Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - His Music and His Life

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (his complete name was Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus; Theophilus became Amadeus later) was born on January 27, 1756 in Salzburg/Austria and passed away on December 5, 1791 in Vienna.

At the age of four, Mozart showed already an unbelievable musical talent. He "drew notes' and played the violin without have ever learned it. His first compositions have been printed, when he became only six years old: sonatas for violin and piano. Up to his 22nd birthday Mozart has been on tour most of the time. The monstrous and outrageous strains resulted in terrible unhealthy conditions. Up to now, it's more or less impossible or very difficult to assess Mozart's life and personality.

His music let us experience mostly the bright and cheerful grace of rococo. The German Romanticism poet E.T.A. Hoffmann subscribed Mozart during that time as "demonic and theatrical contemporary".

Mozart had been always open-minded to all earthly pleasures, but he kept on writing to his father about his permanent thoughts how to face the death in a proper way. Mozart smiled always, but mostly with tears in his eyes... .

Mozart belongs to the great Vienna Classics with out doubts. A whole human life would never be enough to explain what Mozart achieved within his short life of 35 years only. More than 600 music works have been noted. Some of them are:

The children opera "Bastian and Bastienne" (17680, "Haffner Serenade and Symphony' (1782), the operas "Figaro's Marriage" (1786), "Don Giovanni" (1787), "Cosi Fan Tutte" (1790) as well as "The Magic Flute" (1791) or "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" (A little Nightmusic).

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony 40 (best version) - Beste Version

Friedrich Smetana : "Die Moldau" / Karajan / Vienna Philharmonic

Friedrich Smetana -His Music and His Life

 

Friedrich Smetana was born on March 2, 1824 in Leitomischl, Austria and passed away on May 12, 1884 in Prague/CSSR. Smetana was the son of a Bohemian brewer. In Smetana's fatherland once could hear music from any corner. Nevertheless,only at the age of 18, Smetana decided to become a musician. He studied piano lessons at the Prague College of Music. In 1848, he opened his own private music school together with the generous supporter, the German classical composer Franz Liszt (1811-1886).

In 1856, Smetana moved to Goteborg/Sweden, where be became Head of the Philharmonic Association. This has been the first time Smetana started composition experiments, i.e. "Richard III." (1858).

But Smetana moved back to his native land and became a music-critic, columnist and conductor at the national State Opera Prague.

His first opera in 1863 ("The Brandenburgs in Bohemia") became a flop. his second opera "The Bartered Bride"" (1866) was one of Smetana's masterpieces. This opera shows the whole illustrated broadsheet of Bohemian country life together with a deceitful life from the Bohemian folk dance, the Polka, and the musical fury.

Smetana's following operas, i.e. "Libussa" (1872), or "The Kiss" (1876) have been only mediocrity and can be found seldom on stage nowadays.

In 1874, first signs of Smetana's deafness have been reported - mentally illness followed like a lingering fever. Almost unbelievable, that Smetana was able to compose during the following five years his outstanding master piece; a six-symphonies cycle, also known as "classical sound poetry", entitled "Mein Vaterland" (My fatherland). The probably most well known part "The Moldavian River' (Die Moldau) came into being in 1874.

(Stage set for the 1882 production of Smetana's opera "The Bartered Bride").

Jacques Offenbach - his music and his life

Jacques Offenbach was born on June 20, 1819 in Cologne, Germany and passed away on October 5, 1880 in Paris, France.

As a son of a Jewish synagogue ore-singer, Offenbach moved to Paris early during his childhood. He left Paris very seldom. He studied to play violin cello in the Paristian College of Music (Conservatoire de Paris). He played this instrument in the Orchestra of Comical Opera (Orchestre de Opera Comique).

In 1849, Offenbach became bandmaster and conductor of the French Theatre and in 1855 he opened his own theatre.

Offenbach composed more than 100 plays: French chansons, musicals, and chanting operettas. His most successful music works among plenty other have been: 

"The Island Tulipatan", "The Engagement Under the Lantern", "Orpheus in Underworld", "The Beautiful Helena" (1864), "Parisian Life" (1866) or "La Perichole" (1868).

