1875–1962 American violinist Kreisler’s international career began with the Berlin Philharmonic under Nikisch in 1899. His London debut was in 1902. Elgar wrote his Violin Concerto for him, and he gave the first performance in 1910. He was known for the perfection of his playing and the pieces that he composed and passed off as the work of eighteenth-century composers. ...
1930–66, German Wunderlich was the ideal tenor. His powerful yet lyric timbre was effortless, and indicated that it would have grown considerably beyond his existing repertoire. Furthermore, he had remarkable breath support that he attributed to his French horn studies, and which he used to great effect in Mozartian arias. Wunderlich’s appearances in Germany and Austria received ...
1888–1963 American conductor Born in Hungary, Reiner held operatic positions in Budapest, Ljubljana and Dresden. In the US he conducted in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, at the Metropolitan Opera and, most famously, was music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1953. Renowned as a martinet, he brought great power to his performances. Introduction | Modern ...
1930–66 German tenor In a career lasting little more than a decade, Wunderlich established himself as Germany’s leading lyric tenor. After his Stuttgart Opera debut in 1955, he was spotted by conductor Karl Böhm, under whom he later recorded Mozart (Tamino in The Magic Flute), Strauss and Berg (Andres in Wozzeck). His other records included Schubert’s Die schöne ...
1857–1934 English composer Elgar was born at Broadheath, near Worcester. His father ran a music shop in Worcester, where Elgar embarked on a course of self-instruction that made him total master of music’s craft and one of the world’s greatest orchestrators. Brought up a Roman Catholic in a Protestant community and a tradesman’s son, Elgar never felt socially ...
1895–1967 American flautist After studying in New York, Kincaid joined the New York Symphony Orchestra and, later, the New York Chamber Music Society. He was principal flute of the Philadelphia Orchestra 1921–26 and taught at the Curtis Institute. Introduction | Modern Era | Classical Personalities | Fritz Kreisler | Modern Era | Classical ...
Until it was reclaimed with an ironic wink by 1990s hipsters, easy listening had been hugely popular, but rarely cool. While the teenagers of the 1950s and 1960s were getting off on dangerous rock’n’roll and subversive R&B, their parents were sweetly cocooned in the music of Mantovani and Percy Faith. Easy listening music never launched any rebellions; no ...
Wagner’s Ring cycle is made up of four works – Das Rheingold (‘The Rhinegold’, 1851–54), Die Walküre (‘The Valkyrie’, 1851–56), Siegfried (1851–57; 1864–71) and Götterdämmerung (‘Twilight of the Gods’, 1848–52; 1869–74). Although there have been other, even more ambitious projects in the history of opera – Rutland Boughton’s cycle of choral dramas based on the Arthurian legends and Karlheinz Stockhausen’s ...
1899–1985 American conductor Born in Hungary, where he later had a career as a violinist, Ormandy started conducting in the US. After five years with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, he moved to the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he was music director 1938–73. He specialized in large-scale Romantic orchestral works, but he also conducted new music. Introduction | ...
1921–2008, Italian Possessing a beautiful voice that was recorded to great effect, di Stefano was renowned for performances of the bel canto repertoire. His speciality roles included Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Nadir in Les pêcheurs de perles and Fritz in L’amico Fritz. However, by the mid-1950s he began to sing heavier roles that robbed his voice ...
(Goos’-taf Ma’-ler) 1860–1911 Austrian composer and conductor Gustav Mahler bestrode the world of music at the end of the nineteenth century. ‘My time will come’, he remarked about his often misunderstood compositions. For Mahler the conductor, due recognition did come during his lifetime, but another half-century had to pass before a fully sympathetic appreciation of his creative achievement was possible ...
b. 1954, British Combining stylistic versatility with a strong compositional voice, Weir’s interests in narrative, theatre and folklore are well suited to opera. She also writes her own libretti. With themes ranging from Chinese Yuan Dynasty drama, Icelandic sagas and German romanticism, and a fine understanding of the voice, her operas have earned a secure ...
b. 1935 German tenor Schreier made his debut as the First Prisoner in Fidelio (Dresden, 1961), before joining the Berlin State Opera. On the death of Fritz Wunderlich in 1966, he became the best-known exponent of Mozart’s Belmonte, Don Ottavio, Ferrando and Tamino (The Magic Flute), the part with which he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in ...
(Pe-a’-tro Mas-kan’-ye) 1863–1945 Italian composer The son of a baker, Mascagni studied law before becoming a conductor and piano teacher. In 1890, while a conductor in Cerignola, he shot into the limelight with his prize-winning one-act opera Cavalleria rusticana which, at its legendary premiere at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, received an unprecedented 60 curtain calls. Based ...
b. 1972 Mexican-French tenor After studies in Mexico City, he joined the Merola Opera Programme at San Francisco in 1998. His success at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition a year later was quickly followed by appearances at Genoa (his European debut), the Paris Opéra and the Berlin Staatsoper. Equally at home in French and Italian repertoire, he made his debuts ...
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