1.
Orchestra
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The term orchestra derives from the Greek ὀρχήστρα, the name for the area in front of a stage in ancient Greek theatre reserved for the Greek chorus. A full-size orchestra may sometimes be called an orchestra or philharmonic orchestra. The actual number of employed in a given performance may vary from seventy to over one hundred musicians, depending on the work being played. The term chamber orchestra usually refers to smaller-sized ensembles of about fifty musicians or fewer, the typical orchestra grew in size throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, reaching a peak with the large orchestras called for in the works of Richard Wagner, and later, Gustav Mahler. Orchestras are usually led by a conductor who directs the performance with movements of the hands and arms, the conductor unifies the orchestra, sets the tempo and shapes the sound of the ensemble. The first violin, commonly called the concertmaster, also plays an important role in leading the musicians, the typical symphony orchestra consists of four groups of related musical instruments called the woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings. The orchestra, depending on the size, contains almost all of the instruments in each group. Chamber orchestra usually refers to smaller-sized ensembles, a chamber orchestra might employ as many as fifty musicians. The term concert orchestra may also be used, as in the BBC Concert Orchestra, the so-called standard complement of doubled winds and brass in the orchestra from the first half of the 19th century is generally attributed to the forces called for by Beethoven. The composers instrumentation almost always included paired flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, the exceptions to this are his Symphony No. 4, Violin Concerto, and Piano Concerto No,4, which each specify a single flute. Beethoven carefully calculated the expansion of this particular timbral palette in Symphonies 3,5,6, the third horn in the Eroica Symphony arrives to provide not only some harmonic flexibility, but also the effect of choral brass in the Trio movement. Piccolo, contrabassoon, and trombones add to the finale of his Symphony No.5. A piccolo and a pair of trombones help deliver the effect of storm and sunshine in the Sixth, for several decades after his death, symphonic instrumentation was faithful to Beethovens well-established model, with few exceptions. Apart from the core orchestral complement, various instruments are called for occasionally. These include the guitar, heckelphone, flugelhorn, cornet, harpsichord. Saxophones, for example, appear in some 19th- through 21st-century scores.6 and 9 and William Waltons Belshazzars Feast, and many other works as a member of the orchestral ensemble. The euphonium is featured in a few late Romantic and 20th-century works, usually playing parts marked tenor tuba, including Gustav Holsts The Planets, cornets appear in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovskys ballet Swan Lake, Claude Debussys La Mer, and several orchestral works by Hector Berlioz
2.
Berlin
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Berlin is the capital and the largest city of Germany as well as one of its constituent 16 states. With a population of approximately 3.5 million, Berlin is the second most populous city proper, due to its location in the European Plain, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one-third of the area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers. Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world, following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all-Germany. Berlin is a city of culture, politics, media. Its economy is based on high-tech firms and the sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, research facilities, media corporations. Berlin serves as a hub for air and rail traffic and has a highly complex public transportation network. The metropolis is a popular tourist destination, significant industries also include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, clean tech, biotechnology, construction and electronics. Modern Berlin is home to world renowned universities, orchestras, museums and its urban setting has made it a sought-after location for international film productions. The city is known for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts. Since 2000 Berlin has seen the emergence of a cosmopolitan entrepreneurial scene, the name Berlin has its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of todays Berlin, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl-. All German place names ending on -ow, -itz and -in, since the Ber- at the beginning sounds like the German word Bär, a bear appears in the coat of arms of the city. It is therefore a canting arm, the first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920, the central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document,1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the right on the two important trade routes Via Imperii and from Bruges to Novgorod. In 1307, they formed an alliance with a common external policy, in 1415 Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440. In 1443 Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln
3.
Simon Rattle
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Sir Simon Denis Rattle OM CBE is an English conductor. He rose to prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Simon Rattle has been conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic since 2002. It was announced in March 2015 that Simon Rattle would become Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra from September 2017, Simon Rattle was born in Liverpool, the son of Pauline Lila Violet and Denis Guttridge Rattle, a Commander in the Royal Navy. He was educated at Liverpool College, although Rattle studied piano and violin, his early work with orchestras was as a percussionist for the Merseyside Youth Orchestra. He entered the Royal Academy of Music, in 1971, there, his teachers included John Carewe. In 1974, his year, Rattle won the John Player International Conducting Competition. He spent the academic year 1980/81 at St Annes College, Oxford studying English Language and he had been attracted to the college by the reputation of Dorothy Bednarowska, Fellow and Tutor in English. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of St Annes in 1991 and he was admitted to the degree of Doctor of Music honoris causa of the University of Oxford in 1999. In 1974, he was assistant conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. His first Prom at the Royal Albert Hall, conducting the London Sinfonietta, was, according to the BBC Proms Archive web-site, the programme included Harrison Birtwistles Meridian and Arnold Schoenbergs First Chamber Symphony. In 1977 he became assistant conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and his time with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 1980 to 1998 drew him to the attention of critics and the public. In 1980, Simon Rattle became the CBSOs Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser, Rattle increased both his profile and that of the orchestra over his tenure. One of his long-term concert projects was the series of concerts of 20th-century music titled Towards the Millennium. One other major achievement during his time was the move of the CBSO from its former venue, Birmingham Town Hall, to a newly built hall, Symphony Hall. The BBC commissioned film director Jaine Green to follow him in his year with the CBSO to make Simon Rattle—Moving On. Rattle was appointed a CBE in 1987 and made a Knight Bachelor in 1994, in 1992, Rattle was named a Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, along with Frans Brüggen. Rattle now has the title of Principal Artist with the OAE, in 2001, he conducted the OAE at Glyndebourne in their first production of Fidelio with a period-instrument orchestra
4.
Vienna Philharmonic
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The Vienna Philharmonic, founded in 1842, is an orchestra regularly considered one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria and its members are selected from the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera. Selection involves a process, with each musician having to demonstrate his or her capability for a minimum of three years performing for the opera and ballet. After this probationary period, the musician may request from the Vienna Philharmonics board an application for a position in the orchestra, until the 1830s, orchestral performance in Vienna was done by ad hoc orchestras, consisting of professional and amateur musicians brought together for specific performances. Nicolai and the orchestra gave only 11 concerts in the five years, and when Nicolai left Vienna in 1847. Between 1854 and 1857 Karl Eckert – the first permanent conductor of the Vienna Court Opera – led the Vienna Philharmonic in a few concerts. In 1857, Eckert was made Director of the Hofoper – the first musician to have given the post, in 1860. Since that time, writes Vienna Philharmonic violinist and president Clemens Hellsberg, in 1860, the orchestra elected Otto Dessoff to be permanent conductor. According to Max Kalbeck, the Vienna-based music critic, newspaper editor, and biographer, after fifteen years, in 1875, Dessoff was pushed out of his position in Vienna through intrigue, and he left Vienna to become conductor of the Badische Staatskapelle in Karlsruhe, Germany. In Karlruhe the next year, he fulfilled the request of his friend Johannes Brahms to conduct the first performance of his Symphony no,1, in 1873 Brahms had conducted the premiere of his Variations on a Theme by Haydn with Dessoffs Vienna Philharmonic. In 1875, the orchestra chose Hans Richter to take Dessoffs place as subscription conductor and he remained until 1898, except for the season 1882/1883 when he was in dispute with the orchestral committee. Richter led the VPO in the premieres of Brahmss Second Symphony, Tragic Overture. 3, the Violin Concerto of Tchaikovsky in 1881, and in 1892 the 8th symphony of Anton Bruckner and it was Richter who in 1881 appointed Arnold Rosé as concertmaster, who was to become Gustav Mahlers brother-in-law and was concertmaster until the Anschluss in 1938. In order to be eligible for a pension, Richter intended to remain in his position for 25 years, Richter recommended Mahler or Ferdinand Löwe to the orchestra as his replacement. In 1898, on 24 September, the orchestra elected Gustav Mahler, under Mahlers baton the Vienna Philharmonic played abroad for the first time at the 1900 Paris World Exposition. He resigned on 1 April 1901, like Richter, citing health concerns as a pretext, in 1901, Joseph Hellmesberger, Jr. briefly took his place, he remained only until 1903. He was most renowned for his Beethoven – he programmed at least two symphonies per season, and complete cycles in 1916/17 and 1926/27 and it was Weingartner who led the orchestras first concert devoted to entirely to the music of Johann Strauss, Jr. on 25 October 1925. In 1927, when Weingartner resigned, the orchestra elected Wilhelm Furtwängler and he resigned at the end of the 1929/30 season because of increased professional demands in Berlin
5.
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
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The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is a symphony orchestra in the Netherlands, based at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw. In 1988, Queen Beatrix conferred the Royal title upon the orchestra and it is considered one of the worlds leading orchestras. The Concertgebouw opened on 11 April 1888, the Concertgebouw Orchestra was established several months later, and gave its first concert in the Concertgebouw on 3 November 1888, conducted by the orchestras first chief conductor, Willem Kes. Kes served as the chief conductor from its 1888 founding to 1895. In 1895, Willem Mengelberg became chief conductor and remained in position for fifty years. For approximately its first 75 years, the Concertgebouw Orchestra had a somewhat complicated roster of conductors. In addition to the conductor, the orchestra had conductor positions titled eerste dirigent, who assisted the chief conductor with programming, and tweede dirigent. Musicians who served as second conductor were all Dutch and included the composer Cornelis Dopper, Evert Cornelis, the ban was initially imposed for the remainder of his life, but after an appeal, reduced to six years, applied retroactively from 1945. Mengelberg died in 1951 just before the end of his sentence, from 1945 to 1959, the orchestras principal conductor was Eduard van Beinum, who had debuted with the orchestra in 1929. He had become the conductor of the orchestra in 1931. One of his specialties was the symphonies of Anton Bruckner, Van Beinum served as sole chief conductor of the orchestra after World War II until his sudden death on the Concertgebouw podium from a heart attack in April 1959. Bernard Haitink made his debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra on 7 November 1956, after Van Beinums death, from 1961 to 1963, Haitink and Eugen Jochum shared the post of chief conductor of the orchestra. Haitink became sole chief conductor in 1963, and served in this post until 1988, at some point during Haitinks time, the conductor system was simplified to have an assistant conductor instead of first- and second-conductors. Conductors who served in this capacity included Edo de Waart and Hans Vonk, the recording profile of the orchestra increased most dramatically under Haitink, with many recordings for the Philips Records, as well as EMI and Columbia Records. In the early 1980s, the Dutch government threatened the orchestra with reductions in its government subsidy that could potentially have led to the dismissal of 23 musicians from the orchestra, Haitink threatened to resign in protest, and the financial situation was eventually settled. In 1999, Haitink was named the orchestras Conductor Laureate, in September 2015, the orchestra announced a rapprochement with Haitink, with a scheduled guest-conducting engagement with the RCO in the 2016-2017 season. Riccardo Chailly made his debut with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1985, as the first non-Dutchman to hold the post, Chailly served as chief conductor from 1988 to 2004. His recordings with the orchestra include complete Mahler and Brahms symphony cycles, after his departure in 2004, Chailly was named Conductor Emeritus of the RCO
6.
