Tag: Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Rape, murder, love and vengence in two acts

Don Giovanni, Vienna 1972 © Elisabeth Hausmann/Bundestheater
Don Giovanni, Vienna 1972 © Elisabeth Hausmann/Bundestheater

“The opera is divine, but such music is not meat for the teeth of my Viennese.” Such were the words with which Emperor Joseph II characterized Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni” in 1877 according to the librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte. And divine it is. Mozart is said to have replied to Da Ponte: “Give them time to chew on it.” Two centuries later the Viennese, who initially reacted lukewarm to the opera, as well as the rest of the world has had time to chew on it. It is one of the most popular and most performed operas ever. So what is the magical formula behind this stunning success?

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The Venice competition of harmony and invention

Vivaldi - inspiring like the flowers in our garden. © Amélie Wohlgenannt
Vivaldi – inspiring like the flowers in our garden. © Amélie Wohlgenannt

Can I write about Antonio Vivaldi’s Violin Concertos commonly know as “Le Quattro Stagioni” (The Four Seasons) without boring you? Vivaldi succeeded in an admirable way to paint with notes the sounds heard during the different seasons: the birds at spring time, a summer thunderstorm, the drinking and dancing on a late summer night, the bitter winter frost… Everything worth saying or writing about this piece has been said and written. Really? I hope I can find a new angle. The four concertos “Spring” in E major, “Summer” in G minor, “Autumn” in F major, and “Winter” in F minor are part of those compositions that I can listen to over and over again. Why? Because I feel how every note speaks to me, resonates in my body and makes me shiver out of pure pleasure. And I am blessed since I have three recordings to choose from.

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Bach appeals to our sense of beauty

The Brandenburg Concertos rank among Bach's most elaborate secular works. © Charles Thibo
The Brandenburg Concertos rank among Bach’s most elaborate secular works. © Charles Thibo

“Erst die Fremde lehrt uns, was wir an der Heimath besitzen.“ Only a travel abroad teaches us the value of our homeland – the German writer Theodor Fontane wrote these lines in a foreword to his book “Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg” (Wandering through the county of Brandenburg). Fontane, born 1819, described this area around Berlin in his ballads, novels and travel reports, with much detail and with much love.

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