Isaac Albéniz, "Spanish Rhapsody"

The extraordinary Spanish pianist and composer Isaac Albéniz's great thirst for adventure led him to tour Spain and then America before the age of thirteen. He gave performances, first as a child prodigy at the age of eight, and then as a promising young pianist comparable to Liszt or Thalberg.

This was helped by his father's job as a customs official, constantly moving from city to city. His life story – including a mystical stage, similar to that of Liszt –  led the musical circles of his time to call him simply "the Spanish Liszt". However, unlike the Hungarian master, the adolescent Albéniz had to work on anything during his travels when the reality was below expectations, which often happened because the little master "went on tour" in the direction in which he was turned.

Leipzig
At the age of fourteen, he seemed to settle down. After performing in New York and San Francisco, he entered the Leipzig Conservatory in order to improve his skills, but it didn't last long. He was there for only nine months. He had run out of money, so he had to return to Spain.

Brussels
A patron then intervened and obtained his admission to the prestigious Brussels Conservatory of Music thanks to a royal grant. There he proved to be the youngest and most brilliant pupil, which was crowned by obtaining the first prize of the Conservatory in 1879. But he only stayed there for three years.

Isaac Albéniz, at 22
(1860 - 1909)

Barcelona
After meeting Liszt and joining the tours of the great Hungarian master with other young people who followed him everywhere, he returned to Spain and decided to settle in Barcelona. There he married in 1883 and started a family. Albéniz had now settled down.

Spanish Rhapsody, for piano and orchestra
Unfortunately, unlike the other pieces of the same name by Ravel, Chabrier, or Liszt, in our days Albéniz's Rhapsody is not heard in auditoriums as regularly as its composer, who held it in high esteem, would have liked.
Originally written for piano and completed in 1886, the composer successfully premiered it in Madrid on March 21, 1887.
The version generally heard today is the 1911 version for piano and orchestra by Georges Enescu.

Work in one movement, its parts, or sections, rich in the purest Spanish tradition, are as follows:

00        Allegretto
03:59  "Petenera de Mariani" (Mariani's Petenera)
07:24  "Jota"
09:52  "Malagueña of Juan Breva"
16:28  "Estudiantina"

The performance is by Russian pianist Lubov Timofeyeva, accompanied by the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Ziva.

Chopin, Nocturne Opus 32 No 1

In 1837, after meeting in Dresden and sharing pleasantly for fifteen days, Frederick and Maria Wodzinska – the young Polish woman with whom he had thought to lead a life together – saw their relationship coming to an end. That summer Chopin waited in vain for an invitation to spend the season again with the Wodzinski family, but the offer never came. What did arrive but to the mother's ears, was the rumor about Chopin's incurable illness.

The favored
But in Paris life went on. And some of his colleagues, Franz Liszt, for example, were having a wonderful time. That same year Cosima Liszt was born, the fruit of Liszt's relationship with Countess Marie d'Agoult. (Many years later, Cosima would marry Richard Wagner, after leaving her husband, the conductor Hans von Büllow, but that is another story).

Chopin, a water-color painting,
by Maria Wodzinska

The unfavored
And those who were not having a good time, faced the definitive end. It's the case of the Irish pianist and composer John Field, "inventor" of the nocturne form, who died that year in Moscow, on January 23, at the age of 55. Creator of short pieces, sort of reveries or meditations, he liked to accompany his rather tender melodic lines with arpeggios, or broken chords of the left hand. Chopin was inspired by them, of course, and will give soul, heart, and life to this new form, somewhat weak at first, devised by Field.

A tribute?
Who knows if in 1837 Chopin learned of the death of his "master" in the genre. And who knows whether, if so – although the nocturne is dedicated to a pupil – perhaps Chopin did want to pay tangential homage to Field with this simple piece, a quiet, brief romanza, just as his inspirer warned that the nocturnes should be.

Nocturne Opus 32 No 1 in B major
It's initially marked andante sostenuto and is in 4/4 meter. The piece transitions to adagio in the last two measures, un interruption that, as a foreground Chopin's desire, makes the music speaks, according to some scholars.
The performance is by Dutch pianist Arthur Jussen, at the end of a concert.

Ravel, Piano Concerto for the left hand

Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein, older brother of Ludwig, the philosopher, had a psychological constitution that today we would call very typical of a resilient personality. A very good pianist, he returned from the Russian front during World War I without his right arm. An unfortunate loss, of course. But against all odds, he decided to continue his career at all costs. To this end, he engaged in a sustained campaign asking composers of the time for works to be performed on the piano with only the left hand.

A difficult customer
Wittgenstein, however, was not an easy client to please. For example, he rejected music written by Richard Strauss and Sergei Prokofiev. To the latter, he returned his Fourth Piano Concerto with a note that read something like thank you very much but I do not understand a single note of your concerto and do not intend to play it. Maurice Ravel did not fare so badly. At least Wittgenstein did not reject the work although he claimed that it was necessary to modify to a significant extent the Concerto in D major, requested in the spring of 1929 and completed in nine months. Ravel would not allow it.

Giving in
He could not afford it. Ravel was 55 years old, he was a celebrity in Europe and three years ago he had made a worldwide hit with the brilliant Bolero, which, by the way, had the curious virtue of surprising the composer himself.

So Wittgenstein, somewhat reluctant (he did not like the long cadenza that opens the work), was forced to premiere the Concerto in D major for the left hand just as Ravel had written it. It was the least he could do, to give in. To fulfill the commission from the "handicapped" pianist, Ravel had suspended the creative work on his Concerto in G, a long-standing desire of the composer, although it seems that at times he worked on both simultaneously.

