Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf - Ester

"Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739-1799), the Viennese contemporary of Haydn and Mozart, was one of the most popular musicians of his age. Owing to his success as a performer - he was a fêted virtuoso violinist of aristocratic and court orchestras in Vienna - he began composing on a regular basis at a relatively late age, in the late 1760s. However thanks to his fantastically fast rate of work, his technical accomplishment and diligence he still left behind an exceptionally rich life-work - we know of some 100 symphonies, 34 operas, 30 concertos and divertimentos as well as a large number of chamber and vocal works. His natural, carefree, almost routine method of composition was accompanied by a stylistic ideal that set as its aim the basic rules of social music fashionable both with the aristocracy and the general public - good taste, clarity, elegance of form and adherence to tradition. As a result of a visit to Vienna in 1772, after his work 'Isacco' written in 1766, he once again embarked on composing oratorios which are not intended for the stage.

"The oratorio, which bears the title 'La liberatrice del popolo giudaico ossia L'Ester' (The Rescuer of the Jewish People, or Esther) is based on parts three and four of The Book of Esther, or more exactly, it uses the motifs of these sections. The writer of the Metastasianic libretto Salvator Ignaz Pintus, renounces the requirement of presenting the whole story, and indeed, he even renounces following the dramatic thread which was usual in the earlier baroque oratorios, as for example, in Handel's Esther Oratorio. Instead of adhering to the logic inherent in the plot, the poet places tableaux and scenes depicting emotions which were arrived at by magnifying certain episodes, side by side, often in an arbitrary manner without any interrelationship. The original story relates how, at the time of their Babylonian captivity, the Jewish people, with the help of Esther, escape being massacred. Esther, the lovely wife of King Ahasverus (Xerxes) undertook, at the risk of her life, to plead with the king for mercy for her people, to save them from the wrath of the Persians. At Dittersdorf's request, it was really the mass scenes that received the emphasis in the libretto. With the exception of the duet of Ahasverus and Esther, only the choral sections refer directly to the biblical story. In the introduction of the various characters the librettist distorts the essence and reduces characterization to the love relationship. The texts of the solos, recitative and arias refer in such symbolical and abstract manner to the imaginary background of the plot that often we can only surmise which biblical character corresponds to the relevant role.

"Yet from a musical standpoint the aria texts are of immeasurable value: by means of a detailed, pliant introduction of the various emotional states and situations they created conditions for the realisation of more complex musical forms, arias of sonata form or of several sections. In other words they helped the development of baroque da capo arias into multi subject classical forms. Under the influence of the heritage of Carissimi's and Handel's choral oratorios, Dittersdorf's choral movements evoke the memory of the old, more severe, restricted style.

"The recitativo accompagnatos and arias are already unambiguous classical vocal forms, characters and intonations." (Márta Grabócz. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Liszt Ferenc Kamarazenekar, Budapesti Madrigálkórus, Ferenc Szekeres

1. Ouverture

2. 'A Crude Morte Traggansi'

3. 'D'Abramo, Isacco I Figli'

4. 'In Qual Profondo'

5. 'Ferma, T'arresta'

6. 'Per Noi Quel Core S'agita'

7. 'Fra Le Sventure Estreme'

8. 'Dunque Susa Lodò'

9. 'Ester, Cara Mia Vita'

10. 'Numi Pietosi, Dite'

11. 'Ah, Se In Vita'

12. 'Fra Le Caligini'

13. 'Di Persia Nella Reggia'

14. 'La Persia Ed Isdraello'

flac/16-bit

Ludwig August Lebrun; Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf; Antonio Salieri - Oboe Concertos

"Antonio Salieri, a pupil and friend of Gluck, has been well-nigh deliberately avoided by musical scholarship up to the present day. He was, however, an extremely accomplished composer of vocal music, who said of himself with excessive modesty that he had little skill in instrumental music and had for that reason written little of it. He wrote one triple concerto, dated 1770 on the autograph. The notation follows an old-fashioned practice, allowing for variability in the ensemble available to play the work: the solo parts are written out on staves between the bass and the strings, and the parts of the oboes and the kettle-drum - which is required only as a reinforcement in 'forte' passages - are written on separate sheets, signifying that they could be dispensed with.

"The first subject of the opening movement is given to the solo violin. With its somewhat inflexible head-motif (a Baroque descending fourt) and the convoluted figuration that it leads into, it sounds as if it originated in a 'fugato'. The imitative entries of the oboe and cello reinforce that impression. Traces of polyphonic thinking persist even in the tutti entry, in which the head-motif is involved in something like a fugal 'stretto'. The pregnant opening theme of the second movement, Cantabile, is stamped unmistakably by the prevalance of suspensions in the melodic material (feminine cadences) typical of early Classicism. This ternary movement has an extensive recapitulation which makes way for the 'terzettino' with a generous cadence. In the last movement (Andantino), an ebullient theme and seven variations, the separate soloists have the chance to show off a variety of style of playing a ornamentation. The last variation (tutti and concertino) is twice as long as the others and also has a coda.

"Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf was a violinist by vocation, but he owes his place in history to the German 'Singspiele' he wrote. In his richly anecdotal autobiography he refers to two oboe concertos commissioned in 1757 by the Count of Breda for his 'virtuoso oboists', although, as it turned out, Dittersdorf wrote only one of them. In their catalogue supplement of 1775 the publishers Breitkopf and Härtel list three oboe concertos, but none of them can be identified with the G major concerto.

"In the opening movement, the motto-like head-motif is diverted once into the sub-dominant and later freely elaborated by the solo oboist. The task of the soloist is ornamentation and variation, rather than 'working out' in the modern sense. The playful second subject, in the dominant, is given to the oboe exclusively. In the middle section - it cannot be called a 'development' - the soloist again embarks on a subject in the dominant which is also eschewed by the tutti. The conventional thematic separation of soloist and tutti is thus still in evidence.

