Gaetano Donizetti

 Classical Music / Composer's Datebook: November 29 

Italian Opera Composer and rival of Vincenzo Bellini, masters of 'Bel Canto'

Brief biography of Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti, his life, career and list of major opera works.  Best known for the comedy opera L'Elisir d'amore.

    

Donizetti's Early Years

 

Italian composer Domenico Gaetano Donizetti was born in Bergamo, Italy, on November 29, 1797. He came from humble beginnings and unmusical background, unlike his contemporary and rival, Vincenzo Bellini who was guided by his composer grandfather. Donizetti was born in Bergamo, Italy on November 29, 1797, the same year as Schubert, and studied music locally.

 

Donizetti's Training, Influence and Marriage

 

As a boy, he learned so quickly that he was sent to Liceo Filarmonica in Bologna. Then his talent was greatly recognized by Johann Mayr, opera composer and conductor, who supported and provided him a solid musical education. Nearing adulthood, he continued his lessons with Padre Mattei, a renowned counterpoint maestro. At 27, he married Virginia Vasselli, a daughter of a Roman lawyer.  

 

Donizetti's Operatic Works, Career and Recognition

 

At the age of 21, he received his first operatic commission. He was writing four to five operas a year.

Donizetti composed more than 70 operas including Lucrezia Borgia, Lucia di Lammermoor, based on the classic The Bride of Lammermoor by Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott containing the famous "Mad Scene', La fille du regiment, La favorite, and Don Pasquale. The opera that made his name widely known was Anna Bolena, based on Anne Boleyn the second wife of Henry VII, produced in 1830 at Milan, although by this time he had already produced over 30 operas. His Lucia di Lammermoor, produced at Naples in 1835, was another tremendous success.

Donizetti excelled not only in serious operas like Lucia di Lammermoor but also in comic operas such as L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love). These two operas are regularly performed worldwide. In his 40s, he visited Paris where he was warmly accepted and produced operas there.

His last major opera Don Pasquale was completed in 1843. About this time, his physical and mental health began to fail, and he became paralysed in 1845. His mental disorder and paralysis were caused by syphilis. He died aged 50, on April 8, 1848, also in Bergamo his birthplace.   

 

Donizetti Legacy

He is best remembered the ‘master of the mad scene’, for which ironically, he also died in the same state of mind he portrayed so tragically on stage. However, he should also be remembered for his most delightful comic operas.

 

Donizetti's Operas:

Anna Bolena (Anne Boleyn) 1830

L'Elisir d'amore (The Elixir of Love) 1832

Lucrezia Borgia 1833

Maria Stuarda (Mary Stuart) 1834

Rosmona d'Inghilterra 1834

Lucia di Lammermoor (The Bride of Lammermoor) 1835

La Filled du regiment (The Daughter of the Regiment) 1840

La Favorita (The Favorite) 1840

Linda de Chamounix (Linda of Chamonix) 1842

Maria de Rohan 1843

Don Pasquale 1843

 

Image Credit:

Portrait of Gaetano Donizetti by Giuseppe Rillosi, 1848.  en.wikipedia.org / Public Domain.

 

Resources:

Gaetano Donizetti. Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org. 

Sadie, Stanley, Ed. The Grove Dictionary of Music. London: Macmillan Press Ltd, 1994. 

 

 (Note: I originally wrote & publish this article for suite101.com, October 7, 2007. / Tel)

 

(c) October 2007. Updated November 29, 2021.  Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved. 

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op.30

Classical Music / Piano Concerto 

Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 

The Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 composed in 1909 by Sergei Rachmaninoff considered one of the most technically challenging piano concertos in the standard classical repertoire. It is used in the 1996 film Shine, based on the life of pianist David Helfgott.

The video below is performed by piano virtuoso Martha Argerich, with Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Chailly.