Paul Wittgenstein (1887 - 1961)

The subsequent enthusiasm
Despite Wittgenstein's initial reluctance (perhaps he was not initially enthusiastic about the jazz-like rhythmic and harmonic nods it presents), he eventually "loved" the work. And everyone else too: today it has become the most famous of all compositions ever written for the left hand.

Premiere and musical structure
Its premiere took place in Vienna on January 5, 1932, accompanied by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, conducted not by Ravel but by the French conductor Robert Heger.
With a length of about twenty minutes, opinions about its structure are divided. Some argue that it consists of a single movement. Others say two, but linked. A third claims that as opposed to the usual fast - slow - fast, the concerto shows three sections: slow - fast - slow. The latter is undoubtedly true. It is also true that to dare to play it, one must be a first-rate virtuoso.

The performance is by the French pianist Hélene Tysman, accompanied by the Orchestra of the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar, conducted by Nicolas Pasquet.

With this performance, the pianist passed her graduation exam.

Richard Wagner, "Siegfried Idyll"

 
After three years wandering from one creditor to another, selling and reselling the royalties from his works, Richard Wagner found the peace of mind he so sorely missed thanks to the royal offices of a 19-year-old monarch, Ludwig II of Bavaria, who in 1864 cancelled all the composer's debts and purchased the copyrights to The Ring of the Nibelung. Among other benefits, he installed him in a comfortable villa just a few minutes from the palace.

Hans and Cosima
The conductor Hans von Büllow arrived there, summoned by Wagner to assist him in one more of his ambitious musical projects, which were now coming to life under the auspices of the adolescent king. The famous conductor arrived in the company of his wife Cosima, the natural daughter of Franz Liszt and Countess Marie d'Agoult. The couple and the composer had known each other long before, it was not the first time they had spent time in Wagner's company, but this time it was different.

Cosima and Richard

Richard and Cosima Wagner.
Photograph, 1872

Cosima seemed unhappy in her marriage and soon fell under Richard's sway. After six years of extramarital affairs, Cosima, 32, and Richard, 56, made their holy vows in August 1870. By this time, they had already conceived three children. The last was named Siegfried, born in 1869.

A symphonic gift

On 24 December 1870, Cosima turned 33. The couple had been living in the villa Tribschen on Lake Lucerne since they moved there as a couple in 1866. Wagner decided to greet the birth of his last child and Cosima's first birthday as his legitimate wife in a special way.

A small group of musicians set up on the entrance staircase and woke Cosima up with the first bars of a short chamber piece composed a few weeks earlier, entitled, for the occasion, "Symphonic Birthday Gift". Cosima noted in her diary that new and wonderful music had roused her from her sleep.

The Siegfried Idyll

Originally, the work was not intended for publication, but due to financial difficulties, Wagner was forced to publish it in 1878, under the title Siegfried Idyll. The charming piece, lasting no more than twenty minutes, is one of the composer's few symphonic works. Its themes were, predictably, incorporated into the 1876 opera Siegfried.

The performance is by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Donald Runnicles.

Telemann, Concerto for Flute and Violin

During his long life, the self-taught musician Georg Philipp Telemann had enough time to publish three autobiographies, the first at the age of 37 in 1718. Two more followed, in 1729 and 1739. Thanks to them, it can be stated with some certainty that his output came to total around 3,600 works. An astonishing output, to say the least, if we remember that Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the most prolific musicians in the history of music, produced in a similar lifespan "barely" 1,200, although in this case it must be borne in mind that much of his music was lost or simply remained uncatalogued. 

The craft
Telemann composed without correction, almost spontaneously. His friend Handel went so far as to say that he could compose a motet as easily as everybody else could write a letter. Such spontaneity, of course, meant that at certain periods of his life his output bordered on routine work, a circumstance that was otherwise common to most of his contemporary colleagues. So none of this, we believe, must have troubled the composer greatly.

A wide reception
Regarded as the most significant representative of the North German school in the first half of the 18th century, his music is essentially simple and natural (shall we say, spontaneous), so it was guaranteed to reach a wide audience. As is evident from the three autobiographical versions as a whole, the author was convinced that those who wanted to reach a wide audience had to write better than those who addressed a cultured minority.

G.P. Telemann (1681 - 1767)

Diversity of genres
Given the ecclesiastical posts that allowed him to live, his output is primarily of a religious nature. However, this did not prevent him from venturing into almost all genres. His instrumental output abounds in overtures, concertos, fantasies, and fugues for almost all solo instruments.

Concerto for flute and violin in E minor, TWV 52:e3
(TWV: Telemann Werke Verzeichnis, Telemann's catalogue of works)(52:e3: the third work in E minor (e) in the set of pieces catalogued under No. 52)

Published in 1768, a year after his death, the concerto is in five movements in the sequence: fast - slow - fast - slow - fast, although the first movement has no tempo indication. Like all baroque concertos, it is short, lasting no more than ten minutes.

Movements:

00 [Allegro]

03:12  Adagio

05:32  Presto

06:53  Adagio

07:42  Allegro

The central movement, presto, links with the very short adagio without interruption, a sort of link with the allegro finale. Although this is a double concerto, it is the violin that takes the lead: the flute does not participate in the presto.

The rendition is by the New York-based REBEL Ensemble for Baroque Music.

Chopin, Nocturne Op 55 No 1

 
The last concert Chopin gave in Paris took place on February 16, 1848. A week later the insurrection known as the February Revolution broke out and ended with the fall of King Louis Philippe, who hurried across the English Channel to Newhaven under an assumed name, Mr. Smith. But Mr. Smith did not flee alone, he took with him part of the aristocracy and with it a good number of Chopin's pupils.

Alone, in Paris
George Sand was not there either. The relationship had long since ended (not for the best, by the way). So Chopin was alone in a Paris bristling with barricades, and without students. Fortunately, he had a relationship with one of them, a student, a Scottish national, who was not interested in running away anywhere. On the contrary, Jane Stirling wanted to stay close to her master, with whom she was apparently in love.

