Ravinia 2021 - Issue 2

GIOACHINO ROSSINI (1792–1868) Overture to La scala di seta Scored for flute, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, and strings Rossini already had five operatic credits to his name when he composed the one-act farce La scala di seta ( The Silken Ladder ) in 1812. Its premiere took place in Venice’s Teatro San Moisè on May 9, barely two months after the composer’s 20th birthday. Giuseppe Foppa’s libretto was an adaptation of the play L’Échelle de soie ( The Silk Ladder ) by François-An- toine-Eugène de Planard. This operatic farce failed miserably in its first production; most criticism revolved around similarities be- tween this story and the more successful opera Il matrimonio segreto ( The Secret Mar- riage ) by Domenico Cimarosa. Even Rossini allegedly complained about this juvenile rep- resentation of a secret marriage to the impre- sario Cera: “Giving me the libretto entitled La scala di seta to set to music, you treated me like a child; in causing you to have a fiasco, I have repaid with interest. Now we are even.” The overture, however, was one of the few parts that met with immediate approval. FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809–47) “Ah, ritorna, età dell’oro” from Infelice (1834) (adapted by James M. Stephenson) Scored for flute, bassoon, horn, strings, and solo violin and soprano On November 8, 1832, the Philharmonic Soci- ety of London, through its secretary William Watts, commissioned Felix Mendelssohn to compose an overture, symphony, and “vo- cal piece” (a concert aria for Spanish singer Maria Malibran). As part of the agreement, the Philharmonic Society held copyright on the works for two years and retained perfor- mance rights in perpetuity. Mendelssohn ac- cepted the commission on November 28 and began work on the orchestral compositions. The following spring, he presented both the Overture in Cmajor, op. 101 (“Trumpet”), and the Die schöne Melusine Overture, op. 32. He briefly considered offering the Philharmonic Society a choice between two symphonies— No. 3 in A minor, op. 56 (“Scottish”) and No. 4 in A major, op. 90 (“Italian”), both of which were in draft form—but ultimately presented the “Italian” Symphony, which he completed on March 13, 1833, and conducted with the Philharmonic exactly two months later. Other commitments required his attention, and Mendelssohn announced that the vocal composition would be delayed for anoth- er year. Approaching his mid-20s, Felix had written very few concert arias, but he was quite familiar with the genre through the magnificent examples of Beethoven ( Ah! per- fido , op. 65, for soprano and orchestra) and Mozart ( Non più! Tutto ascoltai … Non temer, amato bene , K. 490, for soprano, violin, and orchestra). Holding to his promise, Mendels- sohn reported to his family almost one year later (February 19, 1834) that the “vocal scena for the Philharmonic will be finished in a few days. The text is the most beautiful nonsense by Metastasio (recitative, adagio, and allegro) assembled from four different operas—but all that should be made good again by a solo violin which accompanies the voice, and for which I’m speculating on de Bériot.” His final comment alludes to the not-so-se- cret affair between Maria Malibran and the Belgian violinist and composer Charles-Au- guste de Bériot. The couple lived together and had one child, the pianist and composer Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot, before Maria re- ceived an annulment of her marriage to the banker François Eugène Malibran. Maria and Charles-Auguste finally wed on March 29, 1836. Mendelssohn took great care to tailor his new concert aria, which he completed in Düsseldorf on April 3, 1834, to the distinctive qualities of Malibran’s voice and Bériot’s vio- lin playing. Unfortunately, no doubt owing to the year-long delay, Malibran and Bériot nev- er performed this music. The premiere took place at a Philharmonic Society concert on May 14, 1834, with soprano Maria Cara- dori-Allan, violinist J.D. Loder (the concert- master), and conductor Thomas Cooke. The search for an appropriate text led Men- delssohn to the writings of Pietro Metastasio for this 1834 scena (catalogued in Mendels- sohn-Werkverzeichnis , or MWV, as H4). The recitative draws together excerpts from Il trionfo di Clelia , Act III, scene 3; Romeolo ed Ersilia , Act III, scene 5; and Giustino , Act