Gramophone (magazine)
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Gramophone is a magazine published monthly in London devoted to classical music, particularly to reviews of recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie and it was acquired by Haymarket in 1999. In 2013 the Mark Allen Group became the publisher The magazine presents the Gramophone Awards each year to the recordings which it considers the finest in a variety of categories. In the title bar of its website Gramophone claims to be and this used to appear on the front cover of every issue, recent editions have changed the wording to The worlds best classical music reviews. Its circulation, including digital subscribers, was 24,380 in 2014 Apart from the annual Gramophone Awards, each month features a dozen recordings as Gramophone Editors Choice. Then, in the annual Christmas edition, there is a review of the recordings where each critic selects four or five recordings - these selections make up the Gramophone Critics Choice. In April 2012, Gramophone launched its Hall of Fame, a listing of the men and women who have contributed to the classical record industry. The first 50 were revealed in the May 2012 issue and on Gramophone’s website, glenn Gould wrote a parody review in the style of Gramophone for the liner notes to his 1968 recording of Beethovens Fifth Symphony transcribed for solo piano by Liszt. The review, which purports to be from the English magazine The Phonograph includes this passage, Unusual recordings of the Beethoven Fifth are, of course, in late 2012, Gramophone announced the launch of a new archive service
7.
Chamber music
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Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a number of performers. However, by convention, it usually does not include solo instrument performances, because of its intimate nature, chamber music has been described as the music of friends. Playing chamber music requires special skills, both musical and social, that differ from the skills required for playing solo or symphonic works, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe described chamber music as four rational people conversing. The analogy to conversation recurs in descriptions and analyses of chamber music compositions, from its earliest beginnings in the Medieval period to the present, chamber music has been a reflection of the changes in the technology and the society that produced it. During the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance, instruments were used primarily as accompaniment for singers, String players would play along with the melody line sung by the singer. There were also purely instrumental ensembles, often of stringed precursors of the violin family, some analysts consider the origin of classical instrumental ensembles to be the sonata da camera and the sonata da chiesa. These were compositions for one to five or more instruments, the sonata da camera was a suite of slow and fast movements, interspersed with dance tunes, the sonata da chiesa was the same, but the dances were omitted. These forms gradually developed into the trio sonata of the Baroque – two treble instruments and an instrument, often with a keyboard or other chording instrument filling in the harmony. Both the bass instrument and the instrument would play the basso continuo part. During the Baroque period, chamber music as a genre was not clearly defined, often, works could be played on any variety of instruments, in orchestral or chamber ensembles. The Art of Fugue by Johann Sebastian Bach, for example, sometimes composers mixed movements for chamber ensembles with orchestral movements. Telemanns Tafelmusik, for example, has five sets of movements for various combinations of instruments, Baroque chamber music was often contrapuntal, that is, each instrument played the same melodic materials at different times, creating a complex, interwoven fabric of sound. Because each instrument was playing essentially the same melodies, all the instruments were equal, in the trio sonata, there is often no ascendent or solo instrument, but all three instruments share equal importance. In the second half of the 18th century, tastes began to change, many preferred a new, lighter Galant style. And clearly defined melody and bass to the complexities of counterpoint, now a new custom arose that gave birth to a new form of chamber music, the serenade. Patrons invited street musicians to play evening concerts below the balconies of their homes, their friends, patrons and musicians commissioned composers to write suitable suites of dances and tunes, for groups of two to five or six players. These works were called serenades, nocturnes, divertimenti, or cassations, the young Joseph Haydn was commissioned to write several of these
8.
Benjamin Bilse
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Benjamin Bilse was a German conductor and composer. Bilse was born in Liegnitz in the Prussian Silesia Province and he obtained a rich musical education, as at the Vienna Conservatory under violinist Joseph Böhm, and played in the orchestra of Johann Strauss I. Returned to Liegnitz, he became municipal Kapellmeister in 1842, from 1867 he regularly performed with the Bilses Band at the Concerthaus on Leipziger Straße in Berlin. In 1873 Richard Wagner conducted the orchestra in the presence of Emperor Wilhelm I, Bilse retired a few years later and returned to Liegnitz, where he also died. Joachim Andersen Eugène Ysaÿe Free scores by Benjamin Bilse at the International Music Score Library Project
9.
Warsaw
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Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It stands on the Vistula River in east-central Poland, roughly 260 kilometres from the Baltic Sea and 300 kilometres from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population is estimated at 1.750 million residents within a metropolitan area of 3.101 million residents. The city limits cover 516.9 square kilometres, while the area covers 6,100.43 square kilometres. Once described as Paris of the East, Warsaw was believed to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world until World War II. On 9 November 1939, the city was awarded Polands highest military decoration for heroism, Warsaw is one of Europe’s most dynamic metropolitan cities. In 2012 the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Warsaw as the 32nd most liveable city in the world, in 2017 the city came 4th in the “Business-friendly” category and 8th in the “Human capital and life style”. It was also ranked as one of the most liveable cities in Central, Warsaw is considered an Alpha– global city, a major international tourist destination and a significant cultural, political and economic hub. The city is a significant centre of research and development, BPO, ITO, the Warsaw Stock Exchange is the largest and most important in Central and Eastern Europe. Frontex, the European Union agency for external security, has its headquarters in Warsaw. Together with Frankfurt, London and Paris, Warsaw is also one of the cities with the highest number of skyscrapers in the European Union, the city is the seat of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra and the University of Warsaw. The historic city-centre of Warsaw with its picturesque Old Town in 1980 was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, buildings represent examples of nearly every European architectural style and historical period. Warsaw provides many examples of architecture from the gothic, renaissance, baroque, neoclassical and modern periods, furthermore, the city is positioning itself as Europes chic cultural capital with thriving art and club scenes and renowned restaurants. Folk etymology attributes the city name to a fisherman, Wars, according to legend, Sawa was a mermaid living in the Vistula River with whom Wars fell in love. In actuality, Warsz was a 12th/13th-century nobleman who owned a village located at the site of Mariensztat neighbourhood. See also the Vršovci family which had escaped to Poland, the official city name in full is miasto stołeczne Warszawa. A native or resident of Warsaw is known as a Varsovian – in Polish warszawiak, warszawianin, warszawianka, warszawiacy, other names for Warsaw include Varsovia and Varsóvia, Varsovie, Varsavia, Warschau, װאַרשע /Varshe, Варшава /Varšava /Varshava, Varšuva, Varsó. The first fortified settlements on the site of todays Warsaw were located in Bródno, after Jazdów was raided by nearby clans and dukes, a new similar settlement was established on the site of a small fishing village called Warszowa
10.
Hans Richter (conductor)
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Hans Richter was an Austrian–Hungarian orchestral and operatic conductor. Richter was born in Raab, Kingdom of Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire and his father was a good local composer, conductor and regens chori Anton Richter. His mother was opera-singer Jozefa Csazenszky and he studied at the Vienna Conservatory. He had a particular interest in the horn, and developed his career at several different opera houses in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He became associated with Richard Wagner in the 1860s, and in 1876 he was chosen to conduct the first complete performance of Wagners Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. In Europe his work was based in Vienna, where he gave much attention to the works of Brahms himself, Anton Bruckner and Antonín Dvořák. In later years, Richter became an admirer of Sir Edward Elgar. On one occasion, he laid down his baton and allowed a London orchestra to play the second movement of Tchaikovskys Pathétique Symphony itself. Never afraid to experiment on behalf of the music he loved, in 1909 he delivered the British premiere, very shortly after the world premiere in Boston, of Ignacy Jan Paderewskis Symphony in B minor Polonia. Failing eyesight forced his retirement in 1911 and he died at Bayreuth in 1916. True Artist and True Friend, A Biography of Hans Richter
11.
Felix von Weingartner
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Paul Felix Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist. Weingartner was born in Zara, Dalmatia, Austria–Hungary, to Austrian parents, the family moved to Graz in 1868, and his father died later that year. In 1881 he went to Leipzig to study philosophy, but soon devoted himself entirely to music, entering the Conservatory in 1883, Liszt helped produce the world premiere of Weingartners opera Sakuntala in 1884 with the Weimar orchestra. Walker got this account from Weingartners autobiography, published in Zürich, the same year,1884, he assumed the directorship of the Königsberg Opera. From 1885 to 1887 he was Kapellmeister in Danzig, then in Hamburg until 1889, starting that year, he was Kapellmeister of the Royal Opera and conductor of symphony concerts in Berlin. He eventually resigned from the opera post while continuing to conduct the concerts, and then settled in Munich. In 1902, at the Mainz Festival, Weingartner conducted all nine Beethoven symphonies, from 1907 to 1910 he was the Director of the Vienna Hofoper, succeeding Gustav Mahler, he retained the conductorship of the Vienna Philharmonic until 1927. In 1919-20, he was conductor of the Vienna Volksoper. In 1920, he became a professor at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, from 1927 to 1934 he was music director of the Basel symphony orchestra. He gave his last concert in London that year and died in Winterthur, Weingartner was the first conductor to make commercial recordings of all nine Beethoven symphonies, and the second to record all four Brahms symphonies. In 1935 he conducted the premiere of Georges Bizets long-lost Symphony in C. His 1935 recording of Beethovens Symphony No,9, for instance, sounds much more like Toscaninis 1936,1938,1939 and 1952 renditions than Furtwänglers far more expansive readings. He taught conducting to students as eminent as Paul Sacher, Charles Houdret, Georg Tintner and he experimented with films of himself conducting as a tool in orchestral training. He was married five times, to Marie Juillerat, Baroness Feodora von Dreifus, mezzo-soprano Lucille Marcel, actress Roxo Betty Kalisch, despite his lifelong career as a conductor, Weingartner regarded himself as equally, if not more importantly, a composer. Besides numerous other operas, Weingartner wrote seven symphonies which are being recorded, with his orchestral music, by cpo - classic production osnabrück, in Osnabrück. Weingartners choice of verse for his songs mirrors that of his contemporary composers, Max Reger, Joseph Marx, Richard Trunk and his idiom left some marks on Erich Wolfgang Korngold, whose precocious Sinfonietta is dedicated to Weingartner, who conducted its first performance. Weingartner edited, with Charles Malherbe, the works of Hector Berlioz as well as the operas Joseph by Méhul and Oberon by Weber. He also made versions of piano works such as Beethovens Hammerklavier Sonata, Webers Invitation to the Dance
12.
