Synopsis
For opera composers of the 19th century, Paris—not Vienna, Milan, or Berlin—was the center of the operatic universe. Money had a lot to do with that, since the Paris Opera paid better than anyone else, and boasted musical and visual resources far beyond other European theaters. All the great 19th century opera composers, including Verdi and Wagner, sought commissions from the Paris Opera.
On today’s date in 1823, a 33-year old German composer living in Venice appealed to one of the Paris Opera’s stars, the French bass Nicolas Levasseur, for help in securing just such a commission. “I assure you it would be a much greater honor for me to write for the French opera than for all the Italian theaters put together,” this composer wrote. “Where else but in Paris can one find the immense resources that French opera offers the composer who longs to write truly dramatic music?”
The flattery, honest or feigned, must have worked. The German composer, Jakob Meyerbeer by name, got his toe in the door, and in 1831 his opera “Robert the Devil” debuted in Paris to great acclaim. And Meyerbeer didn’t forget M. Levasseur’s help: in “Robert the Devil” he thanked the singer with a tailor-made lead role for the bass voice.
Music Played in Today's Program
Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) Robert le Diable excerpt Samuel Ramey, bass; Munich Radio Orchestra; Jacques Delacôte, cond. EMI Classics 49582
On This Day
Births
1878 - English composer and pianist Josef Holbrooke, in Croydon
1895 - English composer Gordon Jacob, in London
1897 - German-born Israeli composer Paul Ben-Haim (originally Frankenburger), in Munich
1918 - American composer George Rochberg, in Paterson, N.J.
1926 - American composer and teacher Kenneth Gaburo, in Somerville, N.J.
Deaths
1992 - Argentinian composer and bandonion virtuoso Astor Piazolla, age 71, in Buenos Aires
Premieres
1931 - R. Vaughan Williams: ballet, "Job (A Masque for Dancing)," in London
1990 - Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Clarinet Quintet, at a Chamber Music Northwest concert in Portland, Ore. featuring clarinetist David Shifrin
1996 - Stephen Paulus: "Partita Appassionata," for violin and piano, by William Preucil and Arthur Rowe, at the Seattle Chamber Music Festival
2000 - Leslie Bassett: Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra, during a World Saxophone Congress at Pierre Mercure Hall, Montreal, with soloist Clifford Leaman, and the Orchestre Symphonique de Laval, Louis Lavigueur, conducting;
Others
1877 - Polish harpsichordist Wanda Landowska is born in Warsaw
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About Composers Datebook®
Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.
He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.