"In the Adagio Dittersdorf succeeds in introducing a Romantic atmosphere, by effects of instrumentation. The third movement can be described as a free concerto movement in several sections, with a multiplicity of themes. The soloist takes over the vigorous first subject from the tutti, at first repeating it note for note, but then develops it freely and leads into the dominant. Having arrived there, the soloist is given two new subjects which the tutti answers with a theme of its own. New motivic material is added during the course of the multiple exchange between soloist and tutti, until the first subject reasserts itself towards the end and establishes the concluding tonality.

"Ludwig August Lebrun was a member of the Mannheim orchestra from 1764 until his death and was regarded as one of the leading oboists of his day. His compositions - ballets, concertos and a variety of chamber works - testify to the high standards of the musical training of orchestral players of that period. His reputation was spread throughout the cultural centres of Europe by the many tours he undertook. Lebrun 'enchants 'le tout Paris' with his divine oboe', the critic Schubart enthused in 1775.

"We possess quite a number of oboe concertos by Lebrun. The D minor concerto probably dates from the mid-1770s. The opening movement already typifies the modern Mannheim concerto style with an extensive double exposition, although the soloist's part still allows free development after the first period. The attractive F major subject is introduced without a caesura by the oboe; transposed into the tonic minor it establishes itself as second subject in the recapitulation. The middle section can be described as a 'development' in the later sense, because the first subject, but not the second, is motivically elaborated. Its appearance in E-flat major creates at first the illusion of a recapitulation, but the real recapitulation is not reached until the return to D minor has been effected. The final section is dominated by virtuoso figuration.

"Lebrun wrote a solemn theme of remarkable richness for the Grazioso of the second movement. The soloist dominates the ternary movement for almost the whole of its extent, and exchange with the tutti are reduced to only a few bars.

"The last movement begins in careless rapture, with a theme constructed by sequential repetition. It soon reveals itself as an exemplary Mannheim rondo. The third of the soloists three pregnant couplets alludes to the triple rhythm of the Moravian dance called the Hanacca. The last refrain is extended in a manner that, after a reticent but structurally important 'ritardando', allows an extra refrain to be added. The concerto is an impressive work, and reveals Lebrun as a technically competent composer and one of the progressives of the time, who anticipated the cyclical formal integration of the Classical age." (Heinz Becker, tr. Mary Whittall. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Camerata Bern, Thomas Füri, Heinz Holliger

1. Ludwig August Lebrun - Oboe Concerto In D Minor: I. Allegro

2. Ludwig August Lebrun - Oboe Concerto In D Minor: II. Grazioso

3. Ludwig August Lebrun - Oboe Concerto In D Minor: III. Allegro

4. Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf - Oboe Concerto In G Major: I. Maestoso

5. Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf - Oboe Concerto In G Major: II. Adagio

6. Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf - Oboe Concerto In G Major: III. Allegro

7. Antonio Salieri - Triple Concerto In D Major: I. Allegro

8. Antonio Salieri - Triple Concerto In D Major: II. Cantabile

9. Antonio Salieri - Triple Concerto In D Major: III. Andantino

flac/16-bit

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf - String Quartets

"'Fame is a fickle thing; it can burst out like a shooting star and fade away just as quickly. Most composers have enjoyed their moment of fame, but for Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf, his was a long and glorious moment indeed. In his hey-day, Dittersdorf's career even overshadowed Franz Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His music was 'that will live on forever' [...] but it seems that history has seen to it that this was proven a false prophecy, and the music of Haydn and Mozart probably hammered in the nails that sealed Dittersdorf's coffin.' (Joshua Lilly)

"'I know for a fact that my name and works are famous all over Europe, so I hope I have given pleasure to half a million people in this well-populated part of the world. If only each of these people were to give one penny 'in omni et toto' to me - or rather to my family, since it would be of little use to me now - it would represent a tiny oulay for the giver, but what a huge difference it would make for the bereft, disconsolate family of a man who, like the one in the parable, did not bury his talent in the ground!'

"It is certainly tru that Vienna-born Karl Dittersdorf (1739-1799) did not bury his talent: he produced four oratorios, various masses, some fifty stage works, as well as symphonies, concertos and chamber music. He did what he could to develop his talents and to become accepted in society. As one of the outstanding violin virtuosos of his generation he travelled widely, and as a highly respected composer for the stage he was invited to many of the great opera houses. His singspiel 'Doktor un Apotheker' (Doctor and Apothecary) was even more famous in his day that Mozart's 'Marriage of Figaro'. Yet, as befalls so many of those who are swept aloft on waves of applause, the end of his life brought total insignificance and the painful realisation that he was already forgotten in his own lifetime. That same world in which admiration once held sway continued to turn, and had spun away in a different direction. Nevertheless, Kart Dittersdorf, not yet sixty but already almost crippled by gout, worked away doggedly at a late composition, a set of several new pieces. He announced it for subscription in specialist journals, only to be disappointed: not a single buyer came forward for any of the pieces. Out of kindness of heart a prince took pity on him and his family and gave them a home.

"Instead of resigning himself to his fate, he dictated an autobiography to his son. This is a remarkable document in many respects. It is a rich source of information on life at small Central European courts, such as Grosswardein and Johannisberg, where Dittersdorf spent much of his career. One learns, for instance, that a prince bishop had so little to do that he could afford to spend a week translating a cantata text from Italian into Latin for the astonishing reason that oridnary gentlemen and ladies, the musical amateurs who formed the greater part of the operatic ensemble at small courts of this kind, knew no Italian but were fluent in Latin.

