Incomplete And Utter History Of Classical Music

JANUARY 19TH AND MARCH 6TH 1853

T

he dates are, in fact, the first days on which the opera-going publics of Rome and Venice, respectively, were to hear the new works by Verdi - Trov and Trav. Or II Trovatore and La Traviata, to be more precise. And why is this important, apart from the fact that they are both stonking operas, still performed every five minutes, today? Well, it's important because when you put these two operas up against the two operas that we were discussing above -Gotterddmmerung (Twilight of the Gods) and Siegfried - then you have the basic gist of the two big schools of romantic music going on at this time: Italian and German. In the bold corner, there's Wagner, obviously, who, despite his unique, one-off individualism, is straight from the German tradition: his operas are logical extensions - well, logical in Wagner's brain, at least - of the legacy of Beethoven and Weber and the current legacy of Meyerbeer. In the italic corner, there's Verdi. He's directly continuing the line of Bellini and Donizet ti, and all their 'bel canto' Italianate characteristics. Wagner wants to advance his art form. Verdi is, ostensibly, a crowd pleaser. Wagner wants the heights. Verdi wants the hits. Wagner deals with Gods on horseback. Verdi deals in bums on seats. Together, they are romantic opera in 1853. But guess who is said to be about to put in an appearance, some twenty-six years after he'd died? If you guessed Beethoven, then award yourself ten points and a pair of glasses.