AMBROISE THOMAS
Charles Ambroise Thomas was born at Metz, 5th August, 1811; died at Paris, 12th February, 1896. Born of musical parents, he entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of seventeen, becoming director of that institute in 1871. In 1832 he won the Grand Prix de Rome; and whilst studying in Italy was very active as a composer. On his return from Rome he began to write operas, the first of which, La Double Echelle, produced at the Opéra Comique in 1837, met with considerable success. Others followed; and with Le Caid (1849) and Le Songe d'une Nuit d'été (1850), his name was finally established, and gained him a high place amongst French composers. The operas that followed met with little success; but in Mignon, produced at the Opéra Comique in 1866, the musical world recognised a masterpiece, and paid enthusiastic tribute to the genius of its composer. Other operas by Ambroise Thomas are:—Hamlet (1868), Le Cardinal de Venise (1857), Raymond (1851), etc.
TSCHAIKOVSKY
Peter Iljtsch Tschaikovsky was born in Wotkinsk, 7th May, 1840; died at St. Petersburg, 5th November, 1905. He early showed his bent for music, and though trained for the law, abandoned that profession, and, determining to study music alone, entered the Conservatoire at St. Petersburg, where he studied with Anton Rubinstein and Saremba. After studying three years in St. Petersburg, Tschaikovsky was appointed a teacher at the new Moscow Conservetorium, established by Nicholas Rubinstein, where he produced a number of orchestral works and three operas. His first opera, The Voïevoda, produced in Moscow in 1869, was a failure; and of the list of eleven operas which he produced, but a few retained lasting popularity, with the exception of Vakoula the Blacksmith, and Eugene Onegin. The latter is the most famous of all his works, and is still extremely popular in Russia, being full of delightful melodies. Eugene Onegin was first produced in Moscow in 1879. Amongst his other operas are The Enchantress, The Queen of Spades; Joan of Arc, Mazeppa, Iolanthe, Undine, The Oprichinki. Besides these, Tschaikovsky wrote a great number of brilliant orchestral works, deservedly popular throughout Europe, being noted for their fine tone-colouring, spirit, and beauty of melody: amongst the most celebrated of these being the rich Overture "1812," composed in memory of Nicholas Rubinstein, the Fifth Symphony and the Sixth Symphony, The Pathètique.
VERDI
Giuseppe Verdi was born at Rancola, in the Duchy of Parma, Italy, 10th October, 1813; died at Busseto, in January, 1901. He received his musical education at Busseto and Milan. He was appointed organist at Rancola at the age of ten years; and when but twenty years old he became Director of the Philharmonic Society at Busseto. He settled in Milan in 1838, and there his first opera, Oberto di San Bonifazio, was produced at La Scala in 1839. The opera that first brought him European fame was Ernani (1844). Rigoletto was produced in 1851, and Il Trovatore in 1853; and these two operas, through all changes of taste and style, still continue to hold their own in popular favour. He wrote many other operas, the best known of which are: La Traviata (1853), Aïda (1871), Othello (1877), Macbeth (1847), Falstaff (1893), I Lombardi (1843), Un Ballo in Maschera (1859), Simon Boccanegra (1857), Les Vespres Siciliennes (1855), etc. His other works include a Requiem Mass (1847), and other sacred compositions, etc.
WAGNER
Richard Wagner was born at Leipzig on 22nd May, 1813; died at Venice, 13th February, 1883. He was educated at Dresden and Leipzig, where he also studied music. Poetry was a passion with him as a boy; and verse and play-writing occupied his mind until a great enthusiasm for Beethoven turned it into a musical direction. He was Musical Director at the Magdeburg Theatre from 1834-36, Conductor at Königsberg in 1836, Music Director at Riga in 1837-39, and lived in Paris in 1839-42, where he struggled in vain to obtain a footing. His opera Rienzi was produced at Dresden in 1842 with a success which obtained for him the post of Kapellmeister at the opera-house there. The Flying Dutchman was produced the following year at Dresden, and marked a new epoch in his artistic history. Tannhäuser, the first of his creations from the German myth-world, was also produced at Dresden in 1845. After this he got into pecuniary difficulties; and his sympathies also being with the revolutionary movement of 1849, he was proscribed, and escaped to Paris. By the efforts of Liszt, Lohengrin was produced in 1850 at Weimar. After ten years of exile, Wagner was pardoned, and took up his residence at Munich, where King Ludwig of Bavaria became his enthusiastic and generous patron. Tristan and Isolda was produced at Munich in 1865; and this genuine music-drama marked a new epoch in operatic art. Die Meistersinger followed in 1868. Wagner was now world-famous, and his colossal genius began to receive the support it deserved. In 1872 his own great theatre at Bayreuth was founded; and upon its completion in 1876, his noble tetralogy, Der Ring des Nibelungen was produced there. His last dramatic effort and crowning achievement, Parsifal, was produced at Bayreuth in 1882. Wagner's early years were full of struggle, opposition, and strife; but through all his disappointments he clung firmly to the new and great ideals of art he had formed, and in the end he conquered, his latter years being crowned with success and enthusiastic appreciation.
WALLACE
William Vincent Wallace was born at Waterford, Ireland, 1st July, 1814; died at the château of Bayen, in the Haute-Garonne, France, 12th October, 1865. His father, a bandmaster, gave him his first instructions; and at an early age he could play most military instruments, besides being very proficient on the violin. At the age of fifteen he became Director of the Philharmonic Society in Dublin. In 1835 he set forth on a professional tour through Australia, New Zealand, India, South America, and the United States, meeting with enormous success as composer and performer. He was Director of Music at the Italian Theatre, Mexico, 1841-42. In 1845 Maritana was produced in London, and shares with Balfe's Bohemian Girl the highest popularity of any lyrical drama. Other well-known operas of Wallace's are: Lurline (1860), The Amber Witch (1861), Matilda of Hungary (1847), The Desert Flower (1863), etc.