"The autobiography is remarkable also because Dittersdorf's account of his life is straightforward and honest, unembellished, at times bitter, and usually spiced with apt touches of irony. His time was one of wars that altered the political landscape, shifting power structures, plots and intrigues at the courts of princes and emperor, long journeys that took a toll on health, poor standards of hygeine, a lack of social security provision; but on the other hand it was a time when drama and orchestral music flourished even in the smallest towns; a time when the world seemed stable and untroubled by doubt. There was dignity and social etiquette (though also hypocrisy). In Vienna Haydn, Mozart, Vanhal and Dittersdorf met to play string quartets together for their own pleasure, occasionally joined by Paisiello, and there were times when the musical director at a princely court might also be called upon to fill the role of chief forester. They were times no less strange than our own.

"Dittersdorf was ennobled in 1773, an honour that cost him, as he ruefully recalls, 1100 gulden, of which 50 ducats went to an agent, Herr von Hoffmann, evidently an intermediary in these matters, although the prince did present him with 400 gulden. Dittersdorf is remembered today chiefly as a composer for the double-bass - which is absurd to start with. Many of his works are thoroughly original, but others are not. He never saw himself as a genius but as a person who strove to do the best he could in order to build a career for himself and become a respected member of society. No romanticism in this. And this explains why people nowadays would rather listen to Mozart work that is not entirely original than to an original one by Dittersdorf - yet amongst the potboilers there a handful of highly original works.

"As always, our contacts with historical figures tell us more about ourselves than about them. We are fortunate enough to have the wherewithal to introduce music from totally different historical contexts into our daily listening and thus to acquire a taste for music of all periods; this gives us the notion that we stand higher, see further, and understand better and more than preceding generations. This notion may not even be a mistaken one. But the Dittersdorfs alive today in our town, in our own country, in our own days, may die just as miserable and unregarded a death as Dittersdorf himself a couple of centuries ago. That's life.

"One thing emerges from Dittersdorf's life and autobiography: then as nowadays, the overriding concern was getting enough money to achieve a certain standard of living, and the romantic ideas that have always hovered the (dead) composer are nonsense. Dittersdorf the composer was pleased when an orchestral movement turned out particularly well, and he was pleased when a prince requested him to perform his piece.s The same was doubtless true of Mozart. But one must be allowed to ask this question: what else were they supposed to do to survive?

"'Laden with honour and money I arrived back in Johannisberg and was welcomed with happy smiles by my family and with friendly but quzzical looks by my creditors.' Thus wrote Dittersdorf. He is worth reading and listening to. He was one of the most entertaining composers and men." (Andreas Daams, tr. Celia Skrine. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Sharon Quartet

1. String Quartet No. 1 In D Major: I. Moderato

2. String Quartet No. 1 In D Major: II. Menuetto

3. String Quartet No. 1 In D Major: III. Finale. Allegro

4. String Quartet No. 3 In G Major: I. Moderato

5. String Quartet No. 3 In G Major: II. Menuetto. Moderato

6. String Quartet No. 3 In G Major: III. Finale. Presto

7. String Quartet No. 4 In C Major: I. Allegro

8. String Quartet No. 4 In C Major: II. Menuetto. Allegro

9. String Quartet No. 4 In C Major: III. Andante

10. String Quartet No. 5 In E-Flat Major: I. Allegro

11. String Quartet No. 5 In E-Flat Major: II. Menuetto

12. String Quartet No. 5 In E-Flat Major: III. Finale. Allegro

flac/16-bit

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf - Sinfonias on Ovid's Metamorphoses Nos. 1-3

"In the autobiography dedicated to his son Carl Ditters gives a brief account of his parentage. He was born in Vienna in 1739, the son of a costume-maker employed at the court theatre under Charles the Sixth, a man who also served as a first lieutenant in the citizen's artillery and took part in the war that followed the death of that ruler. He had a good general education and in 1751 joined the musical establishment of the Prince of Sachsen-Hildeburghausen, where he was able to undertake a more concentrated study of music, with composition lessons from Giuseppe Bonno. The Prince left Vienan in 1761 and disbanded his musical establishment, finding a position for Ditters and some of his colleagues under Count Durazzo in the court opera and orchestra. This brought a close acquaintance with dramatic music, not least through Gluck, with whom he traveled to Italy in 1763, making an impression himself as a violinist and meeting Italian musicians of distinction, including Padre Martini and the castrato Farinelli.

"In 1764 Count Durazzo resigned his position, compelled to do so by the hostile intrigues of Reutter and others associated with the court, and was appointed ambassador to Venice, a position he held for some twenty years. Ditters found difficulty in working under Durazzo's successor and resigned in order to take up an appointment as Kapellmeister to the Bishop of Grosswardein, where he succeeded Michael Haydn, younger brother of Joseph Haydn. When the musical establishment was disbanded in 1769, he found employment as Kapellmeister to the Prince-Bishop of Breslau, Count Schaffgotsch, at Johannisberg, coupling this position with that of Forstmeister (forestry superindendent) in the Neisse region. In 1773 he was ennobled by the Empress, taking the additional title of von Dittersdorf. This enabled him to become Amtshauptmann, chief official, of Freiwaldau, retaining this position and his work at Johannisberg in spite of an apparent suggestion that he become court composer in Vienna, in succession to Gassmann, who had died in 1774. The war of the Bavarian succession brought difficulties for his patron and consequently for Dittersdorf, who spent the years after the Prince-Bishop's death in 1795 in retirement. He had been able, in 1793, to provide a series of Singspiel for Friedrich-August of Brunswick-Öls, continuing a form of composition in which he had long been distinguished, but which were now impossible at Johannisberg. He died in 1799 at Neuhof in Bohemia, where he had settled at the invitation of Baron Ignaz von Stillfried.

