Wagner: Renzi Overture

Jesus Ministries, Joan Boney  ... 

 

Today we will present 2 performances of Renzi.  It is such a beautiful overture by Richard Wagner to his opera "Renzi".

 

First we hear Bruno Walter, conducting. Then a very interesting performance from 1938 with Arthuro Toscanini (conductor).

 

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Richard Wagner (1813–1883)

 

Opera `Rienzi` (orchestral fragments), WWV 49

 

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Overture

 

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Bruno Walter (conductor)

 

(10:40)

 

Bruno Walter: Wikipedia

 

Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876 – February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalized as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the United States in 1939.

 

Walter served as Principal Conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra from 1929 until March 1933, when his tenure was cut short by the new Nazi government, as detailed below.

In speeches in the late 1920s, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had complained bitterly about the presence of Jewish conductors at the Berlin opera, and mentioned Walter a number of times, adding to Walter's name the words "alias Schlesinger." When the Nazis took power, they undertook a systematic process of barring Jews from artistic life.

 

Walter was then scheduled to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic on March 20, but its management was warned by Joseph Goebbels that "unpleasant demonstrations" might occur at the concert, and the Propaganda Ministry clarified this by saying that there would be violence in the hall. Hearing of this, Walter chose to withdraw, saying to management, "Then I have no further business here."

 

When Nazi Germany annexed Austria – the Anschluss – in 1938, Walter was in the Netherlands conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra. His elder daughter Lotte was in Vienna at the time, and was arrested by the Nazis; Walter was able to use his influence to free her. He also used his influence to find safe quarters in Scandinavia for his brother and sister during the war.

 

On November 1, 1939, he set sail for the United States, which became his permanent home.

 

To learn more: Wikipedia:

Bruno Walter

 

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NBC Symphony Orchestra
Arturo Toscanini (conductor)

 

Live - 3 December 1938 - Overture

 

(Note date: One year before WWII)

 

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Arturo Toscanini:  (Wikipedia)

 

Arturo Toscanini, (March 25, 1867 -January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his eidetic memory.

 

He was at various times the music director of La Scala in Milan and the New York Philharmonic. Later in his career, he was appointed the first music director of the NBC Symphony Orchestra (1937–1954), and this led to his becoming a household name, especially in the United States, through his radio and television broadcasts and many recordings of the operatic and symphonic repertoire.

 

Toscanini was born in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, and won a scholarship to the local music conservatory, where he studied the cello.

 

He joined the orchestra of an opera company, with which he toured South America in 1886. While presenting Aida in Rio de Janeiro on June 25, Leopoldo Miguez, the locally hired conductor, reached the summit of a two-month escalating conflict with the performers due to his rather poor command of the work, to the point that the singers went on strike and forced the company's general manager to seek a substitute conductor. Carlo Superti and Aristide Venturi tried unsuccessfully to finish the work.

 

In desperation, the singers suggested the name of their assistant chorusmaster, who knew the whole opera from memory. Although he had no conducting experience, Toscanini was eventually persuaded by the musicians to take up the baton at 9:15 pm, and led a performance of the two-and-a-half hour opera, completely from memory. The public was taken by surprise, at first by the youth, charisma and sheer intensity of this unknown conductor, then by his solid musicianship. The result was astounding acclaim. For the rest of that season, Toscanini conducted 18 operas, each one an absolute success.

 

Thus began his career as a conductor, at age 19.

 

To learn more: Wikipedia:

Arturo Toscanini

 

classical-music-online.net

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