Great Britain
The lady, six years Chopin's senior, invited him to Britain. Nothing kept Chopin in Paris, so in mid-April, he packed his bags and arrived in London on the 21st. He stayed on the island (he also visited Scotland) until November of that year, giving a few concerts and taking a couple of pupils, nothing significant. He returned to Paris without a penny. He had less than a year to live.

Nocturnes from opus 55
Composed between 1842-44, they were published in August 1844, dedicated to his enthusiastic Scottish pupil, Jane Stirling. Two nocturnes make up the opus: No. 1 in F minor, and No 2 in E flat major.
No 1, with its ternary structure (theme, second theme, return to the first theme), has a melodic line of extreme simplicity. Perhaps, for this reason, it is the more popular of the two. That's why it has also been included in the soundtrack of a couple of films.

The rendition is by the Israeli pianist Tzvi Erez.

Brahms, Hungarian Dance N° 1

In May 1863, Johannes Brahms settled permanently in Vienna from his hometown of Hamburg. The city enchanted him and he made it his second home, where he lived until his death. By this time he had become a renowned musician, and his tours of Europe multiplied. At the end of 1868, in the company of Clara Schumann, whom he loved so intensely and unconfessed, he began a series of performances that began in November in the same city, later taking the couple to England and Holland. The tour ended in April 1869, with satisfactory results for both. For Clara, for the income received. For Brahms, for having had the opportunity to travel with his unconfessed love and to have made music at her side for six months.

Hungarian Dances

Finished that same year in 1869, they constitute a set of 21 dances based primarily on Hungarian themes. Short in length, they are among Brahms's most popular works, and perhaps among those that earned him the most money, although only dances Nos. 11, 14, and 16 are entirely original. In fact, dance No. 5, the most popular of them all, is based on a named author's czardas that Brahms mistakenly thought were part of traditional folklore.

Arrangements

Brahms originally wrote the 21 dances as pieces for piano four hands, although shortly afterward he arranged the first ten for solo piano. All of them have been set for a wide variety of instruments or orchestral groups, the latter being the format in which they are mostly known. Brahms himself made orchestral arrangements for pieces No. 1, No. 3, and No. 10. And a good number of composers have also participated in it, notably Antonin Dvorak, for the arrangements of the last pieces, which, incidentally, must have served as inspiration for his own Slavonic Dances.

Following, the original version for piano four hands, with the brilliant and talented pianists Khatia Buniatishvili and Yuja Wang.

Verdi, Il Trovatore - Chorus of the Gypsies

Verdi's opera Il Trovatore is the second work of the famous group of three operas popularly known as the "Popular Trilogy", comprising Rigoletto (Venice, 1851) and La Traviata (Venice, 1853) with Il Trovatore in between. Premiered with resounding success at the Teatro Apollo in Rome in January 1853, it was part of the dazzling crowning achievement of the composer's "youthful" production, although by that time Giuseppe Verdi was about to turn forty and was living comfortably at his estate in Sant'Agata, in the company of the soprano Giuseppina Strepponi.

The plot

In four acts, the action takes place in Spain at the beginning of the 15th century. It revolves around the struggle between the Conde de Luna, a nobleman in the service of a prince, and Manrico, the troubadour, who is also an army officer in the service of another prince. Both are brothers but do not know it. At the center of all the conflict is, naturally, a girl, a noble lady named Leonora, madly in love with Manrico, as she establishes in the first aria she sings, in the first act.

Chorus of the Gypsies

Act II opens with the dramatic action set in a gypsy camp at the foot of the mountains. The transhumant gypsies work the brass while singing one of the most celebrated and popular choruses of Verdi's production. It is the well-known Chorus of the Gypsies, also called Chorus of the anvil, because it requires the use of hammers hitting anvils for its scenic execution, as a novel percussion instrument.

Its first verses are Vedi! le fosche notturne spoglie (and so the chorus is called, as usual), which can be translated as: Look! The dark night turns away.

It is presented here in a version of soloists, chorus, and orchestra of the Hungarian National Opera.

Joseph Haydn, Cello Concerto No 1

Despite the splendor of the place, despite the luxury and festivities, Haydn's life in Esterháza Palace was not free of difficulties. For 28 years he well served his patron Prince Nikolaus, called The Magnificent for his taste for pomp and celebrations. He wrote symphonies and concertos for the court orchestra, but he also had to deal with the human group involved.

The parties went on without rest and the obligatory stay in the palace during the whole summer, and something more, caused tension among the musicians, generating many conflicts among themselves or with the prince's administration. (To appease them, Haydn had to compose, for example, his famous Farewell Symphony). The orchestra was small, its members did not exceed ten or twelve, but among them were renowned instrumentalists who, for the same reason, were suspicious of each other.

Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809)

The carmadgeons virtuosos
And the greater the renown, the sharper the conflict. In the summer of 1769, the virtuoso cellist Joseph Weigl clashed fiercely with his colleague Ignaz Küffel and almost came to blows. Haydn had to intercede to calm the violent brawl. Two years later, the master had to deal with a brawl between another cellist and a flutist in a tavern in Eisenstadt, resulting in the flutist losing an eye.

Reducing the conflict
That is how turbulent Haydn's group of musicians was. In spite of this, and obliged to compose on a regular basis for his patron, the maestro would dedicate most of the concertos composed during his first years in Esterháza to one or another of the first-rate virtuosos in the small orchestra of Prince Nikolaus.

Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major

Probably composed between 1761 and 1765, Haydn's first cello concerto was written for the cello virtuoso Joseph Weigl, one of the curmudgeons. Its score was considered lost until the 1960s when it turned up among other documents in the National Museum in Prague. Structured in the classical manner in three movements, the third movement, marked allegro molto, is quite a challenge for the performer. 

