NB. I have been rereading this
excellent selection of Bernard Shaw’s ever-fresh musical criticism and decided,
besides having plenty of fun, to do something useful – like compiling an index,
for example. By no means is it comprehensive. I have taken the liberty to omit
the countless names of nowadays forgotten musicians which Shaw mentions in his
reviews. I have tried to include all major composers, works, singers and
instrumentalists, but even here I have exercised a good deal of ruthless
cutting; I have retained only what I think most interesting and characteristic. For the few names that
recur constantly (marked in bold), I have also tried to give some idea of Shaw’s
opinions; these are grouped in the beginning of each entry. Operatic characters
and works, in this order, follow after that; they are listed only under their
respective composers, never separately, and always with their original titles (even
though Shaw often used English translations). Page numbers against a composer’s
name mean general references that I consider significant. It’s been quite a
challenge to follow Shaw’s nimble thought.
Bach, Johann Sebastian (1685–1750): 14,
27, 38-40.
-
The Art of Fugue: 27.
-
Mass
in B minor: 30, 37-40.
Beethoven,
Ludwig van (1770–1827):
14, 27, 53-4, 80, 83-9, 194.
-
Comparison
with Mozart and Haydn: 85-6.
-
Moral
horror of Mozart: 85
-
Leonora
No. 3: 84, 92.
-
Symphony
No. 7: 79-80 (“clumsy and obvious sensationalism”), 81-2, 84.
-
Symphony
No. 9: 50, 76, 84 (allusion?), 115.
Bellini, Vincenzo (1801–1835)
-
La Sonnambula: 23.
Berlioz, Hector (1803–1869): 80, 82, 103,
162.
-
Le Damnation de Faust: 97-103.
-
Romeo et Juliett: 194.
Bizet, Georges (1838–1875)
-
Carmen: 94 (inferior to Der Freischütz), 187.
-
Carmen
(Carmen): 192-3.
Boito, Arrigo (1842–1918): 162.
-
Mefistofele:
162.
Brahms, Johannes (1833–1897): 30, 162.
Chopin,
Frederic (1810–1849): 303-5.
Dickens,
Charles (1812–1870): 74-5, 172.
Donizetti, Gaetano (1797–1848): 182-3.
Elgar, Edward (1843–1907): 27.
Gluck, Christoph Wilibald (1714–1787)
-
Operatic
reforms: 111.
-
Orfeo ed Euridice: 50, 62-66.
Gilbert, William S. (1836–1911) &
Sullivan, Arthur (1842–1900): 213-9.
Gounod, Charles (1818–1893): 162.
-
Comparison
with Spontini: 112.
-
Opinion
of Don Giovanni: 76-7.
-
Mephistopheles
(Faust): 16.
Grieg, Edvard (1843–1907): 83.
Handel, Georg Friedrich (1685–1759)
-
Messiah: 245-51.
Haydn, Joseph (1732 – 1809):
-
Attitude
to Mozart and Beethoven: 74.
-
Opinion
of himself: 75.
Hugo, Victor (1802–1895): 171.
-
Comparison
with Molière: 80, 129.
-
Comparison
with Verdi: 137.
Jazz: 84, 89 (“the old dance band beethovenized”).
Leoncavallo, Ruggero (1857–1919):
182-3, 187.
Liszt, Franz (1811–1886): 80, 82.
-
Inferno
(Dante Symphony): 103.
Mascagni, Pietro (1863–1945)
-
Cavalleria rusticana: 36-37, 160-2, 183, 187,
194.
Mendelssohn, Felix (1809–1847): 3, 92, 162.
-
Ernani greater than his concertos
and Scotch Symphony: 133.
-
Influence
over Verdi: 134, 136.
-
Elijah: 255-7.
-
Italian Symphony: 104.
-
St
Paul : 162.
Meyerbeer, Giacomo (1791–1864): 28, 92.
-
Les Huguenots: 28, 31.
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564):
15-6.
Molière, Jean-Baptiste Poquelin
(1622–1673): 74, 80, 162.
Mozart,
Wolfgang Amadeus (1756–1791): 68, 70, 109, 162.
-
Greater
than Haydn: 76.
-
Neglect
by the superficial public: 80-2.
-
Not
a founder of new school: 75-6.
-
Perfection
vs innovation in his works: 73-5.
-
Personal
inability to criticise him fairly: 76-7.
