jmc's classics
Today is the anniversary of the premier of Tchaikovsky's String Serenade (Opus#48) which took place in 1881 in St. Petersburg Russia with conductor Edouard Napravnik conducting. I associate it with Brahms Symphony#4 (Opus#98) Which premiered on October 25 in 1885. both Are among my favorite pieces. Both Brahms and Tchaikovsky have the same birthday: May Seventh. Brahms in 1833 and Tchaikovsky in 1840. They are to of the most popular composers of the 19th century. Brahms wrote two serenades for full orchestra. Opuses 11 and 16 both are popular today. There are several other famous String Serenades mainly that of Dvorak which I have a connection with Schubert's Fifth Symphony and the String Serenade of Elgar (OPus#20). Many times I attend a symphony concert, I do not see much connection between the works on the program. It baffles me.
Tchaikovsky's Serenade is divided in to four movements: Pezzo, Walzer, Elegie and the finale(Tema Russo). It has themes from Mozart who Tchaikovsky idolized. It was dedicated to Constantine Albrecht who was a boyhood friend of Tchaikovsky. In my opinion, The string Serenade sounds similar to Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. The opening themes pays tribute to Schumann who at that time was appreciated by many of the many of the Russian musical elite. Schumann was also a friend and mentor to Brahms. The third and fourth movements have a Slavic theme. The Slavs include the Russians, and Ukrainians as well as Poles, Serbs Czech and a few other ethnic groups. The Serenade lasts a little over a half hour. There are many good recordings of this work. The one which I have features the USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra with Guennadi Rojdestvensky conducting. It is on the Erato label. It also features Tchaikovsky's March Slave and Francesca Da Rimini. The USSR does not exist any more. Even in the Soviet Union, Tchaikovsky was appreciated and very popular. He was Stalin's favorite composer. Stalin was actually from Georgia. The country not the State. The Republic of Georgia is an ancient country and one of the first to make Christianity the official religion.
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Today is the anniversary of the premier of Mozart's Don Giovani (K527) 1787 which took place in Prague. Today Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte(1749-1838) who was also a Catholic priest.
Don Giovani along with the magic Flute were Mozart's two most popular operas. Don Giovani is based on the legend of Don Juan. There are many plays and musical pieces about Don Juan. The first play was written in the early 17th Century by Spanish writer Tirso de Molina (1583-1648). Don Juan was a fictional Spanish nobleman and womanizer. He was also arrogant. Similar to the real life Casanova. Richard Strauss wrote a tome poem based on Don Juan (Opus#20). Tchaikovsky wrote the Don Juan Serenade which has been a popular concert piece. There are many parallels between Richard Strauss and Mozart. it would take too long to discuss. Mozart spent time in Prague. He also wrote other works there. This opera has ben popular even since. My first experience was hearing the tenor James Melton Sing the area Il Mio Tesoro around 1975. I heard it on a 78 rpm. There have been many good performances at the Met and other opera houses. There are a lot of good recordings of this work. The one that have is on the Gala label. IT features Williaiam Furtwangler as the conductor and features Cesare Siepi in hte title role plus Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Walter Berry and Erna Berger. It dates from 1954 and is an older recording. It is a three disc set. It also features exerpts form The Magic Flute. The Gala Lable features historic recordings of operas. October 25 is National Opera Day. I had not heard of that day until now. I had never heard of any commemorations of it. There are all kinds of days in America commemorating something or an other.
Opera seems to be something that has been antiquated. It has been replaced by musicals. Operettas were popular in the past. They were referred to as "lite operas". They were shorter and not as serious. Their plots were more make believe. There are operas being written today. I do not know what are the mor popular modern operas are. I like some of hte arias. I am more in to the comic operas thatn the serious operas. This is Octoberfest time. It is a German tradition. it started in 1811 as a celebration of the marriage of a German Prince. On the seasonal music channel in September and early October they have traditional German folk music. Then Halloween music.
Germany has a rich musical tradition. When we think of German music ompa bands come to mind. There is a lot of German rock and Roll. Many great composers, conductors and singers have hailed from Germany and Austria. The most famous were Beethoven, Bach, and Brahms (aka the Tree B's) also Bruckner, Mozart, Weber, Schuman and Richard Strauss plus the other Strauss Family. Octoberfest is just like St. Patrick's Day and New Years Day and is an excuse to go drinking. I am not in to drinking. Maany German American communities in America have their local versions of Octoberfest. I have been buying classical CDs for 27 years now. It is easy sometimes to get more copies of one work when you want to buy a CD of one work which is coupled with a work that you already have. On coincidence I have multiple versions of Sibelius' Violin Concerto Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations for Cello and Orchestra, Beethoven's Eighth symphony and Dvorak's Sixth Symphony.
I like all of the above works. Recently, I purchased a copy of Leos Janacek's work Idyll coupled with Dvorak's Sixth Symphony (Opus#60). I already have a copy of Dvorak's Sixth with the eight other Dvorak Symphonies along with some of Dvorak's other orchestral works. It is the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Istvan Kertesz on the London label. It is a six CD set. The other one that I purchased is on the Naxos label. It has Gerard Schwarz conducting the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Both are good versions. Idyll Is a piece for string orchestra in seven movements. It would probably go better with Dvoraks's String Serenade. Idyll dates from 1878 and is based on Moravian folk songs. It was not published until after Janacek died. I have seen versions of Idyll on Youtube. Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations (Opus#33) is in nine movements about one-three movements each and lasts about 20 minutes. The two copies That I have are with Herbert Von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic with the great cellist Mstislav Rostropobich on the Deutche Grammophon label. It is paired with Dvorak's Cello concerto (Opus# 104). The other is also on the Deutsche Grammophon label. It features The Orpheus Chamber orchestra with Mischa Maisky as the soloist. It features some of Tchaikovsky's other Cello works. The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra does not use a conductor. Bothe are good recordings. I purchased the one with Maisky because of the Nocturne for Cello and Orchestra. It also features Tchaikovsky's Andante Cantabile for Cello and Orchestra which I had never heard and I fell in love with thiespiece. IT is from one of his string quartets which the composer arranged for cello and orchestra. It was featured in the CBS Radio Mystery Theatre's episode "Murder Museum" in 1980. I have several CDs of Sibelius' famed Violin Concerto. All coupled with different works. I like this piece. It is easy to get multiple CDs on one work |
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