Movements:

00       Moderato

09:47  Adagio

17:58  Allegro molto

The performance is by the Russian maestro Mstislav Rostropovich and the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Radiotelevisión Española, which he also conducts. Madrid, 1985. 

The concert lasts just over 23 minutes, the rest is applause.

Mozart, The Magic Flute - "Queen of the Night Aria"

Over time, many questions have been asked about the deep meaning of Mozart's last opera, what the genius from Salzburg wanted to reveal to us, its hidden message, and its true meaning. So much concern has also led to an infinite number of answers. Thus, The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte) has been described as anything from a "Masonic oratorio", or a ceremony for initiates, to a simple fairy tale suitable for all audiences.

On the outskirts of Vienna
The Masonic symbolism is present throughout the work, but the fact that it was premiered in a suburban theater, the Theater auf der Wienen, before an audience far from Masonic doctrines as from any other philosophical idea, that is, a plain and simple audience, leads us to think that Mozart was far from pretending to compose an elaborate work, full of truths accessible to a few. If we also remember that both the librettist Schikaneder (and administrator of the theater) and the composer were under serious financial difficulties at the time, Mozart's intention could not have been other than to reach a large audience, whether they were Masons or not.

A triumphal tour

The reception on the day of its premiere (September 30, 1791) began cold, but in the end, it was warmly applauded. And from its second performance, it began a triumphal journey that continues to this day. In October 1791 it was performed 24 times, and after a little more than a year it reached its hundredth performance. But Mozart was not there to see it. He had died a year before.

Queen of the Night Aria

The obscure character with no name but simply called the Queen of the Night has only two arias to perform, one in the first act and another in the second. The most famous of these is the one in Act II, known for short as "Der Hölle Rache..." and popularly referred to as "Queen of the Night Aria". It requires a coloratura soprano of extreme skill, as it is one of the most difficult soprano arias in operatic literature.

"Hell's revenge..."

"Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" is its full title. That is, something like "Hell's vengeance boils in my heart". Indeed, the queen suffers a fit of vengeful rage and puts a knife in the hands of her daughter Pamina exhorting her to murder Sarastro, the queen's rival, under penalty of cursing her forever if she does not comply.

The performance is by German soprano Diana Damrau, accompanied by the Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Riccardo Muti.

Beethoven, Six Variations for piano on a theme by Paisiello

 
The Italian composer Giovanni Paisiello was primarily a composer of operas who enjoyed no small amount of success in his long life. His setting of Beaumarchais's comedy Il Barbiere di Siviglia ovvero La precauzione inutile toured Europe with overwhelming success in the 1780s. Therefore, when Rossini "remusicalised" the libretto in 1816 under "another" name: Almaviva o sia L' inutile precauzione, Paisello followers hit the roof, although he was by no means the first to set the French comedy to music.

The successful duet
His output in the genre totals 94 works, all of which abound in beautiful, simple melodies. His greatest "hit", to this day, is the duet from the second act of La Molinara, from 1788, known as "Nel cor piu non mi sento", its first verse which, very loosely, can be translated as "My heart no longer feels". Dozens of composers have made use of the theme: Paganini, Sor, Giuliani, Hummel, and many others arranged it for various instruments, including the double bass.

Variations on request

Giovanni Paisiello (1740 - 1816)

But it was Beethoven who took the cake. In his first years in Vienna, teaching aristocratic girls and making contacts in musical circles to make himself known (he was 25 years old), the maestro was not in a position to produce particularly important works. So it happened that on one such evening, the lady of the house suggested that he should write some variations on melodies from Paisiello's recently premiered work. It is said that Beethoven would have taken note and completed the request a couple of days later in the course of a single evening.

Six variations for piano on Nel cor piu non mi sento
Full of charm rather than depth, and with no major technical demands (they suited his pupils like a glove), the variations in G major are catalogued as WoO 70 (WoO: Works without opus number) and were composed in 1795. From then until today, the little jewel of no more than six minutes in length is the most serious incursion into Beethoven's work of any novice pianist, after, of course, the celebrated bagatelle Für Elise.

The original theme

But before listening to the set of piano variations, we thought it was important to present Paisiello's original theme. It is sung by Pavarotti.

Theme and Variations performed by the Georgian pianist Ketevan Sepashvili:

00 Theme

01:16 Variation 1

01:52 Variation 2

02:31 Variation 3

03:12 Variation 4 (the " prescribed " variation in a minor key)

04:24 Variation 5

05:10 Variation 6 (a little faster than desirable, in our humble opinion)

Vivaldi, The Four Seasons - Autumn

 
Antonio Vivaldi, known in his time as il prete rosso (the red priest, because of the color of his hair, a family characteristic) received minor orders when he had just turned fifteen. However, the young violinist did not feel a strong religious vocation. Apparently, he chose the habits as a way of gaining access to a social status that would otherwise have been forbidden to him: his family album is full of unvirtuous personages, with an abundance of sailors, pirates, and bandits, with the exception of his father, who was also a famous violinist. However, in 1703, at the age of twenty-five, he was ordained a priest.

At L'Ospedale
That same year he began in Venice a very long and fruitful relationship with the Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanage he would remain in relatively regular contact with for 36 years. It was there that he composed most of his works, which total an astonishing 454 concertos, according to the latest research. However, most of these compositions remained unknown until the first quarter of the 20th century, when 300 autograph manuscripts plus nine operas and a beautiful oratorio were collected.