"Dittersdorf was prolific as a composer, winning a reputation for his dramatic works, notable in the form of Singspiel, and his instrumental music, the later including some 120 symphonies, a series of concertos and a quantity of chamber music. His vocal and choral music included four successful oratorios. The Irish tenor Michael Kelly, the first Don Basilio in Mozart's 'Le nozza di Figaro', reports having heard Dittersdorf in a quartet at the house of his friend Stephen Storace, with Haydn playing first violin, Dittersdorf second, Mozart viola and the composer Vanhal cello. Dittersdorf as a respected figure in the musical circles of the time, welcomed and engaged in conversation by the Emperor himself, as he recounted to his son.

"Six of the twelve 'Symphonies after the Metamorphoses of Ovid' survive in their original form. These were written in 1783 and introduced to the public in Vienna three years later, when Dittersdorf had occasion to visit the city for the first performance of his oratorio 'Giobbe' (Job). He related in his autobiography how, by special permission of the Emperor, he had arranged to have six of the symphonies performed in the Augarten, an event for which Baron van Swieten, arbiter of musical taste at court and patron of Mozart and Haydn, had taken a hundred tickets. Bad weather led him to try to postpone the concert, but difficulties arose when he sought permission from the police, since a new decision of the cabinet was needed for any such change of plan. Dittersdorf was obliged to seek out a court official to authorise the postponement and in doing so found himself in conversation with the Emperor himself, an even that he recounts in some detail.

"The 'Metamorphoses' of the Roman poet Ovid contains, in its fifteen books, a compendium of Greek and Roman mythology and legend. In spite of the title, this is not simple a book of changes in Latin hexameters, but an inspired and episodic narrative, in which stories are only loosely connected one to the other. Opening with Chaos, Ovid soon moved on to the four ages of the world, the subject of the first of Dittersdorf's symphonies, the 'Sinfonia in C major, Die vier Weltalter'. Scored for flute, pairs of oboes, bassoons, horns, trumpets and timpani, with strings, the first movement introduces the peace of the golden age - 'aurea prima sata est aetas', the golden age was first established, an age in which men kept faith without any compulsion. The movement is dominated by its tranquil opening theme and is followed by an evocation of the silver age - 'subiit argentea proles auro deterior', there followed the silver race, lesser than gold, more precious than tawny bronze, now with its four season. The music is livelier in a tripartite sonata-form movement. This leads to the 'Minuetto con garbo', a graceful minuet, to represent the age of bronze - 'teria post illas successit aëna proles', third after those followed the bronze race, more savage in spirit and prompter to make war. The A minor minuet is angular in theme, with a trio section of greater suavity. The symphony ends with the age of iron - 'de duro est ultima ferro', the last is of hard iron, an age when all wickedness is let loose. A descending chromatic figure opens the movement in increasingly rapid note values, continuing with a military fanfare and music of greater excitement which eventually subsides, leading a final 'Allegretto' that is gracious enough at first, but ends with the agitation of an age of violence.

"The second of the set, the 'Symphony in D major, Der Sturz Phaëtons', with similar instrumentation but no timpani, deals with Ovid's version of the legend of Phaëthon, son of Helios (the Sun) and Clymene, a mortal. Phaëthon sought out his father, who offered him one gift, whatever he should ask. Phaëthon asked to drive his father's chariot for one day and, in spite of his father's warning, attempted this feat. The horses of the Sun bolted and brought danger of fire to the earth, until Zeus, the king of the gods, hurled a thunderbolt at him. Phaëthon fell into the river Eridanus, where he died. Dittersdorf's first movement reflects the first line of Ovid's narrative - 'Regia Solis erat sublimibus alta columnis', the royal seat of the Sun was on high with lofty columns, bright with shining gold and gilded bronze like flames. Syncopation lends a feeling of impending doom to the music, with its scintillating ornamentation and, in the 'Allegro', contrasts of dynamics. The narrative continues in the 'Andante' - 'deposuit radios propiusque accedere iussit', the Sun laid aside the shining rays about his head and ordered the boy to come nearer, accepting him as his son. Here the bassoon doubles the first violin at the octave, accompanied by a descending accompanying figure in the other strings, with music that again offers the dynamic contrast of divine father and mortal son. 'Paenituit iurasse patrem', his father was sorry to have sworn to grant Phaëthon's wish, for this is the one thing he would have denied him. The story and symphony end with the final catastrophe - 'Intonat, et dextra libratum fulmen ab aure / misit in aurigam pariterque animaque rotisque / expulit et saevis compescuit ignibus ignes', Zeus thunders and hurled his thunderbolt at the charioteer, expelling him from life and from his chariot and curbed fire with savage fire. Opening in B minor, with syncopation again suggesting what is to come, the music gives a dramatic representation of the fall of Phaëthon, ending in hushed tones, the solar eclipse that took place as the Sun mourned his loss.

"The 'Symphony in G major, Verwandlung Aktäons in einen Hirsch', now also without trumpets, is a true tale of metamorphosis, taken from the following, third book of Ovid's poem. Dittersdorf chooses only a short phrase as superscription - 'per devia lustra vagantes', wandering through out-of-the-way woods, as the young men end their hunting. The music brings suggestions of the hunt in its ascending fanfare arpeggios and its haloos, but is followed by a gentler pastoral 'Adagio', with a flute solo over the traditional figuration for murmuring streams of breezes. The quotation from Ovid at the head of the movmement declares that 'hic dea silvarum venatu fessa solebat / virgineos artus liquido perfundere rore', here the goddess of the woods, tired from hunting, was wont to bathe her virgin limbs in dew. A minuet introduces Actaeon, grandson of Cadmus - 'Ecce nepos Cadmi' - who strays in the grove where the goddess is. The finale sees the goddess take her revenge. Actaeon is changed into a stag and torn apart by his own dogs - 'dilacerant falsi dominum sub imagine cervi', the dogs tear their master apart under the false appearances of a stag. Once again the agitation of the music subsides, as the story comes to an end." (Keith Anderson. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Failoni Orchestra, Hanspeter Gmür

