The New Sensation
Donald Macleod explores how Pauline Viardot's career was assisted by the support of two influential figures in Paris, poet Alfred de Musset and novelist George Sand.
Donald Macleod explores how Pauline Viardot's career was assisted by the support of two influential figures, the poet Alfred de Musset and the novelist George Sand.
鈥淲hen I want to do something, I do it in spite of water, fire, society, the whole world,鈥� an indicator, if ever there was one, of the inner steel of this week鈥檚 composer, 19th-century French singer, pianist, composer and influential society figure, Pauline Viardot.
Born in 1821, Pauline Viardot possessed an array of exceptional qualities. As one of the opera stars of her age, she was admired from Paris to St Petersburg as a sublime interpreter of Rossini, Bellini, Handel and Gluck. Beyond her incomparable voice, her twice-weekly artistic salons were a high point in Parisian cultural life. She knew, and was admired by Chopin, George Sand, Delacroix, Liszt, Faur茅, Tchaikovsky, and Saint-Sa毛ns to name but a few. While having, according to Saint-Saens, an unnecessarily modest view of her talent, she was also an accomplished composer. A talented linguist with five languages at her command, her compositions include a substantial body of songs, one or two instrumental works and a series of highly appealing operettas.
Across the week, Donald Macleod will be exploring different facets of her extraordinary life. We鈥檒l be hearing from a range of Viardot鈥檚 compositions as well as some of the operatic roles she made famous. He鈥檒l be examining her role in Parisian cultural circles, and her friendships with leading writers among them Charles Dickens, and in particular Ivan Turgenev, and composers such as Berlioz, Saint-Sa毛ns, Meyerbeer and Gounod, all of whom created roles specifically for her incredible voice.
Madrid
Gy枚rgy Dombr谩di, mezzo-soprano
Lambert Bumiller, piano
Hai luli
Olena Tokar, soprano
Igor Gryshyn, piano
Six Mor莽eaux
1 Romance
II Boh猫mienne
III: Ber莽euse
Reto Kuppel, violin
Wolfgang Manz, piano
Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Act 2)
Ah! qual colpo inaspettato!
Cecilia Bartoli, mezzo-soprano, Rosina
Leo Nucci, baritone, Figaro
William Matteuzzi, tenor, Almaviva
Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Giuseppe Patan猫, conductor
Plainte d鈥檃mour (Mazurka in F sharp minor, op 6 no 1)
Urszula Kryger, mezzo-soprano
Charles Spencer, piano
L鈥橭iselet (Mazurka op 68, no 2)
Sophie Karth盲user, soprano
Eugene Asti, piano
La S茅paration (Mazurka no 14 in G minor op 24, no 1)
Ina Kancheva, soprano
Kamelia Kader, mezzo-soprano
Ludmil Angelov, piano
Rossini: La Cenerentola 鈥� Overture
South West German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Baden-Baden
Alberto Zedda, conductor
3 M枚rike Songs
no 1. In der Fr眉he
no 2. Nixe Binsefuss
Catriona Morison, mezzo-soprano
Simon Lepper, piano
Last on
Music Played
-
![]()
Pauline Viardot
Madrid
Performer: Lambert Bumiller. Singer: Gy枚rgy Dombr谩di.- ARS MUSICI : AM-1288-2.
- ARS MUSICI.
- 1.
-
![]()
Pauline Viardot
Ha茂 luli
Singer: Olena Tokar. Performer: Igor Gryshyn.- ORCHID CLASSICS : ORC-100154.
- ORCHID CLASSICS.
- 12.
-
![]()
Pauline Viardot
6 Morceaux (1st, 2nd & 3rd mvts)
Performer: Reto Kuppel. Performer: Wolfgang Manz.- NAXOS : 8.-573749.
- NAXOS.
- 8.
-
![]()
Gioachino Rossini
Il Barbiere Di Siviglia, Act 2: Ah! qual colpo inaspettato!
Singer: Cecilia Bartoli. Singer: Leo Nucci. Singer: William Matteuzzi. Orchestra: Bologna Municipal Theatre Orchestra. Conductor: Giuseppe Patan猫.- DECCA : 425 520-2.
- DECCA.
- 11.
-
![]()
Pauline Viardot Garcia
Plainte d'amour (after Chopin's Mazurka, Op 6, No 1)
Performer: Charles Spencer. Singer: Urszula Kryger.- HYPERION : CDA-67125.
- HYPERION.
- 20.
-
![]()
Pauline Viardot
L' Oiselet (after Chopin's Mazurka, Op 68, No 2)
Performer: Eugene Asti. Singer: Sophie Karth盲user.- HARMONIA MUNDI : HMM 902260.
- HARMONIA MUNDI.
- 24.
-
![]()
Pauline Viardot
La Separation (after Chopin's Mazurka, Op 24, No 1)
Performer: Ludmil Angelov. Singer: Kamelia Kader. Singer: Ina Kancheva.- TOCCATA CLASSICS: TOCC 0303.
- TOCCATA CLASSICS.
- 21.
-
![]()
Gioachino Rossini
La Cenerentola, Overture
Conductor: Alberto Zedda.- NAXOS : 8.-660191-92.
- Naxos.
- 18.
-
![]()
Pauline Viardot Garcia
3 M枚rike Songs (No 1 In der Fr眉he)
Performer: Simon Lepper. Singer: Catriona Morison. -
![]()
Pauline Viardot Garcia
3 M枚rike Songs (No 2, Nixe Binsefuss)
Performer: Simon Lepper. Singer: Catriona Morison.
Broadcasts
- Tue 15 Jun 2021 12:00大象传媒 Radio 3
- Tue 9 May 2023 12:00大象传媒 Radio 3
Vaughan Williams Today
Programmes, concerts and features celebrating Vaughan Williams's 150th anniversary.
Beethoven Unleashed 鈥� the box set
The complete set of Radio 3 Beethoven Unleashed podcasts, with Donald Macleod.
What was really wrong with Beethoven?
Georgia Mann and neurosurgeon Henry Marsh examine the composer's numerous health problems
Composers A to Z
Visit the extensive audio archive of Radio 3 programmes about Composers and their works.
Who knew? Five eye-opening stories from Composer of the Week
The production team reflects on 5 of Donald Macleod鈥檚 best stories from the last 20 years
Five reasons why we love Parry's Jerusalem
What is the strange power of Jerusalem which makes strong men weep?
A man out of time 鈥� why Parry's music and ideas were at odds with his image...
The composer of Jerusalem was very far from the conservative figure his image suggests.
Composer Help Page
Find resources and contacts for composers from within the classical music industry.