Garcia the Centenarian and His Times: Being a Memoir of Manuel Garcia's Life and Labours for the Advancement of Music and ScienceMackinlay, M. (Malcolm) Sterling
History
Garcia the Centenarian and His Times: Being a Memoir of Manuel Garcia's Life and Labours for the Advancement of Music and Science
With this change of _locale_ the second period in Manuel Garcia's life
is brought to a close. Before leaving it, we will cast an eye over some
of the figures prominent in the musical and artistic world of Paris
during the twenty years in which the centenarian made it his home.
Rossini, as we have seen, was director both of the Théâtre Italien and
of the French Opera when Garcia joined his sister in Paris at the close
of 1827. During this time the composer adapted several of his works to
French taste. Of these, "Moïse" and "Le Siège de Corinth" were the new
titles given to "Mose in Egitto" and "Maometto Secondo," of which the
original productions had taken place during the four years following
Manuel's arrival from Naples as a lad of eleven. Rossini, however, only
stayed in Paris for eighteen months, and left after the production there
of his greatest work, "Guillaume Tell," in August 1822, nor did he
return to settle down and become one of the most notable personalities
of the city till a quarter of a century later.
Many interesting musical productions took place during Manuel Garcia's
residence in Paris.
In 1828, the year of his arrival from Mexico, Liszt was a boy of
sixteen, an infant prodigy, just returned from a visit to England, and
beginning to teach pianoforte, owing to circumstances already referred
to in speaking of the lessons which Mme. Viardot had from him.
Berlioz had been sent by his parents some little time before to study
medicine in the French capital. Instead of doing so, however, he had
devoted himself to music, and was at this time a pupil at the
Conservatoire.
Soon after Garcia's arrival there took place the production of one of
Auber's best known works, "La Muette di Portici," or, as it is usually
entitled, "Masaniello." The next year, that in which Schubert died, saw
the completion of "Agnes von Hohenstaufen," the greatest work of
Spontini, whose opera, "La Vestale," had been greeted with enthusiasm
and adjudged Napoleon's prize of 10,000 francs twenty-two years before.
In 1830 came Auber's "Fra Diavolo" and Halévy's "Manon Lescaut."
The following year was an important one in many ways, for there were
produced not only Bellini's two favourite operas, "Somnambula" and
"Norma" (the "Puritani" was given four years later), but Hérold's
"Zampa" and Meyerbeer's "Robert le Diable." But this is not all, for it
saw the advent to Paris of Frédéric Chopin, a young man of twenty-two.
Here he quickly found fame, and became the idol of the salons, giving
lessons to a select _clientèle_ of pupils, and employing his leisure in
composition. He rarely performed in public, though, in Mendelssohn's
judgment, he was "a truly perfect virtuoso" as well as a thorough
musician, with a faculty for improvisation such as, perhaps, no other
pianist ever possessed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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