Following the form of a standard concerto, the piece is in three movements: 0:28 - Allegro ma non tanto, 16:27 - Intermezzo: Adagio, and 27: 27 - Finale: Alla breve

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5

Classical Music / Orchestral

Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was composed between May and August 1888 and was first performed in St Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theatre on November 17 of that year with Tchaikovsky conducting. It is dedicated to Theodor Avé-Lallemant. 

The fifth symphony was composed in 1888, between the Manfred Symphony of 1885 and the sketches for a Symphony in E-flat, which were abandoned in 1892 (apart from recuperating material from its first movement for an Allegro Brillante for piano and orchestra a year later). As for the numbered symphonies, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 was composed between Symphony No. 4, which had been completed ten years earlier, and Symphony No. 6, composed 5 years later, in the year of the composer's death. 

Watch on YouTube (for reason of copyright infringement) --->  Here

Also highly suggested listening pleasure: 

TCHAIKOVSKY - Symphony no. 6 (Pathétique) - Herbert von Karajan & Wiener Philharmonic. YouTube, uploaded by PermafrostIndustries. Accesed January 12, 2019.

Instrumentation.  Symphony No. 5 is scored for 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets in A, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in A, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, and strings.

Structure.  Like the Symphony No. 4, No. 5 is a cyclical symphony, with a recurring main theme. Unlike No. 4, the theme is heard in all four movements, a feature Tchaikovsky had first used in the Manfred Symphony, which was completed less than three years before No. 5.

The symphony is in four movements:

1. Andante – Allegro con anima (E minor) – Molto più tranquillo (D major – E major)
2. Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza (B minor – D major) – Non allegro (F♯ minor) – Andante maestoso con piano (D major)
3. Valse. Allegro moderato (A major) (Trio in F♯ minor)
4. Finale: Andante maestoso (E major) – Allegro vivace – Molto vivace (E minor) – Moderato assai e molto maestoso – Presto (E major)

The symphony's recurring main theme is used as a device to unify the four movements of the symphony. This motto theme, sometimes dubbed "Fate theme", has a funereal character in the first movement, but gradually transforms into a triumphant march, which dominates the final movement. A typical performance of the symphony lasts somewhat less than 50 minutes.

Program. Symphony No. 5 has no clear program. On 15 April 1888, about a month before he began composing the symphony, the composer sketched a scenario for its first movement in his notebook, containing "... a complete resignation before fate, which is the same as the inscrutable predestination of fate ..." It is however uncertain how much of this program has been realised in the composition.

Video  Resource: 

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 (Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Valery Gergiev). From the Salle Pleyel in Paris, 2010 All six Tchaikovsky Symphonies with Valery Gergiev conducting the Mariinsky Orchestra. Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra. Valery Gergiev - conductor. YouTube, uploaded by WocomoMusic. Accessed February 19, 2021.

0:00​ Intro 

1:05​ I. Andante: Allegro con anima

17:48​ II. Andante cantabile con alguna licenza

33:50​ III. Valse. Allegro moderato 

39:42​ IV. Finale. Andante maestoso. Allegro vivace (Alla breve). 

Text Resource:

Symphony No. 5 (Tchaikovsky). en.wikipedia.org. 

 

(c) November 2011. Updated Feb 20, 2022. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved. 

Brahms Piano Concerto No.2

Classical Music Milestone: November 9

Composer Johannes Brahms is soloist in the first performance of his Piano Concerto No.2 at Budapest.

Johannes Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op.83 is a composition for solo piano with orchestral accompaniment. November 9, 1881 marks the day that the composer first performed it in Budapest, himself the soloist.   It is separated by a gap of 22 years from his first piano concerto.

He began work on the piece in 1878, completing it in 1881 while in Pressbaum near Vienna, Austria.  He dedicated this piece of music to his teacher, Eduard Marxsen.  The premiere was an immediate success. Brahms performed it in many cities across Europe soon after.

Ignacy Jan Paderewski

Classical Music / Composer's Datebook: November 6

 

Polish pianist, composer, and statesman who became a spokesman for Polish independence.