Richard Strauss
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Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. Strauss was also a prominent conductor in Western Europe and the Americas, enjoying quasi-celebrity status as his compositions became standards of orchestral and operatic repertoire. Strauss was born on 11 June 1864 in Munich, the son of Josephine and Franz Strauss, in his youth, he received a thorough musical education from his father. He wrote his first composition at the age of six and continued to write music almost until his death, during his boyhood Strauss attended orchestra rehearsals of the Munich Court Orchestra, where he received private instruction in music theory and orchestration from an assistant conductor. In 1872 he started receiving violin instruction at the Royal School of Music from Benno Walter, in 1874 Strauss heard his first Wagner operas, Lohengrin and Tannhäuser. The influence of Wagners music on Strausss style was to be profound, but at first his musically conservative father forbade him to study it. Indeed, in the Strauss household, the music of Richard Wagner was viewed with deep suspicion, in later life, Strauss said that he deeply regretted the conservative hostility to Wagners progressive works. Nevertheless, Strausss father undoubtedly had a influence on his sons developing taste. In early 1882 in Vienna he gave the first performance of his Violin Concerto in D minor, playing a piano reduction of the part himself. The same year he entered Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he studied philosophy and art history, Strauss learned the art of conducting by observing Bülow in rehearsal. Bülow was very fond of the man and decided that Strauss should be his successor as conductor of the Meiningen Court Orchestra when Bülow resigned in 1885. Strausss compositions at time were indebted to the style of Robert Schumann or Felix Mendelssohn. 1, Op.11, is representative of this period and is a staple of modern horn repertoire, Strauss married soprano Pauline de Ahna on 10 September 1894. She was famous for being irascible, garrulous, eccentric and outspoken, throughout his life, from his earliest songs to the final Four Last Songs of 1948, he preferred the soprano voice to all others, and all his operas contain important soprano roles. The Strausses had one son, Franz, in 1897, Franz married Alice von Grab-Hermannswörth, daughter of a Jewish industrialist, in a Roman Catholic ceremony in 1924. Franz and Alice had two sons, Richard and Christian, some of Strausss first compositions were solo instrumental and chamber works. After 1890 Strauss composed very infrequently for chamber groups, his energies being almost completely absorbed with large-scale orchestral works and operas. Four of his pieces are actually arrangements of portions of his operas, including the Daphne-Etude for solo violin and the String Sextet
13.
Gustav Mahler
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Gustav Mahler was an Austrian late-Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century, born in Bohemia as a German-speaking Jew of humble circumstances, Mahler displayed his musical gifts at an early age. During his ten years in Vienna, Mahler—who had converted to Catholicism to secure the regular opposition. Late in his life he was director of New Yorks Metropolitan Opera. Mahlers œuvre is relatively limited, for much of his composing was necessarily a part-time activity while he earned his living as a conductor. Some of Mahlers immediate musical successors included the composers of the Second Viennese School, notably Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, dmitri Shostakovich and Benjamin Britten are among later 20th-century composers who admired and were influenced by Mahler. The International Gustav Mahler Institute was established in 1955 to honour the composers life, the Mahler family came from eastern Bohemia and were of humble circumstances, the composers grandmother had been a street pedlar. Bohemia was then part of the Austrian Empire, the Mahler family belonged to a German-speaking minority among Bohemians, from this background the future composer developed early on a permanent sense of exile, always an intruder, never welcomed. Bernhard Mahler, the son and the composers father, elevated himself to the ranks of the petite bourgeoisie by becoming a coachman. He bought a modest house in the village of Kalischt, halfway between Prague in Bohemia and Brno in Moravia, in the center of todays Czech Republic. Bernhards wife, Marie, gave birth to the first of the couples 14 children, a son Isidor, two years later, on 7 July 1860, their second son, Gustav, was born. In December 1860, Bernhard Mahler moved with his wife and infant son, Gustav, to the town of Iglau,25 km to the south-east, the family grew rapidly, but of the 12 children born to the family in Iglau only six survived infancy. All of these elements would later contribute to his musical vocabulary. When he was four years old, Gustav discovered his grandparents piano and he developed his performing skills sufficiently to be considered a local Wunderkind and gave his first public performance at the town theatre when he was ten years old. Although Gustav loved making music, his reports from the Iglau Gymnasium portrayed him as absent-minded. In 1871, in the hope of improving the results, his father sent him to the New Town Gymnasium in Prague. In 1874 he suffered a personal loss when his younger brother Ernst died after a long illness. Mahler sought to express his feelings in music, with the help of a friend, Josef Steiner, he work on an opera
14.
Johannes Brahms
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Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, Brahms spent much of his life in Vienna. Brahms composed for orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano, organ. A virtuoso pianist, he premiered many of his own works and he worked with some of the leading performers of his time, including the pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim. Many of his works have become staples of the concert repertoire. An uncompromising perfectionist, Brahms destroyed some of his works and left others unpublished, Brahms has been considered, by his contemporaries and by later writers, as both a traditionalist and an innovator. His music is rooted in the structures and compositional techniques of the Classical masters. While many contemporaries found his music too academic, his contribution and craftsmanship have been admired by subsequent figures as diverse as Arnold Schoenberg, the diligent, highly constructed nature of Brahmss works was a starting point and an inspiration for a generation of composers. Embedded within his meticulous structures, however, are deeply romantic motifs, Brahmss father, Johann Jakob Brahms, was from the town of Heide in Holstein. The family name was sometimes spelt Brahmst or Brams, and derives from Bram. Against the familys will, Johann Jakob pursued a career in music, arriving in Hamburg in 1826, where he work as a jobbing musician. In 1830, he married Johanna Henrika Christiane Nissen, a seamstress 17 years older than he was, in the same year he was appointed as a horn player in the Hamburg militia. Eventually he became a player in the Hamburg Stadttheater and the Hamburg Philharmonic Society. As Johann Jakob prospered, the family moved over the years to better accommodation in Hamburg. Johannes Brahms was born in 1833, his sister Elisabeth had been born in 1831, Fritz also became a pianist, overshadowed by his brother he emigrated to Caracas in 1867, and later returned to Hamburg as a teacher. Johann Jakob gave his son his first musical training, Johannes also learnt to play the violin, from 1840 he studied piano with Otto Friedrich Willibald Cossel. Cossel complained in 1842 that Brahms could be such a good player, at the age of 10, Brahms made his debut as a performer in a private concert including Beethovens quintet for piano and winds Op.16 and a piano quartet by Mozart. He also played as a solo work an étude of Henri Herz, by 1845 he had written a piano sonata in G minor
15.
Edvard Grieg
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Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, the Edvard Grieg Museum in Troldhaugen is dedicated to his legacy. Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in Bergen, Norway, on 15 June 1843 and his parents were Alexander Grieg, a merchant and vice-consul in Bergen, and Gesine Judithe Hagerup, a music teacher and daughter of Edvard Hagerup. The family name, originally spelled Greig, has Scottish origins, after the Battle of Culloden in 1746, Griegs great-grandfather, Alexander Greig, traveled widely, settling in Norway about 1770, and establishing business interests in Bergen. Edvard Grieg was raised in a musical milieu and his mother was his first piano teacher and taught him to play at the age of six. Grieg studied in schools, including Tanks Upper School, Tanks School. In the summer of 1858, Grieg met the eminent Norwegian violinist Ole Bull, Bull recognized the 15-year-old boys talent and persuaded his parents to send him to the Leipzig Conservatory, the piano department of which was directed by Ignaz Moscheles. Grieg enrolled in the conservatory, concentrating on the piano, and enjoyed the many concerts and he disliked the discipline of the conservatory course of study. An exception was the organ, which was mandatory for piano students, in the spring of 1860, he survived two life-threatening lung diseases, pleurisy and tuberculosis. Throughout his life, Griegs health was impaired by a left lung. He suffered from respiratory infections, and ultimately developed combined lung. Grieg was admitted many times to spas and sanatoria both in Norway and abroad, several of his doctors became his personal friends. In 1861, Grieg made his debut as a concert pianist in Karlshamn, in 1862, he finished his studies in Leipzig and held his first concert in his home town, where his programme included Beethovens Pathétique sonata. In 1863, Grieg went to Copenhagen, Denmark, and stayed there for three years and he met the Danish composers J. P. E. Hartmann and Niels Gade. He also met his fellow Norwegian composer Rikard Nordraak, who became a good friend, Nordraak died in 1866, and Grieg composed a funeral march in his honor. On 11 June 1867, Grieg married his first cousin, Nina Hagerup, the next year, their only child, Alexandra, was born. Alexandra died in 1869 from meningitis, in the summer of 1868, Grieg wrote his Piano Concerto in A minor while on holiday in Denmark. Edmund Neupert gave the concerto its premiere performance on 3 April 1869 in the Casino Theater in Copenhagen, Grieg himself was unable to be there due to conducting commitments in Christiania
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Mary Wurm
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Mary J. A. Wurm was an English pianist and composer. Mary Wurm was born in England, the sister of Alice Verne-Bredt, Mathilde Verne and she lived in Stuttgart as a child, but later returned to London. She studied piano with Clara Schumann and composition with Charles Villiers Stanford, Wurm became a noted pianist, and in 1898 founded and conducted a womens orchestra in Berlin. In 1914, Verne published a Practical Preschool collection to be used as teaching material at Elisabeth Caland in Hannover, selected works include, Mag auch heiss das Scheiden brennen Christkindleins Wiegenlied aus des Knaben Wunderhorn Wiegenlied im Sommer Mathilde Verne
17.
