Background
Hiller was born on October 24, 1811 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, to a wealthy Jewish family, his father Isaac Hildesheim being a merchant in English textiles - a business eventually continued by Ferdinand’s brother Joseph.
(Concertos pour piano n°1 op.5, n°2 op.69 & n°3 "Concerto ...)
Concertos pour piano n°1 op.5, n°2 op.69 & n°3 "Concerto espressivo" op.170 / Howard Shelley, piano & direction - Orchestre Symphonique de Tasmanie
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(Lewin's Piano Phantom- is a- collection of 18 piano piece...)
Lewin's Piano Phantom- is a- collection of 18 piano pieces by a mixture of famous and lesser-known composers, each- inspired by phantoms, goblins, ghosts and the spirit world, and includes- eight- world premiere recordings. Lewin's artistic tone-painting, control of- tone colors and ability to tell- stories through sound- gives unique life to each ghost and goblin.
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(Ferdinand Hiller (1811-1885) was one of the most universa...)
Ferdinand Hiller (1811-1885) was one of the most universal musical personalities of his time: piano virtuoso, composer of more than 200 works from all genres, music theorist, founder and leader of the Cologne Music Conservatoire, music author, conductor, and long-standing organizer of the Lower Rhine Music Festival.
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(This is the world premiere recording of this work, freque...)
This is the world premiere recording of this work, frequently performed in the 19th century but completely forgotten in the 20th century. It was recorded in Leipzig Gewandhaus, where the 1840 premiere took place, under the baton of Gregor Meyer, conductor of Leipzig Gewandhaus Choir.
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(At age 10, Hiller's father sent him to Weimar to study wi...)
At age 10, Hiller's father sent him to Weimar to study with Hummel, under whom the young musician made great progress as a pianist. He composed the selections from his piano works recorded here during the 1850s and 1860s while residing in Cologne, where he lived for 35 years until his death. In formal respects his piano sonatas represent a special case in that their three movements continue without a break. His compositions possess a great wealth of imagination.
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composer conductor writer music-director
Hiller was born on October 24, 1811 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, to a wealthy Jewish family, his father Isaac Hildesheim being a merchant in English textiles - a business eventually continued by Ferdinand’s brother Joseph.
Hiller’s talent was discovered early and he was taught piano by the leading Frankfurt musician Alois Schmitt, violin by Jörg Hofmann, and harmony and counterpoint by Georg Jacob Vollweiler.
At the age of ten years Hiller's compositions and talent led his father, a well-to-do man, to send him to Hummel in Weimar. There he devoted himself to composition, among his work being the entractes, to Maria Stuart, through which he made Goethe's acquaintance. Under Hummel, Hiller made great strides as a pianist, so much so that early in 1827 he went on a tour to Vienna, where he met Beethoven and produced his first quartet. After a brief visit home Hiller went to Paris in 1829, where he lived till 1836. His father's death necessitated his return to Frankfurt for a time, but on the 8th of January 1839 he produced at Milan his opera La Romilda, and began to write his oratorio Die Zersldrung Jerusalems, one of his best works. Then he went to Leipzig, to his friend Mendelssohn, where in 1843-1844 he conducted a number of the Gewand-haus concerts and produced his oratorio. After a further visit to Italy to study sacred music, Hiller produced two operas, Ein Traum and Conradin, at Dresden in 1845 and 1847 respectively; he went as conductor to Dusseldorf in 1847 and Cologne in 1850, and conducted at the Opera Italien in Paris in 1851 and 1852. At Cologne he became a power as conductor of the Giirzenich concerts and head of the Conservatorium. In 1884 he retired, and died on the 12th of May in the following year. Hiller frequently visited England. He composed a work for the opening of the Royal Albert Hall, his Nala and Damayanti was performed at Birmingham, and he gave a series of pianoforte recitals of his own compositions at the Hanover Square Rooms in 1871. He had a perfect mastery over technique and form in musical composition, but his works are generally dry. He was a sound pianist and teacher, and occasionally a brilliant writer on musical matters. His compositions, numbering about two hundred, include six operas, two oratorios, six or seven cantatas, much chamber music and a once-popular pianoforte concerto.
(Ferdinand Hiller (1811-1885) was one of the most universa...)
(Lewin's Piano Phantom- is a- collection of 18 piano piece...)
(This is the world premiere recording of this work, freque...)
(At age 10, Hiller's father sent him to Weimar to study wi...)
(Concertos pour piano n°1 op.5, n°2 op.69 & n°3 "Concerto ...)
Member of the Prussian Academy of Arts (1849), Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society
Hiller’s affability was one of his strongest assets; he made innumerable friends and his very extensive correspondence with all the leading musicians in Europe, still only partly published, is an important source for the musical history of his era.
Hiller married Antonka, by profession a singer, in Italy in 1840. The couple made their home a magnet for the intelligentsia wherever they settled.