Like many the figures of German romanticism, Carl Maria von Weber was not only a renowned composer but also a conductor, piano virtuoso, novelist, and essayist. Born in a small town in northern Germany, his father initiated him early in music, hoping that he could emulate the then-famous musician and relative-in-law who, as a child, had become famous. Indeed, although more than twenty years younger, Carl Maria was a cousin of Constanze Weber, Mozart's wife.
First steps
But the father's longing for his own child prodigy was frustrated from the start. Although very talented, the little boy suffered from a congenital hip ailment that would never have withstood the strain of the extensive touring that Leopold Mozart had subjected Wolfgang and his sister to more than 30 years earlier. Nevertheless, little Carl Maria loved music and devoted himself to it with childlike passion. At the age of four, he was already singing and playing the piano with ease, even if walking was a little tricky for him.
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| C.M. von Weber (1786 - 1826) |
By the age of 27, however, Carl Maria von Weber had become the director of the Prague Opera, where he remained for three years. He then traveled to Dresden where he composed his masterpiece, the one he is chiefly remembered for today, the opera Der Freischütz (The Marksman, or The Freeshooter), which premiered to great acclaim in Berlin in 1821.
This served as a stimulus to his determined efforts to reform German opera away from the dreadful Italian influence of the time. However, his second great success would be an English-language opera, after receiving an invitation to work in London. The result was Oberon, based on Shakespearean texts, well received by English audiences although only its overture is performed today.
The Piano Concertos
Of course, von Weber also ventured into symphonic music and composition for various instruments and orchestra. Especially well known are his concerto for clarinet and orchestra and his two piano concertos, the latter written before his stay in Prague, in 1810 and 1812. Both of them are highly dependent – according to scholars – on Beethoven's concertos Nos. 1 and 5 (including the tonalities), but the beautiful themes and their melodic development are more overtly romantic, and naturally, genuinely Weberian.
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major
In a performance by the chamber ensemble of young musicians New York Metamorphoses Orchestra, conducted by the Russian-born Eugene Sirokine, we present here the Concerto No. 1 in C major, premiered in Mannheim in 1810 with its composer at the piano.
Movements:
00:00 Allegro
09:40 Adagio
13:40 Finale. Presto
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