Richard Wagner
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Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is primarily known for his operas. Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works and he described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen and his advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centres, greatly influenced the development of classical music. His Tristan und Isolde is sometimes described as marking the start of modern music, Wagner had his own opera house built, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, which embodied many novel design features. The Ring and Parsifal were premiered here and his most important stage works continue to be performed at the annual Bayreuth Festival, until his final years, Wagners life was characterised by political exile, turbulent love affairs, poverty and repeated flight from his creditors. His controversial writings on music, drama and politics have attracted extensive comment, notably, since the late 20th century, where they express antisemitic sentiments. The effect of his ideas can be traced in many of the arts throughout the 20th century, his influence spread beyond composition into conducting, philosophy, literature, Richard Wagner was born to an ethnic German family in Leipzig, where his family lived at No. 3, the Brühl in the Jewish quarter and he was baptized at St. Thomas Church. He was the child of Carl Friedrich Wagner, who was a clerk in the Leipzig police service, and his wife, Johanna Rosine. Wagners father Carl died of typhus six months after Richards birth, afterwards his mother Johanna lived with Carls friend, the actor and playwright Ludwig Geyer. In August 1814 Johanna and Geyer probably married—although no documentation of this has found in the Leipzig church registers. She and her family moved to Geyers residence in Dresden, until he was fourteen, Wagner was known as Wilhelm Richard Geyer. He almost certainly thought that Geyer was his biological father, Geyers love of the theatre came to be shared by his stepson, and Wagner took part in his performances. In his autobiography Mein Leben Wagner recalled once playing the part of an angel, in late 1820, Wagner was enrolled at Pastor Wetzels school at Possendorf, near Dresden, where he received some piano instruction from his Latin teacher. He struggled to play a scale at the keyboard and preferred playing theatre overtures by ear. Following Geyers death in 1821, Richard was sent to the Kreuzschule, at the age of nine he was hugely impressed by the Gothic elements of Carl Maria von Webers opera Der Freischütz, which he saw Weber conduct. At this period Wagner entertained ambitions as a playwright and his first creative effort, listed in the Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis as WWV1, was a tragedy called Leubald. Begun when he was in school in 1826, the play was influenced by Shakespeare
18.
Arthur Nikisch
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Arthur Nikisch was a Hungarian conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an interpreter of the music of Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven. Johannes Brahms praised Nikischs performance of his Fourth Symphony as quite exemplary, Arthur Augustinus Adalbertus Nikisch was born in Mosonszentmiklós, Hungary to a Hungarian father, and a mother from Moravia. Nikisch began his studies at the Vienna Conservatory in 1866 and he was engaged as a violinist in the Vienna Philharmonic, and also played in the Bayreuth Festival orchestra in its inaugural season of 1876. He was to achieve most of his fame as a conductor, in 1878 he moved to Leipzig and became second conductor of the Leipzig Opera, in 1879 he was promoted to principal conductor. He gave the premiere of Anton Bruckners Symphony No.7 in 1884, on 1 July 1885 Nikisch married Amelie Heussner, a singer and actress, who had been engaged the preceding years at the Kassel court theatre with Gustav Mahler. Their son Mitja later became a noted pianist, Nikisch later became conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and from 1893 to 1895 director of the Royal Opera in Budapest. In 1895 he succeeded Carl Reinecke as director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, in the same year he became principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, and held both positions until his death. His successor at the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra was his scholar and first violinist Albert Heinig, nikish was also a popular guest conductor with the Vienna Philharmonic and Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, and conducted the Ring Cycle of Richard Wagner at Covent Garden in London. Nikisch also served as director of the Leipzig Conservatory from 1902 and he was a pioneer in several ways. In April 1912 he took the London Symphony Orchestra to the United States and he also made a series of early recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra, some of which display the portamento characteristic of early twentieth century playing. He died in Leipzig in 1922, and was buried there, immediately after his death, the square where he had lived was renamed Nikischplatz, and in 1971 the city created the Arthur Nikisch Prize for young conductors. Reiner said, It was who told me that I should never wave my arms in conducting, and his marvellous way of listening so intently to every phrase he directed. When rehearsing a melody, he sang it to the orchestra with great emotional feeling – and then would say. No conductor that I have heard has ever surpassed his emotional feeling, Arthur Nikisch had a huge impact on Wilhelm Furtwängler. The latter always considered Nikisch as his single model, Nikisch supported Furtwängler at the beginning of his carrier and predicted that he would be his successor. A film survives of Nikisch conducting, after seeing it Herbert von Karajan described how impressed he was by Nikischs use of his eyes instead of hand motions. Ferdinand Pfohl, Arthur Nikisch als Mensch und Künstler, Hermann Seemann Nachfolger, Leipzig, Ferdinand Pfohl, Arthur Nikisch, Sein Leben, seine Kunst, alster, Hamburg 1925 Arthur Nikisch at AllMusic Photos
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World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
20.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
21.
Leo Borchard
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Lew Ljewitsch Leo Borchard was a German-Russian conductor and briefly musical director of the Berlin Philharmonic. Borchard was born in Moscow to German parents, and grew up in Saint Petersburg where he received a musical education. In 1920, after the Russian Revolution, he emigrated to Germany, otto Klemperer engaged him as his assistant at the Kroll Opera in Berlin. He conducted the Berlin Philharmonic for the first time in January 1933, in 1935, he was banned by the Nazi regime as politically unreliable. He continued teaching at his apartment and received his friends, including Boris Blacher, one week later he was appointed musical director of the orchestra by the Soviet official Nikolai Berzarin, replacing Wilhelm Furtwängler, who was in exile in Switzerland. His anti-Nazi credentials and command of the Russian language enabled him to enjoy a relationship with the occupiers. He gave 22 concerts in total as chief conductor of the BPO, Borchard was killed while being driven home after a concert on 23 August 1945. His British driver misinterpreted an American sentrys hand signal to stop, the British driver and Borchards partner Ruth Andreas-Friedrich survived. As a result of this incident, it was decided to mark military checkpoints more prominently so that signals were not required. On 5 and 6 September 1995 Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic marked the anniversary of Borchards death with performances of Mahlers 6th Symphony
22.
Sergiu Celibidache
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Sergiu Celibidache was a Romanian conductor, composer, and teacher. Later in life, he taught at Mainz University in Germany, many of the recordings of his performances were released posthumously. His later career was marred by controversy and accusations of sexism, Celibidache is regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century. Sergiu Celibidache was born on 28 June 1912 in Roman, a town in North East Romania. Early in his youth, he began studying piano and after schooling in Romania, he was sent by his father to Bucharest and then to Paris where he studied music, philosophy. His father had expected him to pursue a career in Romania. He submitted a dissertation on Franco-Flemish composer Josquin des Prez and his work during the Renaissance and he received his degree in 1944. Sergiu Celibidache studied in Berlin and, from 1945 to 1952 and he later worked with radio orchestras in Stockholm, Stuttgart and Paris. He also worked in Britain in the late 1940s and 1950s, due partly to the efforts of the pianist Eileen Joyce and her partner. Joyce said that Celibidache was the greatest conductor she had worked with – he was the only one who got inside my soul. In 1970 he was awarded Denmarks Sonning Award, from 1979 until his death he was music director of the Munich Philharmonic. He regularly taught at Mainz University in Germany and in 1984 taught at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, teaching was a major focus throughout his life and his courses were frequently open to all without fee. Among his notable students are Françoys Bernier, Jordi Mora, Peter Perret, Bernhard Sieberer, Markand Thakar, Konrad von Abel, Nils-Göran Areskoug and he appeared in the film Botschafter der Musik where he conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in a complete performance of Ludwig van Beethovens Egmont overture. Judge Angela Mack ruled that the City of Munich through the orchestra had broken the law concerning the treatment of employees. A detailed description of the case can be found in an article published by her husband. Her audition and controversy is discussed in Malcolm Gladwells book Blink, Celibidache died at the age of 84 on 14 August 1996 at La Neuville-sur-Essonne, near Paris. He was buried in the Cimetière de Neuville sur Essone, in 1965, Celibidache married Ioana Procopie Dimitrescu. They had one son, Sergiu Ioan Celibidache, born 19 June 1968, celibidaches approach to music-making is often described more by what he did not do instead of what he did
23.
