Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00586-0 - Hans von Bulow: A Life for Music Kenneth Birkin Frontmatter More information HANS VON BULOW¨ A Life for Music Drawing upon an extensive selection of rare letters, reviews and mem- oirs, Kenneth Birkin sets Hans von Bulow’s¨ work as a recitalist, chamber-music artist and orchestral conductor at the centre of a dis- turbed and eventful life. Bulow’s¨ Zukunftsmusik advocacy and ruthless criticism of performance standards in Berlin and Munich antagonised a musical ‘establishment’ nonetheless spellbound by his keyboard and orchestral mastery. Birkin pays particular attention to the Tristan and Meistersinger premieres, Cosima’s desertion, the European and Amer- ican tours and operatic activities in Hamburg and Hanover, as well as Bulow’s¨ pedagogic activities and forays into musical journalism. The book makes liberal use of Bulow’s¨ correspondence, published and unpublished, which personalises the narrative. Contemporary com- ments and reviews, translated here for the first time, give the reader an insight into critical and public reaction. An extensive Appendix records the dates and venues of all Bulow’s¨ public appearances, as both pianist and conductor. kenneth birkin is an internationally recognised Richard Strauss scholar, and is the author of ‘Friedenstag’ and ‘Daphne’ (1989), Ara- bella (1989)andBritish Music: Elgar and After (1997), and the editor of Stefan Zweig – Joseph Gregor Correspondence 1921–1938 (1991). His work has appeared in many journals including Music & Letters, Opera Magazine, The Musical Times and Tempo. He has written and pre- sented programmes for BBC Radio 3, and is the librettist of British composer John Joubert’s three-act opera Jane Eyre. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00586-0 - Hans von Bulow: A Life for Music Kenneth Birkin Frontmatter More information HANS VON BULOW¨ A Life for Music by KENNETH BIRKIN © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00586-0 - Hans von Bulow: A Life for Music Kenneth Birkin Frontmatter More information cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao˜ Paulo, Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb28ru,UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107005860 c Kenneth Birkin 2011 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2011 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Birkin, Kenneth. Hans von Bulow¨ : a life for music / by Kenneth Birkin. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-1-107-00586-0 (hardback) 1.Bulow,¨ Hans von, 1830–1894. 2. Conductors (Music) – Germany – Biography. I. Title. ml422.b9b57 2011 780.92 –dc22 [b] 2011006855 isbn 978-1-107-00586-0 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00586-0 - Hans von Bulow: A Life for Music Kenneth Birkin Frontmatter More information Contents List of illustrations page vii Preface ix Abbreviations of sources quoted in the text xii Principal libraries consulted xvii 1 Overture: Dresden, Leipzig, Stuttgart (1830–1848) 1 2 The student years: Leipzig, Berlin (1848–1850) 17 3 Decision time: Weimar, Zurich¨ (1850–1851) 31 4 Weimar apprenticeship (1851–1853) 46 5 The young virtuoso: Austro-Hungary (1853–1854) 65 6 Polish interlude: Chocieszewice (1854–1855) 81 7 The pedagogue: Berlin i (1855–1857) 91 8 ‘Gallant Hotspur’: Berlin ii (1857–1859) 110 9 Rebel maturity: Berlin iii (1859–1864) 131 10 The Wagner years: Munich (1864–1869) 150 11 A new start: Florence (1869–1873) 180 12 Triumph and betrayal – on tour: England and Russia (1873–1875) 203 13 Transatlantic adventure (1875–1876) 232 14 Convalescent interlude (June 1876 – September 1877) 247 15 Bulow¨ redux: Hanover, Glasgow (1877–1878) 256 16 Kapellmeister in Hanover (1877–1879) 267 v © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00586-0 - Hans von Bulow: A Life for Music Kenneth Birkin Frontmatter More information vi Contents 17 Intendant in Meiningen (1880–1885) 287 18 The Philharmonic years i: Hamburg, Bremen, Berlin (1886–1889) 322 19 The Philharmonic years ii: America again, domestic crisis (1889–1890) 341 20 The Philharmonic years iii: Hamburg, Berlin (1890–1892) 350 21 The Philharmonic years iv:finale(1892–1894) 374 Afterword: Bulow¨ and Bayreuth 385 Appendix: Bulow¨ performance chronology 387 Select bibliography 700 Index 704 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00586-0 - Hans von Bulow: A Life for Music Kenneth Birkin Frontmatter More information Illustrations 1 Eduard von Bulow.