Topic: Josef Myslivecek (1737-1781)

[robnewman]

Josef Myslivececk (1737-1781)
Symphony In C Major, F26 I
First Movement
Allegro Con Spirito
(c.1770)

http://www.mediafire.com/?zymmzuyjt2m

[robnewman]

Josef Myslivececk (1737-1781)
Aria
From Opera ‘Bellerofonte’ - (Italy, 1767/8)
Libretto - P. Metastasio

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f4KR0M4CrA

[robnewman]

 
Josef Myslivececk (1737-1781)
Concert Aria
''Piu non si trovano'' (c.1774)
Soloist - Magdalena Kozena
Live Televised Performance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhF2Sr0aW_o&feature=related

(Note - About 20 seconds in to this live televised transmission given in Prague of music by Myslivececk appears a prominent reference to a certain 'W.A. Mozart' on the screen. Any such resemblance is of course, purely coincidental). LOL !   But, should any doubt exist the 'Mozart' reference appears a second time at 2' 50''  

What the people of the Czech Republic thought of this recent example of musical globalism is not known !!  

[robnewman]

Josef Myslivecek (1737-1781)
Cello Concerto in C Major
1st Movement
c. 1772

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J28b4vykyqs&feature=related

[SonicMan46]

Well, I just posted the information & pics below in Gurn's classical thread - saw that Mr. Newman had started a specific thread on this composer w/ the usual lack of any information!    So, please read on, check out the Wiki link, and post some comments - this is my third disc of 'The Bohemian's' music - this is quite lovely stuff - 

Josef Mysliveček (1737-1781) was a Czech composer born in Prague; he left for Venice in 1763 to study opera composition. In the 1770s, he was on friendly terms w/ the Mozart family, which ended in 1778 when he failed to obtain an opera commission in Naples for Wolfie. Mysliveček was also known as Il Boemo (The Bohemian) - apparently the Italians had a difficult time pronouncing his name! He died destitute in Rome in 1781.

Mysliveček contributed to the formation of late 18th century classical music, especially in his symphonic and wind writing.  In the 1770s, during Mozart's visits, some of the stylistic aspects of the older composer's writing certainly influenced the younger Wolfgang.  Il Boemo was a prolific composer - his works include 26 operas, oratorios, cantatas, and other vocal works. He composed nearly 50 symphonies, which are often in a short Italian overture form (such as the works on the disc shown).  He also wrote dozens of concertos and chamber works for one or more instruments, including string quartets/quintets and wind quintets & octets.

More detail of his life (including a disfiguring nose malady, likely syphilis) and a listing of his works can be found in a this Wiki rticle. A new book entitled Josef Myslivecek, "Il Boemo": The Man and His Music by Daniel Freeman & Susan Parisi was published this year - may see if I can obtain a library copy.   

 

[karlhenning]

In the 1770s, he was on friendly terms w/ the Mozart family, which ended in 1778 when he failed to obtain an opera commission in Naples for Wolfie.

In Gutman's book, the suggestion appears to be that they met (and against Leopold's moralizing wishes) when Wolfgang visited him at hospital in Munich.  Gutman says nothing about their meeting or corresponding after that period of visitation.

[SonicMan46]

In Gutman's book, the suggestion appears to be that they met (and against Leopold's moralizing wishes) when Wolfgang visited him at hospital in Munich.  Gutman says nothing about their meeting or corresponding after that period of visitation.

Hi Karl - thanks for posting to this hopefully 'renewed' thread - just finishing up on the Violin Concertos - quite good!

I was just checking in Stanley Sadie's book 'Mozart - The Early Years, 1756-1781' - just a couple of references on Mysliveček, who they had met on their first visit to Italy (and maintained much written correspondence).  On pgs. 422-23, mention is made of Mozart visiting the older composer in the hospital in Munich, the latter part of 1777; Sadie then goes on to describe the failed opera commission for Naples, and ends the paragraph "...and Leopold finally came to doubt his sincerity."  So, I assume that by 1778, their correspondence ended. 

[karlhenning]

Thanks for the enhanced background, Dave!

[snyprrr]

My index indicates two sets of SQs (6 each) from @1780 and @1782 (Op.1 and Op.2), so, either way, at least this index thinks they were written at the end of life. There is, I think, one cd somewhere with the Stamic Quartet on Supraphon or Panton, with some other composers also. I would certainly love to hear that. I can't really find any available Bohemic SQs from the ClassicalEra???!!!!

