Tchaikovsky's "strange themes" in Manhattan

Synopsis

On today's date in 1876, the New York Philharmonic Society closed its season with what The New York Times called a "precise and effective rendering" of the Beethoven Symphony No. 4.

Back then, same as today, a Beethoven Symphony on the program made for good box office. And a virtuoso soloist on the program doesn't hurt either. If the name of S.B. Mills doesn't ring a bell these days, back in 1876 the pianist was a draw… and Mr. Mills' performance in Chopin's E- Minor Piano Concerto was also well received by press and audiences. Reviewing the concert for The New York Times a few days later, the paper's anonymous critic enthused about the Chopin, writing "This elaborate composition is so seldom heard in its entirety as to be almost a novelty."

With a Beethoven Symphony and a Chopin Concerto on the program, perhaps the Philharmonic felt safe enough to risk a REAL novelty for good measure, and so, on the same program, they gave the American premiere of Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet" Fantasy-Overture, a work then about 6 years old.

The Times critic was less enthusiastic about this "new" music, however.

"Admirable as a specimen of full and powerful instrumentation," he wrote, "we cannot say that the strange themes and violent passages of this vigorous and rather shapeless achievement impressed us profoundly."

Music Played in Today's Program

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) Symphony No. 4 Berlin Philharmonic; Claudio Abbado, cond. DG 471 882

Frederic Chopin (1810 – 1849) Piano Con. No. 1 Krystian Zimerman, piano; Polish Festival Orchestra DG 459 684

Peter Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893) Fantasy-Overture "Romeo and Juliet" Kirov Orchestra; Valery Gergiev, cond. Philips 456 580

On This Day

Births

• 1658 - Italian composer and violinist Giuseppe Torelli, in Verona;

• 1858 - British composer and women's rights advocate Dame Ethel Smyth, in Rectory;

• 1922 - American composer and jazz bassist Charles Mingus, in Nogales, Ariz.;

• 1932 - American composer Michael Colgrass, in Chicago;

Deaths

• 1892 - French composer Edouard Lalo, age 69, in Paris;

• 1925 - French composer André Caplet, age 46, in Paris;

• 2001 - American composer, pianist and author Robert Starer, age 77, in Woodstock, N.Y.;

Premieres

• 1749 - Rameau: opera-ballet "Naïs," in Paris;

• 1885 - Dvorák: Symphony No. 7, in London, with the Royal Philharmonic conducted by the composer;

• 1904 - Chadwick: "Euterpe" overture, by the Boston Symphony with the composer conducting;

• 1912 - Dukas: ballet "La Péri," in Paris;

• 1927 - Roger Sessions: Symphony (No. 1) in e, by the Boston Symphony with Serge Koussevitzky conducting;

• 1938 - Leo Sowerby: Organ Concerto, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting;

• 1939 - Menotti: opera "The Old Man and the Thief," in New York City as a NBC radio broadcast; The first staged performance took place in Philadelphia on February 11, 1941;

• 1944 - Harry Partch: "Eight Hitchhiker Inscriptions from a Highway Railing," at the chamber concert room at Carnegie Hall;

• 1961 - Ginastera: Piano Concerto No. 1, in Washington, D.C.;

• 1969 - Peter Maxwell Davies: "Eight Songs for a Mad King," in London;

• 1975 - Andrew Lloyd-Webber: musical "Jeeves" (book and lyrics by Alan Ayckbourn), in London; An almost totally revised version of this musical, retitled "By Jeeves,: opened in London on July 2, 1996;

• 1999 - Harbison: "Four Psalms," by vocal soloists Lisa Affer, Lorraine Hunt, Frank Kelley, and James Maddalena, with the Chicago Symphony and Chorus, Christoph Eschenbach conducting;

Others

• 1723 - J.S. Bach is elected cantor at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig;

• 1853 - First documented American performance of Beethoven's "Leonore"Overture No. 2, at Niblo's Rooms in New York City, by the New York Philharmonic, Theodore Eisfeld conducting;

• 1869 - First documented American performance of Beethoven's "King Stephen"Oveture (Op. 117), at the Academy of Music in New York, by the Theodore Thomas Orchestra;

• 1876 - American premiere of Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet" Fantasy-Overture, by the New York Philharmonic, George Matzka conducting;

• 1921 - In Paris, the first of the "Koussevitzky Concerts" organized and conducted by the wealthy Russian emigree conductor and music patron, Serge Koussevitzky;

• 2001 - Philharmonic Hungarica gives its final concert in Düsseldorf; The orchestra was founded by Hungarian musicians who fled to West Germany after the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956; For London/Decca Records the Philharmonic Hungarica made the first complete set of all of Haydn's symphonies under the baton of its honorary president, the Hungarian-American conductor Antal Dorati.