Adolphe Adam, Giselle - Act II

At the rearguard of the great musical geniuses of the 19th century, a group of musicians of lesser depth was modestly gravitating. They are the so-called "minor composers". The French composer Adolphe Adam was one of them. The son of a pianist who had acquired a certain reputation, he did not highlight much during his time at the Conservatory in Paris, where he entered at age 21. Nevertheless, since he was twenty he was recognized in Paris as a skilled composer of songs for the French vaudeville.

As an author of 48 operas and 15 ballets, Adam bequeathed to humanity the famous, eternal and beautiful ballet Giselle, released in 1843. It is the only production of his vast work that is performed until today on the stages of every corner of the globe, with each more diverse and innovative staging. In 1993, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of its premiere, Giselle was staged in Havana by the National Ballet of Cuba, under the direction of the very prominent Cuban dancer and choreographer Alicia Alonso. In a box from which a divine light emerged, Fidel and Raul were seen tasting the function, with similar delight to that of the European aristocracy and high bourgeoisie of the mid-19th century. The magic of music.

Adolphe Adam (1803 - 1856)

The work is a ballet in two acts, based on a legend collected by the German poet Heinrich Heine. The story takes place in the medieval Rhineland. At the end of act I, Giselle, the protagonist villager, has already gone mad and then died, pierced by the sword following the deceit of her beloved Prince Albrecht.

In the second act, Giselle is welcomed by the queen of the dead virgins – together with her cohort of female ghosts, the Wilis – with a dance. Giselle joins them. Afterwards, Prince Albrecht appears, repentant, to mourn over his grave. The queen of the dead virgins rejects him but Giselle is there to protect him and save Albrecht's life, condemned by the queen to dance for life. Giselle holds him until the dawn lights force the ghosts to retreat. Then Giselle returns to her grave.

The celebrated Grand Pas de Deux and Variations of act II is presented here, with the Ukrainian ballerina Svetlana Zakharova playing the role of Giselle.
I apologize for the end of the video, something sloppy in the cut.

One last word about Adolphe Adam. From nowhere else but from his modest creative inspiration is that this miraculous wonder that Adolphe gave to the world arose. Aware of his moderate worth, Adam – according to Wikipedia – did not hesitate to say in a French newspaper in January 1855:
"I have no more ambition, in my music (...) than to make it clear, easy to understand and fun for the public. I can not do anything other than small music, it is a fact. Hence, I am content to do what I can, what I know, and I hope the audience gets tired of me to stop writing."
This blog subscribes his words, one by one.

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Schubert's death - Impromptu Op 90-4

Shortly after finishing the composition of the Impromptus, in late 1827, Franz Schubert's health worsened. In search of relief for his lungs, in the summer of 1828, he moved to the home of his brother Ferdinand, on the outskirts of Vienna.
His health was already very resentful, however, he was encouraged to make plans for the future and decided to perfect his musical knowledge by taking classes of harmony and composition with a famous teacher, in order to learn the technique of the fugue and counterpoint. He could only attend one class, that of November 4.

In those days, he contracted typhus. His doctor, very clever by the way, forbade him to eat (the medicine of the time killed many artists with the same method). He got even worse.
In his last days, he received almost no visits, for fear of contagion, and was accompanied only by his brother Fernando. His friends learned of his death during a friend's wedding celebration.

According to his wishes, little Franz was buried near Beethoven, in the Währing Cemetery. In 1888, the city of Vienna moved the remains of both musicians to the Central Cemetery, in what has been dubbed the "Pantheon of musicians."

With a feeling of regret for the loss of masterpieces caused by his early death, Franz's epitaph reads:

"The art of music has here interred
a precious treasure,
but yet far fairer hopes" 

"Here rests Franz Schubert
born on January 31, 1797
died on November 19, 1828
at the age of 31"

Impromptu N ° 4 Opus 90
The last of impromptus of Opus 90 is an Allegretto in A-flat minor/major, with an A-B-A form. At the start, we can hear a cascading sixteenth notes arpeggios. Later, Schubert inserts a delightfully swinging melody into the upper voice of the left hand. Section B is more lyrical, at 2:20.

The rendition is by the South Korean pianist, Dong-Min Lim.

Schubert: Impromptus Op 90 (2 - 3)

Franz Schubert composed eight impromptus in 1827, but only two of them were published in the composer's lifetime: the first two of Opus 90. The remaining and the four of Opus 142 only saw the public light in 1857, thirty years after its composition. The Impromptu No. 2 of Opus 90, which we are now listening to, is part, together with No. 1, of that pair of impromptus that Schubert was able to see published.

