Igor Stravinsky, The Firebird

 

Igor Feodorovich Stravinsky was the third of four children of a famous singer of the Russian Imperial Opera and of a mother to whom "he only felt duties", according to his own confession. He never felt comfortable in the company of his brothers, so little Igor had to find a note of joviality in an overwhelming childhood whose only joy seemed to come from the care of his nurse, whom he would love and respect all his life, to the point that when she died, he wept for her more than he did for his own mother.

A musician... or a lawyer
Fortunately, the family's musical evenings brought a fruitful breath of life and encouraged his passion for music. At age 9, he began receiving his first piano lessons, and at 11 he was dazzled by attending the opera for the first time. Shortly after, he attended the premiere of Tchaikovsky's Pathetic Symphony, and this time, he was enchanted. At the same time, he was composing his first works. Everything was apparently going well for the young Igor to make music a career, but the ominous fate of young Russian musical promises stood before him and he had to begin studying law at the age of eighteen.

The maestro Nicolai
The only thing that took him away from juridical destiny was having made acquaintance with the composer Nicolai Rimski-Kórsakov who, despite frowning at his first works, finally received him at his home for three years to teach him the trade, explaining everything concerning the musical forms and their language, and supporting him in the orchestration of his own piano scores. The maestro Nicolai, perhaps unintentionally, thus became the only musician from whom Stravinsky later admitted having learned anything.

Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971)

Diaghilev
The year 1908 already sum several scores to his credit, applauded by the public and critics. The only thing missing is a bit of luck and this comes hand in hand with a concert where two of his works are performed and which is attended by an attentive spectator, Sergei Diaghilev, creator of the Ballets Russes that are all the rage in Paris at that time. Diaghilev did not delay in asking the author to orchestrate Chopin's music for a planned future ballet to be called The Sylphides.

The Firebird
Igor is happier than a clam. Even so, he does not imagine that the celebrity is around the corner and that he is going to conquer it overnight. Indeed, at the end of the summer of 1909, he received a telegram from Diaghilev commissioning him to write the score for the ballet The Firebird, scheduled for the following season of the Ballets Russes. Despite the short term granted, Igor completed the work on time, which premiered on June 25 of that year at the Paris Opera, not without some setbacks. The frenetic rhythm of the music puzzled some dancers, to the extent that the famous Anna Pavlova refused to dance "such atrocities", being replaced by Tamara Karsavina (pictured).

The tout Paris was immediately seduced by Stravinsky's music as well as by the costumes and novel sets of the staging. The sparkling and charming music of the 28-year-old young master would greatly influence the choreographic work, revitalizing an art that seemed exhausted from so much pas de deux. The Firebird will kill them forever, taking the tutus with him in passing.

Listening "with new ears"
The rendition, as a suite for orchestra, is by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Pierre Boulez, including the last scenes: Infernal Dance, Berceuse and Finale (the complete ballet lasts nearly fifty minutes).
One final word: it is not easy to distinguish in this music tunes that can be hummed, but since it has already turned one hundred years old, I think it is time to make an effort to listen to it "with new ears", abandoning the sound and harmonics schemes from the 19th century and earlier.

Chopin, Polonaise "Heroique"

 
Despite being a Polish folk dance, "polonaises" were not written by the first time by Fréderic Chopin. Before him, Bach, Telemann, Mozart and Schubert did write pieces "with a polonaise rhythm ". And after him, Mussorgsky and Tchaikovsky, along with Chopin, Liszt and Schumann would write polonaises, as well. But of all "classical polonaises", those by Chopin are the most famous, perhaps because Frédéric, in addition to being Polish, acquired great skill in its composition throughout his life, given that his first work, written when he was seven years old was, precisely, a Polonaise.

The Polonaise in A flat major opus 53, called "Heroique" – in no way by Chopin but by some of his editors – was written in 1836 and published in 1843. The date of its composition can be taken for granted since an autograph score has been preserved from September 12, 1836, a copy that Frédéric offered to a young Clara Wieck on her way through Leipzig, On that copy, he stamped in his own handwriting, the words: "from his admirer", as a birthday present, because Clara was turning seventeen the next day.

