Pauline Viardot and her Circle

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of the 19th-century French singer, pianist, composer and influential society figure, Pauline Viardot.

“When I want to do something, I do it in spite of water, fire, society, the whole world”, an indicator if ever there was one, of the inner steel of this week’s composer.

Born in 1821, Pauline Viardot possessed an array of exceptional qualities. As one of the opera stars of her age, she was admired from Paris to St Petersburg as a sublime interpreter of Rossini, Bellini, Handel and Gluck. Beyond her incomparable voice, her twice weekly artistic salons were a high point in Parisian cultural life. She knew, and was admired by Chopin, George Sand, Delacroix, Liszt, Fauré, Tchaikovsky, and Saint-Saëns to name but a few. While having, according to Saint-Saëns, an unnecessarily modest view of her talent, she was also an accomplished composer. A talented linguist with five languages at her command, her compositions include a substantial body of songs, one or two instrumental works and a series of highly appealing operettas.

This week Donald Macleod will be exploring different facets of her extraordinary life. We’ll be hearing from a range of Viardot’s compositions as well as some of the operatic roles she made famous. He’ll be examining her role in Parisian cultural circles, and her friendships with leading writers among them Charles Dickens, and in particular Ivan Turgenev, and composers such as Berlioz, Saint-Saens, Meyerbeer and Gounod, all of whom created roles specifically for her incredible voice.

Music Featured:

Les filles de Cadix Scène d’Hermione, Act IV: Je ne t’ai point (pas), Cruel? Manuel Garcia Snr: La figlia dell’aria: È non lo vedo…. Son regina Liszt: El Contrabandista Rondo Fantastique sur Un Thème Espagnol, S.252 Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia, Act 2, Don Basilio! Cosa veggo? …… briconi, birbanti Rossini: Otello, Act 3, Sc 1, Canzone del Salice: Assisa a pie d'un salice Madrid Hai luli Six Morceaux (I Romance; II Bohèmienne; III: Berceuse) Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Act 2, Ah! qual colpo inaspettato! Plainte d’amour (Mazurka in F sharp minor, Op 6, No 1) L’Oiselet (Mazurka Op 68, No 2) La Séparation (Mazurka no 14 in G minor Op 24, No 1) Rossini: La Cenerentola, Overture 3 Mörike Songs (no 1. In der Frühe; No 2. Nixe Binsefuss) Berçeuse-cosaque Golden glow of the mountain peaks Do not sing, my beauty, to me Rossini: Il barbiere di siviglia, Act 1, No 5,Una voce poco fa Le dernier sorcier, Act 1, No 1 Par ici; No 2 Chanson de Lelio; No 3 Romance de la Reine 12 songs of Pushkin, Fet and Turgenev (No 1, Tsvetok) 5 poems of Lermontov & Turgenev (No 1, Na zare) 10 poems of Pushkin, Lermontov, Koltsov, Tyutchev and Fet (No 3, Ya lyubila yego) 12 poems of Pushkin, Fet and Turgenev (No 4, Polunochnyye obrazy) Bellini: La sonnambula, Act 1 (excerpts) Évocation Le dernier sorcier, Act 2 Finale Gounod: Sapho, Act 3, O ma lyre immortelle…. Saint-Saens: Samson et Dalila, Act 1, Printemps qui commence (Dalila, The Old Hebrew) Meyerbeer: Le prophète, Act 5 Sc 2, 3 & 4 Fauré: Puisqu’ici-bas toutes âme Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, Act 2, O sink herneider, Nacht der liebe Brahms: Alto Rhapsody Violin Sonatina in A Minor (Allegro finale) Cendrillon (excerpts) Gluck, ed Berlioz: Orphée, Act 1, Sc 4, Amour, viens rendre à mon âme

Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Johannah Smith

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Pauline Viardot and Her Circle https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000wysc

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z