Personalities | Friedrich von Flotow | Early Romantic | Classical

(Fre’-drikh fun Flo’-to) 1812–83
German composer

Flotow was a prolific composer of operas. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire (1828–30) and was influenced by the major opera composers of the day, including Rossini, Meyerbeer and Donizetti, and later by his friendships with Charles Gounod (1818–93) and Jacques Offenbach (1819–80). His early operas are in the French lyric style, but his most successful works, Alessandro Stradella (1844) and Martha (1847), combine a German text with Italianate melodic traits. The first production of Martha, in Vienna, was a triumph, and the next production was conducted by Liszt in Weimar. Flotow never reached the same heights again. His style is characterized by melodic grace and textural clarity, but his harmonic language lacks variety and subtlety.

Recommended Recording:
Martha, soloists, Bavarian State Opera (dir) Robert Heger (EMI/Warner)

Introduction | Early Romantic | Classical
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