 

Ignacy Jan Paderewski brief biography – his life and major works. In 1919, he was the new nation's Prime Minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I. 

 

Ignacy Jan Paderewski,  Polish composer, pianist and statesman, was born in Kurylowka, Poland, 6 November 1860. He was an outstanding Polish musician during his time, internationally acclaimed pianist, and the only musician to head a government. As a pianist, Paderewski was renowned for his dazzling technique and luxuriant head of hair.  He began composing at the age of six.

Paderewski studied at Warsaw Conservatory becoming a pianoforte teacher there (1879-83). Then he studied in Vienna for three years, from 1884 to 1887. He debuted in Vienna 1887, Paris 1888, London 1890, and NY in 1891. After his debut in Vienna, he became celebrated in Europe and the USA as an interpreter of Chopin’s music, as composer of the exciting Polish Fantasy for piano and orchestra, and the romantic ‘Polonia’ Symphony. 

The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 17, is the only piano concerto written by Ignacy Jan Paderewski. It was written in the composer's twenties, with the first movement dating back to 1882, although the majority of the work was composed in 1888 and scored in 1889.

The video below is  a classical concert celebrating Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Event: 2 January 2016, Melbourne Town Hall. Paderewski's Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.17, interpreted by Konrad Olszewski, pianist.  Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra (ZMSO, Melbourne) conducted by Mark Shiell.

13th National Polish Arts Festival - PolArt2015 

1. Allegro 2. Romanza: Andante17:25 3. Allegro molto vivace 27:15 

 

 

Paderewski wrote mainly pianoforte solos including the Tatra Album (1885) based on songs and dances of the Polish Tatra mountain-dwellers. In the 1890s, he composed a violin sonata, the 6 Huoresques de Concert for pianoforte, and the Polish Fantasy for pianoforte and orchestra. His tragic opera Manru (1897-1900) considered his masterpiece, was presented in Dresden in 1901 and NY Met in 1902. 

From 1903, he wrote more sonatas and songs. Patriotic, during World War I, he worked tirelessly for the Polish cause. In 1919 when Poland became independent, he became Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the first government, then retired a year later after some political disagreements, but became Poland’s delegate to the League of Nations. 

In 1922, he resumed his recitals, raising large amounts of money for war victims. Paderewski sponsored several competitions and established scholarships such as $10,000 trust fund for US-born composers in 1900. In 1936 he appeared in the film Moonlight Sonata. In 1936-38, he supervised publication of Chopin’s complete music 'Chopin'. 

He was made president of the Polish National Council in Paris in 1940. Paderewski married twice. He died in New York, 29th June 1941. Pending liberation, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, but reburied in Warsaw with a state funeral in 1992. He was made an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 1925. 

Trivia:Artists on Paderewski.  Among the portrait painters and caricaturists who drew Paderewski were: Tavik Frantisek Simon (1901), Sir Leslie Ward, and Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1890). English sculptor Sir Alfred Gilbert also sculpted Paderewski's bust whilst the composer was playing the piano in Sir Gilbert's studio.     

I.J. Paderewski by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadena (1890). Arts & Culture Google.com. 

 

I.J. Paderewski by Sir Leslie Ward, from Media.vam.ac.uk (Victori and Albert Museum). Link: Pinterest

 

Image Credit: 

I.J. Paderewski by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadena (1890). Arts & Culture Google.com.  

I.J. Paderewski by Sir Leslie Ward, from Media.vam.ac.uk (Victori and Albert Museum). Link: Pinterest

Jan Ignacy Paderewski. circa 1900. en.wikipedia.org (Theodore C. Marceau - Project Gutenberg).  Public Domain. 

Video Credit:  

Paderewski, Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.17 - PolArt2015.  YouTube, uploaded by Grzegorz Macnacki. Accessed November 6, 2018.

Resources:

Ignacy Jan Paderewski - Biography. culture.pl

Ignacy Jan Paderewski. en.wikipedia.org 

Kennedy, Michael & Joyce, and Tim Rutherford-Johnson, Ed.  Oxford Dictionary of Music, Sixth Edition. London: Oxford University Press. 2012.  