Herbert von Karajan
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Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 35 years and he is generally regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, and he was a dominant figure in European classical music from the mid-1950s until his death. Part of the reason for this was the number of recordings he made. By one estimate he was the classical music recording artist of all time. The Karajans were of Greek or Aromanian ancestry and his great-great-grandfather, Georg Karajan, was born in Kozani, in the Ottoman province of Rumelia, leaving for Vienna in 1767, and eventually Chemnitz, Electorate of Saxony. By this line, Karajan was related to Austrian composer of Slovene descent Hugo Wolf, Karajan seems to have known some Slovene. Karajan was born in Salzburg, Austria-Hungary, as Heribert Ritter von Karajan and he was a child prodigy at the piano. From 1916 to 1926, he studied at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Franz Ledwenke, theory with Franz Zauer and he was encouraged to concentrate on conducting by Paumgartner, who detected his exceptional promise in that regard. In 1926 Karajan graduated from the conservatory and continued his studies at the Vienna Academy, studying piano with Josef Hofmann and conducting with Alexander Wunderer and Franz Schalk. In 1929, he conducted Salome at the Festspielhaus in Salzburg and his senior colleague in Ulm was Otto Schulmann. After Schulmann was forced to leave Germany in 1933, Karajan became first Kapellmeister, in 1933 Karajan made his conducting debut at the Salzburg Festival with the Walpurgisnacht Scene in Max Reinhardts production of Faust. It was also in 1933 that von Karajan became a member of the Nazi party, in Salzburg in 1934, Karajan led the Vienna Philharmonic for the first time, and from 1934 to 1941, he was engaged to conduct operatic and symphony-orchestra concerts at the Theater Aachen. In 1938 Karajan made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Berlin State Opera and he then enjoyed a major success at the State Opera with Tristan und Isolde. His performance was hailed by a Berlin critic as Das Wunder Karajan, receiving a contract with Deutsche Grammophon that same year, Karajan made the first of numerous recordings, conducting the Staatskapelle Berlin in the overture to The Magic Flute. On 26 July 1938, he married operetta singer Elmy Holgerloef, on 22 October 1942, at the height of the Second World War, Karajan married Anna Maria Anita Sauest, born Gütermann. She was the daughter of a manufacturer of yarn for sewing machines. Having had a Jewish grandfather, she was considered a Vierteljüdin, by 1944, Karajan was, according to his own account, losing favour with the Nazi leadership, but he still conducted concerts in wartime Berlin on 18 February 1945. A short time later, in the stages of the war, he and Anita fled Germany for Milan
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Carlos Kleiber
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Carlos Kleiber was a German-born Austrian conductor who is widely regarded as being among the greatest conductors of the 20th century. Kleiber was born as Karl Ludwig Bonifacius Kleiber in Berlin, the son of the eminent Austrian conductor Erich Kleiber and American Ruth Goodrich, from Waterloo, in 1940, the Kleiber family emigrated to Buenos Aires and Karl was renamed Carlos. As a youth, he had an English governess and grew up in English boarding schools and he also composed, sang, and played piano and timpani. While his father noticed his sons talents, he nevertheless dissuaded Carlos from pursuing a musical career, What a pity the boy is musically talented. Carlos first studied chemistry in Zurich, but soon decided to dedicate himself to music and he was repetiteur at the Gärtnerplatz Theatre in Munich in 1952, and made his conducting debut with the operetta Gasparone at Potsdam theatre in 1954. From 1958 to 1964 he was Kapellmeister at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf and Duisburg, between 1966 and 1973 he was first Kapellmeister in Stuttgart, his last permanent post. During the following years, he conducted at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. During his freelance career, Kleiber restricted his appearances to a select number of occasions. He made his British debut in 1966 with a performance at the Edinburgh Festival of Alban Bergs opera Wozzeck, Kleibers repertoire at the Royal Opera House included Der Rosenkavalier, Elektra, La bohème and Otello. He made his Bayreuth debut in 1974 conducting Richard Wagners Tristan und Isolde and his American debut came in 1978 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where he again conducted in 1983, his only US orchestra appearances. His New York Metropolitan Opera debut was in 1988, conducting Giacomo Puccinis La bohème with Luciano Pavarotti, in 1989, following Herbert von Karajans resignation from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Kleiber was offered, and declined, the opportunity to succeed him as music director. Kleiber returned to the Met in 1989 to conduct La traviata, Kleiber kept out of the public eye, and apparently gave an interview only once in his lifetime, contrary to reports that he never gave one at all. After he resigned from the Bavarian State Opera, his appearances became less frequent, other notable recordings include Johannes Brahms Symphony No. His last studio recording was Richard Wagners Tristan und Isolde with the Staatskapelle Dresden, recording sessions began in 1980 but Kleiber left before they were completed. However, as a complete performance had been set down, Deutsche Grammophon went ahead and released it. Kleiber retired from life in the early 1990s, occasionally reappearing for private or benefit concerts. For one such event in Ingolstadt, part of his payment consisted of a new Audi made to his specifications and his performances were meticulously rehearsed, but often seemed spontaneous and inspired. In the opinion of many of his colleagues and audiences, he was an eccentric genius whom some placed among the greatest conductors of all time despite the paucity of his appearances
25.
Claudio Abbado
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Claudio Abbado, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian conductor. The Abbado family for several generations enjoyed both wealth and respect, Abbados great-grandfather squandered the family fortune and reputation by gambling. His son, Abbados grandfather, became a professor at the University of Turin and his grandfather re-established the familys reputation and also showed talent as an amateur musician. Born in Milan, Italy, Claudio Abbado was the son of violinist and composer Michelangelo Abbado, and his father, a professional violinist and a professor at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory, was his first piano teacher. His mother also was an adept pianist, Marcello Abbado later became a concert pianist and teacher at the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro. His sister also exhibited talent in music, but did not pursue a career after her marriage. His other brother became a successful architect. Abbados childhood encompassed the Nazi occupation of Milan, during that time, Abbados mother spent time in prison for harbouring a Jewish child. This period solidified his anti-fascist political sentiments and he later recalled that Toscaninis periods of abusive behaviour to musicians in rehearsal repelled him. Other conductors who influenced him as a child were Victor de Sabata and it was not until hearing Antonio Guarnieris conducting of Claude Debussys Nocturnes that Abbado resolved to become a conductor himself. At age 15, he met Leonard Bernstein, who commented, Abbado studied piano, composition, and conducting at the Milan Conservatory, and graduated with a degree in piano in 1955. The following year, he studied conducting with Hans Swarowsky at the Vienna Academy of Music, Abbado and Mehta both joined the Academy chorus to be able to watch such conductors as Bruno Walter and Herbert von Karajan in rehearsal. He also spent time at the Chigiana Academy in Siena, in 1958, Abbado made his conducting debut in Trieste. That summer, he won the international Serge Koussevitzky Competition for conductors at the Tanglewood Music Festival, in 1959, he conducted his first opera, The Love for Three Oranges, in Trieste. He made his La Scala conducting debut in 1960, in 1963, he won the Dimitri Mitropoulos Prize for conductors, which allowed him to work for five months with the New York Philharmonic as an assistant conductor to Bernstein. Abbado made his New York Philharmonic professional conducting debut on 7 April 1963, a 1965 appearance at the RIAS Festival in Berlin led to an invitation from Herbert von Karajan to the Salzburg Festival the following year to work with the Vienna Philharmonic. In 1965, Abbado made his British debut with the Hallé Orchestra, Abbado taught chamber music for 3 years during the early 1960s in Parma. His early advocacy of music included conducting the world premiere of Giacomo Manzonis Atomtod, on 25 March 1965
26.
Berlin Wall
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The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Its demolition officially began on 13 June 1990 and was completed in 1992, the barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area that contained anti-vehicle trenches, fakir beds and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the Wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the will of the people in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that had marked East Germany, the West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the Wall of Shame—a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt—while condemning the Walls restriction on freedom of movement. Between 1961 and 1989, the Wall prevented almost all such emigration, during this period, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the Wall, with an estimated death toll ranging from 136 to more than 200 in and around Berlin. After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany, crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the Wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, euphoric people and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the Wall, contrary to popular belief the Walls actual demolition did not begin until the summer of 1990 and was not completed until 1992. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, the capital of Berlin, as the seat of the Allied Control Council, was similarly subdivided into four sectors despite the citys location, which was fully within the Soviet zone. Within two years, political divisions increased between the Soviets and the occupying powers. Property and industry was nationalized in the East German zone, if statements or decisions deviated from the described line, reprimands and punishment would ensue, such as imprisonment, torture and even death. Indoctrination of Marxism-Leninism became a part of school curricula, sending professors. The East Germans created a political police apparatus that kept the population under close surveillance. In 1948, following disagreements regarding reconstruction and a new German currency, Stalin instituted the Berlin Blockade, preventing food, materials and supplies from arriving in West Berlin. The United States, Britain, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several countries began a massive airlift, supplying West Berlin with food. The Soviets mounted a public campaign against the Western policy change. Communists attempted to disrupt the elections of 1948, preceding large losses therein, in May 1949, Stalin lifted the blockade, permitting the resumption of Western shipments to Berlin. The German Democratic Republic was declared on 7 October 1949, by a secret treaty, the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs accorded the East German state administrative authority, but not autonomy. The Soviets permeated East German administrative, military and secret police structures and had full control, East Germany differed from West Germany, which developed into a Western capitalist country with a social market economy and a democratic parliamentary government
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Classical period (music)
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The dates of the Classical period in Western music are generally accepted as being between about the year 1730 and the year 1820. This article is about the period in most of the 18th century to the early 19th century, though overlapping with the Baroque. The Classical period falls between the Baroque and the Romantic periods, Classical music has a lighter, clearer texture than Baroque music and is less complex. It is mainly homophonic, using a melody line over a subordinate chordal accompaniment. It also makes use of style galant which emphasized light elegance in place of the Baroques dignified seriousness, variety and contrast within a piece became more pronounced than before and the orchestra increased in size, range, and power. The harpsichord was replaced as the keyboard instrument by the piano. Instrumental music was considered important by Classical period composers, vocal music, such as songs for a singer and piano, choral works, and opera were also important during this period. Ludwig van Beethoven is regarded either as a Romantic composer or a Classical period composer who was part of the transition to the Romantic era, Franz Schubert is also a transitional figure, as were Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Luigi Cherubini, and Carl Maria von Weber. The period is referred to as the era of Viennese Classic or Classicism, since Gluck, Mozart, Haydn, Salieri. In the middle of the 18th century, Europe began to move toward a new style in architecture, literature, and this style sought to emulate the ideals of Classical antiquity, especially those of Classical Greece. Classical music was still linked to aristocratic Court culture and supported by absolute monarchies. Classical music used formality and emphasis on order and hierarchy, in contrast with the richly layered music of the Baroque era, Classical music moved towards simplicity rather than complexity. In addition, the size of orchestras began to increase. The remarkable development of ideas in natural philosophy had already established itself in the public consciousness, in particular, Newtons physics was taken as a paradigm, structures should be well-founded in axioms and be both well-articulated and orderly. This move meant that chords became a more prevalent feature of music. As a result, the structure of a piece of music became more audible. The new style was encouraged by changes in the economic order. As the 18th century progressed, the nobility became the patrons of instrumental music, while public taste increasingly preferred lighter
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20th-century classical music