[SonicMan46]

My index indicates two sets of SQs (6 each) from @1780 and @1782 (Op.1 and Op.2), so, either way, at least this index thinks they were written at the end of life. There is, I think, one cd somewhere with the Stamic Quartet on Supraphon or Panton, with some other composers also. I would certainly love to hear that. I can't really find any available Bohemic SQs from the ClassicalEra???!!!!

Hello Snyprrr - below is another post I left in Gurn's thread - quoted here for those interested in this composer - his Violin Concertos on the first disc were wonderful, so I just put in an order for the second volume w/ the same performers!

Now this guy wrote a LOT of chamber works and I'd love to hear his string works in that genre and especially his wind chamber compositions, BUT little seems to be available under his own name - this is likely wonderful music but when will it appear! 

Hi Franco - the other disc that I own is shown below, left - Concerto Köln performing Symphonies & Overtures; since Myslivecek wrote 45 or so of these works and the numbering system is somewhat confusing, I'm not sure at the moment 'how much' if any overlap is present w/ the Chandos CD that I showed earlier?

BTW - the Violin Concerto recording was just superb, so I put in an order for Vol. 2 by the same performers! 

 

[Gabriel]

A composer certainly to investigate. I have the feeling that, excluding Johann Christian Bach, no other important composer has a style so similar to the young Mozart as Myslivecek. Motivated by this discussion I am playing right now a recording of a concert aria of his, Quod est in igne calor, a splendid work for soprano, horn obbligato and orchestra. The arias recorded by Magdalena Kozená in Le belle immagini are also remarkable. Instrumental recordings (v. gr., the symphonies in Chandos or the violin concertos in Supraphon) show a particularly gifted style galant composer.

As I finish this post, I'm listening to an excellent cello concerto in C major written by him. I'm realizing that I had never listened to it with attention. I'm impressed by the sense of balance; there are complicated parts for the soloist, but it doesn't give the impression of a virtuoso work composed just to show musical fireworks. Splendid music.

I feel I will look for other recordings of Myslivecek's music.

[SonicMan46]

Gabriel - thanks for that post - Myslivecek seems to have been one of the most popular opera composers in Italy at the height of his popularity - 

A new book by Daniel Freeman entitled Josef Myslivecek, "Il Boemo": The Man and His Music was just released in 2009 - published by 'Harmonie Park Press' out of Michigan; $38 on Amazon at the moment w/o a discount (and of course no 'used' copies yet!) - will eventually try to borrow this book or obtain a 'cheaper' option. 

[SonicMan46]

Well, I recently obtained this composer's Violin Concertos, Vol. 2 after thoroughly enjoying the first volume; these are performed by Shizuka Ishikawa (don't know much about her?) and Libor Pesek w/ the Dvorak Chamber Orchestra.

The CD contains 4 concertos recorded in Prague in 1983 & 1986 (boy, so long ago - and so much more that this composer wrote!) - this set is just as enjoyable as the first volume; beautiful compositions, well performed and recorded - 

P.S. - just wanted to add a pic of the composer (below, right; i.e. obviously before is disfiguring nose malady, unless 're-touched' in Photoshop!     ).

 

[mc ukrneal]

Well, I had just posted on the listening thread about a Myslivecik disc, when someone led me to this temporarily fogotten thread. I was listening to a symphonies disc (the one with the rose), which features the Concerto Koln playing some of the symphonies. It is a period instruments version, but the sound is warm and alluring, with excellent all around performances. If you like this period, I think you will pretty much love Myslivecek (spelling his name is a different matter - no wonder the Italians named him the Bohemian!).  The disc is excellent.

That disc also makes me want to hear more. The Chandos disc has already been commented on, but I wonder if anyone has heard anything of the CPO disc (which is actually a twofer)? And I like others, I'm still trying to figure out if anything duplicates across these discs as the numbering and naming are a bit confusing.

[SonicMan46]

Well, I cannot comment on the CPO Symphony set; but have added two more discs of this composer's music to my collection (now up to a half dozen, and have the CPO CD of Wind Chamber works on my wish list!):

Cello Sonatas w/ Continuo - Kanka & Host on cellos on Praga, distributed by H. Mundi - excellent!

String Quintets - Pro Arte Antiqua Praha w/ two violas - listening @ the moment; superb string writing as usual from Myslivecek - 

 

[SonicMan46]

Well, seems like that I cannot get enough of this guy's compositions - still have not obtained a copy of his recent biography discussed in earlier posts, but have acquired a new disc:

Complete Wind Quintets & Octets w/ the L'Orfeo Wind Ensemble playing on period instruments (see pic below, right) - wonderful performances & recording - any other recommendations? 

