Archives: Anekdote

The biggest names in music were rarely “born ready.” Most of them were proud to be students—apprentices of the masters they studied with. The old writers even singled out one exception: Franz Schubert. Among the “immortals,” they said, he was the one who hadn’t received thorough training in every department of composition, and his music…

The tenor Campanini once made a lifelong enemy with nothing more than a label on a suitcase. His rival, Fancelli, could barely read or write, but he managed to puzzle out the words “Primo Tenore Assoluto” on Campanini’s baggage. The last word—*assoluto*, “absolute” or “unrivaled”—set him off. In Fancelli’s mind, that title belonged to him…

We all hate being proven wrong—especially when we’ve already said our opinion out loud. Musicians and critics are no exception. During the famous rivalry between the singers Henriette Sontag and Maria Malibran, Sontag had one problem before she even opened her mouth: she was German. Malibran’s fans insisted that *real* singing belonged only to Italians,…

Liszt wasn’t the only musician to take holy orders. Josquin des Prez—chapel master to King Louis XII of France—was also a churchman. The story goes that the king had promised Josquin a post with a better income, then simply forgot. Josquin’s reminder wasn’t a complaint letter. It was music. He wrote an anthem for chapel…

A musician with *zero* jealousy toward colleagues is rare enough. But jealousy inside a household? That can turn an opera into a battlefield. About a century ago there was a tenor named Ansari and his wife—both performers, both fiercely competitive. If one of them received even a little more applause than the other, the offended…

Sophie Arnould had a reputation in France for two things at once: she was a stunning singer, and she was even quicker with a line than with a high note. One day she was out for a walk when she bumped into a physician friend. He had a gun tucked under his arm. In passing…

Ignaz Moscheles—friend of Beethoven, teacher of Mendelssohn, pianist, composer, and a major musical force—spent more than twenty years living in England. He had the artistry down. English idioms, less so. Not long after he arrived, he was at a dinner where, after the table was cleared, the hostess asked which fruit he would like. Moscheles…

The Italian composer Giovanni Paisiello was in the service of Empress Catherine II in Russia. At court he was the object of envy. One day, at a rehearsal of one of his operas, a field-marshal, seething with jealousy, hit him. Paisiello lost his temper and struck back, giving the officer a beating. The marshal, still…

Paris was on fire with the Gluck–Piccinni rivalry, and every music lover seemed to have picked a side. Into that atmosphere walked an awkward young Belgian with huge ambition and almost no money: he was determined to get a real musical education, no matter what it took. He worshipped Gluck and was desperate to hear…

Travel was slow, and a composer on the road had time to observe everything. Jomelli once hurried through the streets of Milan on urgent business, only to find his path blocked by a crowd: a runaway horse had been caught at last. Jomelli disliked being delayed and tried to force his way through. The people…