April 24, 2023

A 2,000-year-old artifact is "heading back" to Germany after a Texas woman bought it at Goodwill for $35. The bust of Roman politician and military commander Drusus GermanicusIs (38–9 BC) had once belonged to the collection of King Ludwig I of Bavaria.

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In today's email:

The big idea: Researchers discover nearly 100 new works by Donizetti
Classical 101: Everything you wanted to know about the orchestra* (*but were afraid to Ask)
Opinion: Performer biographies are useless contributions to printed concert programs (there we said it)
Photo of the week
Around the web: A new way to play the guitar, a website that helps you find better seats, be a better reader, plus more curious internet finds.

CLASSICAL CHARTS

THE BIG IDEA

Lost compositions by Italian opera composer to be showcased in London following a major discovery by a British Musicologist.

Researchers Discover Nearly 100 New Works by Donizetti

Up to 90 previously unknown songs by Gaetano Donizetti, one of classical music's most celebrated composers, have been discovered by British musicologist Roger Parker. The lost 19th-century works will be performed for the first time in over 200 years over a series of concerts in London.

Parker, a professor of music at King's College London, described the scores as "incredible" and on par with Donizetti's most famous operas. Over two years, Parker tracked down the songs in archives and collections worldwide, including an Austrian monastery, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and archives in Naples and Bergamo.

The newly discovered songs include both French and Italian compositions, with some featuring additional instruments beyond voice and piano. Among the unknown French songs are “Quand je vis que j’étais trahie” (When I saw that I was betrayed) and “Oh! Ne me chasse pas” (Oh! Don’t shun me). There were also some Italian songs found in Austria include “Non v’è più barbaro” (There is nothing more barbarous).

Can we hear them?

Opera Rara, a London-based company dedicated to rediscovering forgotten vocal heritage from the 19th and early 20th centuries, will perform and record the songs as part of a major project marking the 225th anniversary of Donizetti's birth. Over three years, the songs will be performed at London's Wigmore Hall, with eight recordings planned.

Opera Rara's chief executive, Henry Little, praised the "remarkable quality" of the new songs and lauded Parker's "astonishing feat" in rediscovering and editing them for modern performance. The project features former artistic director Sir Mark Elder and soprano Renée Fleming.

Is there any more music to find?

Likely. In recent years, researchers have stumbled across quite a few musical treasures lost to time.

A previously unknown work for piano "Allegro in D" was found in a 160-page manuscript in Austria in 2018 by Mozart.
In 2015, German researchers found a hidden aria by JS Bach that had been lost for about 300 years.
An overlooked work by Vivaldi related to the Stabat Mater was discovered in Dresden, Germany, in 2009.

THE LATEST

Marin Alsop (Photo: Mariana Garcia)

For the first time in BBC Proms history, female conductors will open and close the season. The move signals a recognition of a move towards gender equality, with Dalia Stasevska and Marin Alsop leading the events. The 2023 season also features 11 female composers, a significant increase from a decade ago. | The Guardian

The Bolshoi Theatre has cancelled "Nureyev," an LGBT ballet, following Putin's anti-LGBT law expansion. The theatre faced controversy after firing artists critical of Ukraine war. A proposed merger with Mariinsky stirs further debate. | Operawire

108-year-old Colette Maze breaks records as the oldest pianist to release an album. Her album, titled "108 Years of Piano," features works by Gershwin, Piazzolla, Schumann, and Debussy. | Classic FM

CLASSICAL 101

UMG urges Spotify & Apple Music to limit AI use of copyrighted songs, protecting IP in AI music ecosystem.

**Everything You Wanted to Know About the Orchestra* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)**

What to wear to the symphony? Where should I sit? Answers to some of your questions about going to see an orchestra concert.

Orchestral concerts are a lot of fun, but seeing a concert can raise many questions for those who have never been. After taking some classical music newbies to see the symphony, a few common queries emerged.

What to wear to the symphony?

Most classical performances have become fairly accepting of casual dress, but feel free to dress up as you like. Some people treat it as a fancy night out on the town and dress to match, but often people come in everyday casual clothes.

Some concerts are billed specifically as a more relaxed show, but even at regular performances, no one will check to make sure you’re dressed right. You’ll be sitting down for a pretty long time, so you may as well be comfortable.

As a general rule, avoid ripped or dirty clothes, anything overly revealing, or anything that might get in the way of someone else enjoying the performance (such as a meat dress or a tall hat). On the serious side, most venues ask that you avoid perfumes, colognes, or other scented products.

What’s a bassoon?

The bassoon is the long wooden instrument sitting next to the oboes and other woodwinds. It’s a double reed instrument, which means that like the oboe, the bassoon is played by blowing through a very small hole in a specially made reed, which then vibrates.

The bassoon has a range of Bb1 to Eb5. Sometimes orchestra also calls for a contrabassoon, which looks a little bit like two normal bassoons stuck together side by side. It sounds vaguely nasal, but when played well, it has a beautifully rich and reedy sound.

