INSPIRED PEN WEB: September 2008

Mozart Opera Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)

The Magic Flute Premiered, September 30, 1791

Wolfgang A. Mozart conducted his opera 'The Magic Flute' in its first performance on September 30, 1791, in Vienna. His librettist, Schikaneder, was also the first Papageno.

Die Zauberflöte, K. 620 (The Magic Flute / Die Zauberfloete), is an opera in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German Libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. This opera is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form which included both singing and spoken dialogue. It premiered in Vienna on 30 September 1791 at Schikaneder's theatre, the Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden.

The first performance was at an out-of-town but not obscure theatre. Schikaneder himself played Papageno, while the Queen was played by Mozart's sister-in-law Josepha Hofer. The opera was not an immediate success, but slowly, it gained popularity. By November 1792, Schikaneder announced the opera's 100th performance. Unfortunately, Mozart did not have the pleasure of attending his masterpiece as he died December 5, 1791.

On January 11, 1904, The Magic Flute (German: Die Zauberflöte) is first performed at the Metropolitan Opera, New York.

Today, Die Zauberflöte remains one of the most performed works of Mozart worldwide.

Below is a performance by The Royal Opera, with German soprano opera singer Diana Damrau superb as the queen singing 'Der Hölle Rache', the famous Queen of the Night aria. Interested with the lyrics to the 'Queen of the Night' aria? Here. (classicfm.com. 2 June 2018.)

Recommended Magic Flute Overture:

Magic Flute overture- Mozart - Muti - Wiener philharmoniker. YouTube, uploaded by vexillum1. Accessed October 8, 2018.

Recommended arias:

Detlef Roth performs "Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen" (English: "A Girl or a Little Wife"). YouTube, uploaded by FoxyGrandpa. Accessed October 8, 2018.

Erich Kunz sings "Der Vogelfänger bin ich" in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. YouTube, uploaded by liederoperagreats. Accessed 18 August 2018.

Simon Keenlyside as Papageno in Mozart "Die Zauberflöte" singing: "Papagena! Papagena! Papagena!". YouTube, uploaded by Priezza. Accessed 30 September 2014.

Video Credit:

Die Zauberflöte 1971(English subs), Stein, Ustinov, Gedda, Mathis, Deutekom, Workman. Youtube uploaded by Herur22. Accessed September 30, 2016. (This video was published on 1 Feb 2013. In 1971 there was an acclaimed new production of Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) at the Hamburg Opera directed by Peter Ustinov. This was during that house's golden period under the artistic direction of Rolf Liebermann. The production was taken into a TV studio and filmed, using the original sets and costume. Hamburg State Opera, conducted by Horst Stein.)

Mozart - DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE - Queen of the Night aria, with The Royal Opera. Youtube, uploaded by The Royal Opera. Accessed 2 June 2018.

Note: I originally wrote and published this abridged version for Suite101, 30 September 2008. / Tel

Resources:

Various books from my private collection of Mozart books and other documentary materials. / Tel

Opera Singer Elisabeth Schwarzkopf Debut in Der Rosenkavalier

Classical Music Dateline: Sept 20.

Sept 20, 1955. German opera singer Elisabeth Schwarzkopf makes her American debut in San Francisco, starring in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier.

Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf DBE (December 9, 1915 – August 3, 2006), was a German opera singer (who later took British citizenship). She was one of the leading soprano of the post-World War II period, much admired for her performances of Mozart, Strauss and Hugo Wolf. .

She was born in Jarotschin in Prussia (now part of Poland) to Friedrich Schwarzkopf and his wife, Elisabeth Fröhling. Christened Olga Maria Elisabeth Frederike Schwarzkopf, Schwarzkopf showed an interest in music from an early age.

In 1928, she performed in her first opera as Eurydice in a school production of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice in Magdeburg, Germany. In 1934, Schwarzkopf began her musical studies at the Berlin Hockschule für Musik. At the suggestion of the baritone Karl Schmitt-Walter, she switched teachers and started working with the celebrated coloratura soprano Maria Ivogün as well as with her husband, the noted pianist Michael Raucheisan. Ivogün's advice to her new pupil was, "Be noble, my child!"

