Grieg's "Peer Gynt" premieres

Synopsis

Early in the year 1874, Norway’s greatest playwright penned a letter to Norway’s greatest composer, a letter that read in part: “Dear Mr. Grieg! I am intending to adapt Peer Gynt for stage performance. Would you be willing to compose the necessary music?”

The letter was signed Henryk Ibsen.

Two years later, on today’s date in 1876, Ibsen’s “Peer Gynt” premiered at Norway’s Christiania Theater with the requested music by Grieg. Excerpts from Grieg’s incidental music, arranged into concert suites, rapidly became some of his best-known and best-loved works. Oddly enough, Grieg himself complained that Ibsen’s play was quote “the most unmusical of subjects,” and that working on the project had become a nightmare for him.

While Grieg’s music is famous around the world, the story-line of Ibsen’s play remains largely unfamiliar to music lovers. It’s ironic that Grieg’s music for “Peer Gynt” is perceived as being quintessentially Norwegian, when the story line of Ibsen’s play takes its hero on travels all across the globe.

For most music lovers, the famous excerpt titled “Morning Mood” might evoke the sun rising over the snowcapped peaks surrounding a Norwegian fjord—but in the context of Ibsen’s play, in fact, it’s the prelude to a scene set in the North African desert!

Music Played in Today's Program

Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907) Peer Gynt Suites CSSR State Philharmonic; Stephen Gunzenhauser, cond. Naxos 550140

On This Day

Births

• 1766 - English composer and organist Samuel Wesley, in Bristol England; He was the nephew of John Wesley (1703-1791), the founder of the Methodist Church;

• 1842 - Italian opera composer and librettist Arrigo Boito, in Paudua;

• 1846 - Italian song composer Luigi Denza, in Castellammare; His most famous song is "Funiculi, Finicula."

Deaths

• 1704 - French composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier, age 78, in Paris;

• 1929 - French composer André Messager, age 75, in Paris;

Premieres

• 1607 - Monteverdi: opera "Orfeo," at the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua;

• 1711 - Handel: opera, “Rinaldo, ”in London at the Queen’s Theater in the Haymarket (Gregorian date: Mar. 7); This was the first Handel opera produced in London, and the first Italian opera written specifically composed for the London stage;

• 1725 - Handel: opera “Rodelinda,” in London (Julian date: Feb. 13);

• 1730 - Handel: opera “Partenope,” in London at the King’s Theater in the Haymarket (Gregorian date: Mar. 7);

• 1745 - Rameau: comedy-ballet "La Princesse de Navarre" (to a text by Voltaire, for the wedding of the Dauphin with Maria Teresa of Spain), at Versailles;

• 1876 - Grieg: incidental music for Ibsen's play "Peer Gynt, "as part of a staged production in Christiania (Oslo), Norway;

• 1935 - Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 14, in Moscow;

• 1939 - Roy Harris: Symphony No. 3, by the Boston Symphony, Koussevitzky conducting;

• 1955 - Carlisle Floyd: opera "Susannah" at Florida State University in Tallahassee; According to Opera America, this is one of the most frequently-produced American operas during the past decade;

• 1956 - Piston: Symphony No. 5, in New York City;

• 1976 - Bernstein: musical "1700 Pennsylvania Avenue," in Philadelphia as a trial run at the Forrest Theater, conducted by Roland Gagnon; The show opened in New York City at the Mark Hellinger Theater in New York City on May 4, 1976, also conducted by Gagnon;

• 1979 - Berg: opera "Lulu" (first staging of complete version as arr. by Friedrich Cerha), at the Paris Opéra, with Pierre Boulez conducting;

• 1985 - Andrew Lloyd-Webber: "Requiem," in New York City at St. Thomas Episcopal Church; The London premiere occurred on April 21, 1984, in Westminster Abbey; The soloists in both cases were soprano Sarah Brightman and tenor Placido Domingo, with Lorin Maazel conducting;

• 2000 - Joan Tower: "The Last Dance," at Carnegie Hall, by the Orchestra of St. Luke's;

Others

• 1727 - Handel applies for British citizenship (Julian date: Feb. 13);

• 1894 - First documented American performance of Handel's Concerto Grosso in D Minor (op. 6, no.10), by the Boston Symphony, Emil Paur conducting.