Limber up for the feats of strength. It‘s December 23rd. A Festivus for the rest of us! Seldom have I felt its spirit as strongly as I have this year. Gather ‘round the Festivus pole, and let the airing of grievances begin…
Tag: Christmas
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Puccini’s Bohemian Christmas
Giacomo Puccini’s opera “La bohème” opens in an artist’s garret on Christmas Eve. After Mimi and Rodolfo meet cute (she knocks on his door looking for a match for her candle), they join their friends on the boisterous streets of Paris for a good old-fashioned Latin Quarter Christmas. This effectively knocks out the first two acts.
By Act III, their love is on the rocks. On a snowy night, Rodolfo confides to the painter Marcello that Mimi is slowly dying of consumption (tuberculosis). He loves her still, but he doesn’t have the money to take care of her, so he is feigning jealousy in an attempt to drive her into the arms of another. Mimi overhears, and apparently agrees to the split, but then the lovers decide it’s too horrible to part in winter. We know it’s just an excuse, though, so that they can stay together until spring.
In Act IV, we have no idea what month it is, but it’s sometime later. Mimi shows up at the garret, and she is not well. The circle of bohemians offer comfort, each in their own way. Earrings are sold for a muff, and an overcoat is hocked for medicine. Left to themselves, Mimi and Rodolfo relive their past happiness, but the reunion is agonizingly brief. Their friends return, only just in time for everyone to dissolve into tears.
Merry Christmas.
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On Puccini’s birthday, here’s a recording of André Kostelanetz (also born on this date) conducting a purely orchestral suite of highlights from “La bohème”:
Mimi’s hands are cold, so Rodolfo goes to work. The old smoothie.
Franco Zeffirelli filmed production of the complete opera, with Adriana Martino turning up the heat in Act II as flirty Musetta. -
Midwinter “Karolju” Makes a Festive Noise
A “Christmas” piece I look forward listening to every year is “Karolju” by American composer Christopher Rouse (1949-2019).
It really has very little to do with authentic Christmas, when you get right down to it. Rather, Rouse deliberately attempts to emulate the spirit of Old World midwinter celebrations. The music is multicultural, alluding to a number of classical music favorites, such as “Carmina Burana,” “The Nutcracker,” and “Greensleeves” (which I know is a folk tune, but I’m going with “classical” because of the Vaughan Williams association).
The texts themselves are equally eclectic, as the composer assembles words and phrases related to Christmas in various languages, though he concedes that if they were translated into English they wouldn’t come out making a lot of coherent sense. Rather, again, it is the spirit of the words and their sounds that inspired.
Even the name “Karolju” is nonsense. Rouse wanted “carol” in the title, but he changed the “c” to a “k” and added the “ju” at the end, just to give it an Old European flavor.
The different sections are related to Latin, Swedish, French, Spanish, Russian, Czech, German, and Italian.
The work was commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 1989 and dedicated to Rouse’s daughter, who was about to celebrate her first Christmas. It certainly does make a festive noise!
On this first day of winter, I hope you’ll enjoy “Karolju” by Christopher Rouse. -
A Touch of Warmth at Midwinter
Christina Rossetti’s poem, “In the Bleak Midwinter,” was originally published as “A Christmas Carol” in the January 1872 issue of Scribner’s Monthly. In 1875, it was collected in the book “Goblin Market, The Prince’s Progress and Other Poems.”
The evocative text has been set to music several times, but two settings in particular stand out. Gustav Holst’s is also sometimes identified as the hymn tune “Cranham.” It was included in “The English Hymnal” in 1906. The simplicity and directness of the music was tailored by the composer for congregational use. Harold Darke’s setting, from three years later, is an anthem intended for trained choirs.
In either form, Rossetti’s poem has indeed become more widely known, as the inspiration for some actual, beloved Christmas carols.
Winter arrives in the Northern Hemisphere at 10:03 a.m. EST.——-
Gustav Holst
Harold Darke
——-IMAGE: “Adoration of the Shepherds” (1622), Gerard van Honthorst
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Carols Are Served on “Sweetness and Light”
I don’t know what it’s like where you are, but the madness is already underway here. If you celebrate Christmas, it’s likely your adrenaline is already up, as we prepare for a last-minute dash to the stores, a little surreptitious gift-wrapping, some early baking, or perhaps already receiving family.
This week on “Sweetness and Light,” we’ll stick to the basics, with an hour of music inspired by familiar Christmas carols and traditional Christmas songs.
In the former category, we’ll hear works by Philip Lane, Benjamin Britten, and Rick Sowash (his “Variations on The Boar’s Head Carol”). Then we’ll enjoy selections from a favorite Christmas album of mine, “Old Christmas Return’d,” from 1992, featuring early music performances by the York Waits. Some of these Christmas melodies have been around for an awfully long time!
In between, we’ll hear an original carol by John Rutter – now SIR John Rutter, who turned 80 in September – unbelievably, composed all the way back in 1972. I remember when it was a fairly new piece!
None of us are getting any younger. Recollect the holidays of your misspent youth with an hour of traditional carols for Christmas, on “Sweetness and Light,” this Saturday morning at 11:00 EST/8:00 PST, now in syndication on KWAX Classical Oregon!
Stream it wherever you are at the link:
https://kwax.uoregon.edu/
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