A gentle touch

According to legend, on one occasion when he was playing the piece in front of some friends Chopin paused impetuously on the difficult octaves scaling of the left hand (3:24), fascinated by the evocation of the armies advancing towards Poland, in pursuit of their liberation. But the anecdote is doubtful since those who once heard him assure that Frédéric highly dosed the two "crescendos" in octaves, starting from a mezzo-forte to a forte without too much bravery, due to both his fidelity to his aesthetics and his physical weakness.

Vladimir Horowitz
The rendition is by one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century, the Russian maestro Vladimir Horowitz, born in Kyiv in 1903 and died in New York in 1989. His first public performance outside the nascent Soviet Union was in Berlin in 1925. Then he played in Paris, London, and New York. From the last city, he would not move. He stayed in the West until 1986, when he returned to the – this time – the failing Soviet Union to give a recital at the Moscow Conservatory, before a packed auditorium.

The video is apparently recorded in one of the concert halls of the Musikverein, in Vienna. It follows the recital in Moscow, and the Russian maestro would be at least 84 years old.

Robert Schumann, Piano Concerto

On September 12, 1840, thanks to their loyalty and determination, the epic of Robert and Clara Schumann, the lovers, ended happily. That day, they were married at the small church of Schönefeld, near Leipzig. Out of sheer joy, the following year Robert wrote two symphonies, the marriage's first daughter was born, and the composer wrote the outlines for what will later become his Piano Concerto in A minor.

Clara on tour
Despite the fact that his catalog of musical compositions kept growing day by day, Robert Schumann still did not obtain recognition from the general public. For her part, Clara did not stop working offering recitals throughout Europe, occasions when, by the way, she would make known her husband's works.

Robert Schumann
(1810 - 1856)

In 1842, Robert decided to accompany Clara to a recital in Weimar, where the famous pianist idolized by the public had been invited. It was the first time that Clara's husband had to answer a question that should not be asked.

"And you, are you also a musician?
The question, made more out of courtesy than — for the worse — out of genuine concern, became habitual and began to make Robert uncomfortable. So when, a little later, Copenhagen called for Clara's presence for a two-month tour of Denmark, Robert preferred to stay at home and Clara set out on the journey by herself.

Upon return, they continued to be the happy couple they will be their entire life.

Clara Schumann
(1819 - 1896)

Piano Concerto in A minor
In 1845 Robert Schumann took up the 1841 sketches, originally a one-movement fantasy for piano and orchestra, and saw that they were good. He added two movements to the fantasy project and thus built his first and only piano concerto, premiered, unsurprisingly, by the brilliant Clara on January 1, 1846, in Leipzig.

The rendition is by the wonderful Georgian pianist Khatia Buniatishvili, accompanied by the Radio Frankfurt Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paavo Järvi, in a performing given in the German town of Wiesbaden, August 2012. At the end, Khatia gives us as an encore, Liszt's Love Dream No. 3.

Below, a listening guide:

The concert lasts about 30 minutes and is in three movements. Schumann, as Mendelssohn, tended to connect the movements of some of his works together. In this case, the second movement links to the third without interruption. The solo piano interventions are difficult and elaborate but, as usual in Schumann, they never become orphan exhibitions of musical sense or passages of pure brilliance.

Movements:
Allegro affettuoso. The piano comes into action simultaneously with the orchestra, introducing the first theme, which is then repeated by the piano solo, allowing us to perceive the intense Chopinian aroma of the motif. A second theme includes beautiful passages for the solo piano, interrupted by beautiful clarinet passages. At the end, after a furious passage of chords at high speed, Khatia attacks the opening theme with her left hand while over it she plays a long trill with her right, which leads to a final coda that brilliantly closes the movement.

Intermezzo - andantino grazioso (15:45) The Chopin world returns, represented by a beautiful phrasing of the piano, accompanied by a serene orchestral background. Afterwards, the cellos pick up a variation of the melody and the piano adorns it with arpeggios. An allusion to the first theme of the first movement serves as a bridge to address the execution of the third, without pause.