Il Cimento dell'armonia e dell'invenzione
Needless to say, only a tiny part of this immense work was published during the author's lifetime. An exception to this were the twelve concertos that make up the collection Il Cimento dell'armonia e dell'invenzione, published in Amsterdam in 1725, and whose first four concertos have become very famous under the title of The Four Seasons.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741)

The imitation of nature

Perhaps for the first time in his entire oeuvre, Vivaldi resorts here to the imitation of nature as a reflection of one of the basic tendencies of enlightenment culture, understanding that imitation of nature here means "imitation of human nature," that is, the translation of sensible human impressions into music.
They constitute the first incursions into the so-called "programmatic music" that would have a notable presence during the romantic century to come.
The four concertos already mentioned are: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, all written for solo violin, string orchestra and harpsichord, and structured in three movements: fast - slow - fast.

Presented here is the Concerto in F major, Autumn, in a rendition by German violinist (and also pianist) Julia Fischer, accompanied by the London-based ensemble Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

Movements:
00        Allegro
04:48  Adagio molto
07:11  Allegro pastorale

Haendel, "Largo", from opera "Xerxes"

Georg Friedrich Haendel settled definitively in London in 1712. He was then 27 years old and remained there building a prolific career as a composer and entrepreneur, until his death in April 1759. He had to overcome many ups and downs and setbacks in his role as an impresario but nevertheless managed to become the leading exponent of English opera of his time.

A fruitful composer
Although they were not always well received by the public, in the thirty years between 1710 and 1740, the prolific German composer wrote no less than 40 operas. Even after the resounding failure in 1737 of his third foray as a trainer of opera companies, he had the courage to compose a couple of operas of Italian style. The most famous of them is a sort of comedy, whose protagonist is the king of Persia, Xerxes, and from whom the opera takes its name.

Xerxes, the opera
Its premiere, in 1738, was a commercial failure. Xerxes only reached five performances. The work confused audiences and critics in different ways. Some considered it an opera buffa, others a farcical comedy, and one colleague even added that it seemed to be the product of a "sick mind".

All in all, the work incorporates one of the most famous arias written by Haendel, the famous Ombra mai fu ("There was never a dearer, lovelier, sweeter shade," the verse continues), popularly known as Largo de Xerxes, even though it is a larghetto and not a largo.

Song in the shade of a tree

The aria belongs to the first scene of Act I. King Xerxes sings in rapture in the shade of a tree, that of a Platanus orientalis, by the way. Originally written for a soprano castrato, today it is generally sung, if male, by a countertenor, if female, by a contralto or mezzo-soprano. There are also countless versions for different instruments.

We present here an outstanding version by the German countertenor Andreas Scholl, whose timbre reveals to us a miracle, the miracle of the human voice.

Chopin, Étude opus 10 No 4

In a letter written in the autumn of 1829, Chopin mentioned to a friend that he had just finished composing an etude "in my own style". Indeed, the author, then nineteen years old, would take distance from the compositions in the genre coming from the pen of his predecessors, with the production of his 24 Études divided into two volumes, Opus 10 (dedicated to Franz Liszt) and Opus 25 (dedicated to Marie d'Agoult, Franz's friend during those years).

Beyond dexterity
Both published in Paris, the first volume in 1833 and the second in 1837, Chopin's Etudes are much more than a set of technically demanding piano pieces aimed at achieving the indispensable dexterity on the instrument. On the contrary, the author's "own style" generated 24 pieces of inexhaustible melodic and harmonic beauty, full of colors, textures, and diverse moods. To these are added three studies without opus number published in 1840.

Etude Opus 10 No 4
Written in the key of C sharp minor, marked presto con fuoco (very fast, fiery), it is one of the most difficult of Opus 10, and perhaps of the entire work, despite its short duration. Nevertheless, it is possible to distinguish in it four sections. After introducing the first theme, the piece progresses rapidly to a second, brief theme at 0:20. The first theme returns at 0:30, and then at 1:15, progressing to the climax at 1:31, followed by the coda, with significant momentum. The piece ends with two dramatic chords, fortissimo.

The rendition is by the outstanding Chinese pianist Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu.

Beethoven, Piano Concerto No 2

The Conquest of Vienna
Sometime after settling permanently in Vienna in November 1792, Beethoven realized that in order to captivate the Viennese public he had not only to show himself as the skilled pianist he was but also as a composer, even if he was in his early stages –if that could be said of the twenty-two-year-old master. To this end, he had to gather a good number of compositions, either wholly new or unheard by a broad audience, to face the stage on which his debut before the Viennese public was to take place.

1795, the year of his debut
So along with his aspiration to become a master of counterpoint – for which he took classes with Haydn and other masters – Beethoven collected for three years his own works in various genres – solo piano, piano with accompaniment, strings, songs, and piano concertos – with the determination to approach the conquest of Vienna from all possible sides.
The maestro's debut took place one Easter weekend, on Sunday, March 29, 1795, at the Burgtheater in Vienna, which was available for instrumental concerts because the Catholic faith of the Habsburgs did not allow theatrical performances during Lent. On the occasion, he presented one of his Piano Concertos.

Bust made on a mask
during his lifetime

Beethoven Piano Concerto nº 2, in B-flat major, Op. 19 

It is still debated today whether the "new concerto" presented on the occasion was No. 1 or No. 2, although most opinions are in favor of the latter, composed many years before the "first", between 1787 and 1789. At least this was the case with respect to its first two movements because for the 1795 performance Beethoven rewrote the final movement, a modification arising from his studies with Haydn. Three years later, for a performance in Prague, the composer revised the work again, writing another finale for the occasion, finally discarded because the version published in 1801 and the one that has come down to us is the one heard in Vienna in 1795, according to the most reliable testimonies.

Although considered by scholars (an opinion joined by Beethoven himself) as a rather weak and conventional work, clearly tributary of Haydn and Mozart, it contains as a whole a sense of drama and contrasts that clearly announces the magnificent master of the later concertos. Surely, its beautiful Adagio must have made a deep impression on the audience attending that Easter Sunday.

