麻豆约拍

Donald Macleod surveys the life and music of the elusive French composer, Edouard Lalo

Even if you know the name, it's possible you might not be able to place the French composer Edouard Lalo date-wise. He was born in Lille in 1823. Berlioz was his senior in age by some twenty years, Saint-Sa毛ns twelve years his junior. Lalo has a direct contemporary in the shape of C茅sar Franck, another composer who preferred to stay out of the limelight. As a musician, Lalo cut an independent path, preferring to complete his music studies privately rather than following the accepted route of attending the Paris Conservatoire.

Lalo had a retiring nature, a man who appears to have preferred the quiet life. That doesn't mean he wasn't sociable. He seems to have been generally well liked. He lived in Paris from the age of sixteen and mixed with and knew all the leading musical personalities of the day. Aside from the Symphonie espagnole, he wrote several operas, a ballet, a symphony, a whole number of orchestral and chamber works including three piano trios and a string quartet, and something in the region of 30 songs.

Trying to get a handle on Lalo isn't straightforward. The first letter that鈥檚 been preserved dates from 1848, by which time Lalo was in his late twenties. His son Pierre was a primary source of information about his father, but more recent research indicates the picture he drew seems to have been somewhat rose-tinted. The first full length biography in English has yet to be published.

Donald Macleod sets about mapping the life and the music of this elusive, yet significant figure in French musical history in a survey that takes us from Lalo's early experiences in Lille, where he first met Berlioz, to his eventual triumph, age sixty on the opera stage with Le roi d'Ys.

Music Featured:

Guitarre, op 28 arr. Ernest Guiraud
Symphonie Espagnole in D minor , Op 21 (I: Allegro non troppo)
Le roy d鈥橸s - Overture
Violin sonata in D major, 鈥淕rand duo concertant鈥� Op 12 (2nd movement Variations)
Piano Trio No 2 (III: Minuetto: Allegro)
Violin Concerto No 1 in F major, Op 20 (I: Andante 鈥� Allegro)
Deux impromptus, Op 4 (I : Esp茅rance)
Symphonie Espagnole in D minor, Op 21 (II : Scherzando; Allegro molto)
Trois m茅lodies
La fenaison
Six romance populaires (IV : Si j鈥櫭﹖ais petit oiseau; I : La pauvre femme)
Piano Quintet "Grand Quintette" in Ab major (2nd movement)
Cello Concerto in D minor (I. Pr茅lude. Lento - Allegro maestoso)
Rapsodie norv茅gienne
Divertissement No 3: Andantino
Fiesque, Act 2: Entr鈥檃cte: une place de G锚nes
Fiesque, Act 1: Je ne puis supporter
Fiesque Act 2 (except)
Piano Trio No 3 in A minor, Op 26 (II: Presto)
Sonata for cello and piano (I: Andante non troppo)
Concerto russe (II: Chants russe; III. Intermezzo)
Namouna, Act 1: Valse de la Cigarette
Symphony in G minor (III: Adagio)
Namouna Suite No 2
Piano Trio in A Minor, Op 26 (I: Allegro appassionato)
Cello Concerto in D minor (II: Intermezzo; III: Introduction: Andante - Allegro vivace)
Overture to Le roi d鈥橸s (excerpt)
Le roi d鈥橸s, Act 3: Vainement, ma bien-aim茅e
String Quartet in E flat (I: Allegro vivo)
Piano Concerto in F minor (I: Lento-Allegro)
Le roi d鈥橸s, Act 1 (excerpt)
Le roi d鈥橸s, Act 3 (excerpt)
Symphonie Espagnole (V: Rondo)

Presented by Donald Macleod
Produced by Johannah Smith for 麻豆约拍 Audio Wales and West

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 Edouard Lalo (1823-1892) /programmes/m001rhyp

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

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