A. Borodin Opera Prince Igor

Alexander Borodin Opera Prince Igor

Plot Synopsis and Character Description of a Russian Medieval Epic

Alexander Borodin (November 12, 1833 – February 27, 1887) composed Prince Igor, posthumously completed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Aleksandr Glazunov, a four-act opera based on a Russian medieval epic, libretto by Borodin after V.V. Stassov. It was premiered at the Maryinsky Theatre, St Petersburg, November 4th, 1890. The settings are in the town of Poutivl and the Polovtsian Camp, in 1185.

Notable arias: “No little time has passed” (Jaroslavna), “Unhappy, prince?” (Kontchak), Jaroslavna’s lament (Jaroslavna).

Full article…  A. Borodin’s Opera Prince Igor

 

J. Sutherland’s Songs CD Notes

Dame Joan Sutherland Sings Compilation of Mom’s Pieces

 

Here is a lovely CD for Mother’s Day. Sung and interpreted by Australian soprano Dame Joan Sutherland, “Songs My Mother Taught Me” consists of 23 tracks. It is a re-master of the 1972 album that Sutherland and Richard Bonynge originally recorded consisting of the first 16 tracks.

Joan Sutherland Brief Profile

 

Australian soprano Dame Joan Alston Sutherland is famous for her magnificent tone and brilliant coloratura voice, in particular, for Donizetti and Bellini. Sutherland was born in Sydney November 7, 1926. Before studying at the Royal College of Music in London, she started education in Sydney and made her debut at the age of 25.

Full article…  Songs My Mother Taught Me CD Notes

 

Gounod and Stravinsky

June 17, 2009

Charles Gounod and Igor Stravinsky were both born  June 17.

Charles Gounod, born in Paris, was a French composer, organist and conductor.

Igor Stravinsky, born in Oranienbaun, was a Russian-born American composer.

Links to Stravinsky and Gounod brief biographies:

• Charles Gounod
• Igor Stravinsky
• Gounod’s Opera Faust 
• Stravinsky’s Opera The Nightingale
• Stravinsky’s Opera The Rake’s Progress
• Stravinsky’s Opera Oedipus Rex

 

Puccini’s Tosca Debuts in Met

Classical Music Milestone:  June 5.

June 5 (1971), Opera Tosca by Puccini makes its debut with the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by James Levine.

Levine became its principal conductor in 1973 and its musical director three years later.

Related Links:

Giacomo Life and Works

Puccini La Bohème

Puccini La Fanciulla del West

 

Leopold Mozart

Today May 28 (1787) Mozart’s father, Leopold Mozart dies.

I usually don’t feature deaths, but being Mozart’s father, I’ve decided to post it. 

Leopold Mozart died in Salzburg at the age of 67.  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart outlived his father for only 4 years.

 

Mahler and Symphony No.6

Classical Music Lounge Dateline

May 27, 1906.

Gustav Mahler conducts the first performance of his Symphony No.6  in Essen, Germany.

 

Stravinsky’s Opera Le Rossignol

Classical Music Lounge Dateline

May 26, 2009. 

Igor Stravinsky’s opera Le Rossignol, based on Hans Christian Andersen’s tale, is premiered at Paris Opera. It was produced by Diaghilev’s company with Pierre Monteux conducting.

 

  

 

 

 

Richard Wagner’s Birthday

Today, May 22 (1813),  is Richard Wagner’s Birthday.

German Composer, Critic, Teacher, 19th-century Orchestra Master

Richard Wagner (1813-1883), was an influential German composer, famous for Lohengrin, The Ring of the Nibelungs, The Twilight of the Gods, The Flying Dutchman, and The Valkyrie. He revolutionized 19th-century opera concept as a new art form in which musical, poetic, and scenic elements were unified through a theme known as ‘leitmotif’ (leading motive.)

Read more — Richard Wagner’s Life and Works

Wagner’s Operas

• Das Liebesverbot (The Ban on Love)  1836
• Rienzi 1842
• Der fliegende Hollánder (The Flying Dutchman) 1843
• Tannhäuser 1845
• Lohengrin 1848
• Das Rheinhold 1854
• Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) 1856
• Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde), music drama 1859
• Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg) 1867
• Siegfried 1871
• Götterdämmerung (The Twilight of the Gods), completes the operatic cycle der ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelungs) 1874
• Parsifal, music drama 1882

 

Pauline Viardot and Don Giovanni

Did you know?

Pauline Viardot-Garcia possessed the holograph of the famous opera Don Giovanni  of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. She left it to the Paris Conservatory Library.

Pauline Viardot [née García] (July 18, 1821 – May 18, 1910) was a 19th century French mezzo-soprano and composer of Spanish descent. She achieved initial fame as “Pauline García”. She referred to herself simply as “Mme. Viardot” after her marriage.

 

Karl Goldmark

Karl Goldmark, Hungarian composer is born May 18 (1830) in Keszthely.

He lived in Vienna most of his life.

 

Sheherazade & Cavalleria Rusticana

Today~

May 17 (1904), Maurice Ravel’s Shéherazade for solo voice and orchestra, is first performed in Paris. 

May 17 (1890), Pietro Mascagni’s famous and most successful opera,  Cavalleria Rusticana, is first performed in Costanzi Theater, Rome.

 

Haydn’s Oratorio The Creation

This day,  April 29 (1798),  Joseph Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation” is first performed at Schwarzenberg Palace, Vienna, for the Austrian aristocracy.

 

Germaine Tailleferre

April 19, 1892. French composer Germaine Tailleferre, was born in Pau-St.-Maur. She was the only woman in the prominent French group of composers known as “Les Six.”

 

Gluck’s Iphigenie en Aulide

April 19, 1774.  Christoph W. Gluck’s opera Iphigenie en Aulide, was first staged at the Paris Opera with Marie Antoinette in attendance.

 

Handel’s Oratorio Israel in Egypt

This day, April 4 (1739), G.F. Handel’s oratorio “Israel in Egypt” is first performed, in London.

It was the second of the three oratorio he wrote for this year, 1739.