Musings On Anton Arensky
Listening to one of the local classical music stations while driving helps relieve the tedium of freeway gridlock. The other day, I especially enjoyed encountering a completely unfamiliar (to me) piano composition of Anton Arensky (1861-1906) … his “Etude on a Chinese Theme.” Typically virtuosic, it begins with fanciful pianistic filigree but soon settles on a simple statement of the “Chinese Theme.”
Here I really paid attention…
The theme was almost note-for-note identical with one of the principal melodies Giacomo Puccini used to great effect in his opera “Turandot.” Apparently the European composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries had only a limited number of ‘oriental’ folk melodies to choose from when they wanted to bring the exotic East to Western ears. Arensky must have loved exploring these kinds of unusual musical byways, since he also composed a little-known one-act opera entitled “Raphael,” based on a romantic episode in the life of the great Italian Renaissance painter. Delos has recorded this unique work (DE 3319) and it will be released on a single CD in a few months … another novelty to listen to while idling your time away in traffic tie-ups.
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