Movements:
00        Allegro con brio
15:28   Adagio
25:10   Rondo. Molto allegro
Encore:
(34:51  "Bailecito", from the pianist and composer Carlos Guastavino)

Arriaga: "Los Esclavos Felices" - Overture

On February 27, 1806, exactly 50 years after Mozart's birth, the composer Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga was born in the Basque city of Bilbao, Spain. He was called "the Spanish Mozart" due to his precocious musical intelligence and, of course, to the aforementioned coincidence, in addition to his premature death. The young musician did not reach the age of twenty, dying of a lung infection ten days earlier.

At the Paris Conservatory
At the age of fourteen, Arriaga was already a skilled violinist, although it is not certain whether his technical abilities were an innate skill or the result of the teachings of some unknown maestro he may have had in Bilbao.
What is certain is that at the age of fifteen he was admitted to the Paris Conservatory to continue his violin studies, and acquire the necessary knowledge in counterpoint and harmony. Two years later, he won the second prize in the Conservatory in fugue and counterpoint, and soon after he became an assistant instructor of a harmony course. He was seventeen.

J. C. de Arriaga (1806 - 1826)

His works
It is not surprising then that at the age of eighteen he had already composed three string quartets, and had begun to dabble in vocal and choral music. His Stabat Mater is one of his most successful large-scale works. His last two years of life were devoted to finishing his extensive Symphony in D major.

Of course, his musical production was scarce, and this resulted in his oblivion for almost eighty years, until at the end of the 19th-century scholars noticed this great musical promise that simply did not give its full potential.

Opera "Los Esclavos Felices" (The Happy Slaves)
Among his early works, those that justly earned him the title of a child prodigy, stands out an opera in two acts, entitled Los Esclavos Felices, composed and produced in Bilbao when the author was only thirteen years old. When the work came to the knowledge of his teachers at the Conservatory, they could only point out that the young Arriaga had composed "a Spanish opera full of original ideas and harmonic richness without having any knowledge of harmony".

With a clear Italian influence and tributary of the purest Viennese classicism, the Overture is presented here (7:30 min) in a performance by the Orquesta Clásica Santa Cecilia, from Madrid. 

César Frank, Sonata for violin and piano

Covering their heads with a Phrygian cap, César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck and his fiancée and former student Eugénie Desmousseaux crossed the streets of Paris on February 22, 1848, to arrive safe and sound at the church where they would be married. The Phrygian cap was intended to successfully circumvent the barricades and bonfires that the rioters had installed throughout the city to force the downfall of Louis Philippe I, also called "the king of the barricades" because through them he came to the throne and because of them he had to abandon it.

The origins
Born in Liege, Belgium, in December 1822, César Franck, together with his brother Joseph, arrived in Paris in 1835 when he was only thirteen years old at the hand of his father, who aspired that his two offspring would be recognized there as great virtuosos in the way Liszt and Paganini already were. It was not too much to ask since at least César was coming from successful but brief tours in which he had given undeniable samples of his extraordinary ability with the piano.

The father's aspirations

Like many other fathers in the history of music (Leopold Mozart being the most conspicuous), Franck's father subjected his son to exhausting workdays. After entering the Paris Conservatory, he imposed upon him the composition of at least one work a year so that he could perform it in public, thus facilitating the recognition of his talent among Parisian musical circles. This ambition did not bear the fruits his father expected, and after ten years the composer decided to rebel, abandoning his father's tutelage and forming his own family by marrying the aforesaid Eugene amidst the liberal and workers' revolt of February 1848.

César Franck (1822 - 1890)

Church organist

The years to come were sullen. With little production and relegated to the role of piano accompanist, as well as organist of a couple of churches in Paris, Franck and his family led an obscure and lackluster life for ten years. Then, in 1858 he was offered to take charge of a modern and grandiose organ in the church of St. Clotilde, a post in which he performed with pleasure and commitment until the end of his days.

The rebirth

It was the beginning of the rebirth of his life as a musician, when he finally saw the doors of the concert halls open and the period in which his masterpieces came to light began. Among them, the Prelude, Chorale and Fugue of 1885, the Symphonic Variations of 1886, and the beautiful Sonata for violin and piano of 1887 stand out.

The maestro

In the twilight of his life, César Franck produced music as never before, perhaps trying to make up for the lost time. This time he did bear fruit, mainly as a maestro, becoming the musician who would initiate the incorporation of French music into the great European tradition. Through D'Indy, Chausson, Dukas, and many other disciples or followers, this would culminate at the end of the century or the beginning of the next with the appearance of the illustrious figures of Debussy and Ravel.

Sonata for violin and piano in A major

It was composed as a wedding present for his friend the Belgian violinist Eugene Ysaÿe, who played it during the wedding celebrations and later became its main disseminator. The piece is a superb synthesis of three features the composer cultivated with ardor in the last stage of his career: the Viennese classical tradition, the "cyclical form" (the main theme reappears, conveniently varied, in each movement, a form that some have postulated as his invention) and the composer's very rich, characteristic and very personal harmonic language.

Movements:

00        Allegretto ben moderato

06:11   Allegro

14:30  Recitativo - Fantasia. Ben moderato - molto lento

21:46  Allegretto poco mosso

The rendition is by Dutch violinist Frederieke Saeijs and Georgian pianist Nino Gvetadze.

Boccherini, "Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid"

Luigi Boccherini, born in Lucca, Italy, on February 19, 1743, traveled all over Europe before settling permanently in Spain shortly after his 25th birthday. From 1757 to 1765 he lived in Vienna, with sporadic getaways to his native Lucca. In 1767 he arrived in Paris, where despite his already widespread fame as a cellist, his stay did not last long. Thus, the following year he was already in Spain, where he lived, between Madrid and Ávila, until his death on May 28, 1805.