Offenbach mocked the so-called socially acceptable life of the second emperor-empire during that time. This happened without insulting elements, because his stinging and cutting remarks have always been become mild through charming, cheerfulness and amusement. His compositions, timeless up to now, contain bold, pert and saucy melodic surprises with wit, satire, mockery and high spirits.

In his last composition Offenbach showed himself as being a "terribly romantic person". His opera "Hoffmann's Tales" (Hoffmanns Erzaehlungen) belong to his most successful and known compositions. Singe songs, as for example "The Barcarole' are timeless classic oldies up to today. Offenbach unfortunately didn't live to see and hear this opera's first night performance anymore.

Norma - Sinfonia (Overture) - La Scala (1940) - Gino Marinuzzi

FAMOUS KADANGYAN TRIBAL MUSIC VIDEO, CEBU, PHILIPPINES

Eddie Mesa on Philippine Cinema Now & Then

Heinrich Marschner

Heinrich Marschner, was born in Zittau/Saxony on August 16, 1795 and passed away in Hanover on December 14, 1861.


He studied law in Leipzig and Vienna - then music. In Vienna he met Ludwig van Beethoven. Being a privat music instructor in Pressburg, he composed his first operas.


1822, Marschner moved to Dresden and became orchestra-master. Two operas made him famous: "Der Vampyr" (1828) and "Der Templer und die Juedin" (1829) - following Scott's "Ivanhoe".


1831, Marschner became Royal Orchestra Master in Hanover. His master piece "Hans Heiling" has been publised in 1833.


Marschner's operas are deeply romantic with nightly horror-elements and demonic gestures, while his chamber music compositions didn't carry through.

Gino Marinuzzi

Gino Marinuzzi was born on March 24, 1882 in Palermo/Italy and passed away on August 17, 1945 in Milan/Italy.

Gino Maruzzi has been a band master and conductor in Catania, Mantua, Palermo and Milan and later in Madrid/Spain, at the Opera Comique in Paris and the Milan Scala as well as in Rome, Chicago, Turin and with a travelling opera society even in South America.

Maruzzi remains as one of the best Italian opera conductors. His three operas and symphony poetries, i.e. "Suite Siciliana" (1910) unfortunately failed. 

 

Frederic Chopin - His Music and His Life

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Frederic Chopin was born on March 1, 1810 in Warsaw, Poland and passed away on October 17, 1849 in Paris, France.Chopin's father was French, his mother Polish. At the age of eight, the child prodigy already performed on stage. At the age of 19, Chopin started his first successful tour to Vienna, Austria.

His first composition has been published and printed in 1825. During that time, a successful virtuoso career could be only begin in Paris, a reason why Chopin moved there in 1830 after stop overs in Vienna and Munich.

Saying good-bye to his native land made Chopin become rather melancholy. He took a small amount of Polish native soil with him - but he was never able to return to his home country. Only his heart was buried in Poland - following Chopin's last will.

Most artists in Paris, such as Franz Liszt, Hector Berlioz, Heinrich Heine or Giacomo Meyerbeer received Chopin willingly, joyfully and with open arms. Also in Germany, Chopin received innumerable "fanatic fans". Unfortunately, signs of the fatal tuberculosis appeared.

In 1838, Chopin travelled to the Spanish Mediterranean island Mallorca, but the mild climate couldn't cure him any more. In 1848, Chopin travelled to England. There, the climate became his death-dagger. The last part o his funeral ceremony was the performance of Mozart's "Requiem".

Chopin composed only for piano, except 17 Polish Traditionals. Already Beethoven and Schubert have composed difficult piano works. But Chopin's compositions exceeded the technical capabilities of many virtuosos since that time. Every piece shows its own characteristics in shape and rhythm. 

Chopin's compositions characterized his daily moods: sweet dreams, sounds of colorful and impressionistic strings, and lively and vivaacious outbursts of passions. His two piano concerts f-minor from 1829 and e-minor from 1830 are classical music treasures.

Cadena De Amor - L. Silos (arr. Jose Valdez)

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