Mercoledi Musicale

This time last year I was preparing to head up to Salzburg for the annual Mozartwoche for a few days of concerts, bazaartost, Salzburger Knockerl and the warm hospitality of the Hotel Bristol. Amongst the musical highlights was a concert by the German bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff in a concert of Hayden arias and songs. It was an opportunity to hear one of the greats in a little known repertoire in the intimate setting of the lovely Mozarteum. An added thrill was having him come into a restaurant we were lunching at and ask if he could sit at a communal table.

Quasthoff's story is a fairly well-known on in musical circles - how he overcame great physical challenges to become one of the most respected and loved artists of the past few decades.  Known for his sensitive and nuanced singing in recital, he branched out into opera and jazz and proved that the subtlety he brought to the concert stage translated into so many forms.

Today at the age of 52 he announced his retirement due to health reasons.  As my friend Opera Chic says his ".... statement to the press demonstrates why he's treasured for his elegance and professionalism."

 “After almost 40 years, I have decided to retire from concert life. My health no longer allows me to live up to the high standard that I have always set for my art and myself. I owe a lot to this wonderful profession and leave without a trace of bitterness. On the contrary, I am looking forward to the new challenges that will now enter my life. I would like to thank all my fellow musicians and colleagues, with whom I stood together on stage, all the organizers, and my audience for their loyalty.”

One of my favorite Quasthoff recordings is this aria by Mozart written in 1791 for the bass Franz Gerl and double bass player Friedrich Pichelberger.  It has been rumoured that Pichelberger had made advances toward his wife Constanza and Mozart composed the extremely difficult bass obbligato of Per questa bella mana as revenge.   Whatever the reason he may have had for composing it, here Quasthoff sings it will his trademark elegance and the young bass player Christoph Anacker dispatches his part with elan.

And here is Quasthoff displaying his abilities as a jazz artist with Have A Little Faith in Me from one of his crossover albums.

Though he may be retiring from performing life he will continue teaching at the Hanns Eisler Academy in Berlin and continue to hold his international master classes.  In 2009 he launched "Das Lied" an international song competition and has a new talk show series at the Berlin Konzerthaus.

One can only say thank you to him for so much wonderful music and wish him happiness and health.  We may not hear the music of his voice but his voice will still be heard in the world of music.

11 January - 1566 The First Official Government Lottery has held in England.
 

Music for the New Year

Back in 2003 travel writer Patricia Schultz gave us a list of 1,000 Places to See Before You Die - an interesting if somewhat fatalistic title for an intriguing little travel book.  Though I've never totaled up my list to hers - there's an iPad app for it!!!!! - I have seen a fair bit of the world in the past 65 years.  I was 19 when I took my first trip out of North America and I've been travelling ever since - first with the airlines and then as a dip spouse.  According to my list on TripAdvisor - compiled I have to admit with a fading memory - I've visited 252 cities in 29 countries with a few of them on Ms Schultz's list.  I know for sure that one of them is Vienna - a city which I didn't like on my first visit but came to enjoy and love as I discovered it over the past few years.

The Großer Musikvereinssaal bedecked for the annual
New Year's Concert. The flowers that decorate the hall
are the gift of the city of Sanremo in Italy.

And though I've done most of the things she lists as "must do's" for any visitor to the city that Jan Morris likens to "a grandiloquent watchman of history,"  there is one glaring omission.  I've never attended the Wiener Philharmoniker's New Year's Day Concert - strangely Ms Schultz pegs the less well-known New Year's Eve concert as the thing to do but I think either one would fit on the list.

Well hopefully there is still time in the next few years to correct that gap in my list - perhaps coupled with another trip to my beloved Salzburg for Christmas?  In the meantime here's an excerpt from this year's concert where maestro Mariss Jansons - conducting his second New Year's concert - showed his prowess with the hammers?????

According to the Wiener Phil website if I want to get into next year's concert I'd better make up my mind in the next two days.  The lottery registration for January 1, 2013 starts on Wednesday and ends on the 23rd. And the tickets range from €30 to €940 - so I'd have to win two lotteries if I wanted a good seat!

The official website has a history of the concert - now in its 72nd year and broadcast to an estimated audience of 50 million in over 72 countries.  And there's an interesting posting on how the broadcast is done - famous British producer Brian Large has been most often in charge in the past few years.

01 January - New Year's Day