 

[SonicMan46]

A new book by Daniel Freeman entitled Josef Myslivecek, "Il Boemo": The Man and His Music was just released in 2009 - published by 'Harmonie Park Press' out of Michigan; $38 on Amazon at the moment w/o a discount (and of course no 'used' copies yet!) - will eventually try to borrow this book or obtain a 'cheaper' option. 

Well, I was able to obtain a library loan of the book above, which is divided into 4 major parts:

Part 1 - A Biography of Josef Myslivecek (first 100 pages or so)
Part 2 - The Music of Josef Myslivecek (the next 110 pages)
Part 3 - Myslivecek and Mozart (about 30 pages)
Part 4 - Catalogs of Myslivecek's Instrumental and Vocal Music (about 120 pages)

I concentrated mainly on Parts 1 & 3, and scanned through the catalogs - below is just a summary of his mainly instrumental compositions (of course, not listed are those considered 'dubious', lost, etc.):

Instrumental Works:
Symphonies - 55
Dramatic Overtures - 29
Solo Concertos - 14 (Violin, 10; Cello, 1; Flute, 1; Keyboard, 2)
Duo Concertos - 3 (2 clarinets & 2 horns)
Wind Ensemble - 9 (Octets, 3; Quintets, 6)
Chamber, Misc. - 6 (Oboe Quintets)
String Quintets - 12 (2 sets of 6)
String Quartets - 23
String Trios - 27 (also 6 cello duets w/ bass)
Flute Trios - 6 (w/ violin & bass)
Flute Duets - 6 (w/ bass)
Violin Sonatas - 23 (w/ bass or keyboard)
Keyboard Sonatas - 13

Vocal Works - 26, Operas; Oratorios, 8; Cantatas, 14; Masses, 7; and much more! 

Amazingly prolific and likely the most important musical influence on the young Mozart (more than Leopold, possibly?) - of course, little of this huge output is recorded - 

[SonicMan46]

My index indicates two sets of SQs (6 each) from @1780 and @1782 (Op.1 and Op.2), so, either way, at least this index thinks they were written at the end of life. There is, I think, one cd somewhere with the Stamic Quartet on Supraphon or Panton, with some other composers also. I would certainly love to hear that. I can't really find any available Bohemic SQs from the ClassicalEra???!!!!

Snyprrr - Concerning the String Quartets of Myslivecek, the following is quoted below (from pg. 214 of the book discussed and outlined in my previous post):

...is comprised of three sets of six quartets each, one set published in Paris by...in 1768 or 1769 as Op. 3, another by ....in 1777 as Op. 1, and a posthumous set published in Berlin and Amsterdam by Hummel in 1781 without opus number.  In addition, there are five works preserved only in manuscripts whose sources differ...

So, a total of 23 SQs, 18 in sets of 6, and 5 others!  Currently, I own about a half dozen discs of this composer's works, but no string quartets!  Dave 

[The new erato]

At the instigation of SonicMan I crosspost this from the listening thread:

A holiday in Norway, so I am making dents in some box sets that have been laying dormant for too long.

From the Archive cube; I have never heard this music or disc before:

Obviously a fine Composer worthy of more than a one page thread. My first aquaintance With Myslivecek was this, in the 1970eies; when LPs were expensive and Supraphons were cheap:

.

Totally unknown at the time, and a pretty shaky performance IIRC, this never held more than a minor interest for me.

[SonicMan46]

Well, New Erato brought this thread TTT after 6 years in the grave - since that time, I've just added the 'Sinfonias' CD to my small collection (bottom, left) - there seems to be little overlap w/ my other disc of symphonies w/ Matthias Bamert; however, I was looking at the Chandos listings, which are Symphonies F 26 - F 31 (F for Daniel Freeman, the author of the book I discussed previously which was published in 2009), and comparing their description to those on the 2-CD CPO offering - the keys for six works are identical and the date of 1772 matches the same in the Bamert booklet notes, so I suspect those two discs completely overlap - I've not done a thorough check on the Concerto Köln recordings but suspect some overlap.

NOW, to further confuse the issue of cataloguing Myslivecek's compositions is yet another earlier contender, i.e. Evans & Dearling from 1999 and listed as 'ED' numbers (also known as the 'EvaM' which is used on the CPO recordings).  SO, in summary, multiple catalogs of his works exist and the Bamert CD and first disc of the CPO double set seem to be the same compositions -   Dave

"ED" numbers for works are cited from: Josef Mysliveček (1737-1781); a thematic catalogue of his instrumental and orchestral works Angela Evans; Robert Dearling (Munchen, 1999) (Source)