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This era was without a dominant style and composers have created highly diverse kinds of music. Modernism, impressionism, post-romanticism, neoclassicism, expressionism, and, later, atonality, serialism, musique concrète and electronic music were all developed during this period. Jazz was an important influence on composers in this period. At the turn of the century, music was characteristically late Romantic in style, composers such as Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss and Jean Sibelius were pushing the bounds of Post-Romantic Symphonic writing. At the same time, the Impressionist movement, spearheaded by Claude Debussy, was being developed in France, maurice Ravels music, also often labelled as impressionist, explores music in many styles not always related to it. Many composers reacted to the Post-Romantic and Impressionist styles and moved in different directions. From this sprang an unprecedented linguistic plurality of styles, techniques, in Vienna, Arnold Schoenberg developed atonality, out of the expressionism that arose in the early part of the 20th century. He later developed the technique which was developed further by his disciples Alban Berg and Anton Webern. Stravinsky explored twelve-tone technique, too, as did many other composers, indeed, even Scott Bradley used the technique in his scores for the Tom, after the First World War, many composers started returning to the past for inspiration and wrote works that draw elements from it. This type of music thus became labelled neoclassicism, igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Ravel and Paul Hindemith all produced neoclassical works. Italian composers such as Francesco Balilla Pratella and Luigi Russolo developed musical Futurism and this style often tried to recreate everyday sounds and place them in a Futurist context. The Machine Music of George Antheil and Alexander Mosolov developed out of this, in the 1940s and 50s composers, notably Pierre Schaeffer, started to explore the application of technology to music in musique concrète. The term electroacoustic music was coined to include all forms of music involving magnetic tape, computers, synthesizers, multimedia. Live electronic music uses live electronic sounds within a performance, Cages Cartridge Music being an early example, spectral music is a further development of electroacoustic music that uses analyses of sound spectra to create music. Cage, Berio, Boulez, Milton Babbitt, Luigi Nono, from the early 1950s onwards, Cage introduced elements of chance into his music. Process music explores a particular process which is laid bare in the work. The term experimental music was coined by Cage to describe works that produce unpredictable results, important cultural trends often informed music of this period, romantic, modernist, neoclassical, postmodernist or otherwise. Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev were particularly drawn to primitivism in their careers, as explored in works such as The Rite of Spring
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Nazi Germany
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Nazi Germany is the common English name for the period in German history from 1933 to 1945, when Germany was governed by a dictatorship under the control of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Under Hitlers rule, Germany was transformed into a fascist state in which the Nazi Party took totalitarian control over all aspects of life. The official name of the state was Deutsches Reich from 1933 to 1943, the period is also known under the names the Third Reich and the National Socialist Period. The Nazi regime came to an end after the Allied Powers defeated Germany in May 1945, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany by the President of the Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg on 30 January 1933. The Nazi Party then began to eliminate all opposition and consolidate its power. Hindenburg died on 2 August 1934, and Hitler became dictator of Germany by merging the powers and offices of the Chancellery, a national referendum held 19 August 1934 confirmed Hitler as sole Führer of Germany. All power was centralised in Hitlers person, and his word became above all laws, the government was not a coordinated, co-operating body, but a collection of factions struggling for power and Hitlers favour. In the midst of the Great Depression, the Nazis restored economic stability and ended mass unemployment using heavy military spending, extensive public works were undertaken, including the construction of Autobahnen. The return to economic stability boosted the regimes popularity, racism, especially antisemitism, was a central feature of the regime. The Germanic peoples were considered by the Nazis to be the purest branch of the Aryan race, millions of Jews and other peoples deemed undesirable by the state were murdered in the Holocaust. Opposition to Hitlers rule was ruthlessly suppressed, members of the liberal, socialist, and communist opposition were killed, imprisoned, or exiled. The Christian churches were also oppressed, with many leaders imprisoned, education focused on racial biology, population policy, and fitness for military service. Career and educational opportunities for women were curtailed, recreation and tourism were organised via the Strength Through Joy program, and the 1936 Summer Olympics showcased the Third Reich on the international stage. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels made effective use of film, mass rallies, the government controlled artistic expression, promoting specific art forms and banning or discouraging others. Beginning in the late 1930s, Nazi Germany made increasingly aggressive territorial demands and it seized Austria and Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1939. Hitler made a pact with Joseph Stalin and invaded Poland in September 1939. In alliance with Italy and smaller Axis powers, Germany conquered most of Europe by 1940, reichskommissariats took control of conquered areas, and a German administration was established in what was left of Poland. Jews and others deemed undesirable were imprisoned, murdered in Nazi concentration camps and extermination camps, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, the tide gradually turned against the Nazis, who suffered major military defeats in 1943
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UNICEF
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The United Nations Childrens Fund is a United Nations programme headquartered in New York City that provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in developing countries. It is a member of the United Nations Development Group, the Polish physician Ludwik Rajchman is widely regarded as the founder of UNICEF and served as its first chairman from 1946. On Rajchmans suggestion, the American Maurice Pate was appointed its first executive director, in 1950, UNICEFs mandate was extended to address the long-term needs of children and women in developing countries everywhere. UNICEF relies on contributions from governments and private donors, UNICEFs total income for 2008 was US$3,372,540,239, governments contribute two-thirds of the organizations resources. Private groups and some six million individuals contribute the rest through national committees and it is estimated that 92 per cent of UNICEF revenue is distributed to programme services. UNICEFs programmes emphasize developing community-level services to promote the health and well-being of children, UNICEF was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1965 and the Prince of Asturias Award of Concord in 2006. Most of UNICEFs work is in the field, with staff in over 190 countries and territories, more than 200 country offices carry out UNICEFs mission through programmes developed with host governments. Seven regional offices provide technical assistance to country offices as needed, a 36-member executive board establishes policies, approves programmes and oversees administrative and financial plans. The executive board is made up of government representatives who are elected by the United Nations Economic and Social Council, there are national committees in 34 countries, each established as an independent local non-governmental organization. The national committees raise funds from the private sector, UNICEF is funded entirely by voluntary contributions, and the National Committees collectively raise around one-third of UNICEFs annual income. This comes through contributions from corporations, civil society organizations around six million individual donors worldwide, UNICEF is present in 191 countries and territories around the world, but not involved in nine others. Many people in developed countries first hear about UNICEFs work through the activities of one of the 36 National Committees for UNICEF, the US Fund for UNICEF is the oldest of the national committees, founded in 1947. On 19 April 2007, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg was appointed UNICEF Eminent Advocate for Children, in which role she has visited Brazil, China, and Burundi. In 2009, the British retailer Tesco used Change for Good as advertising and they went on to call on the public who have children’s welfare at heart, to consider carefully who they support when making consumer choices. As part of the agreement, FC Barcelona will wear the UNICEF logo on the front of their uniform and this was the first time a football club sponsored an organization rather than the other way around. It was also the first time in FC Barcelonas history that they have had another organizations name across the front of their uniform, in January 2007 UNICEF struck a partnership with Canadas national tent pegging team. The team was officially re-flagged as UNICEF Team Canada, its riders wear UNICEFs logo in competition, the Swedish club Hammarby IF followed the Spanish and Canadian lead on 14 April 2007, also raising funds for UNICEF and displaying the UNICEF name on their sportswear. The Danish football club Brøndby IF participated in an arrangement from 2008 to 2013
31.
Berliner Philharmonie
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The Berliner Philharmonie is a concert hall in Berlin, Germany. Home to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the building is acclaimed for both its acoustics and its architecture and its cross street and postal address is Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße, named for the orchestras longest-serving principal conductor. The neighborhood, often dubbed the Kulturforum, can be reached on foot from the Potsdamer Platz station. Actually a two-venue facility with connecting lobby, the Philharmonie comprises a Großer Saal of 2,440 seats for concerts and a chamber-music hall. Though conceived together, the venue was added only in the 1980s. Hans Scharoun designed the hall, which was constructed over the years 1960–1963 and it was built to replace the old Philharmonie, destroyed by British bombers on 30 January 1944, the eleventh anniversary of Hitler becoming Chancellor. The hall is a building, asymmetrical and tentlike, with the main concert hall in the shape of a pentagon. The seating offers excellent positions from which to view the stage through the increasing height of the seat rows. The stage is at the center of the hall, with seats surrounding it on all sides, the Philharmonie is highly regarded for the quality of its acoustics. Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck and his quartet recorded three live performances at the hall, Dave Brubeck in Berlin, Live at the Berlin Philharmonie, miles Daviss 1969 live performance at the hall has also been released on DVD. On 20 May 2008 a fire out at the hall. A quarter of the roof suffered damage as firefighters cut openings to reach the flames beneath the roof. The hall interior sustained water damage but was otherwise generally unharmed, the cause of the fire was attributed to welding work, and no serious damage was caused either to the structure or interior of the building. Performances resumed, as scheduled, on 1 June 2008 with a concert by the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, the main organ was built by Karl Schuke, Berlin, in 1965, and renovated in 1992 and 2012. It has four manuals and 72 stops, the pipes of the choir organ and the Tuba 16 and Tuba 8 stops are not assigned to any group and can be played from all four manuals and the pedals. List of concert halls Kulturforum on Potsdamer Platz Berliner Philharmonie, 360° panorama Virtual-tour through the hall, with stop
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Concert hall
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A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage which serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. In the 2010s, popular music such as music and traditional music such as folk music are also performed in these venues. Many concert halls exist as one of several halls or performance spaces within a performing arts center. In many towns, the hall is combined with a convention center. Concert halls typically also contain orchestral rehearsal rooms, many larger cities have both public and private concert halls. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, the list is organised alphabetically by geo-political region or continent and then by country within each region. See also Broadway Theatre for a listing of the theatres that support Broadway shows
33.
Kreuzberg
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Kreuzberg, a part of the combined Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte since 2001, is one of the best-known areas of Berlin. The borough is known for its large percentage of immigrants and descendants of immigrants. As of 2006,31. 6% of Kreuzbergs inhabitants did not have German citizenship, the counterculture tradition of Kreuzberg led to a plurality of votes for the Green Party, which is unique among all Berlin boroughs. The local MP Hans-Christian Ströbele is the only Green politician directly elected to the federal Bundestag parliament, Kreuzberg is bounded by the river Spree in the east. The Landwehrkanal flows through Kreuzberg from east to west, with the Paul-Lincke-Ufer running alongside it, other characteristics are the old U-Bahn line of the present-day U1, the Görlitzer Park in SO36 and the Viktoriapark on the slope of the Kreuzberg hill in SW61. Kreuzberg is divided into 2 zones, Östliches Kreuzberg, Westliches Kreuzberg, in contrast to many other areas of Berlin, which were villages before their integration into Berlin, Kreuzberg has a rather short history. It was formed on 1 October 1920 by the Greater Berlin Act providing for the incorporation of suburbs, on 27 September 1921 the borough assembly of Hallesches Tor decided to rename the borough after the homonymous hill. Kreuzberg, literally meaning cross hill, is the point of highest elevation in the Kreuzberg locality, the hill is traditionally a place for weekend trips. It received its name from the 1821 Prussian National Monument for the Liberation Wars by Karl Friedrich Schinkel within the Viktoriapark, except for its northernmost part, the quarter Friedrichstadt, todays Kreuzberg was a very rural place until well into the 19th century. This changed when, in the 1860s, industrialization caused Berlin to grow rapidly and this called for extensive housing – much of which was built exploiting the dire needs of the poor, with widespread land speculation. Many of Kreuzbergs buildings originate from that time and they were built on the streets laid out in the Hobrecht-Plan in an area that came to be known architecturally as the Wilhelmine Ring. Far into the 20th century, Kreuzberg was the most populous of Berlins boroughs even in numbers, with more than 400,000 people, although it was. As a result, with more than 60,000 people per square kilometer, in addition to housing, Kreuzberg was also one center of Berlins industry. Both of these quarters were almost entirely destroyed by air raids during World War II. In remembrance of the old tradition, the Axel Springer press company erected its German headquarters at Kochstraße again, after World War II, Kreuzbergs housing rents were regulated by law which made investments unattractive. As a result, housing was of low quality, but cheap, starting in the late 1960s, increasing numbers of students, artists, and immigrants began moving to Kreuzberg. Enclosed by the Berlin Wall on three sides, the area famous for its alternative lifestyle and its squatters, especially the SO36 part of Kreuzberg. Starting in 1987, there have been violent riots in SO36 on Labour day, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Kreuzberg suddenly found itself in the middle of the city again
34.
