Letter from Benjamin Britten to Grace Williams, Nov 8th 1934

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

177-178

text excerpt

Vienna

Meine liebe Grace, ...

... The friends we stayed with in Basel were such dears & treated us so well - I've never had such a time - everyone seems to be wealthy there - wonderful houses, marvellous food, & they took us everywhere in glorious cars. Musically too - very good. There is an excellent opera - I heard four operas very well done, a simply lovely show of Zauberflöte. One of the people I stayed with knew Weingartner (who lives there) & I had a very long talk with him & found him nice & helpful, tho' not interested in modern music at all - in fact I went tp a rehearsal & show of a concert of Strauss he conducted and it was VERY BAD - but the orchestra was first-rate, and oh - Elizabeth [sic] Schumann was a dream. But I am all E.S. mad now - I heard her here on Sunday - but more of that later. - We stayed in Basel - (talking plenty of German as they speak very little English) - just a fortnight, & them spent 3 days in lovely Salzburg on the way here. Of course, after Zauberflöte I was thrilled with Mozart relics, & there are many of those there.

... Music: - 3 times to the opera so far - Fledermaus on Saturday, 'Cav. & Pag' (this was substituted for something else at the last moment), & Falstaff last night, Vienna went mad over this last - it was a new production & the applause lasted for nearly a quarter of an hour - [baritone, Jaro] Prohaska (from Berlin) & [conductor, Clemens] Krauss coming back time after time. Grace - you must admit that this is great stuff - I don't expect you to accept early Verdi - but the Requiem, Otello, & this, you must like - especially when done as it was last night - it was thrilling. Of course the orchestra - it was full number last night - is unsurpassable. I went to a show at the Konzerthaus on Sunday, & sat next to an awfully nice young Viennese, who told me lots about everything. Mengelberg, who wasn't too good - his Pastoral was BAD - conducted. Oh - but the orchestra, it nearly drove me potty!! Never such tone, & precision, & spirit - the first horn - well, all the horns - the orchestra played as if it wanted to play - I felt sorry for you with those London orchestras! Much as I want to like them, & do admire a lot of their playing, it's nothing like this. However you know it already.

... Herzliche Grüsse

BENJAMIN

P.S. [written at the head of the letter] I didn't sat the concert on Sunday included Mahler 4th of which I bought the score. It really is a most lovely work - & was played beautifully - Elizabeth [sic] Schumann singing the last lovely solo like a dream. I am longing for more chances to hear more Mahler

excerpt from 'Letter from Benjamin Britten to Grace Williams, Nov 8th 1934' pp. 177-178 (488 words)

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