Allegro vivace (20:55) Supported by two brilliant songs, syncopated, the piano covers almost restlessly a wide expanse of the keyboard. Before the end, Khatia repeats the subtlety of the prolonged trill. A coda based on the first theme will lead to a brilliant ending.

Verdi, Triumphal March from Aida

Shortly after the Jedive (a sort of governor) of Egypt, Ismail Pasha, asked Giuseppe Verdi to write an opera to be performed in Cairo in 1871, the project had to be abandoned because of the Franco-Prussian war. It was a pity since the Jedi had offered the great Italian master, almost sixty years old, the not negligible sum of 150,000 francs. Nor could he be offered less, since Giuseppe had long enjoyed international fame and celebrity, as well as financial independence, all of which sponsored the quiet enjoyment of his life on the Sant'Agata estate, where he had been living for twenty years in the company of his second woman, the soprano Giuseppina Strepponi.

Verdi gets excited
It had been two years since the Jedive Opera House had been opened with Rigoletto, so the governor considered it fair and necessary to insist on the proposal. As Verdi learned that the governor had also talked to Gounod and Wagner, he hastened to read the libretto based on a story by the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, which turned out to be to his complete liking, finally accepting the commission, in June 1870.

Premieres
The majestic opera Aida opened in Cairo on December 21, 1871, to an overwhelming success. Verdi did not attend the performance, but later he was delighted to learn that the audience had been filled with dignitaries, great personalities and critics but not ordinary audiences, as was the custom in his beloved Italy.

For this reason, Giuseppe would consider later that the true premiere of the work took place at La Scala in Milan, in February 1872. On that occasion, the role of Aída was entrusted to the soprano Teresa Stolz, Verdi's mature passion which, fortunately, mattered little thanks to the patience and dignified conduct of Giuseppina.

Aída, opera in 4 acts
In just over two and a half hours, the play tells the story of Aida, an Ethiopian princess captured and taken as a slave to Egypt. Radames, an Egyptian military man, would fall in love with her, who then must struggle between his love for Aida and his loyalty to the pharaoh, whose daughter, Amneris, to make matters worse, is crazy about Radames.

The most famous opera episode occurs in Act II, when the Egyptian people celebrate the victorious return of Radames after defeating the Ethiopians, singing the famous Triumphal March.

About 500 singers and 60 musicians are performing in the concert version presented here. It was recorded on the occasion of the 2010 International Choral Festival Gala, which is held every two years in the Swedish town of Lund.

The Swingle Singers, "Libertango"

 
Their first album, from 1963, was called Jazz Sebastian Bach. Most of the songs were preludes and fugues arrangements of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. They featured drums and double bass, and exuded an exquisite "swing" flavour. Due to the latter, a large part of its admirers around the world must have believed for decades that the name chosen to call this a cappella voices ensemble, was also recalling the popular jazz style of the 1930s.

Ward Swingle and the French group
But no, everything was much simpler. The word "swingle" came from the surname of its creator, the vocalist and jazz musician born in Alabama in 1927, Ward Swingle, who in 1962 put together the group in Paris with the purpose of providing vocal accompaniment to renowned singers. Swingle's musical culture soon led him to experiment with classical a cappella music, using the jazzy device of scat songs, vocal improvisation with syllables and made-up words, a specialty in which Ella Fitzgerald excelled as a virtuoso.

Ward Swingle (1927 - 2015)

The English group
In 1973, the French group dissolved and Swingle moved to London, where he recruited new members to form a revamped Swingle Singers that from that date until today maintains a continuous activity, winning awards, recording, and making successful presentations throughout Europe and the United States.
Unlike the French group, the current eight voices of the British group dispense with all instrumental percussion to execute, through scat singing, a very wide repertoire that, surprisingly, can range from a simple Bach prelude to Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, passing through rock music, latin, pop and jazz.

At present, the group is made up of two sopranos, two altos, two tenors and two basses. Absolutely consolidated as a group formation, as individual members have left the group, remaining members have held auditions for replacements. Ward Swingle continued as a performer in the group until retiring to the United States in 1984 and taking the role of "musical adviser" to the Swingles until his death in 2015. 

The video shows its version of the well-known piece Libertango, by the Argentine composer Astor Piazolla.