Music calendar – January

Many celebrities were born in January, whose names are now well known even among people who are far from classical music. This is the brilliant Mozart, and the refined Schubert, and the representatives of the famous “Mighty Handful” – Balakirev, Cui, Stasov.

Creators of immortal opuses

On January 2, 1837, a man came into the world who opened a new era in Russian musical art – Mili Balakirev. He gathered around him amateur musicians, but undoubtedly brilliant young people who sincerely support the development of national art. Together they managed to breathe new ideas, themes, genres into Russian music. Balakirev always supported and guided his like-minded people, captivated them with his enthusiasm, suggested topics for essays, and taught them not to be afraid of voluminous forms. One of his merits is free music schools, where everyone could join music making, without class restrictions.

On January 14, 1824, a man came into the world who was not a composer, but who devoted his whole life to music – art historian, music critic and devoted friend of many composers of his era, Vladimir Stasov. He was the ideologist and inspirer of the most significant musical formation of the 2nd half of the XNUMXth century – the Mighty Handful, the name of which, remaining in history, belongs to him.

On January 18, 1835, another representative of the Mighty Handful, Caesar Cui, appeared to the world. A professional military man, an engineer-general, nevertheless, he left us a rich musical heritage. He is the author of 14 operas, the most significant of which were “Angelo” and “William Ratcliffe”. Acting as a music critic, Cui was one of the first to promote Russian art in the Western press.

In 1872, on January 6, another composer was born who left a noticeable mark on Russian music – Alexander Scriabin. A brightly gifted personality, an innovator who aspired to unknown “cosmic” spheres, he actively worked out the idea of ​​color music and introduced the party of light into his famous poem “Prometheus”.

January 11, 1875 was born Reinhold Gliere, one of the last representatives of the Russian classical school, a student of Taneyev, a follower of the great Glinka and Borodin. He worked hard and hard, studying the art of composition, and in 1900 he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory with a gold medal. Subsequently, as a teacher, he prepared young Prokofiev for admission to it. Among the diverse heritage of Gliere are 5 operas, 3 symphonies, 6 ballets.

On January 27, 1756, a brilliant child was born into the family of a Salzburg musician, who later became one of the key figures on the musical Olympus – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. By the way, in 2016 Mozart would have turned 260 years old! Numerous musical figures, critics, fans note the combination in his work of boldness of thoughts with amazing harmony of forms. He managed to conquer all the musical forms available at that time, create unique works that sound at all concert venues in the world and are studied in all music schools. The tragedy of a genius is that recognition came to him decades after his death. During his lifetime, the depth of his talent was appreciated by a few.

The last day of January 1797 marked the birth of the first romantic composer in the history of music, Franz Schubert. His merit is that he brought the genre of the song, which was secondary at that time, to a new artistic level. Among the samples of his songwriting there are romantic ballads, and psychological sketches, and images of nature. And two vocal cycles, “The Beautiful Miller’s Woman” and “Winter Way” are included in the concert repertoire of almost all vocalists.

Great performers

On January 8, 1938, Evgeny Nesterenko, an outstanding Russian bass of the Soviet era, was born in Moscow. His vocal talent and artistry allowed critics to call the singer the successor to the great Fyodor Chaliapin. During his musical career, the vocalist participated in more than 50 musical performances. 21 of them were performed in the original language. Russian folklore, song masterpieces of domestic and foreign composers sounded in his concerts. For the outstanding performance of the leading roles, Nesterenko was awarded numerous special prizes and awards.

On January 21, 1941, Placido Domingo was born in Madrid – a unique singer who made a dizzying career as a tenor. It is interesting that he successfully performs parts for baritone. His repertoire includes more than 140 classical parts, but the singer is not limited to the academic repertoire and is happy to participate in modern musical projects. He also holds the world record for the duration of the standing ovation: in 1991, after the performance of the opera Othello, the audience did not let go of the vocalist for 80 minutes.

January 24, 1953 is a significant date for Yuri Bashmet, the greatest violist of our time. He turned the inconspicuous viola into the most virtuoso solo instrument, thanks to which composers paid attention to this instrument. More than 50 viola concertos were written specially for Bashmet. Bashmet is not only a performer, but also the head of the Moscow Soloists Ensemble, the New Russia State Russian Orchestra and the founder of a special international viola competition.

Loud premiere

January is interesting for a number of high-profile premieres.

On January 7, 1898, the premiere of the opera Sadko by the great master of this genre, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, took place on the stage of Savva Mamonov’s private opera. In it, the composer combined many masterpieces of the Russian epic: epics, songs, lamentations, conspiracies. The epic verse is partially preserved in the libretto.

On January 15, 1890, Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Sleeping Beauty was staged at the Mariinsky Theatre, a masterpiece that has not left the stage for more than a century.

Franz Schubert – Impromptu in E flat major (performed by Andrey Andreev)

Author – Victoria Denisova