IV, scene 7. The andante sostenuto cavatina (the portion heard in this performance) combines texts from the same scenes in Il trionfo di Clelia and Giustino , andMendelssohn’s fast, conclud- ing cabaletta again uses text from Giustino . Mendelssohn produced another concert aria based on Metastasio texts for a performance by alto Sophie Schloß at the Leipzig Gewand- haus on February 9, 1843. He completed this piece, described as a “new concert aria” in a letter to his brother Paul, on January 15, 1843. Felix Mendelssohn by James Warren Childe (1839) Mendelssohn again mentioned this music in a March 3 letter to pianist, composer, and conductor Ferdinand Hiller: “I sought out the Scena for Mlle Schloß’s benefit concert, wrote a new Allegro for it, and thereby did my part. Beyond that it is of little use.” This 1843 scena (MWV H5) utilized some text and music from the 1834 scena, although with substantial additions and differences, princi- pally the absence of a solo violin in the cavati- na. Whether the later work should be viewed as a revision of the early scena or a new, albeit derivative, composition has been the source of scholarly debate. Mendelssohn’s own writ- ings suggest that he considered the 1843 com- position a separate creation, but one that he readily dismissed. Nonetheless, Julius Rietz, the composer’s friend and editor of the first comprehensive publication of Mendelssohn’s works, assigned the posthumous “op. 94” to this less preferred, 1843 scena. FRITZ KREISLER (1875–1962) Slavonic Fantasy in B minor (adapted by James M. Stephenson) Scored for flute, bassoon, horn, triangle, strings, and solo violin Fritz Kreisler was one of the great musicians of his time, and his active role as a concert art- ist almost equaled the entire span of his life. Born in Vienna, he entered the Vienna Con- servatory at age 7. In 1885, young Fritz en- rolled at the Paris Conservatory to continue his violin training; he also studied composi- tion with Léo Delibes. Kreisler made his American debut at age 13. After a decade studying medicine and art, he returned to the concert stage, making several tours, including his second visit to the United States. With the outbreak of war, Kreisler entered the Austrian army, but was wounded early in September 1914. He spent the remainder of the war in the United States and became a citizen in 1943. As a composer and arranger, Kreisler pub- lished several pieces under the names of old- er, well-known composers and included them Fritz Kreisler on his recital programs. Kreisler revealed his hoax in 1935 and explained that the composi- tions were his own, provoking an immediate reprimand by embarrassed music critics and scholars who had been fooled by his clever imitations. Several of his original composi- tions for violin and piano have attained great popularity: Liebesfreud (Love’s Joy), Liebesleid (Love’s Sorrow), Caprice viennois , and nu- merous other examples. Kreisler’s creative output included dozens of acknowledged arrangements of music by other composers, created primarily as recital repertoire for his own programs. He arranged two compositions by Antonín Dvořák for vi- olin and piano: Songs My Mother Taught Me from the song cycle Gypsy Songs , B. 104, as his Slavonic Fantasy in B minor, and the first of the Romantic Pieces, B. 150, as his Romantic Piece in B-flat major. LÉO DELIBES (1836–91) Les filles de Cadix Scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, strings, and solo soprano Although completely lacking in musical abil- ity (by his own admission), the French writer Alfred de Musset (1810–57) constantly sur- rounded himself with music by attending concerts, associating with leading composers of his age, writing poetry on musical subjects (for example, “À la Malibran,” a memorial ode for the Spanish singer Maria Malibran), and incorporating song lyrics into his own plays. Musset’s poetry possessed a lyricism that was itself musical and that at times extolled the transcendent virtues of music: “When one loses, by sad occurrence, his hope and his cheerfulness, / The remedy for melancholy is music and its beauty” (“Chanson,” c.1837). Countless 19th- and 20th-century musicians composed songs, operas, and even instru- mental works inspired by Musset’s writings. The French composer Léo Delibes found his scenes of nature, female subjects, and touches Léo Delibes RAVINIA MAGAZINE • JULY 24 – AUGUST 15, 2021 62