In Paris, he had formed a chamber group that included as violinist his friend Filippo Manfredi, a native of Lucca like him. It was with Filippo that he set off for Madrid, both encouraged by the fortunate panorama that the fanciful Spanish ambassador in France presented to them about musical life in Madrid, where the competition – it was true – was far inferior to what they had experienced in Paris, a city that had nevertheless given them a good welcome.

In Madrid

But Madrid's musical life only disappointed them. There was less competition, of course, but that was simply a reflection of the fact that the city was far from the usual circles of artists on the European continent. Nevertheless, and interestingly, Luigi Boccherini would live there for no less than 37 years, most of them in the service of his protector, the Infante Luis de Borbón, brother of Carlos III.

Luigi Boccherini (1743 - 1805)

In Avila

Removed from the court because of his morganatic marriage, Prince Luis left for Avila with his chamber musicians, including Boccherini. The maestro complained daily of his isolation from Madrid's musical circles and had no choice but to devote much of his time to composing chamber music, the only genre for which he had performers. From those years are some of his most interesting quintets, the most popular being Quintet in C major, where he, captivatingly, pours out his longing for the sounds of the streets of Madrid's nightlife.

"Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid" — Quintet for two violins, viola and two violoncellos, in C major

The work doubles the violoncellos and not the violas, in accordance with the maestro's favorite formation... of course, if he was a cellist.

The piece, written in the key of C major, has five movements. Two short interlude-like passages separate the first movement from the second, and the fourth from the last. Each movement represents a different scene, but they all share a structure that is not very "classical" or traditional, which makes the piece quite unusual, even for Boccherini himself, who initially refused to publish it because he believed that no one who was not from Madrid could understand it.

Movements
I     00 Le campane dell'Ave Maria (call to the faithful to pray the Ave Maria)

II   01:20 Minuetto dei Ciechi (Minuet of the Blind, contains the author's indication for the cellists to place the instrument on their knees and "strum" them as if they were guitars).

III  03:21 Il Rosario

IV  07:55 Passacalle (piece also known as "Los Manolos", in allusion to popular pedestrians)

V   10:16 Ritirata (the soldiers retire to their barracks, having finished their night vigil).

The audio-only version, but with period instruments, is by the chamber ensemble Le Concert des Nations, conducted by Jordi Savall.

Haydn, Symphony No 101, "The Clock"

Since the death of the "Bach of London", Johann Christian Bach, in 1782, the music of Franz Joseph Haydn in that city had been progressively increasing to the point where "it was difficult to find a concert that did not include a piece by him", according to a historian of the time.

Therefore, numerous efforts had been made to arrange a visit of the illustrious composer, which always met with Haydn's refusal. The maestro did not want for anything in the world to bother his patron Nikolaus Esterhazy, whom he served for more than thirty years, as kapellmeister, even if it was in the court of a remote palace isolated in the Hungarian countryside.

A new patron
But with Nikolaus's death in 1790, the master's responsibilities were relieved. Nikolaus was succeeded by his son Anton, a prince with little interest in the arts. Anton got rid of most of the musicians, although he kept Haydn in his post, even increasing his pension, without asking for anything special in return. Faced with the new scenario, Haydn took the opportunity to leave for Vienna as soon as he could. Soon after, the Bonn-born violinist Johann Peter Solomon, who was making a career in London as a concert organizer and clamored for Haydn's competition, came to his house in Vienna. The maestro could not refuse: the conditions were magnificent. Thus, at age 58, Haydn left his native country for the first time. On January 1, 1791, he crossed the Channel and saw the ocean for the first time.

Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809),
painting from 1792

In London
The stay in London resulted in a series of resounding successes, from the professional and financial points of view. The visit had to be repeated two years later. Fruit of those two stays are the so-called "London Symphonies", twelve in all, which represent the pinnacle of the maestro's symphonic creation. Among them are several of the most popular ones born from his pen. For example, the symphony "The Surprise" (No. 94), the "Military" (No. 100), and the so-called "The Clock" (No. 101), the latter two belonging to the second London series, that is, the fruit of the second trip, in the years 1794-95.

Symphony No 101, in D major, Hob 1:101, "The Clock"
(Hob, after Antony van Hoboken, the author of the catalog).
The popular title comes from the quavers of the slow movement, Andante, which follow one after the other with the regularity of a clock. Its premiere took place in London on March 3, 1794, as part of a series of concerts of Haydn's works organized, of course, by his colleague and friend Solomon. The work was applauded with the usual enthusiasm reserved for the works of the "tireless, marvelous and sublime Haydn", as a London newspaper called him on the occasion.

Its movements are four, as usual for a symphony:

00        Adagio - Presto

08:42  Andante

16:23  Minuetto - Allegretto

23:53  Vivace

The performance is by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, conducted by Richard Egarr.

Mozart, Piano Sonata No 2, in F major

The second trip to Vienna of Leopold Mozart and his son Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was as fruitless as the first one. Accompanying their patron Prince-Archbishop Colloredo they arrived there in the summer of 1773 and visited professors and musicians of the court. Even the empress was kind enough to receive them, but getting a place at the imperial court was not possible.
The meager fruits were already beginning to become habitual for the Mozart family. This is how Leopold describes it in a letter to his wife: "... Her Majesty the Empress was very kind to us, but that was all."

Back in Salzburg
Despite all this, Leopold and Wolfgang resumed life in Salzburg as if nothing had happened. Better yet, they made some important decisions: they moved to a larger, more comfortable house in the new part of town. As a consequence, their friendships rose in rank; after all, they had just completed a visit to the court in Vienna, where they had been greeted by the empress.

