Dvořák's last "American" work

Synopsis

In London on today’s date in 1896, the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák conducted the first performance of his Cello Concerto in b minor.

Two years earlier, while teaching at the National Conservatory in New York, Dvořák attended the Brooklyn premiere of a Cello Concerto by the American cellist and composer, Victor Herbert. Herbert had been the principal cellist for the premiere performance of Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony at Carnegie Hall. Herbert was a superb player and the soloist in the premiere of his own concerto.

After the concert, Dvořák rushed backstage, embraced Herbert, and told him his concerto was “splendid—simply splendid.”

Inspired by Herbert’s example, Dvořák began a Cello Concerto of his own, completing it in just three months. It was the last work he completed during his three-year stay in America, but on the final page of his manuscript score, he wrote: “I finished the Concerto in New York, but when I returned to Bohemia I changed the end completely the way it stands here now.”

The concerto was written for and dedicated to Dvořák’s countryman, the Czech cellist Hanuš Wihan, but due to a scheduling conflict, a British soloist named Leo Stern played its world premiere in London.

Music Played in Today's Program

Antonin Dvořák (1841-1904) Cello Concerto in b, Op. 104 Yo Yo Ma, cello; New York Philharmonic; Kurt Masur, cond.

On This Day

Births

• 1872 - Russian ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev (Gregorian date: Mar. 31);

• 1873 - German composer Max Reger, in Brand (near Bayreuth);

• 1907 - English composer (of Irish descent) Elizabeth Maconchy, in Broxbourne;

• 1929 - American composer Robert Muczynski, in Chicago;

Premieres

• 1859 - Gounod: opera "Faust," in Paris at the Théâtre-Lyrique;

• 1864 - Gounod: opera "Mireille," in Paris at the Théâtre-Lyrique;

• 1870 - Gomes: opera "Il Guarany" (The Guarani), in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala;

• 1892 - Tchaikovsky: "The Nutcracker" Suite, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Mar. 7); The first staged performance of the complete "Nutcracker" Ballet occurred later that same year in St. Petersburg on Dec. 6 (Julian)/Dec. 18 (Gregorian);

• 1896 - Dvorák: Cello Concerto in b, Op. 104, at London's Queens Hall by the London Philharmonic conducted by the composer, with Leo Stern as soloist;

• 1910 - Bartók: String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7, in Budapest, by the Waldbauer Quartet;

• 1915 - John Alden Carpenter: "Adventures in a Perambulator," by the Chicago Symphony, Frederick Stock conducting;

• 1919 - Gabriel Fauré's "Fantasie" for piano and Orchestra, at a Société Nationale de Musique concert at the Salle Gaveau in Paris, with Alfred Cortot as the soloist,

• 1944 - Tippett: oratorio, "A Child of Our Time," in London;

• 1972 - George Perle: "Sonata quasi una fantasia" for clarinet and piano, in Buffalo, N.Y.;

• 1991 - John Adams: opera "The Death of Klinghoffer," in Brussels at the Théatre Royal de la Monnaie;

• 1998 - Robert X. Rodriguez: "Sinfonia a la Mariachi," by the San Antonio Symphony, Christopher Wilkins conducting;

Others

• 1931 - American premiere of Alban Berg's opera "Wozzeck" in Philadelphia, with Leopold Stokowski conducting.