大象传媒

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of the 19th-century French singer, pianist, composer and influential society figure, Pauline Viardot.

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.

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-Sa毛ns, 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.

This 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-Saens, Meyerbeer and Gounod, all of whom created roles specifically for her incredible voice.

Music Featured:

Les filles de Cadix
Sc猫ne d鈥橦ermione, Act IV: Je ne t鈥檃i point (pas), Cruel?
Manuel Garcia Snr: La figlia dell鈥檃ria: 脠 non lo vedo鈥�. Son regina
Liszt: El Contrabandista Rondo Fantastique sur Un Th猫me Espagnol, S.252
Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia, Act 2, Don Basilio! Cosa veggo? 鈥︹�� briconi, birbanti
Rossini: Otello, Act 3, Sc 1, Canzone del Salice: Assisa a pie d'un salice
Madrid
Hai luli
Six Morceaux (I Romance; II Boh猫mienne; III: Berceuse)
Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Act 2, Ah! qual colpo inaspettato!
Plainte d鈥檃mour (Mazurka in F sharp minor, Op 6, No 1)
L鈥橭iselet (Mazurka Op 68, No 2)
La S茅paration (Mazurka no 14 in G minor Op 24, No 1)
Rossini: La Cenerentola, Overture
3 M枚rike Songs (no 1. In der Fr眉he; No 2. Nixe Binsefuss)
叠别谤莽别耻蝉别-肠辞蝉补辩耻别
Golden glow of the mountain peaks
Do not sing, my beauty, to me
Rossini: Il barbiere di siviglia, Act 1, No 5,Una voce poco fa
Le dernier sorcier, Act 1, No 1 Par ici; No 2 Chanson de Lelio; No 3 Romance de la Reine
12 songs of Pushkin, Fet and Turgenev (No 1, Tsvetok)
5 poems of Lermontov & Turgenev (No 1, Na zare)
10 poems of Pushkin, Lermontov, Koltsov, Tyutchev and Fet (No 3, Ya lyubila yego)
12 poems of Pushkin, Fet and Turgenev (No 4, Polunochnyye obrazy)
Bellini: La sonnambula, Act 1 (excerpts)
脡惫辞肠补迟颈辞苍
Le dernier sorcier, Act 2 Finale
Gounod: Sapho, Act 3, O ma lyre immortelle鈥�.
Saint-Saens: Samson et Dalila, Act 1, Printemps qui commence (Dalila, The Old Hebrew)
Meyerbeer: Le proph猫te, Act 5 Sc 2, 3 & 4
Faur茅: Puisqu鈥檌ci-bas toutes 芒me
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, Act 2, O sink herneider, Nacht der liebe
Brahms: Alto Rhapsody
Violin Sonatina in A Minor (Allegro finale)
Cendrillon (excerpts)
Gluck, ed Berlioz: Orph茅e, Act 1, Sc 4, Amour, viens rendre 脿 mon 芒me

Presented by Donald Macleod
Produced by Johannah Smith

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Pauline Viardot and Her Circle /programmes/m000wysc

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we鈥檝e featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

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