Antony Beaumont
Encyclopedia
Antony Beaumont is an English and German musicologist
, writer, conductor
and violinist. As a conductor, he has specialized in German
music from the first half of the 20th century, including works by Zemlinsky
, Weill
, and Gurlitt
. As a musicologist, he has published books on Busoni
, Zemlinsky, and Mahler
.
of Anglo-German
and Greek
-Romania
n parentage. He studied at Cambridge
, worked as a disc jockey for the BBC
, wrote reviews for The Daily Telegraph
, and played violin and piano as a freelance artist. At various times he played under conductors Otto Klemperer
, Leopold Stokowski
, and Georg Solti
. After graduation he moved to Germany
and became a German citizen. Beaumont has held conducting posts with orchestras in Bremen
, Cologne
, and Saarbrücken
, and has guest conducted opera productions in England and Italy.
, based on newly discovered sketches. This version serves as an alternative to the completion made by Busoni's pupil, Philipp Jarnach
, which was based on less detailed information. The changes in Scene 2 occur during the vision of Helen of Troy and include slightly altered text and additional music for the character of Faust such that the scene plays for approximately 39 instead of 37 minutes. In the Jarnach version of Scene 3, the final scene, Faust suffers a conventional kind of doom, dying to the accompaniment of E-flat-minor chords; in the Busoni/Beaumont version Faust achieves a self-actualized resurrection: "In the freedom I have won, God and the Devil succumb." Perhaps Jarnach was uncomfortable with the morality, or perceived lack thereof, of Busoni's original intentions. The changes in Scene 3 also include additional action for Mephistopheles (he lifts the body of Faust onto his shoulders and slowly leaves the stage), and a final choral passage not found in the Jarnach version. These changes extend the scene from approximately 25 to 29 minutes. The full score of the Beaumont completion exists as a manuscript; the vocal score was published by Breitkopf and Härtel, Wiesbaden, in 1982.
The Beaumont version has not been used often in staged productions of the opera. It was premiered in Bologna
in April 1985. A co-production between the English National Opera
, Deutsche Oper Berlin
, and the Opéra de Paris was mounted in the late 1980s. The English performances (beginning 25 April 1986) were conducted by Mark Elder
and Antony Beaumont, starred Thomas Allen (Faust) and Graham Clark, and were given in the English translation by Edward J. Dent, as revised by Beaumont. This was the first staged production of the opera in Great Britain. The Zurich Opera DVD from 2006, with Thomas Hampson as Faust and conducted by Philippe Jordan
, used the Jarnach version and has been severely criticized for doing so. The production at the Metropolitan Opera
in 2001, with Hampson as Faust and conducted by Philippe Auguin
, also used the less authentic Jarnach version.
. In addition, he wrote and published a biography of Zemlinsky in 2000, which has been widely praised.
Further research led to Beaumont's translation and publication in 2004 of letters written by Gustav Mahler to Alma, during the period when she was Mahler's wife. Alma had published many of these letters in 1940, but they were heavily edited to present herself in the best way possible (see Alma Problem
). The edition which Beaumont has translated includes these letters in unedited form and includes an additional 188 letters and other unpublished documents. "The texts, supplemented by detailed commentaries, depict an explosive relationship between two people of widely differing character and temperament. The Mahler that emerges from these authentic, unabridged sources is warm, genuine and touchingly human."
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
, writer, conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
and violinist. As a conductor, he has specialized in German
Music of Germany
Forms of German-language music include Neue Deutsche Welle , Krautrock, Hamburger Schule, Volksmusik, Classical, German hip hop, trance, Schlager, Neue Deutsche Härte and diverse varieties of folk music, such as Waltz and Medieval metal....
music from the first half of the 20th century, including works by Zemlinsky
Alexander von Zemlinsky
Alexander Zemlinsky or Alexander von Zemlinsky was an Austrian composer, conductor, and teacher.-Early life:...
, Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
, and Gurlitt
Manfred Gurlitt
Manfred Gurlitt was a German opera composer and conductor. He studied composition with Engelbert Humperdinck, conducting with Karl Muck, and piano with Moritz Mayer-Mahr...
. As a musicologist, he has published books on Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni
Ferruccio Busoni was an Italian composer, pianist, editor, writer, piano and composition teacher, and conductor.-Biography:...
