´óÏó´«Ã½

Cherubini visits Vienna, where his operas are sell outs, and he meets two of the leading composers of the day, Haydn and Beethoven. With Donald Macleod.

An octogenarian when he died in 1842, Cherubini's long life places him alongside three giants of the age, Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. When he was born in 1760, Mozart was four years old, and Haydn was in his thirties. Beethoven was born a decade after Cherubini. Standing among these luminaries, all of whom he admired, Cherubini was a composer, conductor, teacher, administrator, theorist and music publisher, who enjoyed a much higher standing in his own lifetime than his present day reputation might suggest. Beethoven and latterly Wagner are just two of a long list of notables who hugely admired his music. These days it's perhaps through his masses that many people come to his music, so it may be a surprise to discover that he followed the fashion of his day, and produced a considerable number of successful operas. This week Donald Macleod follows Cherubini's progress from his Florentine childhood to Paris, where he was to settle and see his theatrical ambitions realised, in addition to taking on the directorship of the Paris Conservatoire, a position which gave him considerable influence over successive generations.

After enjoying a series of triumphs on the Viennese stage, in 1806 Cherubini made a hasty retreat back to his home in Paris. The reasons behind this move are none too clear.

Marcia per il signore Baron di Braun
Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala
Riccardo Chailly, conductor

Overture to Faniska
San Remo Orchestra
Piero Bellugi, conductor

Chant sur la mort de Joseph Haydn (excerpt)
Maestoso: L’un et l’autre est vainqueur
Marilyn Schmiege, soprano
Martyn Hill, tenor
Paolo Barbacini, tenor
Cappella Coloniensis
Gabriele Ferro, conductor

Les deux journées, ou le porteur d’eau, Act 2 (excerpt)
Entracte, choeur de soldats: Point de pitié! Point de Clemence
Mélodrame, trio et chœur: Regarde-moi!
Finale: allons sans tarder davantage!
Mireille Delunsch, soprano, Constance
Andreas Schmidt, bass-baritone, Mikéli
Yann Beuron, tenor, le Comte Armand
Kwangchul Youn, bass, Daniel
Chorus Musicus Köln
The New Orchestra
Christoph Spering, conductor

Medea, Act 3 Finale
E che. Io son Medea….
Maria Callas, Medea, soprano
Mirto Picchi, tenor, Jason
Miriam Pirazzini, mezzo soprano, Néris
Chorus of La Scala, Milan
Orchestra of La Scala, Milan
Tullio Serafin, conductor