-
Versatility:
85.
-
Vocal
characterisation (cf. Verdi & Wagner): 130
-
Commendatore
(Don Giovanni): 16.
-
Don
Giovanni (Don Giovanni): 16, 70-1, 85.
-
Finale
(Don Giovanni): 72 (“beyond all
comparison the most wonderful of the wonders of dramatic music”).
-
Leporello
(Don Giovanni): 68.
-
Sarastro
(Die Zauberflöte): 85.
-
Zerlina/Leporello
duet (Don Giovanni): 69 (“a very
dispensable piece of buffoonery”).
-
Das Veilchen: 76, 83.
-
Die Entführung aus dem
Serail:
75-6, 81
-
Die Zauberflöte: 76, 109.
-
Don Giovanni: 27, 36-7, 53-4, 67-72, 87
(overture), 130 (vocal characterisation).
-
Fantasia
in C minor: 83.
-
Idomeneo: 27.
-
Jupiter Symphony [No. 41]: 87.
-
Le nozze di Figaro: 152.
-
Requiem:
3, 78.
Offenbach, Jacques (1819–1880):
201-2.
Paderewski, Ignacy Jan (1860–1941):
299-302.
Patti, Adelina (1843–1911):
156, 189-91.
Praxitelles (4th
century BC): 74-5.
Puccini, Giacomo:
-
Manon:
183-4.
-
Likely
successor to Verdi (in 1894!): 184.
Raphael (1483–1520): 74-5.
Reszke, Jean de (1850–1925):
126, 190.
Rossini, Gioacchino (1792–1868):
80, 139.
-
Orchestration:
89-90 (“the most “absolute” of musicians”).
-
Otello: 92.
-
Semiramide Overture: 91-2.
-
William Tell: 30, 93.
Ruskin, John (1819–1900):
48-56.
Shakespeare, William
(1564–1616): 74, 113, 129, 172.
-
Othello: 142 (related to Verdi).
-
Romeo and Juliet: 114.
Schoenberg, Arnold (1874–1951): 155.
Schumann, Robert
(1810–1856): 92, 162.
-
Szenen aus Goethes Faust: 162.
Verdi,
Giuseppe (1813–1901):
33, 128, 134, 137-40, 148, 162, 171-3.
-
Adapting
Shakespeare: 141-3.
-
Boito’s
influence: 132, 136.
-
Changes
with age: 135-6, 143.
-
Comparison
with Spontini: 112.
-
Humour:
128-9, 139-41.
-
Scorn
for other critics of Verdi: 133-4.
-
Vocal
characterisation (cf. Mozart & Wagner): 129-32, 143-4.
-
Wagner’s
influence: 134-8.
-
Count
di Luna (Il trovatore): 2, 16, 131
(tessitura).
-
Falstaff:
50, 129-30.
-
Aida: 129, 135.
-
Ernani: 128, 133.
-
Falstaff: 50, 127-8, 132-3, 185-6.
-
Il trovatore: 129, 137-8, 148-54, 156-7.
-
La Traviata: 162.
-
Otello: 129 (humour), 136
(Boito’s influence), 142-3 (related to Shakespeare).
-
Rigoletto: 157-8.
-
Un ballo in maschera: 129 (humour).
Wagner,
Richard (1813–1883):
14, 30, 53-4, 109, 112-4, 132, 135, 162, 182, 189-90, 194.
-
Bayreuth Festival: 116-26.
-
Comparison
with Gluck: 111.
-
Greater
than Beethoven: 76.
-
Not
a founder of new school: 75-6.
-
Vocal
characterization (cf. Verdi & Mozart): 130.
-
Walkürenritt:
30, 80-2, 103-4.
-
Loge:
108 (“northern Mephistopheles”).
-
Wotan:
110.
-
Götterdämmerung: 30
-
Das Rheingold: 28, 105-10.
-
Der fliegende Holländer: 162-4.
-
Der Ring des Nibelungen: 28.
-
Die Meistersinger von
Nürnberg:
30, 36-7.
-
Lohengrin: 27, 122-4 (in Bayreuth ).
-
Parsifal: 30, 119 (in Bayreuth ).
-
Rienzi: 93.
-
Siegfried: 105.
-
Tannhäuser: 161.
-
Tristan und Isolde: 30, 113-5 (compared with
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet), 182.
Weber, Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826)
-
Der Freischütz: 93-96.