It has been wanted to see in it a study, or the germ, of those that will come later from the hand of Chopin and Liszt (at the time, 17 and 16 years, respectively). The laborious task entrusted to the right hand supports this proposal. A very careful while lively articulation becomes essential to make this almost endless series of triplets in tempo allegro sound perfectly clear.

The rendition is by Grigory Sokolov.

Despite his frail health, Schubert's last year of life was prodigal in compositions, but this was not reflected in an improvement in his economic situation, mainly due to the stinginess of his editors. Even in 1821, when Franz's name already appeared in the newspapers and his "light" works were heard in the salons of the high aristocracy, the publishers were reluctant to publish his work. And to show something, when a group of Schubert's friends addressed to the editor Peters, in Leipzig, requesting him to publish certain pieces of Franz, he responded by pointing out:

"My effort goes to the already established artists, with whom I can earn more money ... the mission of revealing new talents is for another. The day the composer has made a name and his works are recognized, I will be the man who seek, because in this case, the publication of his works will come into my plans."
Nothing new under the sun.

The Impromptu 90-3 is undoubtedly the most beautiful in the series, as well as the most cherished by the audience and also by the pianists, because of its tender and serene singing, commissioned to the right hand that makes a "self-accompanying" with broken arpeggios in permanent mute so as not to turn off the melody. The left hand makes "trills" in the bass, when Franz deemed them necessary.

The rendition is by the Russian pianist Olga Jegunova.

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Schubert: Impromptu No 1, Op 90

Little Franz Peter Schubert was never able to recover from the low glamour disease (as opposed to tuberculosis) he contracted around 1823: syphilis, a somewhat shameful disease and with no cure at the time. By 1827 he had already suffered several relapses; one of them, shortly after visiting Beethoven that year in his dying bed, whom he revered with all his soul and heart but barely knew.
For more than twenty years, both musicians lived in the same city, Vienna, Schubert's hometown, and the one Beethoven adopted. But they never became close because they would frequent very different social circles.

Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828)

Beethoven's death was a serious blow to Franz and it accentuated the depression that would accompany him the last years of his life. The courageous, jovial and sociable Franz in his twenties became sullen and withdrawn at thirty (almost the crossing of Ludwig due to deafness). However, this did not prevent him from working hard at the end of 1827, perhaps in an attempt to fight the depression. The Trios for piano and string, the Musical Moments and the Impromptus are from that time.

The name "impromptu" is a suggestion of his editor. Schubert was not the first to use it, although it can be said that he owes the boom it acquired in the romantic period. Impromptus are short pieces, formally close to Chopin's nocturnes, with a deep musicality along with a certain drama despite belonging to a musical language full of grace and charm.

Schubert's Impromptus are a series of eight pieces, divided into two groups of four, Opus 90 and Opus 142 (also named D. 899 and D. 935, respectively; the D recognizes the work of Otto Erich Deutsch, who managed to summarize all of Schubert's work in 1950).

Impromptu No. 1, from Opus 90, in C minor, is presented here in the rendition of  Chinese-American pianist Eric Lu.

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Vivaldi: Summer, from The Four Seasons

Ordained a priest in 1703, "the red priest" Antonio Vivaldi, 25 years old, began that same year his fruitful relations with the Ospedale della Pietà, in Venice, an institution to which he would remain connected, with greater or lesser intensity, during almost 36 years. Appointed at the beginning as "maestro di violino", a couple of years later he assumes the position of "maestro di concerto", which gives him virtually the direction of the Conservatory.

By those years, Venice had four conservatories for women. The most important was the Ospedale della Pietá. A contemporary scholar, Charles de Brosses, writes in his Lettres d'Italie:"The best places to listen to music in this city are the Ospedali, there are four nowadays, all of them for orphaned girls or illegitimate daughters, or indigents, they are brought here at the State's expense and educated exclusively in music..."

So, with a total of almost a thousand girls staying, Vivaldi could choose at will to provide, at the beginning of the 18th century, an orchestra of 70 or 100 members, which according to De Brosses, apart from singing as angels "touch the violin, flute, cello or organ ... with unparalleled grace and precision."

The Four Seasons - Summer
In his series of concertos published in 1724 with the title Il cimento dell armonia e dell'invenzione, (The Contest between Harmony and Invention) maestro Vivaldi would use for the first time in the whole of his work, the imitation of nature, leitmotif of the Illuminist culture. Undeniable proof of this are the first four concerts of Il Cimento..., universally known as The Four Seasons.

Following, the Concerto No. 2, in G minor, subtitled "Summer", in the Trondheim Soloist rendition. On the solo violin, the Norwegian artist Mari Silje Samuelsen.

Movements:
00:00  Allegro non molto
06:06  Adagio
08:12  Presto.