Composers Datebook

SynopsisIn the hands of a great performer, the violin can sing with the personality and intensity of a great opera singer. Pyrotechnics may dazzle, but nothing moves an audience as much as when a great violinist “sings” through his instrument.On today's date in 1896, a French audience in Nancy must has been so moved when great violinist Eugène Ysaÿe gave the first performance of this music: the Poème for Violin and Orchestra by Ernest Chausson. In addition to famous artists like Manet and Degas, Chausson counted among his friends many of the great musicians of his day, including Ysäye.Although they admired his work, Chausson was not always appreciated by the public. But when Ysaÿe premiered Chausson’s Poème in Paris in 1897, the applause went on and on. Used to just the opposite reaction, Chausson was stunned by his success, and, while thanking Ysaye profusely, kept repeating to himself: “I just can’t believe it!”Modern-day violinist Joshua Bell was the inspiration for this songful contemporary work by Aaron Jay Kernis. Air for Violin was originally composed for violin and piano, and premiered in 1995 by Bell. He recorded it the following year with the Minnesota Orchestra.Music Played in Today's ProgramErnest Chausson (1855-1899) Poème; Isaac Stern, violin; Orchestre de Paris; Daniel Barenboim, conductor. CBS/Sony 64501Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960) Air for Violin; Minnesota Orchestra; Joshua Bell, violin; David Zinman, conductor. Argo 460 226

SynopsisOn this day in 1926, Walter Damrosch conducted the New York Symphony in the first performance of the last major orchestral work of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius — his symphonic tone poem Tapiola. The title refers to an ancient Finnish forest god, Tapio, and the music suggests an ancient mystery culminating in a burst of terrifying savagery.After receiving the score, Damrosch wrote this note of appreciation to the composer: “No one but a Norseman could have written this work. We were all enthralled by the dark pine forests and the shadowy gods and wood nymphs who dwell therein. The coda with its icy winds sweeping through the forest made us shiver.” Today the commission fee Damrosch paid Sibelius for this orchestral masterpiece makes us shiver: Sibelius was paid only $400.At this point in his career, Sibelius was afflicted by intense self-doubt. He wrote in his diary: “I have suffered because of Tapiola … was I really cut out for this sort of thing? Going downhill. Can’t be alone. Drinking whiskey. Physically not strong enough for all this…”For the next 30 years and more, Sibelius lived in retirement, drinking heavily, and though rumors persisted that he was still writing music, no scores were discovered after his death.Music Played in Today's ProgramJean Sibelius (1865-1957): Tapiola; Helsinki Philharmonic; Paavo Berglund, conductor; EMI 68646

SynopsisOn today’s date in 1937, as a Christmas gift to the nation, the NBC radio network broadcast the first NBC Symphony Orchestra concert conducted by Arturo Toscanini. The orchestra had been specifically created to lure the famous Italian conductor back to America.For the first selection on his first concert, Toscanini chose what was then an obscure piece an obscure Italian composer named Antonio Vivaldi: his Concerto Grosso No. 11, to be exact.These days we are used to hearing Baroque music in “historically informed performances,” “hip” for short, and often played on period instruments. By those standards, Toscanini’s Vivaldi might be described as “pre-historic,” but in 1937 it must have seemed a shockingly hip selection: a bracing, bold shot of unfamiliar Baroque music by a composer rarely — if ever — heard on a symphony concert.In fact, one might argue that Toscanini was trying to be “historically informed,” since he probably used a score prepared by the Italian musicologist and composer Gian Francesco Malipiero, based on manuscripts and original editions of Vivaldi’s music found in the library of the Liceo Musicale in Venice, where Malipiero taught in the 1930s and Vivaldi lived in the 1730s.Music Played in Today's ProgramAntonio Vivaldi (1678-1741): Concerto Grosso No. 11; NBC Symphony; Arturo Toscanini, conductor (r. Dec. 25, 1937)

SynopsisOkay, how’s this for a movie scene worthy of Doctor Zhivago:It’s October 1917 and Lenin has overthrown the Tsarist government of Russia. A composer and virtuoso pianist can hear gunfire from his apartment as he works and decides that his family must flee their homeland. He receives an offer for recital appearances in Scandinavia and uses the offer as a pretext to escape Russia. But first, the family must face a dangerous journey to Finland in trains crowded with terrified passengers.At the Finnish border, a music-loving Bolshevik guard recognizes the famous artist and allows the family safe passage. But wait — there are no more trains running, so they must travel to Helsinki in an open peasant sleigh during a raging blizzard. They arrive in Stockholm on Christmas Eve, and one year later the composer and his family are able to book passage from Oslo to New York.If that sounds perhaps a bit too melodramatic, consider that scenario is exactly what happened to Sergei Rachmaninoff, his wife, and two daughters.In America, Rachmaninoff became a star pianist, playing 92 concerts at Carnegie Hall between 1918 and 1943. He continued to compose, but lamented, “When I lost my homeland, I lost myself as well … I have no will to create without … Russian soil under my feet.” He would complete only six more major works during his 25 years in America.Music Played in Today's ProgramSergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) Piano Concerto No. 1; Krystian Zimerman, piano; Boston Symphony Orchestra; Seiji Ozawa, conductor; DG 4796868

SynopsisOn today’s date in 1893, the opera Hansel and Gretel by 39-year-old German composer Engelbert Humperdinck received its premiere performance at the Court Theater of Weimar. It was conducted by a promising 29-year-old composer by the name of Richard Strauss.It quickly became an international hit, playing to packed houses in Berlin, Vienna and London. Gustav Mahler, head of the Hamburg Opera at the time, declared it a masterpiece, and parents on several continents breathed a sigh of relief: here was an opera without the sex and violence so fashionable in the media — even back in 1893! Hansel and Gretel quickly became a Christmastime tradition — even though there’s nothing in it particular Christmassy apart from children, sugary things to eat, and the appearance of an angel or two.Initially, Humperdinck didn’t even want to write anything as silly as an opera on Hansel and Gretel. He was a serious young protégé of Richard Wagner who had helped copy the orchestral parts for Wagner’s final opera, Parsifal.It was his sister who talked him in to writing some music for a children’s play she had prepared on the familiar fairytale by the Brothers Grimm. At some point, Humperdinck must have realized he not only could — but should — work his sister’s play into a full-blown opera, which would blend Wagner’s complex orchestral technique with a simple but universally appealing story that would charm old and young alike.Music Played in Today's ProgramEngelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921): Hansel and Gretel Suite; Royal Philharmonic; Rudolf Kempe, conductor; EMI 68736