Sadie, Stanley, Ed. The Grove Dictionary of Music, New updated edition. London: Macmillan Publishers. 1994.

 

(c) November 2011. Updated April 30, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 "Pathetique"

Classical Music / Orchestral

 

The Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, also known as the Pathétique Symphony, is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's final completed symphony. It was written between February and the end of August 1893. The composer entitled the work "The Passionate Symphony", employing a Russian word, (Pateticheskaya), meaning "passionate" or "emotional", not "arousing pity," which was then translated into French as pathétique, meaning "solemn" or "emotive".  It is a word reflective of a touch of concurrent suffering. Tchaikovsky considered calling it "Program Symphony" but realized that would encourage curiosity about the program, which he did not want to reveal. 

Tchaikovsky led the first performance in Saint Petersburg on 28 October of that year, nine days before his death. The second performance, conducted by Eduard Nápravník, took place 21 days later, at a memorial concert on 18 November. It included some minor corrections that Tchaikovsky had made after the premiere, and was thus the first performance of the work in the exact form in which it is known today. 

The first performance in Moscow was on 16 December, conducted by Vasily Safonov. It was the last of Tchaikovsky's compositions premiered in his lifetime. His very last composition, the single-movement 3rd Piano Concerto, Op. 75, which was completed a short time before his death in October 1893, received a posthumous premiere. 

Highly Recommended Reading:

Symphony guide: Tchaikovsky's Sixth ('Pathetique'). Written by Tom Service,  Tuesday 26 August 2014. www.theguardian.com. Accessed November 6, 2023.  With gratitude, I'm quoting from Tom Service's touching article on Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 "Pathetique", one of my two all-time favourite symphonies from this beloved Russian composer (the other symphony is Symphony No. 5):  

"So yes, this symphony is about a battle between a stubborn life-energy and an ultimately stronger force of oblivion that ends up in a terrifying exhaustion, but what makes the piece so powerful is that it’s about all of us, not just Tchaikovsky... so when you’re listening to the performances, hear instead how the cry of pain that is the climax of the first movement is a musical premonition of the inexorably descending scales of the last movement, and how the second movement makes its five-in-a-bar dance simultaneously sound like a crippled waltz and a memory of a genuinely sensual joy. Listen to how the March of the third movement creates a seething superficial motion that doesn’t actually go anywhere, musically speaking, and whose final bars create one of the greatest, most thrilling, but most empty of victories in musical history, at the end of which audiences often clap helplessly, thinking they have arrived at the conventionally noisy end of a symphonic journey. But then we’re confronted with the devastating lament of the real finale, that Adagio lamentoso, which begins with a composite melody that is shattered among the whole string section (no single instrumental group plays the tune you actually hear, an amazing, pre-modernist idea), and which ends with those low, tolling heartbeats in the double-basses that at last expire into silence." (Thank you very much, Tom Service. You nailed it!) 

Video:

Maestro Herbert von Karajan conducts Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, "Pathetique", with Wiener Philharmoker (Vienna Philharmonic). 

The symphony is in four movements:

1. Adagio – Allegro non troppo
2. Allegro con grazia
3. Allegro molto vivace
4. Adagio lamentoso

 The symphony is scored for an orchestra with the following instruments:

Woodwinds 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo) 2 oboes 2 clarinets (in A) 2 bassoons Brass 4 horns 2 trumpets 3 trombones 1 tuba

Percussion timpani bass drum cymbals tam-tam (ad libitum) Strings violins I, II violas cellos double basses

Video Credit: 

TCHAIKOVSKY - Symphony no. 6 (Pathétique) - Herbert von Karajan & Wiener Philharmonic. YouTube, uploaded by PermafrostIndustries. Accessed November 6, 2023.

Resource:

Symphony No. 6. (Tchaikovsky). en.wikipedia.org.

 

(c) November 2011. Updated November 6, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.