, Zemlinsky, and Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
.
Biography
Beaumont was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
of Anglo-German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
-Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n parentage. He studied at Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, worked as a disc jockey for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, wrote reviews for The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, and played violin and piano as a freelance artist. At various times he played under conductors Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading conductors of the 20th century.-Biography:Otto Klemperer was born in Breslau, Silesia Province, then in Germany...
, Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Stokowski
Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born, naturalised American orchestral conductor, well known for his free-hand performing style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from many of the great orchestras he conducted.In America, Stokowski...
, and Georg Solti
Georg Solti
Sir Georg Solti, KBE, was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor. He was a major classical recording artist, holding the record for having received the most Grammy Awards, having personally won 31 as a conductor, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to his...
. After graduation he moved to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and became a German citizen. Beaumont has held conducting posts with orchestras in Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, and Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
, and has guest conducted opera productions in England and Italy.
Doktor Faust
Beaumont has prepared new versions of the final two scenes of Busoni's unfinished opera Doktor FaustDoktor Faust
Doktor Faust is an opera by Ferruccio Busoni with a German libretto by the composer himself, based on the myth of Faust. Busoni worked on the opera, which he intended as his masterpiece, between 1916 and 1924, but it was still incomplete at the time of his death. His pupil Philipp Jarnach finished it...
, based on newly discovered sketches. This version serves as an alternative to the completion made by Busoni's pupil, Philipp Jarnach
Philipp Jarnach
Philipp Jarnach was considered in the 1920s to be one of the most important composers of modern music....
, which was based on less detailed information. The changes in Scene 2 occur during the vision of Helen of Troy and include slightly altered text and additional music for the character of Faust such that the scene plays for approximately 39 instead of 37 minutes. In the Jarnach version of Scene 3, the final scene, Faust suffers a conventional kind of doom, dying to the accompaniment of E-flat-minor chords; in the Busoni/Beaumont version Faust achieves a self-actualized resurrection: "In the freedom I have won, God and the Devil succumb." Perhaps Jarnach was uncomfortable with the morality, or perceived lack thereof, of Busoni's original intentions. The changes in Scene 3 also include additional action for Mephistopheles (he lifts the body of Faust onto his shoulders and slowly leaves the stage), and a final choral passage not found in the Jarnach version. These changes extend the scene from approximately 25 to 29 minutes. The full score of the Beaumont completion exists as a manuscript; the vocal score was published by Breitkopf and Härtel, Wiesbaden, in 1982.
The Beaumont version has not been used often in staged productions of the opera. It was premiered in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
in April 1985. A co-production between the English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
, Deutsche Oper Berlin
Deutsche Oper Berlin
The Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:...
, and the Opéra de Paris was mounted in the late 1980s. The English performances (beginning 25 April 1986) were conducted by Mark Elder
Mark Elder
Sir Mark Philip Elder, CBE is a British conductor. He is the music director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England.-Biography:Elder was born in Hexham, Northumberland, England, the son of a dentist...
and Antony Beaumont, starred Thomas Allen (Faust) and Graham Clark, and were given in the English translation by Edward J. Dent, as revised by Beaumont. This was the first staged production of the opera in Great Britain. The Zurich Opera DVD from 2006, with Thomas Hampson as Faust and conducted by Philippe Jordan
Philippe Jordan
Philippe Jordan is a Swiss conductor, and the son of conductor Armin Jordan. He began to study piano at age 6. At age 8, he joined the Zürich Sängerknaben. His violin studies began at age 11....
, used the Jarnach version and has been severely criticized for doing so. The production at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in 2001, with Hampson as Faust and conducted by Philippe Auguin
Philippe Auguin
Philippe Auguin is a French conductor. He studied horn and singing at the Conservatory of Nice. He also completed an additional conducting studies. It was followed by further years of study at the Vienna Academy of Music which he completed in 1988.Philippe Auguin was an assistant to Herbert von...
, also used the less authentic Jarnach version.
Zemlinsky
In the late 1990s Beaumont began studying the life and music of Zemlinsky, conducting and recording several lesser known pieces (see below), and preparing a completion of Zemlinksy's unfinished opera Der König KandaulesDer König Kandaules
Der König Kandaules is an opera in three acts by the Austrian composer Alexander von Zemlinsky. Its libretto was adapted by the composer from Franz Blei's German translation of the play Le roi Candaule by French author André Gide....
