40cd Indispensables de Diapason

Composée en décembre 1850 à Düsseldorf, où Schumann vient de prendre ses fonctions de Generalmusikdirektor, la « Rhénane » est la plus ouvertement picturale des quatre symphonies. L’euphorie dans laquelle elle voit le jour explique en partie que le compositeur ait osé l’articuler en cinq mouvements. Elle est aussi la plus redoutable pour ses interprètes et constitue le maillon faible de presque toutes les intégrales en raison de la difficulté d’en dompter les mouvements extrêmes, tous deux marqués Lebhaft : ils exigent, de fait, un élan, une ampleur, un souffle dont Ferdinand Leitner (1912-1996) est l’un des très rares chefs à avoir su trouver la clef.

Dédié à la comtesse Marie von Erdödy, grande amie et bienfaitrice de Beet­hoven, le Trio avec piano no 5 en ré majeur (1808) est souvent appelé Trio des Esprits (Geister-Trio) parce que la substance thématique de son deuxième mouvement provient d’un cahier d’esquisses dans lequel le compositeur avait noté des idées musicales pour la scène des sorcières d’un opéra jamais réalisé, Macbeth.

In a career that lasted barely a decade, dramatic soprano Anita Cerquetti established an immense reputation that survives into the 21st century. Why did she retire at age 30? Countless explanations have been advanced to justify Cerquetti's early departure from the stage, ranging from heart problems to ennui, impending motherhood to an instrument about to collapse owing to overuse. Yet not one seems satisfactory. Spasms in the facial nerves were an initial cause cited by the singer. After retiring for a period to rest, she returned to the stage

No figure in 20th century American classical music had as prominent or controversial a career – or did more to sell classical music to the general public as something genuinely exciting, and worth getting into a sweat over – than Leonard Bernstein. For more than 30 years, from his assumption of the post of Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in 1958 until the final concerts that he conducted in obviously failing health near the end of his life in 1990, he was the most prominent and widely recognized American-born conductor in the world, and the dominant personality in American classical music as both a conductor and, to a lesser degree, a composer. A flamboyant public figure, he burst three different times on the musical world – twice in classical with a rush of success on Broadway in between – in a blaze of glory, in the space of 15 years; and over a career lasting from the early '40s until the beginning of the '90s, he never lost an opportunity to advance his reputation as well as the cause of music.

The surname was anglicized Heifetz.His father, Reuven Heifetz, was a local violin teacher and served as the concertmaster of the Vilnius Theatre Orchestra for one season before the theatre closed down. Heifetz and his family left Russia in 1917, traveling by rail to the Russian far east and then by ship to the United States, arriving in San Francisco.
He became a naturalized American citizen in 1924.

Pas de saison pour la valse. En 1929, soit dix ans avant d'instituer la tradition du 1er janvier dans la salle dorée du Musikverein, c'est au Festival de Salzbourg que Clemens Krauss prend l'habitude de diriger les Wiener Philharmoniker dans un programme entièrement consacré à la famille Strauss. De ces soirées estivales, aucune trace sonore. Mais des célébrations du jour de l'an fixées au disque, rien que de l'immortel. Plus de vingt ans après Le Beau Danube bleu royal de Szell, ses valses ont, elles aussi, le port princier. Qui d'autre lit les Feuilles du matin avec une telle distinction ? Si tout n'est qu'absolue clarté, superbement nuancé, rien ne paraît cassant, et encore moins fragile - écoutez l'énergique fouetté mis à l'Opus 263 de Josef. Seules rivalisent d'aristocratie les Roses du Sud selon Krips.

By temperament Roussel was predominantly a classicist. While his early work was strongly influenced by impressionism in music, he eventually arrived at a personal style which was more formal in design, with a strong rhythmic drive, and with a more distinct affinity for functional tonality than is found in the work of his more famous contemporaries Debussy, Ravel, Satie, and Stravinsky. Roussel's training at the Schola Cantorum, with its emphasis on rigorous academic models such as Palestrina and Bach, left its mark on his mature style, which is characterized by contrapuntal textures.

Orchestra del Teatro della Scala di Milano Since the 19th century, La Scala Theater Orchestra has played important roles outside its main function of accompanying operas at the city's La Scala Opera House. In the 20th and 21st centuries, the orchestra has been led at one time or another by most of Italy's most prestigious conductors. La Scala Theater Orchestra (Italian: Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala) was recognized for its exceptional quality as it performed at the world premiere of operas by Rossini and Verdi in the 19th century, originally with the first violinist, or, in the very early years, the harpsichordist, as the leader. The orchestra's first conductor was Alberto Mazzucato, who ascended the podium in 1854. His successor Franco Faccio instituted independent concerts in 1872, and the orchestra appeared in Paris during the Exposition Universelle in 1878, one of the first major world's fairs. That triumph led to the establishment of a Società Orchestrale della Scala, which put the group on a firmer institutional footing. Offering two concert seasons annually, the orchestra stimulated the growth of instrumental music in Italy, formerly heavily dominated by opera.

Herbert von Karajan was the most renowned conductor to emerge from Europe in the post-World War II era – and through fortuitous timing throughout his career, and in spite of controversy that dogged his early years, he was the most recorded conductor of the 20th century, and is likely to remain one of the most visible (and biggest-selling) conductors well into the 21st century. Born in Salzburg and descended from a family of Greek origin with deep roots in Austria – including scholars and physicians in Vienna and Salzburg – he was a music prodigy, playing the piano at three and playing his first recital a year later.