedrell, a teacher and composer, around the time he returned to Spain. Three years later, in 1886, he composed Suite española for piano. The suite consists of eight pieces, each dedicated to different regions of Spain (the last one is called Cuba, then a Spanish colony). In 1893 Albéniz moved to Paris, where he befriended Vincent d’Indy, Paul Dukas, and other composers. Between 1905 and 1909 he wrote Iberia, a set of four “books,” each containing three pieces. Iberia became his most famous and popular composition. (The wonderful Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha was one of the best interpreters of Albéniz’s music. Here she is playing Book 1 of Iberia: Evocación, El puerto and Fête-dieu à Seville). By that time Albéniz was very sick with a kidney disease. He died on May 18, 1909, age 48, in Cambo-les-Bains, a French Basque town on the border of Spain.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
was born on May 29, 1897 in Brno, the capital of Moravia in the Czech Republic, back then called Brünn and part of Austria-Hungary. Korngold’s story is highly unusual. He was an amazing child prodigy, and in his youth was compared to Mozart. At the age of nine he showed his cantata, Gold, to Gustav Mahler, who pronounced him a musical genius and suggested that Korngold study with Alexander von Zemlinsky. At the age of 11 he composed a ballet, which was staged at the Vienna Opera in 1910 and performed for the Emperor Franz Josef. He wrote his first orchestral piece when he was 14 and then at 17 not just one but two operas. When he was 23 he composed Die tote Stadt (The Dead City), a major opera. At that time Korngold was so famous that opera theaters competed to premier his work. In the end, it was performed simultaneously in two cities, Hamburg and Cologne (in Cologne the conductor was none other than Otto Klemperer). Later on the Nazis banned the opera (Korngold was Jewish), and it disappeared from the repertoire of the major houses. Die tote Stadt wаs revived about 30 years ago and these days is staged often. In 1923 he wrote a Concerto for Piano Left Hand for pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right hand in World War I (Ravel also wrote his famous Concerto for the Left Hand for Wittgenstein, as did Prokofiev with his concerto no. 4, although Wittgenstein never performed it). In 1934 Korngold was invited to write music for theater and film in Hollywood, which he did very successfully. He returned to Austria, but in 1938 Warner Brothers invited him back to compose the music to a new Errol Flynn movie called The Adventures of Robin Hood. While he was in California, Hitler and his army entered Austria in what became known as Anschluss (later on Korngold would say that Robin Hood saved his life). He continued writing film scores, very successfully until 1946, but that whole period was lost to the classical music. He returned to classical composition with the Violin Concerto (premiered in 1947), but his style, rich, melodic and highly romantic, was completely out of vogue: it was way behind the Second Viennese School of Schoenberg and his disciples, behind Stravinsky, Bartok and so many others. Music critics considered him a “film composer,” a disdainful designation. It’s hard to imagine a greater transformation than what Korngold’s reputation underwent, from “genius” to a complete “has-been.” The last 40 years saw somewhat of a rehabilitation: several of his operas were staged and recorded, the violin concerto became popular again, and so did some of his symphonic works. It’s clear that Korngold never fulfilled the great promise of his early years; nonetheless, he was a composer of talent, even if this talent didn’t quite fit the musical developments of the 20th century. Here is Marietta’s Lied from Die tote Stadt, sung by the incomparable Renée Fleming. And here Hilary Hahn performs Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35. Deutsche Symphonie Orchestra is conducted by Kent Nagano.