In Munich

These months of familiar peace in the region resulted in an essential series of compositions. Among them stand out the five piano sonatas, K. 279 to K. 283, although some scholars date these compositions to the following year, 1775, during the three months that the young 19-year-old maestro stayed in Munich, on the occasion of the premiere of his opera buffa La Finta Giardiniera, a work composed at the request of the court, obtaining with it, by the way, a formidable success.

At this point, the master had a wealth of creative experience. Nevertheless, this first group of piano pieces is the first major attempt that the young Mozart undertook in the genre of piano sonatas, for which he would compose a total of twenty-five works.

Sonata No. 2 in F major, K. 280 - Movements

Haydn's influence is clear, especially in the outer movements. The second movement is the most Mozartian, a tender and melancholic melody in F minor, stretching for almost ten minutes. As a curious note, of all Mozart's sonatas, it is the only slow movement written in a minor key.

The movements are three, organized in the typical Italian manner: fast-slow-fast.
00        Allegro assai

07:09  Adagio

16:50  Presto

The performance is by the French artist Mathilde Handelsman.

Villa-Lobos, Bachiana brasileira No 5

The mother of the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos was a skilled pianist but did not agree with the idea that her little child should devote himself to music as a professional. And his father, also a talented amateur, died before Heitor was ten years old. So it had to be an aunt, Zizinha Monteiro, who exerted the decisive influence on the future composer's youthful training.

Family evenings
Zizinha, also a pianist and fervent admirer of Bach and a passionate enthusiast of the Well-Tempered Clavier, used to organize in her house every Saturday real family concerts, greeted with enthusiasm by neighbors and friends. It was in this atmosphere that the child Villa-Lobos met JS Bach, whom he would later call "the universal folkloric spring", and to whom, as a mature man, he would pay homage with his famous Bachianas Brasileiras.

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887 - 1959)

The nine Bachianas Brasileiras

As the title suggests, the nine Bachianas, composed between 1930 and 1945, are inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach in a novel blend with the composer's Brazilian heritage.

It is a set of uniquely varied works, both in their formal aspect and in their instrumental arrangement.

Thus, there are works for eight cellos (No. 1, dedicated to Pau Casals), chamber orchestra (No. 2), and flute and bassoon (No. 6), among other ensembles.

Bachiana No 5

The most famous of them is the Bachiana No. 5, composed for voice and eight cellos, and whose origin is dated between 1938 and 1945. The piece consists of two movements, the Aria (Cantilena) and the Dance (O Martelo). The singer Victoria de Los Angeles in the 1960s recorded a performance of the Cantilena which is legendary today and has made the piece undeniably popular to this day.

Following, a rendition by the Puerto Rican soprano Ana Maria Martínez, accompanied by soloists of the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.

In the theme's repetition, the soloist must sing "a bocca chiusa", that is, with her mouth closed, as if she were mumbling or humming. The hard part will be, forced to do so, to do that with the last note.

Beethoven, Overture to "Egmont" – The Incident at Teplice

Bettina von Arnim, née Brentano, was a somewhat fanciful writer who had the good fortune to meet Beethoven and Goethe, as well as many other artists of the time. As she told – twenty years after the facts – she was the one who conceived the encounter of both universal artists in the small thermal city of Teplice, in July of 1812, when Beethoven spent the summer there to follow the treatments prescribed by his doctors. She also is who narrates the famous incident, when Beethoven and Goethe met the archduke Rodolfo and the empress, during a walk.

The incident
According to Bettina, Beethoven, who was twenty years younger than the elder Goethe, whispered in Goethe's ear as they passed the imperial princes: keep walking, take my arm, they are the ones who have to give us the step, not the other way around. But the poet respectfully stepped aside and took off his hat. Beethoven, on the other hand, continued his march unperturbed, without answering the greeting of the imperial family. After a while, he stopped to wait for Goethe. When he had him at his side, he said: "I have waited for you because I have great respect for you, and I admire your work, but it seems to me that you show too much esteem for these people". Bettina does not say what Goethe would have replied.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
(1749 - 1832)

Goethe's impression
Nothing was said at the time, we suppose, but Goethe did have an impression of the encounter, though not a very encouraging one.
In a later letter to his "musical assistant", Carl Zelter, he described Beethoven as "a surly and hostile personality who, although he is not wrong in saying that the world is detestable, does not make the slightest effort to make it more livable or bearable...".
However, in a letter to his wife around the same time, he expresses that Beethoven's talent had impressed him, for he had never before seen "a more concentrated, more energetic, and more profound artist." 

"Egmont", incidental music
In contrast to other opportunities, musical assistant Zelter had no objections when Goethe decided to send Beethoven his tragedy "Egmont" in 1809 for the Bonn master to write the incidental music. Beethoven saw in it one more opportunity for glory and applied himself to the work with zeal. Very respectful, almost flattering, he thus wrote to Goethe announcing that he had already completed the commission.

"You will soon receive my music for Egmont, this wonderful drama which I read and felt and set to music with you warmly in mind. I am anxious to know what you think of it. Even censure will be beneficial to me and to my art, and will be as welcome as unreserved praise."

It is clear that Beethoven admired "unreservedly" the "greatest German poet", in his own words.

The drama
Goethe's work is about freedom. And it was this that excited Beethoven, who had already ventured into the subject with his opera Fidelio. The story of Egmont (a real character) takes place during the Spanish Inquisition's persecution of the Flemish people in the mid-16th century. Egmont is a Catholic count who is eventually killed even though the rebellion ends successfully.

Overture and nine scenes
The first performance of Goethe's drama with music by Beethoven took place on June 15, 1810. The complete work consists of nine scenes plus the overture, which opens in a somber mood, sostenuto ma non-troppo, depicting darkness and oppression. The subsequent allegro brings to mind the heroism of the struggle. Finally, the piece concludes in a triumphant and celebratory mood.

The rendition is by the Gewandhaus Orchestra, led by the German conductor Kurt Masur.