. In addition, he wrote and published a biography of Zemlinsky in 2000, which has been widely praised.
Alma Mahler
While researching Zemlinsky's affair with Alma Schindler at the library of the American University, Beaumont found her early diaries dating from that period of her life. Beaumont edited and translated the diaries and published them in 1999. About this volume, Kirkus Reviews UK wrote:
Desolate at the end of a romance with Gustav Klimt, Alma Mahler-Werfel falls briefly in love with her piano teacher, Zemlinsky: 'so immeasurably great!' she writes dramatically. Hers was a life filled with such drama for soon she was attracted to Gustav Mahler. Mahler-Werfel was a wildly dramatic character and a charismatic beauty. Her diaries, scribbled in old exercise books, record her development from adolescence to womanhood, up to her marriage to Mahler. They provide a vivid picture of ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in the 1900s, with accounts of the SecessionVienna SecessionThe Vienna Secession was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, housed in the Vienna Künstlerhaus. This movement included painters, sculptors, and architects...
exhibitions, performances of Mahler and BrucknerAnton BrucknerAnton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
symphonies, the social scene and fashions.
Further research led to Beaumont's translation and publication in 2004 of letters written by Gustav Mahler to Alma, during the period when she was Mahler's wife. Alma had published many of these letters in 1940, but they were heavily edited to present herself in the best way possible (see Alma Problem
Alma Problem
The Alma Problem is an issue of concern to musicologists, historians and biographers who deal with the lives and works of Gustav Mahler and his wife Alma....
). The edition which Beaumont has translated includes these letters in unedited form and includes an additional 188 letters and other unpublished documents. "The texts, supplemented by detailed commentaries, depict an explosive relationship between two people of widely differing character and temperament. The Mahler that emerges from these authentic, unabridged sources is warm, genuine and touchingly human."
Audio recordings (as conductor)
| Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (East Berlin) The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. In Berlin, the orchestra gives concerts at theKonzerthaus Berlin and at the Berliner Philharmonie... . Phoenix Edition 114 (2008). . >- |
Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen is a chamber orchestra based in Bremen, Germany.-History:... . Chandos Chandos Records Chandos Records is an independent classical music recording company based in Colchester, Essex, in the United Kingdom, founded in 1979 by Brian Couzens.- Background :... CHSA 5046 (2006) . >- |
Cymbeline. Czech Philharmonic. Chandos CHAN 10069 (2003) . >- |
>- | Zemlinsky: Symphony in B flat; Prelude to Es war einmal... (Original version, 1899); Sinfonietta, Op. 23 (1934); Prelude to Act II of Der König Kandaules (1936). Czech Philharmonic. Chandos CHAN 10204 (2004) ; previously issued on Nimbus (2001) . |
Publications
Note: This list of publications is not comprehensive.
Beaumont, Antony, Busoni the Composer, Faber and FaberFaber and FaberFaber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
, London, 1985. ISBN 0571131492
Beaumont, Antony, ed., Busoni: Selected Letters, Columbia University PressColumbia University PressColumbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by James D. Jordan and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fields of literary and cultural studies, history, social work, sociology,...
, New York, 1987. ISBN 0231064608
Beaumont, Antony & Susanne Rode-Breymann, eds. & trans., Alma Mahler-Werfel, Diaries 1898-1902, Faber and Faber, London, 1999. ISBN 0571193404
Beaumont, Antony, Zemlinsky, Faber and FaberFaber and FaberFaber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
, London, 2000. ISBN 057116983X
La Grange, Henry-Louis deHenry-Louis de La GrangeHenry-Louis de La Grange is a musicologist and biographer of Gustav Mahler.-Biography:Henry-Louis de La Grange was born in Paris of an American mother and a French father, , who was a senator, one-time government minister, and Vice-President of the International Aviation Federation...
, Günther Weiss, & Knud Martner, eds., Gustav Mahler, Letters to his Wife [1901-11] (First complete edition, rev. & trans. by Antony Beaumont) Faber and Faber, London, 2004. ISBN 0801443407. Accessed on 3 February 2009.