Resources:

Elisabeth Schwarskopf (Soprano). Bach Cantatas Website. Accessed September 20, 2008.

Kennedy, Michael & Joyce & Tim Rutherford-Johnson, Eds. (2012). Oxford Dictionary of Music. Oxford University Press.

Unchained Melody (Song)

Songs / Down Memory Lane

The song "Unchained Melody" is a 1955 melody with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North used the music as a theme for the prison film Unchained. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack. It has since become a standard and became one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, most notably by the Righteous Brothers. According to the song's publishing administrator, over 1,500 recordings of "Unchained Melody" have been made by more than 670 artists in multiple languages.

In 1955, three versions of the song charted in the Top 10 Billboard in the United States, and four versions appeared in the Top 20 in the UK simultaneously, an unbeaten record for any song. Of the hundreds of recordings made, it was the July 1965 version by the Righteous Brothers, performed as a solo by Bobby Hatfield that became a jukebox standard for the late 20th century. This version acahieved a second round of great popularity when it was featured in the 1990 film Ghost starring Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze, and Whoopi Goldberg. It finished at number 27 on AFI's 100 years ... 100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema in 2004.

Video Credit:

Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody. YouTube, uploaded by Andrei V. Accessed September 11, 2008.

Resource:

Unchained Melody. en.wikipedia.org. Accessed September 11, 2008.

(c) 2008. Tel Asiado. Written for Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

Mozart Children and their Playing Fields

A rainbow in the fields where the Mozart children used to play
(Image: Courtesy of Liz Ringrose)

This image was taken in the fields behind the hotel where Liz recently stayed whilst visiting Salzburg with husband Nigel. The Mozart children used to play in these fields. They visited friends at Schloss Aigen. Liz tells me that the schloss is now crumbling into disrepair. Sad to think about.

Johann Christian Bach

Classical Music / Composer's Datebook: September 5

Brief biography of German Classical composer and performer, Johann Christian Bach, popularly called 'London Bach' or 'English Bach.'

Johann Christian Bach's Early Years

Johann Christian Bach, German composer of the Classical Era, was the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach by his second wife Anna Magdalena Bach. JC Bach, as he was commonly called, was born on September 5, 1735, in Leipzig. JC Bach studied with his father until aged 15, then in Berlin with his half-brother Carl Philipp Emanuel, considered the best musician in the Bach family that time.

In 1754 he went to Italy, abandoned Protestantism for Roman Catholicism, and became organist in Milan Cathedral. He left for Italy in 1754, became an organist at Milan Cathedral and converted from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism.

JC Bach's Move to London

Johann Christian Bach went to London in 1762 and was appointed music master to Queen Charlotte Sophia, wife of George III. Since then he has been called the 'English Bach' or 'London Bach.'

In London, he became friends with the boy genius Mozart who was on his first European tour with family. He introduced Mozart to English musical society. Mozart wrote his first three symphonies under the influence of Johann Christian Bach.

JC Bach's Significant Milestones:

1762 - He was invited to London to write Italian operas.

1763 – On Feb 19, his opera Orione was performed at the King's Theatre in London. It was so successful that it continued on for three months, and was followed in May by the equally successful Zanaida.

Early 1770s was the height of his career as a performer and composer. Many of his works were published.

JC Bach's Career and Health Decline

JC Bach made London his permanent home. Sadly, his popularity faded in the late 1770s, and his health declined following financial troubles. He was soon forgotten after he died in London, 1 Jan 1782, aged 46. He was buried in St Pancras' Churchyard.

Johann Christian Bach's Musical Legacy

His music appealed to Mozart as it provided a blend of the Italian fluency and grace along with well founded German techniques.

Johann Christian Bach, sometimes regarded as hedonistic compared to his half-brother CPE Bach, produced elegant music simply suited to its social purpose.