Ice rink
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An ice rink is a frozen body of water and/or hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. There are also synthetic ice rinks where skating surfaces are made out of plastics, Rink, a Scottish word meaning course, was used as the name of a place where curling was played. The name has retained for the construction of ice areas for other sports. Early attempts at the construction of ice rinks were first made in the rink mania of 1841–44. As the technology for the maintenance of natural ice did not exist, the area of artificial ice is extremely convenient for such as may be desirous of engaging in the graceful and manly pastime of skating. The worlds first mechanically frozen ice rink was the Glaciarium, opened by John Gamgee in a tent in a building just off the Kings Road in Chelsea. In March, it moved to a permanent venue at 379 Kings Road, the rink was based on a concrete surface, with layers of earth, cow hair and timber planks. Atop these were laid oval copper pipes carrying a solution of glycerine with ether, nitrogen peroxide, the pipes were covered by water and the solution was pumped through, freezing the water into ice. Gamgee had discovered the process while attempting to develop a method to freeze meat for import from Australia and New Zealand, Gamgee operated the rink on a membership-only basis and attempted to attract a wealthy clientele, experienced in open-air ice skating during winters in the Alps. He installed an orchestra gallery, which could also be used by spectators, the Southport Glaciarium opened in 1879, using Gamgees method. In Germany, the first ice skating rink opened in 1882 in Frankfurt during a patent exhibition and it covered 520m² and operated for two months, the refrigeration system was designed by Linde. Rinks can also be made in cold climates by enclosing an area of ground, filling it with water. Snow may even be packed to use as a containment material, the rink is prepared by lowering the canals water level and letting the canal water freeze. The rink is then resurfaced nightly by cleaning the ice of snow, the longest ice skating trail can be found in Invermere, British Columbia, Canada, on Lake Windermere Whiteway. The naturally frozen trail measures 29.98 kilometres, in any climate, an arena ice surface can be installed in a properly built space. This consists of a bed of sand or occasionally a slab of concrete, the pipes carry a chilled fluid which can lower the temperature of the slab so that water placed atop will freeze. This method is known as ice to differentiate from ice rinks made by simply freezing water in a cold climate, indoors or outdoors. A more proper term is mechanically frozen ice
35.
Franz Heinrich Schwechten
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Franz Heinrich Schwechten was one of the most famous German architects of his time, and contributed to the development of historicist architecture. Schwechten was born in Cologne, the son of a court judge. He attended Gymnasium, taking his Abitur in 1860, and went on to work as an apprentice of master builder Julius Carl Raschdorff, in 1861, Schwechten enrolled in the Bauakademie in Berlin, where he studied under Karl Bötticher and Friedrich Adler. When he was 28, Schwechten received an award for the design of a Prussian Parliament building from the Berlin Architects Union and he began his career as chief architect of the Berlin-Anhalt Railway Company. His first major work was the Berlin Anhalter Bahnhof train station terminal, among his works were the designs of Tyszkiewicz Palace in Palanga and the Imperial Castle in Poznań. One of the most notable of Schwechtens designs was the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, with its 113-metre-high tower, Schwechten became a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts in 1885, and served as its president from 1915 to 1918. In 1904 he was honored with the title of Geheimer Baurat and he served as a lecturer at the Royal Polytechnic University in Charlottenburg. Schwechten died in Berlin and was buried in Schöneberg
36.
Berlin State Opera
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The Berlin State Opera is a German opera company based in Berlin. Its permanent home is the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, commonly referred to as Lindenoper, in the central Mitte district, originally the Hofoper from 1742, it was named Königliches Opernhaus in 1844, and Staatsoper Unter den Linden in 1918. From 1949 to 1990 it housed the opera of East Germany. Since 2004, the State Opera company belongs to the Berlin Opera Foundation, like the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Berlin State Ballet, king Frederick II of Prussia shortly after his accession to the throne commissioned the original building on the site. Construction work began in July 1741 with what was designed by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff to be the first part of a Forum Fredericianum on present-day Bebelplatz. Although not entirely completed, the Court Opera was inaugurated with a performance of Carl Heinrich Grauns Cesare e Cleopatra on December 7,1742. This event marked the beginning of the successful, 250-year co-operation between the Staatsoper and the Staatskapelle Berlin, the orchestra, whose roots trace back to the 16th century. In 1821, the Berlin Opera—hosted at the Schauspielhaus Berlin—gave the premiere of Webers Der Freischütz, in 1842, Wilhelm Taubert instituted the tradition of regular symphonic concerts. In the same year, Giacomo Meyerbeer succeeded Gaspare Spontini as General Music Director, Felix Mendelssohn also conducted symphonic concerts for a year. On August 18,1843 the Linden Opera was destroyed by fire, in 1849, Otto Nicolais Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor was premiered at the Royal Opera House, conducted by the composer himself. At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century and they included Felix von Weingartner, Karl Muck, Richard Strauss, and Leo Blech. After the collapse of the German Empire in 1918, the Opera was renamed Staatsoper unter den Linden, in the 1920s, Kurt Adler, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Erich Kleiber, Otto Klemperer, Alexander von Zemlinsky, Bruno Walter occupied the conductors post. In 1925, Alban Bergs Wozzeck, was given its premiere in a production conducted by Erich Kleiber in the composers presence, after having undergone an extensive renovation, the Linden Opera reopened on 28 April 1928 with a new production of Die Zauberflöte. The cast included Delia Reinhardt, Richard Tauber, Friedrich Schorr and Leo Schützendorf, in the same year, the famous Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin and Serge Diaghilevs Ballets Russes with conductor Ernest Ansermet were guest performers. In 1930 Erich Kleiber conducted the premiere of Darius Milhauds Christophe Colomb, however, in 1934, when symphonic pieces from Alban Bergs Lulu were performed by Kleiber, the National Socialists provoked a scandal and the conductor was forced into exile. After Hitlers Nazi takeover, members of Jewish origin were dismissed from the ensemble, many German musicians associated with the opera went into exile, including the conductors Kurt Adler, Otto Klemperer and Fritz Busch. During the Third Reich, Robert Heger, Herbert von Karajan,1938, Werner Egk conducted the first night of his opera Peer Gynt on November 24. Herbert von Karajan´s interpretation of Mozart´s Die Zauberflöte was performed on December 18, Karajan continued as Generalmusikdirektor, the principal musical director of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden between 1941 and 1945
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Unter den Linden
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Unter den Linden is a boulevard in the central Mitte district of Berlin, the capital of Germany. Running from the City Palace to Brandenburg Gate, it is named after the trees that line the grassed pedestrian mall on the median. The avenue links numerous Berlin sights and landmarks, Unter den Linden runs east–west from the site of the Stadtschloss royal palace at the Lustgarten park, where the demolished Palace of the Republic once stood, to Pariser Platz and Brandenburg Gate. Eastward the boulevard crosses the Spree river at Berlin Cathedral and continues as Karl-Liebknecht-Straße, the western continuation behind Brandenburg Gate is Straße des 17. Major north–south streets crossing Unter den Linden are Friedrichstraße and Wilhelmstrasse and it was replaced by a boulevard of linden trees planted in 1647, extending from the city palace to the gates of the city, by order of the Great Elector Frederick William. By the 19th century, as Berlin grew and expanded to the west, Unter den Linden became the best-known, in 1851 the famous equestrian statue of King Frederick II of Prussia was erected on the centre strip, designed by Christian Daniel Rauch. Johann Strauss III wrote the waltz „Unter den Linden“ in 1900, the present-day linden were replanted in the 1950s. Since 1937, the numbering of the properties on the street has started at the Schlossbrücke, the reconstructed Alte Kommandantur is at No. 1, standing opposite the Zeughaus arsenal, the oldest building on Unter den Linden, buildings along the street include the Crown Princes Palace, at No. 3, opposite the Neue Wache war memorial, No,4, Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s masterpiece built in 1817. Further along, on Bebelplatz, the Berlin State Opera, No,7, colloquially called Lindenoper, St. Hedwigs Cathedral and the Altes Palais, No. 9, the residence of Emperor Wilhelm I, next on the north side are the main building of the Humboldt University. 6, and House I of the Berlin State Library, No.8, at the western end are the Russian Embassy (former Soviet Embassy, Nos. 63-65, the Hungarian Embassy, No. 76, standing at the junction with Wilhelmstrasse, and finally the Hotel Adlon,77, at the corner of Pariser Platz, which has been completely rebuilt on the site of the pre-war hotel. Well-known statues of Alexander and Wilhelm von Humboldt in front of the university as well as of the Prussian generals Scharnhorst and Bülow, also adorn the street. A street sign carrying the name Unter den Linden dating from before the 1930s was taken away by British forces and can now be seen at the Imperial War Museum, London. Unter den Linden - Interactive 360° Panorama Webcam, Live-View of the street Unter den Linden with Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany
38.