What is that big stick thing with the little pipe coming off of it?

That’s a bassoon.

Why are all the stringed instruments the same colour?

That’s a great question; it’s probably because really high-quality stringed instruments are often really old. The most famous violins, those made by Stradivarius for example, were made in the 1600s, before coloured stain was really a thing. They do actually make instruments that have been stained a rainbow of colours, but they would stand out as newly made instruments in the context of a string section, and are generally not of the same calibre.

A really well-made instrument will have a sound that speaks for itself and wacky colours could just be distracting. When orchestras perform they aim for unity, both in their sound and appearance (that’s why they all wear the same thing too!). That said, soloists in the brass world (notably Jens Lindeman on trumpet) occasionally play on novelty instruments with coloured lacquer, so aside from the argument that the best-sounding instruments are usually not manufactured with a colour, string soloists don’t have any really good reason to continue solely playing on traditionally stained instruments.

Why are they all sitting in specific places – who decides who sits where?

Generally speaking, the orchestra is arranged with quieter instruments in the front, progressing to louder instruments in the back (that’s why the brass and drums are in the very back). The idea is that the louder sounds carry more easily, so putting them further away balances out the sound of the orchestra. In terms of the left-to-right arrangement, there is actually a fair bit of flexibility and not necessarily a standard format.

Usually, the more melodic instruments are on the left (from the conductor and audience’s viewpoint). Most conductors are right-handed, which would make cueing to the left for entrances easier than cueing to the right.

Try it yourself

If you are standing in the centre of a clock — point to a number between 9 o’clock and 1 o’clock. It’s pretty easy, right? Now point to 2 or 3 o’clock, and it becomes a little bit more awkward. Ultimately, the conductor decides. They may take many factors into account including the acoustics of the hall and the music itself.

OPINION

Performer Biographies Are Useless Contributions to Printed Concert Programs (There We Said It)

So who reads performer biographies in concert programs — and how do they help concertgoers?

Sometimes solutions to problems sit right under our noses

The problem is making audiences comfortable with and connected to the performance of art music or opera. People talk about the concert hall being too formal, of the traditional format being forbidding. People keep talking about ways to change that — ways that mandate all sorts of complicated and expensive contortions.

But what about simple changes that don't cost a thing?

A few words from a performer from the stage go a long way to break down barriers — a fact reinforced by comparing the friendly, chatty introductions to Toronto Symphony concerts by former conductor Peter Oundjian to the silence of the Montreal Symphony's Kent Nagano.

Then there is the printed concert program…

…There's been a lot of debate over what sort of descriptions should be in a program.

For one thing, we should keep descriptions of key modulations out of the text, because the 12 people in the audience who care about the key already know the details, or will discover them in their own good time.

Eyes glazing over

The next time you're at a concert staring at the boilerplate format of lists of names and orchestras and album releases and ask yourself who benefits from this information?

Does the fact that Alex Marwohl is the principal guest conductor of the Dessau Radio Symphony affect the way she will conduct tonight's Brahms symphony?

Does the fact that Martha Cellist graduated from Juilliard assure us of a transcendent performance of Shostakovich's Cello Concerto?

Aren’t these accomplishments truly meaningful to everyone else at the live performance we will hear tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday?

What about the conductor or soloist or even the associate principal viola's life does matter to me, the listener, the person who sat through a subway line delay anxiously worrying about making it to the hall on time?

Their relationship to the composer and the work on the program, that's what.

A matter of relevance

An artist's statement would be a totally relevant, enlightening way to shine a light on the artist as a person, as well as personalizing the performance itself. How they feel about a piece of music and its composer is guaranteed to affect how it will sound when they present it to live ears and eyes.

Tafelmusik, which sometimes sees ways around obstacles other concert presenters don't even notice, has been including interviews with its artists in its programs for years now and they really do help make the music-making more personal.

Opera, theatre, and ballet directors typically make a statement in the house programme to explain where they are coming from in their interpretation of a work — new or old.

Is a musical performance any different from theatre? After all, the musician has a story to tell; if the audience needs help understanding it, the effort is well-spent.

AROUND THE WEB

📅 On this day: In 1911, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, was stolen from the Louvre in Paris — and remained missing for two years. It ranks as one of the biggest art heists of the 20th century.

🫢 Oops: Someone got stuck inside Edmonton’s silver ball sculpture, and a jogger caught the whole thing on camera.

🛩️ Interesting: A former Air Force pilot, now flying private jets, says her job isn't as glamorous as people think.

🏟️ Useful: This free website shows you what your view would be from your seats at popular concert venues and sporting events.

🚀 Cool stuff: This new guitar pick can make a guitar sound like a cello or violin.

📚 Advice: How to be a better reader.

🐈 Aww: And now, these two besties.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Take a look at this historical photograph of Carnegie Hall from 1894! Three years after the Hall opened, the building underwent its first alterations. This photo shows the new rooftop studios and the South Tower (along 56th Street), which were intended to provide extra income for the building. (Photo: Carnegie Hall Rose Archives)

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