Johann Christian Bach's Operas

Artaserse, opera 1761, he was 26 years old

Catone in Utica, opera 1761

Allessandro nell'Indie, opera 1762

Orione, opera 1763

Zanaida, opera 1763

Adriano in Siria, opera 1765

Carattaco, opera 1767

Temistocle, opera 1772

Lucio Silla, opera 1776

Amadis des Gaules, opera 1779

Johann Christian Bach's Other Works:

Symphonies

Concerti

Sextets

Quintets

Quartets

Duets for violin

Trios

Sonatas for piano and violin

Military marches

Church music

Vocal music

Image Credit:

Johann Christian Bach by Thomas Gainsborough. Wikipedia Commons. Public Domain.

Resources:

Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, edited by Stanley Sadie,Macmillan (1994)

The Chronicle of Classical Music, Thames & Hudson (2000)

Anton Bruckner

Classical Music / Composer's Datebook: September 4

Brief biography of Anton Bruckner, Austrian composer and organist of the Romantic Period. As a composer or as a person, it's not easy to categorize Anton Bruckner. His life and music is full of fascinating yet absorbing paradox. He did not win wide recognition for many years, but is now regarded as one of the great symphonic composers of the 19^th century.

Austrian composer and organist Anton Bruckner spent most of his life quietly teaching and composing. Unlike Wagner who greatly influenced him and he admired, Anton Bruckner was not a man of the world who openly promoted his pursuits. He did not exude the Vienna sophistication although he moved in Viennese circles, remaining much like an outsider until his death on October 1896.

Early Years

Bruckner was born in Ansfelden, September 4, 1824. His music training started at four with lessons in violin. He was the son of a schoolmaster and organist. After his father died, (Bruckner was 13), he became a chorister at St. Florian’s monastery school and an organist at 21 years of age. By this time, he began to compose and went to study in Vienna in 1855. Although he was an outstanding organist, he composed very little for the instrument.

Career & Influences

A staunch Roman Catholic, Anton Bruckner was a deeply religious man who wrote music solely for the church until the age of 40 when he met Wagner, becoming the latter's admirer and friend. Bruckner then took to writing symphonies of epic-length proportions.

Bruckner was cathedral organist at Linz and professor at the Vienna Conservatoire.

In the early 1860s, at 37, he studied with Kitzler whose methods were based on the new composers of the Romantic Movement, such as Beethoven. He was greatly influenced by this and from here, his compositions evolved from the old-fashioned church organist to an innovator of originality. Bruckner's second and final transformation happened after seeing Wagner’s opera Tannhauser in 1865. Amazed at the way Wagner could break the rules of formal composition, at the same time create such overpowering music, was a revelation to him. Bruckner immediately amended his own approach.

His symphonies, as well as his early religious choral pieces (masses and motets), and the late Te Deum still reflect his profound religious outlook. Symphony no.4: The “Romantic”, a traditionally piece of Romantic orchestral work is quite popular too. Symphony no.9, his last, was left unfinished when he died.

Bruckner Legacy

Bruckner achieved success much later than many of his contemporaries. He was overshadowed by Brahms throughout his life. He was already 60 when his first performance of Symphony no.7 finally claimed success. For his place in the history of music, although still refuted by some critics, he has now been considered one of the “Magnificent Seven” Viennese symphonists - the others being Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Mahler.

Anton Bruckner's Symphonic Works:

Symphony in F minor (unnumbered, known as No 00) 1863

Symphony in D minor (known as No 0, revised 1869) 1864

Symphony No 1 in C minor (revised 1891) 1866

Symphony No 2 in c minor (revised 1891) 1872

Symphony No 3 in D minor, Wagner (revised 1877 and 1888) 1873

Symphony No 4 in Eb major, Romantic (revised 1880) 1874

Symphony No 5 in Bb major (revised 1878) 1877

Symphony No 6 in A major 1881

Symphony No 7 in E major 1883

Symphony No 8 in C minor, Apocalyptic (possibly 1887, revised 1890) 1884

Symphony No 9 in D minor (unfinished) 1894

Image Credit:

Anton Bruckner. Karadar.com / Public Domain

Resources:

Music by Frank G. Barker, Windward (1981)

Teach Yourself Series, Classical Music, Helicon Publishing (2000)

The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, Edited by Stanley Sadie (1994)

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