1. Sinfonia No. 1 In C Major 'The Four Ages Of The World': I. Larghetto

2. Sinfonia No. 1 In C Major 'The Four Ages Of The World': II. Allegro E Vivace

3. Sinfonia No. 1 In C Major 'The Four Ages Of The World': III. Minuetto Con Garbo

4. Sinfonia No. 1 In C Major 'The Four Ages Of The World': IV. Finale. Prestissimo - Allegretto

5. Sinfonia No. 2 In D Minor 'The Fall Of Phaëton': I. Adagio Non Molto - Allegro

6. Sinfonia No. 2 In D Minor 'The Fall Of Phaëton': II. Andante

7. Sinfonia No. 2 In D Minor 'The Fall Of Phaëton': III. Tempo Di Minuetto

8. Sinfonia No. 2 In D Minor 'The Fall Of Phaëton': IV. Finale. Vivace Ma Non Troppo Presto - Andantino

9. Sinfonia No. 3 In G Major 'Transformation Of Actaeon Into A Stag': I. Allegro

10. Sinfonia No. 3 In G Major 'Transformation Of Actaeon Into A Stag': II. Adagio (Più Tosto Andantino)

11. Sinfonia No. 3 In G Major 'Transformation Of Actaeon Into A Stag': III. Tempo Di Minuetto

12. Sinfonia No. 3 In G Major 'Transformation Of Actaeon Into A Stag': IV. Finale. Vivace

flac/16-bit

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf - Doktor und Apotheker

"'Dittersdorf's musical merits are universally known, his works having brought much enjoyment to the educated in all Europe and one hears them with the feeling of receiving a warm greeting from a well-known friend.' These words begin Dittersdorf's biography which appeared as an anonymous work from 1810 in Erturf entitled 'Gallerie der berühmtesten Tonküunstler des achtzehnten und neunzehnten Jahrhunderts' or 'Gallery of the most famous composers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries'. At this point in time the fame of the composer who had shone first as a violin virtuoso and then as the creator of more than 40 stage works, oratorios, over 120 symphonies and chambers pieces had faded.

"The life and works of this master of the 'Wiener Klassik' may be studied in this first complete recording of his most famous opera 'Doctor and Apothecary', the only work which, since its premiere in 1786, has kept the name Dittersdorf in circulation in the musical world. Although his less thorough critics might view him as a prototype of the prolific and unimpressive 'lesser light' at the side of Mozart and Haydn, Dittersdorf's comprehensible pieces over the more complicated works of both great composers who, for their own part, also respected him as a composer. In the years 1783-87 Haydn produced many of Dittersdorf's operas at the court of Esterház and Mozart didn't hesitate to premiere his Piano Concerto in E-flat major KV 482 as 'interlude music' between the two acts of Dittersdorf's oratorio 'Esther' on December 23, 1785. Both composers played string quartets with Dittersdorf and Bohemian composer Johann Baptist Vanhal in the following order: 1st violin - Haydn, 2nd violin - Dittersdorf, viola - Mozart, violoncello - Vanhal.

"Carl Ditters (as of 1773 Ditters von Dittersdorf) was born the son of a theatre employee originally from Danzig and employed at the k.u.k. court in Vienna on November 2, 1739. He began studying the violin at age seven and made such swift progress that he was taken to the court of the musically-inclined imperial officer Josef Maria Friedrich Wilhelm Prince von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. There the young Dittersdorf became a member of the Prince's orchestra - the oldest private orchestra among the Viennese nobility. Dittersdorf came to view the Prince as a second father and was duly instructed at the Prince's residence - also in violin by the Italian Trani and in composition under the Italian court music master Giuseppe Bonno. He showed considerable talent in composition as well and, after seeing a production of Pergolesi's 'La Serva Padrona' at his patrons residence, developed a life-long enthusiasm for musical theatre.

"Upon taking over the regency at Hildburghausen, the Prince dissolved his Vienna orchestra but also provided the musicians with positions elsewhere, Dittersdorf came as violinist to the Wiener Hofoper orchestra and there was able to expand his knowledge of opera literature. In 1763 he traveled to Bologna with Gluck for the premiere of Gluck's opera 'Il trionfo di Clelia' and was celebrated there as a virtuoso. Two years later he followed Michael Haydn in the post of conductor for the Bishop of Grosswardein in Hungary following a disagreement with the Hofoper director in Vienna over a raise in salary. Here Dittersdorf began a time of fruitful productivity. He enlarged and schooled the orchestra there (composed partially of amateur musicians - among them a confectioner by trade) and introduced the usage of the clarinet as well as the Viennese method of playing while seated - both of which Mozart had to do without in Salzburg - much to his chagrin. During this time Dittersdorf also emerged as a composer with early operas created for a small theater which he himself had begun, with cantatas, the world premiere of his staged oratorio 'Isacco figura del Redentore', as well as orchestral and chamber works.

"However the need to look for a new position came in 1769 when the Bishop dissolved the orchestra due to rumors concerning his 'worldly' lifestyle which were circulated by his enemies at the Viennese court. A short time later Dittersdorf became acquainted with the Bishop von Breslau, Count Schaffgotsch, who was at that time on unfriendly terms with Frederick the Great, and who, in turn, invited Dittersdorf to visit his estates in Johannisberg in Silesia. Originally intending to spend only the winter months of 1769-70, Dittersdorf ended in remaining and taking over the direction of the Count's orchestra of nine musicians. As a sign of gratitude the Count insured Dittersdorf's reception of the papal decoration of the golden spur, which the 14-year-old Mozart also received in the same year. Because the Bishop's finances wouldn't allow him to hire Dittersdorf as a conductor he had him named forestry master of the principality of Neisse and later of Freiwaldau, the reason for which he was made a member of the nobility in 1773 by Empress Maria Theresia - an event which Dittersdorf valued more than his successes as a composer.

