William Fritz News
Last update
2024-03-28
Refresh
Serenade (Western Classical Music in India)
2024-02-25 18:31:17
George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue was premiered one hundred years ago, on the snowy afternoon of February 12, 1924, at Aeolian Hall on Manhattan’s West 43rd Street. The 25-year-old composer was at the piano, joined by the dance band of Paul Whiteman, the noted bandleader who commissioned the work. It was presented near the end of a marathon concert, organized and promoted by Whiteman, entitled, An Experiment in Modern Music. Purportedly in attendance were such musical luminaries as Sergei Rachmaninov, Fritz […] The post appeared first on Serenade.
2024-02-15 07:23:00
A Lionel Tertis Celebration: Timothy Ridout, Frank Dupree, James Baillieu; Harmonia Mundi
A Lionel Tertis Celebration - York Bowen, Rebecca Clarke, Vaughan Williams, Lionel Tertis, Frank Bridge, Brahms, Schumann, Faure, William Wolstenholme, Kreisler, W.H. Reed, Eric Coates, Cecil Forsyth, John Ireland, and Mendelssohn; Timothy Ridout, Frank Dupree, James Baillieu; Harmonia Mundi12 February 2024Timothy Ridout's warm tribute to Lionel Tertis moves between powerful dramatic utterance and more domesticated, salon pieces, with every piece in a finely judged performanceInspired by the supple violin playing of Fritz Kreisler, though entirely self-taught, Lionel Tertis (1876-1975) made it his mission to bring the viola back to the foreground in classical music. In order to create a repertoire, Tertis adapted existing material (famously creating a viola concerto from Elgar's Cello Concerto, see my review of Ridout's 2023 recording of this), as well as badgering composers for pieces. Like other such figures (his friend the cellist Pablo Casals, and the guitarist Segovia), Tertis' taste in music was relatively conservative and famously […]
2024-02-12 07:28:00
Something a little bit special: David Butt Philip & friends gala for St Paul's Opera in Clapham
[…] scene from Beethoven's Fidelio with David Butt Philip returning to a role he last sang on stage in 2020 (at Covent Garden) but which he returns to in Bavaria in March. This was a compelling performance, rendered more so as he did not feel the need to accompany thrilling yet moving account of the scene with unnecessary movement.David Stout - St Paul's Church (Photo: Craig Fuller Photography)To follow that, David Stout was movingly intimate in Fritz's nostalgic song 'Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen' from Korngold's Die tote Stadt. Another scene came next, Rainelle Krause as Violetta in the final scene from Act One of La traviata, 'Sempre libera', with Krause's gutsy Violetta complemented by David Butt Philip's off-stage Alfredo (a luxury you don't usually get in concert excerpts). Alison Langer then returned as a poised yet feisty Countess with 'Dove sono' from Le nozze di Figaro'David Stout's account of 'Some Enchanted […]
2024-02-06 07:24:00
Late romantic at Wigmore Hall: Timothy Ridout & Frank Dupree in York Bowen and Rebecca Clarke
York Bowen by Elliott & Fry, bromide print (NPG x86430, © National Portrait Gallery, London)Enescu, Fauré, Kreisler, Rebecca Clarke: Viola Sonata, York Bowen: Viola Sonata No. 1; Timothy Ridout, Frank Dupree; Wigmore Hall3 February 2024Youthful muscularity, engaging manner and sweetly singing tone in Timothy Ridout's exploration of early 20th century music for viola with a focus on those inspired by Lionel TertisFollowing on from Simon Callaghan's lunchtime concert performing Cyril Scott [see my review], the evening concert at Wigmore Hall on 3 February 2024 featured viola player Timothy Ridout and pianist Frank Dupree in a programme inspired by viola player Lionel Tertis that featured York Bowen's Viola Sonata no. 1 and Rebecca Clarke's Viola Sonata along with music by Enescu, Fauré and Fritz Kreisler.Born the same year as Pablo Casals (1876), Lionel Tertis devoted his life to opening composers' and performers' eyes to the viola as a solo instrument. A wide range of […]
or
- timeline: Composers (North America).
- Indexes (by alphabetical order): F...