Post by erik on Jun 17, 2023 19:31:38 GMT -5
Giuseppe Verdi, the master of grand Italian opera during the 19th century, composed only one single chamber work (the only Italian composer of the 19th century to do so), but it is in this week's Classical Works Spotlight in a form for full string orchestra.
Verdi: STRING QUARTET IN E MINOR (ORCHESTRATED BY ARTURO TOSCANINI)
The great Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi was primarily known for his grand Italian operas, including “Aida”, “Falstaff”, “La Traviata”, “Othello” and others, as well as “Four Sacred Pieces” (“Ave Maria”; “Stabat Mater”; “Laudi alla Vergine Maria”; “Te Deum”) and the famous so-called Manzoni Requiem (so named for a close friend of his Alessandro Manzoni, who had passed away in 1874). As a result, whatever orchestral works survive him are from those operas. Even more so, he created only one single work for a chamber ensemble, the String Quartet In E Minor, in 1873, one that turned out to be the only such work made by any Italian composer during the 19th century. It was composed by Verdi during the spring of that year, as the premiere of his opera “Aida” was being delayed due to the sudden illness of Teresa Stolz, the soprano who was to sing the title role in that opera. Verdi managed to get the quartet’s premiere done in his hotel room in Naples on April 1, 1873, two days after “Aida”’s successful premier; the names of the original performers survive only as Pinto Brothers on two violins; Salvadore on viola; and Giarritiello on cello. As the composer commented: “I've written a Quartet in my leisure moments in Naples. I had it performed one evening in my house, without attaching the least importance to it and without inviting anyone in particular. Only the seven or eight persons who usually come to visit me were present. I don't know whether the Quartet is beautiful or ugly, but I do know that it's a Quartet!” As with many chamber works for strings that were written during the 19th century, Verdi’s lone contribution to the form also got enlarged into a form for full string orchestra by the legendary (and legendarily tempestuous) conductor Arturo Toscanini, who debuted the work in that form with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, expanding, however minuscule in nature, Verdi’s orchestral output beyond the grand opera stage.
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/ANDRE PREVIN (Deutsche Grammophon)
Included:
Beethoven: STRING QUARTET NO. 14 IN C SHARP MINOR, OP. 131 (ORCH. BY DMITRI MITROPOULOS)
Verdi: STRING QUARTET IN E MINOR (ORCHESTRATED BY ARTURO TOSCANINI)
The great Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi was primarily known for his grand Italian operas, including “Aida”, “Falstaff”, “La Traviata”, “Othello” and others, as well as “Four Sacred Pieces” (“Ave Maria”; “Stabat Mater”; “Laudi alla Vergine Maria”; “Te Deum”) and the famous so-called Manzoni Requiem (so named for a close friend of his Alessandro Manzoni, who had passed away in 1874). As a result, whatever orchestral works survive him are from those operas. Even more so, he created only one single work for a chamber ensemble, the String Quartet In E Minor, in 1873, one that turned out to be the only such work made by any Italian composer during the 19th century. It was composed by Verdi during the spring of that year, as the premiere of his opera “Aida” was being delayed due to the sudden illness of Teresa Stolz, the soprano who was to sing the title role in that opera. Verdi managed to get the quartet’s premiere done in his hotel room in Naples on April 1, 1873, two days after “Aida”’s successful premier; the names of the original performers survive only as Pinto Brothers on two violins; Salvadore on viola; and Giarritiello on cello. As the composer commented: “I've written a Quartet in my leisure moments in Naples. I had it performed one evening in my house, without attaching the least importance to it and without inviting anyone in particular. Only the seven or eight persons who usually come to visit me were present. I don't know whether the Quartet is beautiful or ugly, but I do know that it's a Quartet!” As with many chamber works for strings that were written during the 19th century, Verdi’s lone contribution to the form also got enlarged into a form for full string orchestra by the legendary (and legendarily tempestuous) conductor Arturo Toscanini, who debuted the work in that form with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, expanding, however minuscule in nature, Verdi’s orchestral output beyond the grand opera stage.
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/ANDRE PREVIN (Deutsche Grammophon)
Included:
Beethoven: STRING QUARTET NO. 14 IN C SHARP MINOR, OP. 131 (ORCH. BY DMITRI MITROPOULOS)