ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK (SEPTEMBER 1, 1854, SIEGBURG,
PRUSSIA [GERMANY] — SEPTEMBER 27, 1921, NEUSTRELITZ, GERMANY)
Engelbert Humperdinck was a
German composer. Humperdinck studied at Cologne and at Munich. In 1879 a
Mendelssohn scholarship enabled him to go to Italy, where he met Richard
Wagner, who invited him to assist in the production of Parsifal at Bayreuth. He
taught at the Barcelona Conservatory (1885–87) and at Frankfurt am Main
(1890–96), where he was also music critic of the Frankfurter Zeitung. Early
works were the choral ballads Die Wallfahrt nach Kevlaar (1878; The Pilgrimage
to Kevlaar), Das Glück von Edenhall (1884; “The Luck of Edenhall”), and the
Humoreske (1879) for orchestra. Hänsel und Gretel, conducted by Richard
Strauss, was produced at Weimar on December 23, 1893. The libretto, by the
composer’s sister Adelheid Wette, was based on the folktale made familiar by
the Brothers Grimm. In this work Humperdinck showed an understanding of a
child’s mind and a sense of poetry, notably in the atmosphere of the woodland
scene at twilight and in the realistic effects in the episode of the broken
milk jug. The Wagnerian harmonies, the simple tunes, and the resourceful
orchestration maintain the musical interest on a high level. Between 1895 and
1919 Humperdinck produced six more operas, including Dornröschen (1902;
“Sleeping Beauty”) and Königskinder (1910; “Royal Children”), but neither they
nor the spectacle Das Mirakel (1911; “The Miracle”) enhanced his prestige. He
also wrote incidental music for plays by Aristophanes, William Shakespeare, and
Maurice Maeterlinck; Maurische Rhapsodie (1898; “Moorish Rhapsody”) for
orchestra; a string quartet; works for piano; and songs.
WILHELM KIENZL (JANUARY 17, 1857, WAIZENKIRCHEN,
AUSTRIA – OCTOBER 3, 1941, VIENNA, AUSTRIA)
Wilhelm Kienzl was an Austrian
composer. He studied in Graz with Johann Buwart and Mortier de Fontaine (piano)
and with Ignaz Uhi (violin); also with Mayer-Rémy (composition) at the Univ.
there, and then with Krejci at the Univ. of Prague (1876), at the Univ. of
Leipzig (1877), with Rheinberger in Munich, with Liszt in Weimar, and at the
Univ. of Vienna (Ph.D., 1879, with the diss. Die musikalische Deklamation;
publ. in Leipzig, 1880). He was director of Amsterdam’s German Opera (1883);
conducted in Krefeld before returning to Graz (1884); then was director of the
Steiermärkischer Musikverein there until 1886. He held the post of 1st
conductor of the Hamburg Opera (1890–92), then was court conductor in Munich
(1892–94). His most successful work was the opera Der Evangelimann (Berlin, May
4, 1895). After World War I, he wrote the new national anthem of Austria
(1918), replacing Haydn’s; it was adopted on June 6, 1920, but was dropped on
Dec. 13, 1929, in favor of Haydn’s melody. He also completed Adolf Jensen’s
opera Turandot. He publ. several books, including an autobiography (1926).
PAUL FELIX WEINGARTNER, EDLER (LORD) VON MUNZBERG (JUNE
2, 1863, ZARA, DALMATIA, AUSTRIAN EMPIRE [NOW ZADAR, CROATIA] — MAY 7, 1942,
WINTERTHUR, SWITZERLAND)
Austrian symphonic and
operatic conductor and composer, best-known for his interpretations of the
works of Ludwig van Beethoven and Richard Wagner. Weingartner first studied
composition at Graz. Beginning as a student of philosophy at the University of
Leipzig, he turned to the conservatory, on the recommendation of Johannes
Brahms. In 1883 he became a student of Franz Liszt’s at Weimar, and in 1884 his
opera Sakuntala was produced there. He was appointed court conductor of the
Berlin Royal Opera in 1891 and led its symphony concerts until 1897. Moving to
Munich in 1898, he conducted the Kaim concerts until 1905. In 1907 he succeeded
Gustav Mahler as conductor of the Court Opera in Vienna and was conductor of
the Vienna Philharmonic from 1908 to 1927. He directed the Vienna State Opera
from late 1934 to 1936. In 1937 he became a Swiss citizen. He conducted in
London beginning in 1898 with the Royal Philharmonic Society, the London
Symphony Orchestra, and the Scottish Orchestra. He toured with the New York
Philharmonic Society Orchestra in 1906 and conducted opera in Boston (1912–13).
His conducting style, exemplified in his performances of Beethoven and Wagner,
represented a reaction against the eccentric aspects of Romantic conducting and
a move toward an ideal of craftsmanship.
TRACKLIST
646 ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK
HUMPERDINCK – Dream Scene from Opera “Hänsel und Gretel”
647 ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK
HUMPERDINCK- Menuet from the Opera “The Forced Marriage”
650 ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK
HUMPERDINCK – Rosenringel from the Opera “Königskinder”
652 FELIX WEINGARTNER
BEETHOVEN – Piano Sonata, Op. 109, E 1st and 2nd mvts.
750 WILHELM KIENZL KIENZL –
Kinderreigen from the Opera “Der Evangelimann” Op. 45
751 WILHELM KIENZL KIENZL –
Blessed are the Martyrs from the Opera “Der Evangelimann”
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