Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Plates
- List of Figures
- Foreword
- Preface to the New Edition
- Chronology
- Chapter 1 1843–1865: Childhood and Years of Study
- Chapter 2 1866–1867: Tribschen
- Chapter 3 1868–1869: Munich
- Chapter 4 1870–1871: Brussels; Tribschen
- Chapter 5 1871–1874: Budapest
- Chapter 6 1874–1875: Budapest and Bayreuth
- Chapter 7 1875: Vienna
- Chapter 8 1876: Bayreuth
- Chapter 9 1877: London
- Chapter 10 1878–1879: Vienna
- Chapter 11 1879–1880: Friends and Enemies
- Chapter 12 1880–1881: London and Vienna
- Chapter 13 1881–1882: Richter and d'Albert
- Chapter 14 1882: Richter and d'Albert
- Chapter 15 1882–1883: The Master's Death
- Chapter 16 1884: More Opera in London
- Chapter 17 1885–1886: Vienna, London and Birmingham
- Chapter 18 1887–1888 Return to Bayreuth
- Chapter 19 1889–1900: Vienna
- Chapter 20 1897–1900: Richter and Mahler
- Chapter 21 1889–1890: England
- Chapter 22 1891–1895: England
- Chapter 23 1895–1900: England
- Chapter 24 1890–1899: Bayreuth
- Chapter 25 1894–1899: Richter's Diary
- Chapter 26 1899–1900: Hallé Orchestra
- Chapter 27 1900–1902: England
- Chapter 28 1903–1904: England
- Chapter 29 1904–1906: England
- Chapter 30 1906–1908: England
- Chapter 31 1908–1909: England
- Chapter 32 1909–1911: England
- Chapter 33 1911–1914: Retirement
- Chapter 34 1914–1916: The Last Years
- Chapter 35 Finale
- HANS RICHTER'S CONDUCTING BOOKS
- Appendix 1 Works conducted by Hans Richter
- Appendix 2 Cities and towns where Richter conducted
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 22 - 1891–1895: England
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 April 2017
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Plates
- List of Figures
- Foreword
- Preface to the New Edition
- Chronology
- Chapter 1 1843–1865: Childhood and Years of Study
- Chapter 2 1866–1867: Tribschen
- Chapter 3 1868–1869: Munich
- Chapter 4 1870–1871: Brussels; Tribschen
- Chapter 5 1871–1874: Budapest
- Chapter 6 1874–1875: Budapest and Bayreuth
- Chapter 7 1875: Vienna
- Chapter 8 1876: Bayreuth
- Chapter 9 1877: London
- Chapter 10 1878–1879: Vienna
- Chapter 11 1879–1880: Friends and Enemies
- Chapter 12 1880–1881: London and Vienna
- Chapter 13 1881–1882: Richter and d'Albert
- Chapter 14 1882: Richter and d'Albert
- Chapter 15 1882–1883: The Master's Death
- Chapter 16 1884: More Opera in London
- Chapter 17 1885–1886: Vienna, London and Birmingham
- Chapter 18 1887–1888 Return to Bayreuth
- Chapter 19 1889–1900: Vienna
- Chapter 20 1897–1900: Richter and Mahler
- Chapter 21 1889–1890: England
- Chapter 22 1891–1895: England
- Chapter 23 1895–1900: England
- Chapter 24 1890–1899: Bayreuth
- Chapter 25 1894–1899: Richter's Diary
- Chapter 26 1899–1900: Hallé Orchestra
- Chapter 27 1900–1902: England
- Chapter 28 1903–1904: England
- Chapter 29 1904–1906: England
- Chapter 30 1906–1908: England
- Chapter 31 1908–1909: England
- Chapter 32 1909–1911: England
- Chapter 33 1911–1914: Retirement
- Chapter 34 1914–1916: The Last Years
- Chapter 35 Finale
- HANS RICHTER'S CONDUCTING BOOKS
- Appendix 1 Works conducted by Hans Richter
- Appendix 2 Cities and towns where Richter conducted
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In his 1891 London season, Richter engaged Paderewski to perform his own Piano Concerto in A minor, after its premiere had been demanded by Annette Essipoff in Vienna two years earlier. The concert took place on 22 June, a year after Paderewski had played its first performance in London under Henschel. Apart from the interest of hearing Beethoven's three Leonore Overtures in the order of their composition (that is Nos. 2, 3, 1) on 8 June, the first London performance of Bruckner's Third Symphony on 29 June and the premiere of Stanford's choral ballad The Battle of the Baltic on 20 July, there was nothing new in Richter's repertoire in 1891. This was noted by Shaw in The World. Engel had had his blind spots, Wagner being a particular target for this musical dilettante who, in his chatty columns, often appeared more interested in society gossip than in any serious writing. He also repeated himself with his descriptions of Richter's near infallible memory or as a Napoleon of the orchestra. Shaw's weakness was his bigoted dislike of Brahms (the folly of which he was ready to acknowledge and recant forty years later), but though an admirer of Richter, he was critical of programme planning motivated by commercial interests, or of any lack of orchestral preparation as a consequence of the conductor's busy schedule. In June 1891 he wrote:
Richter has no right to stuff a programme with the most hackneyed items in his repertory in order to save the trouble of rehearsing. … Nothing can be artistically meaner than to trade on the ignorance of those who think that the name of Richter is a guarantee for unimprovable perfection. As a matter of fact, the orchestra is by no means what it ought to be; and it has been getting worse instead of better for some years past.
Fortunately Richter was no composer, or else Shaw would probably have had him in his sights. The socialist critic waged many a campaign against the knights of the music world – Parry, Stanford, Mackenzie, Cowen and Sullivan – often because of their academic backgrounds at music colleges or universities. When Elgar arrived, devoid of knighthood and not formally trained in music, Shaw pronounced the revival (since Purcell) of English music.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Hans Richter , pp. 282 - 290Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2016