Hot new operas by Saariaho and Wagner

Synopsis

The fact that a new opera might debut at the Salzburg Festival in Austria is not in itself an unusual occurrence. But in August of the year 2000, the new opera in question was "L'Amour de Loin" or "Distant Love" by the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho – making it the first opera by a female composer ever to be staged at the prestigious international Festival, and one that opened to rave reviews.

Born in Helsinki in 1952, Saariaho now lives with her husband and children in Paris. She has said that though she loves Helsinki, she's more comfortable in a city where she is not a celebrity. "I'm too well recognized in Finland," says Saariaho. "When I say this to colleagues in America, they think it's fantastic that there is a country where contemporary music composers can be esteemed public personalities."

Speaking of summer-time opera premieres, Richard Wagner's "Die Walküre" had its first performance as part of his "Ring Cycle" on today's date in 1876, at Wagner's own theater in Bayreuth, a small town in Southern Germany.

Some early critics thought building a big theater in such an out-of-the-way place was a monumental act of folly, but Wagnerites have been making the midsummer pilgrimage there for over 125 years – despite the lack of air-conditioning in Wagner's theater. Appropriately, it's some of the warmest music from "Die Walküre" – the "Magic Fire" scene that brings the opera to its close.

Music Played in Today's Program

Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952) –…à la fumée (Petri Alanko, f; Anssi Karttunen, vcl; Los Angeles Philharmonic; Esa-Pekka Salonen, cond.) Ondine 804

Richard Wagner (1813-1883) –Magic Fire Music, fr Die Walküre (Cleveland Orchestra; George Szell, cond.) CBS/Sony 46286

On This Day

Births

• 1892 - English composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (Christian name Leon Dudley), in Chingford, to a Parsi father and Spanish-Sicilian mother); His major work, "Opus Clavicembalisticum," is one of the longest and most complex solo piano works ever written;

• 1910 - French composer Pierre Schaeffer, in Nancy; He pioneered a style of electronic music known as "musique concrète";

Deaths

• 1972 - American composer and pianist Oscar Levant, age 65, in Beverly Hills, Calif.;

• 1987 - American composer Vincent Persichetti, age 72, in Philadelphia;

Premieres

• 1814 - Rossini: opera, "Il Turco in Italia" (The Turk in Italy), in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala;

• 1876 - first complete performance of Richard Wagner's "Ring" cycle continues at Bayreuth with a performance of "Die Walküre" (The Valkyrie); This opera had received its premiere performance in Munich on June 26, 1870;

• 1942 - Rubbra: Symphony No.4, in London;

• 1952 - R. Strauss: opera "Die Liebe der Danae," (The Love of Danae) produced posthumously at the Salzburg Festival; A dress rehearsal of the opera attended by the composer had taken place at Salzburg on August 16, 1944, but the actual premiere was cancelled due to the war; Both performances were conducted by Clemens Krauss;

• 1954 - Malcolm Arnold: Harmonica Concerto, at a Proms Concert in London, by harmonica virtuoso Larry Adler;

• 1961 - Cowell: "Scherzo" (from "Air and Scherzo") for saxophone and piano, at the Camp Kinhaven in Weston, Vt., by saxophonist Sigurd Rascher; Cowell later arranged this work for saxophone and chamber orchestra;

Others

• 1703 - Johann Sebastian Bach begins his duties as organist at the Bonifaciuskirche in Arnstadt, where he would stay for four years (see also: August 4 and 9)