Vivaldi's 4 seasons, Ave Maria and famous Concertos at Saint Germain des Prés

Artists

Eglise Saint-Germain-des-Prés

The oldest Romanesque church in Paris,Saint-Germain-des-Prés was founded in the 6th century as an abbey. The church underwent periodic reconstructions, made necessary by 9th century Norman raids, and Revolutionary era fires, until the 19th century. However, the Romanesque lines of the early interior are still recognizable beneath the paint of 19th-century frescoes. The name of the church was also given to its quarter (Saint-Germain-des-Prés Quarter), a vibrant area in Paris’ 6th district, traditionally popular among writers and intellectuals, and the home of Sartre and de Beauvoir's existentialist movement.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Perhaps the most important composer of all time, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an Austrian composer of the late 18th century. Born in 1756 in Salzburg, he showed prodigious musical talent from childhood. Beginning at five years of age, he composed more than 600 works, including concertos, symphonies, religious works and operas before his premature death at the age of 35. Hi influence over successive generations cannot be overestated - Ludwig van Beethoven wrote of Mozart "posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years”. Despite the immense success of his compositions, and the acclaim he received across Europe, Mozart achieved little financial security and rwas buried in an unmarked grave in Vienna's St Marx Cemetery.

Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Vivaldi went down in history as a creator of the instrumental concert genre and the father of orchestral music. He was born in Venice on the 4th of March 1678. Vivaldi was a weak and sickly child suffering from asthma, however could not stop him from devoting himself completely to music. His father, Giovanni Batista a professional violinist, taught his elder son Antonio to play the violin. With his father young Antonio met the best musicians of Venice of that time and gave concerts in local churches. He also worked as a violin teacher and later as a music director at the orphanage Ospedalle della Pieta. Meanwhile he composed concertos, sacred works and vocal music and in 1713 he achieved great recognition with his sacred choral music. Vivaldi got captivated by the world of opera and worked both as opera composer and impresario at the Teatro San Angelo. In 1717 he obtained a prestigious position by the prince court in Manua as a director of secular music and worked there until around 1720. During that time he composed his world-renowned masterpiece The Four Seasons. In the 1730's his career dwindled as his music became unfashionable and the great composer died in poverty. It took the world two centuries to rediscover and reevaluate Vivaldi’s music, as it was buried into oblivion after his death. In the early 20th century many previously unknown works were found and immediately captured the hearts of the music lovers.

Johann Pachelbel

Johann Pachelbel was a German composer and organist of the late 17th century. He is well know for bringing the South German organ at its peak. In fact, he was considered one of the greatest composer of the middle Baroque era for his sacred, secular, chorale and fugue music. Today, he is best known for the Canon in D, as well as the Chaconne in F minor and the Toccata in E minor for organ. Furthermore, his music can be defined as uncomplicated, lucid, that explores many variations of form and techniques as well as instrumental combinations.

Georges Bizet

Georges Bizet devoted his relatively short life of 36 years to the musical theatre. The opera Carmen, pearl of his oeuvre, is still one of the most frequently performed operas in the world. He was born in 1838 into a musically educated family – his father was a singing teacher and his mother a professional piano player. At the age of 4, young George could already read notes and play the piano, and six years later he became enrolled at the Paris Conservatory. After finishing his studies, Bizet won the prestigious Prix de Rome for his cantata Clovis et Clotilde, that allowed him to work solely on his own compositions for five years. He spent four rather carefree years in Italy from 1857 to 1860 where he travelled, composed and developed his talent. After coming back to Paris, he faced struggles and found it very difficult to achieve recognition for his music. In order to make a living, he gave private lessons, composed light entertaining music and made arrangements of piano works by other composers. In fact, he could have easily become a successful pianist as he was a virtuoso piano player and once impressed Franz Liszt himself with the performance of one of Liszt’s piano compositions. But Georges Bizet did not look for a way to make easy money and was adamant about his intention to only compose music. In 1872 he wrote two operas, Djamileh and L’Arlesienne, which were received very coldly but now are considered to be a representation of Bizet’s artistic maturity. Soon before his death in 1875, Carmen premiered in the Opera Comique, but the audience’s verdict was rather negative. Never having witnessed public acclaim during his life, George Bizet now is one of the most famous opera composers in history.

Giacomo Puccini

Giacomo Puccini was an Italian opera composer of the late 19th century. He was considered one of the greatest composers of the Italian Opera, second only to Verdi. His early works were characterised by features of the traditional 19th century romantic Italian opera. Later, his style developed into the realistic verismo style, which inspired him to write his most famous masterpieces and became one of the leading exponents of the style. His most renowned works La bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), Madama Butterfly (1904), and Turandot (1924), all are popular operas played in the most prestigious venues of the classical world.

Johann Strauss

Johann Strauss Jr., also known as the king of waltz, is the most famous Austrian composer of dance music and operettas. He was born in 1825 in Vienna’s suburbs. Even though his father, Johann Strauss I, was a respected composer, he was totally opposed to his son' secision to dedicate his life to music and wanted him to become a banker instead. Therefore, the boy had to learn to play the violin literally in secrecy. His tutor, Franz Amon, was actually the first violin player of his father’s orchestra. Meanwhile, the young Strauss went to the polytechnic college at his father’s request. In 1844 Johann Strauss Jr. formed his own small orchestra that performed in different casinos and restaurants. But his father, being very influential on the local musical scene, made a lot of effort to get his son’s orchestra banned from playing at popular locations and events. However, this could hardly stop the young Strauss from becoming a success in Austria. After his father’s death, Strauss merged both their orchestras and started touring Austria and nearby countries. He as well as his younger brothers ,who were also composers, basked in fame due to their dance music that sounded so modern and innovative back then. Johann Strauss also travelled to the United States where he beat the record by conducting an orchestra of 1000 people. Until his death in 1899, Strauss was extremely popular thanks to his light and lively music, full of blissfulness, zest for life and enjoyment. His works celebrate nature’s beauty, purl of water, gush of wind and wisper of tree leaves.