March 2 - Bedřich Smetana (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th Annual Cycle)

Previous entries for March 2nd can be found here: Kurt Weill (2021); Bedřich Smetana (2020); Kurt Weill and Marc Blitzstein (2019), Desi Arnaz (2022), Kurt Weill; Bedřich Smetana (2023), Bedřich Smetana (2024), and Kurt Weill (2025)

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Bedřich Smetana (2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was an important Czech composer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carts and Horses

The overture, often played as a concert piece independently from the opera, was, unusually, composed before almost any of the other music had been written. -- Wikipedia

The charming show that's called The Bartered Bride,

   (The subject of this blog),

Was from the start a source of native pride,

    (And left the Czechs agog).

Its overture, a favorite far and wide,

Whose smash success is amply justified,

Is better known than that to which it's tied, --

   (The tail that wagged the dog).

 

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January 2 - Michael Tippett (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for January 2nd are here: Mily Balakirev; Michael Tippet; Gardner Read (2020),  Eric Whitacre (2021), Roger Miller (2022), Mily Balakirev (2023), Michael Tippett (2024), and Michael Tippett (2025)

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Michael Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was an important British composer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Groovy!

The Ice Break was a reflection of Tippett's American experiences, with a contemporary storyline incorporating race riots and drug-taking. His libretto has been criticised for its awkward attempts at American street vernacular. – Wikipedia

Though keeping abreast 

Of current events,

   Of passing fads and passions,

Is done with the best 

Of all intents,

   Beware the fate of fashions!

The slang that you think 

The young might use,

   The jargon they've created,

Is sent to the brink 

By cultural coups,

   And all at once seems dated.

 

 

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]

December 7 - Pietro Mascagni (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for December 7th are here: Pietro Mascagni; Rudolf Friml (2019), Louis Prima; Ernst Toch (2020),  Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz; Bent Fabric (2021), Daniel Chorzempa (2022), Pietro Mascagni (2023), and Rudolf Friml (2024)

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Pietro Mascagni (7 December 1863 – 2 August 1945) was an Italian opera composer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blessed Endurance

With endurance becoming a factor,

When seeking out roles to attract her,

A mature prima donna

Explored Rusticana,

An efficiently pithy one-acter.

 

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]

 

 

January 7 - Francis Poulenc (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for January 7th are here: Francis Poulenc (2020), (2021), Jean-Pierre Rampal (2022), Francis Poulenc; Adam Krieger (2023), and Jean-Pierre Rampal (2024)

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Francis Poulenc (7 January 1899 – 30 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist whose music, especially his works for voices, is still a popular part of the repertoire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nuns and Puns

At the place of execution, one nun after another stands and slowly processes toward the guillotine.  – Wikipedia, s.v. "Dialogues of the Carmelites"

One seldom reads, in humor blogs,

   About the theater magic

Of Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues,

   Because, you see, it’s tragic.

Remember, in final scene,

   Just as the tale is done, 

The Revolution’s guillotine

   Decapitates each nun.

The bleakest bleak of opera nights,

   With corpses by the bevy,

Although it’s called The Carmelites,

   The denouement is heavy.

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]

 

December 9 - Conchita Supervía; Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi (The Musical Birthday Series, 6th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for December 9th are here: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf; Émile Waldteufel (2019), Donny Osmond (2020), Pierre Henry; Sidney Homer (2021), Maddalena Laura Sirmen (2022), and Émile Waldteufel; Donny Osmond (2023)

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Conchita Supervía (8–9 December 1895 – 30 March 1936) was a Spanish mezzo-soprano in opera and recital. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conchita!

If you should admit you’re, like me, a

Fan of this singer, we’ll be a

Small club with a few

Who espouse the same view

Of the mezzo from Spain, Supervía.

 

 

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪

Pietro Alessandro Guglielmi (9 December 1728 – 19 November 1804) was an Italian composer of operas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Variations on Guglielmi’s Sojourn in London

(1)

His works met with much success in Germany, but the greatest triumphs were reserved for him in England.  – adapted from Wikipedia

In London’s most elegant age

His works were (quite briefly) the rage;

Even so, if you’d tell me

To hum some Guglielmi.

I’d refuse… and keep typing this page.

 

(2)

 

Considering the enormous number of his works, his unequal workmanship and the frequent instances of mechanical and slipshod writing in his music need not surprise us. – Wikipedia

In London his operas had

The sudden success of a fad,

Though he’d copy and paste

Old clichés in his haste,

They weren’t irredeemably bad,

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]