¨ From Heinrich Reimann, Hans von Bulow:¨ sein Leben and sein Wirken (Berlin, 1908), p. 24 page 13 2 The young touring virtuoso. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn-Archiv. Sign. 4357 38 3 A corner of nineteenth-century Weimar Bulow¨ would have recognised: the Wittumspalais, with the old Music School on the right. Author’s collection 48 4 Lowenberg¨ Concert, 20 December 1863. Handschriftenabteilung, Wurttembergische¨ Landesbibliothek Stuttgart 146 5 Advertisement: prospectus for the Royal Munich Music School (1868–9). Signale fur¨ die Musikalische Welt, September 1868,p.793 170 6 Chamber-music concert in Florence (9 January 1871). Meininger Museen, Sign. Prz 4944c 189 7 The three Bs [B, B,B](HansvonBulow,¨ Guiseppe Buonamici and Walter Bache). From Constance Bache, Brother Musicians (London, 1901) 214 8 Hans Bronsart von Schellendorff – Hanover Intendant. Osterreichische¨ Nationalbibliothek: Bildarchiv Sign. Pf 523.929 248 9 The Meiningen Orchestra with Bulow¨ in the Meiningen Theatre. From Reimann, Hans von Bulow¨ 294 10 Marie von Bulow¨ (1885). Meininger Museen. Sign. xiii 3543/D143 300 11 Hans von Bulow:¨ Meiningen Intendant. Meininger Museen. Sign. xiii 3389/VB 399a 302 vii © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00586-0 - Hans von Bulow: A Life for Music Kenneth Birkin Frontmatter More information viii List of illustrations 12 Meiningen Theatre (Bulow’s¨ concert venue) before it was burned down on 7 May 1908 (caption from actress Adele` Sandrock, ‘What if those walls could speak?’– Wenn es reden konnte?¨ ). Author’s collection 306 13 The Meiningen Orchestra in Vienna: Speidel revenge concert. Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna 314 14 Cecile´ Mutzenbecher. From H. Mutzenbecher, C´ecile Mutzenbecher und Hans von Bulow¨ (Hamburg, 1963) 329 15 Bulow’s¨ fourth double Ninth Symphony performance (Berlin, 6 March 1889). Author’s collection 339 16 Berlin Philharmonic concert, 7 December 1891. Author’s collection 361 17 Bismarck entertains Bulow¨ at Friedrichsruh (1 April 1892). From Christian Wilhelm Allers, Unser Bismarck (1892) 366 18 ‘Des Volkes Hort’ autograph of Bulow’s¨ Bismarck/ ‘Eroica’ Hymn. Osterreichische¨ Nationalbibliothek: Musiksammlung. Sign. Mus. hS 305171 367 19 Caricature celebrating the opening of the New Bechstein Hall in Berlin (4 October 1892). In the foreground Paderewski is recognisable among aspirants for virtuoso honours; Cerberus [Bechstein, Wolff and Richter (?)] guards the lair. To the right, the performers include d’Albert, Brahms, Rubinstein, Bulow¨ (at the piano) Bruch and Joachim; to the left, the critics (Otto Leßmann, Alexander Moszkowski and Ernst Taubert). Wilhelm Tappert (‘Abandon hope all ye who enter here’) surveys the scene from above. Osterreichische¨ Nationalbibliothek: Musiksammlung. Sign. 396.316–DM, Jg. 46, 1892,No.39 Neue Berliner Musikzeitung 371 20 Three great nineteenth-century keyboard giants. This monument, destined for Vienna’s Hochschule fur¨ Musik und Darstellende Kunst, was temporarily installed in the Bosendorfersaal¨ (1912) pending completion of the new Hochschule building. The Liszt bust is by Zumbusch, the representations of Rubinstein and Bulow¨ from Hans Eisenfest; the present whereabouts of the monument are unknown. Meininger Museen. Sign. xiii 3397/D119 383 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00586-0 - Hans von Bulow: A Life for Music Kenneth Birkin Frontmatter More information Preface Hans von Bulow¨ is known to posterity as the man whose wife left him for his friend Richard Wagner; and as the first conductor of Tristan and Die Meistersinger. But to reduce him to a footnote of Wagnerian biography does scant justice to the memory of one whose influence on nineteenth- and twentieth-century musical performance and practice was seminal. Bulow¨ was a complex personality; a restless, driven individual, ‘possessed’ by music and a slave, albeit a willing