"Despite the limited possibilities (his orchestra then numbered 17) - he was so satisfied with his work in the country that he turned down a call to the position of court conductor in Vienna as successor to Florian Leopold Gassmann. In Johannisberg in 1771 he married the Hungarian singer Nicolina Trink who had already appeared as prima donna in his operas a Grosswardein. Between 1770 and 1777 eleven Italian comic operas were composed, among them 'Il vaggiatore americano' and 'Il finto pazzo per amore'. During occasional visits in Vienna he produced his oratorios 'Esther' (1773) and 'Giobbe' or 'Job' (1785) which brought him much recognition as did the productions of his first six program symphonies on Ovid's Metamorphoses played at the Augarten in the spring of 1786 and in the theater. In his autobiography Dittersdorf describes his deep satisfaction at the success of those concerts and further writes:

"'I was about to pack my bags when the actor Stephani the Younger (also supervisor at the Deutsche Oper) visited me on behalf of the management, requesting the composition of a German opera for the usual fee of 100 ducats. I agreed; Mr. Stephani provided the text and in half a year 'Doctor and Apothecary' was being performed. Upon an additional request from the management I wrote two more German operas and one Italian opera - all within a seven-month period. My three German works 'Doktor und Apotheker', 'Betrug durch Aberglauben' and 'Liebe im Narrenhaus' went well; however the Italian opera 'Democrito' was not a success'

"'Before embarking on my return to Silesia in February, 1887, I went to thank the Emperor for his reward for my four operas and held a conversation with him similar to the last time, only that, in addition, he asked my opinion on the Italian operas I had heard in Vienna. I freely gave him my opinions both positive and negative. Whereupon he said, among other things, 'I imagine my musical knowledge to be quite good since my judgement always coincide with yours. When do you intend to leave?' I: 'Day after tomorrow.' Emperor (after having paced up and down thoughtfully): 'Couldn't you postpone your trip eight days?' I: 'If your majesty orders it.' Emperor: 'Good! Do that and - listen - this coming Saturday evening I will order a repeat performance of 'Doctor and Apothecary' and I think the local audience would be pleased to see you at the podium and in the program once again.' I: 'As your Majesty wishes.' Emperor: 'Then it's settled. I will also be there at the theater to see you once more. Farewell until then!' I prepared everything and my opera was performed. The following morning Mr. von Horvath, the head bookkeeper for all the theater box offices, appeared with a roll of 200 gold ducats from the Emperor - who was so kind as to present me with the entire income from my opera. At von Horbath's suggestion I immediately hurried to thank the Emperor before he went to Mass. He received me gladly, we conversed for more than half an hour and he complimented me on my serious and comic styles, ending with the words: 'Come to Vienna as often as you wish and your business allows and come to see me each time. I'll always be happy to receive you, especially since we are both of one mind concerning music.'

"The success of the first opera, 'Doctor and Apothecary', was much greater than one may read out of Dittersdorf's own reports. Its sensational premiere on July 11, 1786 was overshadowed by the likewise successful premiere of Mozart's opera 'Le nozze di Figaro' two months before on May 1st and thereafter the piece was practically dropped from the theater program. Nevertheless, Dittersdorf's high regard for Mozart as well as the problems he faced with the composer's music (as did most of Mozart's contemporaries) may be noted in a conversation between the composer and Emperor Joseph II which Dittersdorf records in his autobiography:

"'Emperor: 'What do you say to Mozart's composition? I: 'He is undoubtedly one of the greatest original geniuses and I've never known any composer to possess such a wealth of ideas. I wish he weren't so wasteful with them. He doesn't allow the listener time to breathe; then, as soon as one has begun to ponder a beautiful idea, there appears another wonderful one to take its place. This continues to such a degree that, at the end, one has not been able to commit even one of these ideas to memory.''

"The years from 1785 to 1790 made up the high point of Dittersdorf's career. In 1789 he travelled to Berlin where he composed six string quintets with two violincelli for the cello-playing Prussian king, Wilhelm II. His star then began to fade in '90's although he continued to be extremely productive - writing, for the most part, German 'Singspiele' or musical dramas. Upon the death of his employer, Dittersdorf was pensioned off with a wretched yearly sum of 300 talers - hardly enough to support himself and his family. At last, the once-celebrated and now nearly-forgotten composer, ill and plagued by gout, found a modest position with the Baron Ignaz von Stillfried at Schloss Rothlhotta in Bohemia where he composed a few more operas (for the theater in Oels, among others, 'The Merry Wives of Windsor') and dictated his life story to his son. Two days following the autobiography's completion Dittersdorf dired on October 24, 1799.

"This autobiography, in which at the end Dittersdorf pleads with society not to allow his family to starve, was published in 1801 in slightly edited form by the author Karl Spazier. It is one of the most revealing, amusing and unsettling documentations of the musical and cultural history of the 18th century as well as an excellent portrayal of a musician's life at this time with all its highs and lows.