Berlin University of the Arts
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The Universität der Künste Berlin, UdK, situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is an art and design school, and one of the four research universities in the city. The university is known for being one of the biggest and most diversified universities of the arts world-wide and it has four colleges specialising in fine arts, architecture, media and design, music and the performing arts with around 3,500 students. Thus the UdK is one of three universities in Germany to unite the faculties of art and music in one institution. The teaching offered at the four colleges encompasses the full spectrum of the arts, having the right to confer doctorates and post-doctoral qualifications, Berlin University of the Arts is also one of Germany’s few art colleges with full university status. Almost all the courses at Berlin University of the Arts are part of a centuries-old tradition. In the same way, the University of the Arts is publicly recognized for being on the edge in the areas of Visual Arts, Fashion Design, Industrial Design. Its roots institutions date back to the foundation of Academie der Mal-, Bild- und Baukunst, in 1975, both art schools merged under the name Hochschule der Künste Berlin, HdK. The organization received the title of a university on 1 November 2001, the exchange program with UDK is a direct enrollment program offered during the fall, spring and academic year to students interested in the arts and with four semesters of German language study. Each academic year the school receives 100 exchange students on the basis of institutional agreements, students participating in the exchange are required to subsidize their own accommodations with little help from the school. Annually, the university opens its doors to the public in its four colleges, course “Art in Context” at the Berlin University of the Arts, Study Art and Music in Berlin
39.
Dahlem (Berlin)
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Dahlem is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in southwestern Berlin. Until Berlins 2001 administrative reform it was a part of the borough of Zehlendorf. Dahlem is one of the most affluent parts of the city, Dahlem is home to the renowned Freie Universität Berlin with its Philological Library by Norman Foster as an important local landmark. Several other research institutions, the Berlin Botanical Garden and many museums are located there, although Dahlem has a reputation of an idyllic and quiet area, it is very busy with students arriving by U-Bahn on weekdays. The western part of the locality includes parts of the Grunewald forest, the first written account of Dahlem dates to the year 1275. The history of the village is connected to the Dahlem Demesne first mentioned in 1450 and its estates were sold to the state of Prussia in 1841 and developed by dividing it into lots for building villas and mansions. The Demesne buildings today house a farm and an agricultural open-air museum. In 1920 the village was amalgamated into Greater Berlin, from 1931 on Martin Niemöller, a leader of the Confessing Church, was pastor of the United Protestant Sankt-Annen-Kirche until he was arrested by the Nazis in 1937. During the Cold War Dahlem belonged to the American Sector of West Berlin, from 1945 to 1991 the seat of the Allied Kommandatura of Berlin was in Dahlem on Kaiserswerther Straße. Today it serves as the office for the president of the local university, until 1994, the headquarters of the United States Army Berlin command and the Berlin Brigade were located on Clayallee street. Parts of the building are used by the Embassy of the United States in Berlin. The former library and Outpost theater across the street today house the Allied Museum, the newly founded university should uphold the traditional values of academic freedom and the educational ideal proposed by Wilhelm von Humboldt. Rudi Dutschke, spokesman of the German student movement in the 1960s, is buried at the cemetery of the Sankt-Annen-Kirche, stations in Dahlem include Breitenbachplatz, Podbielskiallee, Dahlem-Dorf, Thielplatz and Oskar-Helene-Heim. Berlin-Verlag, ISBN 3-87061-155-3 Media related to Dahlem at Wikimedia Commons
40.
Hans Scharoun
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Bernhard Hans Henry Scharoun was a German architect best known for designing the Berlin Philharmonic concert hall and the Schminke House in Löbau, Saxony. He was an important exponent of organic and expressionist architecture, Scharoun was born in Bremen, German Empire. After passing his Abitur in Bremerhaven in 1912, Scharoun studied architecture at the Technical University of Berlin until 1914 and he had already shown an interest in architecture during his school years. At the age of 16 he drafted his first designs, in 1914 he volunteered to serve in the First World War. Paul Kruchen, his mentor from his time in Berlin, had asked him to assist in a program for East Prussia. In 1919, after the war, Scharoun assumed responsibility for its office as an architect in Breslau. There and in Insterburg, he realised numerous projects and organised art exhibitions, such as the first exhibition of the expressionist group of artists, Die Brücke and he received a professorship at the Staatliche Akademie für Kunst und Kunstgewerbe Breslau where he taught until its closure in 1932. In 1919 he had joined Bruno Tauts expressionist architects group the Glass Chain, in 1926 he entered the architects association Der Ring. In 1927 Scharoun built a house in the Stuttgart Weissenhof Estate and he had responsibility at the end of the twenties for the development plan of a large housing estate, Siemensstadt, in Berlin. The organisation of social living space played a central role, during the Nazi era he remained in Germany, whilst many of his friends and colleagues from the Glass Chain or Der Ring went abroad. In this time he built a few family houses, one of which is the remarkable Schminke house in the city of Löbau in Saxony. Subsequent houses had to adapt outwardly to politically determined construction specifications, during the war he was busy with reconstruction after bomb damage. He recorded his ideas and visions secretly in numerous watercolors. With these imaginary architectures he prepared mentally for a time after the Nazis, after the end of the Second World War he was appointed by the Allies to the city building council and named director of the Abteilung Bau- und Wohnungswesen des Magistrats. In an exhibition in the ruins of the Berliner Stadtschloss titled Berlin plant — Erster Bericht. Immediately he found himself in a political no-mans land as the division of the city was becoming apparent, in 1946 he became a professor at the faculty for architecture at the Technical University of Berlin, with a teaching post at the Lehrstuhl und Institut für Städtebau. Common to all buildings is a new kind of entrance to an extremely imaginative. The school is planned like a small, child-friendly city, the Philharmonic Concert Hall, internationally recognised as one of the most successful buildings of its kind, is considered as Scharouns best work
41.
Ludwig van Beethoven
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Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he one of the most famous. His best-known compositions include 9 symphonies,5 piano concertos,1 violin concerto,32 piano sonatas,16 string quartets, his great Mass the Missa solemnis, and one opera, Fidelio. At the age of 21 he moved to Vienna, where he began studying composition with Joseph Haydn and he lived in Vienna until his death. By his late 20s his hearing began to deteriorate, and by the last decade of his life he was almost completely deaf. In 1811 he gave up conducting and performing in public but continued to compose, many of his most admired works come from these last 15 years of his life. Beethoven was the grandson of Ludwig van Beethoven, a musician from the town of Mechelen in the Duchy of Brabant in the Flemish region of what is now Belgium, who at the age of twenty moved to Bonn. Ludwig was employed as a singer at the court of the Elector of Cologne, eventually rising to become, in 1761. The portrait he commissioned of himself towards the end of his life remained proudly displayed in his grandsons rooms as a talisman of his musical heritage. Ludwig had one son, Johann, who worked as a tenor in the musical establishment and gave keyboard. Johann married Maria Magdalena Keverich in 1767, she was the daughter of Johann Heinrich Keverich, Beethoven was born of this marriage in Bonn. There is no record of the date of his birth, however. Of the seven children born to Johann van Beethoven, only Ludwig, the second-born, caspar Anton Carl was born on 8 April 1774, and Nikolaus Johann, the youngest, was born on 2 October 1776. Beethovens first music teacher was his father and he later had other local teachers, the court organist Gilles van den Eeden, Tobias Friedrich Pfeiffer, and Franz Rovantini. Beethovens musical talent was obvious at a young age, some time after 1779, Beethoven began his studies with his most important teacher in Bonn, Christian Gottlob Neefe, who was appointed the Courts Organist in that year. Neefe taught Beethoven composition, and by March 1783 had helped him write his first published composition, Beethoven soon began working with Neefe as assistant organist, at first unpaid, and then as a paid employee of the court chapel conducted by the Kapellmeister Andrea Luchesi. His first three piano sonatas, named Kurfürst for their dedication to the Elector Maximilian Friedrich, were published in 1783, Maximilian Frederick noticed Beethovens talent early, and subsidised and encouraged the young mans musical studies. Maximilian Fredericks successor as the Elector of Bonn was Maximilian Francis, the youngest son of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, echoing changes made in Vienna by his brother Joseph, he introduced reforms based on Enlightenment philosophy, with increased support for education and the arts
42.
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
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The Symphony No.9 in D minor, Op.125, is Ludwig van Beethovens final complete symphony. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the works in classical music. It is almost universally considered by critics to be one of Beethovens greatest works, the symphony was the first example of a major composer using voices in a symphony. The words are sung during the movement by four vocal soloists. They were taken from the Ode to Joy, a written by Friedrich Schiller in 1785 and revised in 1803. In the 2010s, it stands as one of the most performed symphonies in the world, the Philharmonic Society of London originally commissioned the symphony in 1817. The main composition work was done between autumn 1822 and the completion of the autograph in February 1824, the symphony emerged from other pieces by Beethoven that, while completed works in their own right, are also in some sense musical sketches for the future symphony. 80, basically a concerto movement, brings in a choir. As in the Ninth Symphony, the vocal forces sing a theme first played instrumentally, going further back, an earlier version of the Choral Fantasy theme is found in the song Gegenliebe, for piano and high voice, which dates from before 1795. According to Robert W. Gutman, Mozarts K.222 Offertory in D minor, Misericordias Domini, written in 1775, contains a melody that foreshadows Ode to Joy. When his friends and financiers heard this, they urged him to premiere the symphony in Vienna in the form of a signed by a number of prominent Viennese music patrons. This was the composers first on-stage appearance in 12 years, the hall was packed with an eager audience, while no complete list of premiere performers exists, many of Viennas most elite performers are known to have participated. The soprano and alto parts were sung by two young singers, Henriette Sontag and Caroline Unger. German soprano Henriette Sontag was eighteen years old when Beethoven personally recruited her to perform in the premiere of the Ninth, also personally recruited by Beethoven, 20-year-old contralto Caroline Unger, a native of Vienna, had gained critical praise in 1821 appearing in Rossinis Tancredi. After performing in Beethovens 1824 premiere, Unger then found fame in Italy, Italian composers Donizetti and Bellini were known to have written roles specifically for her voice. Although the performance was directed by Michael Umlauf, the theatres Kapellmeister. However, two earlier, Umlauf had watched as the composers attempt to conduct a dress rehearsal of his opera Fidelio ended in disaster. So this time, he instructed the singers and musicians to ignore the almost totally deaf Beethoven, at the beginning of every part, Beethoven, who sat by the stage, gave the tempos