"At the same time it has often been regretted that so little about the creation of Dittersdorf's pieces and their reception by the public may be learned from the book. Its wealth of (partially silly) anecdotes of various singers or the not always very meaningful conversations with important personalities does, however, speak for the composer's theatrical talents. That his 'Doctor and Apothecary', the first of his German operas written for Vienna, was a milestone in the history of this genre was first ascertained after the fact. The degree of family the piece enjoyed during Dittersdorf's lifetime may not be found in his autobiography but its success may be verified through other facts. After the Viennese world premiere in 1786 the 'Doctor and Apothecary' (the title in the piano score and text reads, 'The Doctor and the Apothecary' as apposed to the above-mentioned version which appears in the autobiography) appeared in Pressburg in the same year, in 1787 in Kassel, Hamburg, Berlin and Budapest, 1790 in Prague, Riga and Agram, 1792 in Amsterdam and 1793 in Warsaw. The text was translated into English, French, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, Hungarian and Russian before 1800. A piano score drawn up by Dittersdorf had already appeared in print in Vienna by Gottfried Friedrich in 1787.

"A reprint appeared a year later by Schott in Mainz containing all the arias and ensembles except both finales and the 2nd-act sextet. Separate editions of these were also offered. Arrangements of the most popular pieces for piano or string quartet were published as well as the Danish and English versions (the latter of which was quite distorted by numerous deletions and additions by the Mozart student Stephen Storace - a custom of that time). The English rendtion was played 36 consecutive times at the Drury Lane Theater in 1788. None of Mozart's operas enjoyed such wide-spread popularity before 1790.

"What were the reasons behind the fact that this particular piece helped propel Dittersdorf to such heights of popularity? Firstly, the text by Gottfried Stephani the Younger (1741-1800), actor and theater director in Vienna, must be mentioned. Stephani also wrote the libretti to Mozart's 'Die Entführung aus dem Serail' (1782) and 'Der Schauspieldirektor' (1786). For Dittersdorf's piece he used, as was common then, a foreign literary model - 'l'Apothecaire de Mercie' from the French by Count de N. - as it is written in the title. Stephani, a Prussian soldier from Breslau and stationed in Vienna, was certainly not a well-known author; however, a later description of him as 'the evil spirit of this theater period' is just as surely unjustified. Mozart, who had found in Stephani a librettist with whom he worked well, made a more competent judgement in a letter to his father from June 16, 1781: '[...] I believe and wish it as well that he will write an opera for me. Whether he has written his comedies alone or with help [...] he understands theater and his comedies are always well-received. - [...]' The linguistically somewhat abstruse but nevertheless very humorous text offered a musician such as Dittersdorf opportunity for varied structuring of arias and the creation of lively give-and-take of duets, ensembles and especially in the two intricately-developed act finales, despite long-winded dialogue and hair-raising, illogically-resolved dramaturgical complications.

"More important, however, to the pieces public success was Dittersdorf's music. It was his master touch in the creation of melodies which charmed his audiences - something that missed in Mozart's operas before his 'Magic Flute'. Dittersdorf was also, for the most part, successful in avoiding triviality in this genre and even wrote an essay a year before his death in letter form for the musical publication the Leipziger Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, including his maxims for composers of comic opera. 'As the serious composer (that is, the composer of serious opera themes) must interest his audience mainly through new ideas, I venture to say frankly that the author of the comic opera music secure interest through the offering of light, easily-understood and easily-repeated musical ideas. The truly talented composer will, of course, be able to please the educated listener, as well with these same ideas through instrumental accompaniment, variation and other devices.' The 'Doctor and Apothecary' provides three examples of this hypothesis: the duet Sichel/Gotthold, 'Wenn man will zu Mädchen gehen', the duet Rosalie/Leonore, 'Zwei Mädchen sassen manche Nacht' and Sichel's aria, 'Nur nicht lange sich besonnen'.

"Leonore's aria, 'Zufriedenheit gibt mehr als Kronen' best shows how the widely-educated Dittersdorf, highly familiarized with the opera literature of his time, not only used the typical song and rondo forms for the singspiel genre but also was able to incorporate the large, da capo aria borrowed from the opera seria with brilliant impact. At the time same time he succeeded in portraying folk melodies in a fresh and vibrant way, thus characterizing the various figures in the piece. Gotthold and Leonore, the 'serious' couple, articulate their lovelorn position in virtuosically ornamented or in more sentimentally presented arias whereas the buffo or comic pair, Rosalie and Sichel, are assigned the light, memorable melodies. The composer prepared a wide range of musical styles and expressive modes for the two title roles in the splendidly-characterized arias, 'Galenus und Hippocrates' (Stoessel) and, 'Ein Doktor ist bei meiner Ehr' (Krautmann) as well as in the furious, mentally-abusive 'Sie sind ein Scharlatan), ranging from the prattling parlando of the opera buffa to the parodistically-used dramatic gesure of the opera sria or of Gluck's type of 'Reformoper'. The orchestra also plays an important role here - brilliantly orchestrated in the form of tone-painting which is especially well-illustrated in a scene of the first-act finale where Sturmwals, in a severe state of drunkenness, falls asleep and begins to snore. Dittersdorf differentiates tonally through the inerchange of instrumentation (ranging from simple string orchestra to full use of winds and tympani in the overture and the second-act finale) and through the solo usage of the woodwinds. We may also find apt observations of Dittersdorf's skill in characterization in the afore-mentioned biography of 1810: 'What a wealth of comic, sharply definied characterizations may be found in 'Doctor and Apothecary'! Who is unable to see the satire of the ridiculous solemnity in the aria, 'Galenus und Hippocrates' and the empty gesturing and absurd self-praise of the doctor in 'Ein Doktor ist bei meiner Ehr! der Grösste Mann im Staate!'? How the grave song is ridiculed through the triplets and baroque agility of the violins. The doctor, like the market crier 'Knallerpraller', is laughed at by his audience as he praises himself his cures!'

"In 1914 Lothar Riedinger, the respected researcher of Dittersdorf's operas, formulated the makings of this particular opera's success which laster into the early 1800's and, in spite of a following period of disinterest, nevertheless remained an event in opera history. Riedinger is of the opinion that ,with his 'Doctor and Apothecary' (and subsequent works), Dittersdorf lent final reinforcement to the German comic opera form. He sought to combine the efforts of the singspiel composers (from Hiller's simpler work to the more developed opera buffa) with folk melodies and large-scale ensembles and finales. Richard Wagner commented very correctly - so Riedinger - that one could trace the many phases of the German opera's development through the performance of the 'Jagd', the 'Doktor und Apotheker', 'Zar und Zimmermann' and the 'Meistersinger'.

"The first complete recording of 'Doctor and Apothecary' is based on a piano score published in 1787 by the composer, found at the Österreichische Nationalbibliotek in Vienna, the 1778 republication of this score by Schott and the original text, offering, (with the exception of a few small cuts in the number 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11 in Act I and numbers 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12 and 13 in Act II), the opera in its full length with the original text to the songs. Here and there the spoken dialogues have been smoothed over and reworked. In preferring the original version over the less satisfactory adaptions from the 19th and 20th centuries (Wittmann, Hirschfeld, Kleinmichel, Burkard, Fischer-Gessner) this recording has succeeded in giving a proper and meaningful salute to a truly amusing, imaginative and well-rendered piece of music. Perhaps, upon hearing this opera, we may agree with the comments of one of Dittersdorf's contemporary critics when he wrote about the composer's operas in general in 1791:

"'Although the melodies are not always new or noble one is tempted to sing along. The arias are so brilliantly composed that one must applaud though the text may appear to need revision in places. Add the truly comedic vein of the composer and his outstanding accompaniments with their abundant usage of wind instruments, and one need not wonder at the popularity his operas have enjoyed.'" (Joachim Draheim. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie, James Lockhart, Harald Stamm, Waltraud Meier, Hildegard Uhrmacher, Donna Woodward, Wolfgang Schöne, Frieder Lang, Gerhard Unger, Martin Finke, Alois Perl, Thomas Pfeiffer

1.1. Ouvertüre

1.2. Akt I: 'O Wie Herrlich! O Wie Labend'

1.3. Akt I: 'Nun, Herr Hauptmann, Sie Haben Auch Manche Solche Nacht'

1.4. Akt I: 'Wie Kann Freude Noch In Meinem Herzen Wohnen?'

1.5. Akt I: 'Nein, Nein, Das Tut Nicht Mehr Gut'

1.6. Akt I: 'Fürs Erste Ist Zu Wissen'

1.7. Akt I: 'Das Weib Ist Mein Ruin'

1.8. Akt I: 'Wann Hörst Du Auf, Geliebte Qual'

1.9. Akt I: 'Wenn Man Will Zu Mädchen Gehen'

1.10. Akt I: 'Sie Wird Mich Doch Nicht Trügen?!'

1.11. Akt I: 'Holla! Holla! Aufgemacht!'

1.12. Akt I: 'Meine Neue Methode Erregt Aufsehen'

1.13. Akt I: 'Sind Gegen Mich Nur Stümper'

1.14. Akt I: 'Haben Sie Jemals Einen Größeren Narren Gesehen?'

1.15. Akt I: 'Der Wein, Der Wein, Der Wein Ist Ein Specificum'

1.16. Akt I: 'Zwei Mädchen Saßen Manche Nacht'

1.17. Akt I: 'Meinst Du Nicht Auch, Salchen'

1.18. Akt I: 'Verliebte Brauchen Keine Zeugen'

1.19. Akt I: 'Salchen, Hör Zu'

1.20. Akt I: 'Wer Wird Im Schiffbruch Sich Besinnen'

2.1. Akt II: 'Ein Doktor Ist Bei Meiner Ehr''

2.2. Akt II: 'Herr Doktor, Sie Sind Schon So Früh Unterwegs?'

2.3. Akt II: 'Vermaledeit Sei Die Methode!'

2.4. Akt II: 'Ein Unverschämter Kerl!'

2.5. Akt II: 'Viel Eher Soll Sie Gar Nicht Frei'n'

2.6. Akt II: 'Sichel. Seine Verkleidung Ist Vortrefflich'

2.7. Akt II: 'Wahre Liebe Läßt Zwar Hoffen'

2.8. Akt II: 'Alle Wetter, Das Dauert Eine Ewigkeit'

2.9. Akt II: 'Was Ist Das Für Ein Betragen?'

2.10. Akt II: 'Noch Sind Wir Nicht Über'm Berg'

2.11. Akt II: 'Zufriedenheit Gilt Mehr Als Kronen'

2.12. Akt II: 'Recht So, Mein Kind'

2.13. Akt II: 'So Verfährt Man Mit Soldaten?'

2.14. Akt II: 'Halt. Wo Wollt Ihr Hin?'

2.15. Akt II: 'MIt Dir, Du Esel, Geht Mein Spiel'

2.16. Akt II: 'Was? - Wo Sind Die Beiden Hin?'

2.17. Akt II: 'Nur Nicht Lange Sich Besonnen!'

2.18. Akt II: 'Ich Kann Nicht Mehr'

2.19. Akt II: 'Sie Sind Ein Scharlatan. Ein Ignorant'

2.20. Akt II: 'Nun, Liebste, So Weit Wären Wir Doch'

2.21. Akt II: 'Jedem Ist Sein Los Beschieden'

2.22. Akt II: 'Noch Seh Ich Ihn Nicht'

2.23. Akt II: 'Nie Werd' Ich Mich So Weit Vermessen'

2.24. Akt II: 'Seht Nur, Da Kommt Er'

2.25. Akt II: 'Ha! Potz, Pulver Und Kanonen!'

flac/16-bit