Reznicek: Donna Diana Overture (1894)
I well remember this witty, tuneful, effervescent piece as a young schoolboy in the late 1950s, when it was popularised (as many other pieces have been) through its use as a signature tune on BBC TV. Its familiarity continued for some years, before it rather fell out of fashion. Sadly, Emil von Reznicek is hardly known at all these days, even though he was much revered during his lifetime.
Born in Vienna, of Bohemian extraction, his family moved to Graz in 1874, where he later studied both Music and Law (shades of Schumann!). His passion for music eventually gained the upper hand, and he made rapid headway as a conductor at a number of Austrian and German opera houses, arriving in Prague during 1886 – where his comic opera Donna Diana received its premiere at the Neues Deutsches Theater (now the State Opera) on 16th December 1894. Initially successful, it rarely travelled much beyond central Europe.
Nevertheless, Reznicek became a prolific composer, and not only of opera; his instrumental output included five symphonies and six string quartets, along with many piano pieces, plus choral works and songs. In 1896, he was on the move again, with posts at Weimar, Mannheim, and Wiesbaden, eventually settling in Berlin from 1902 onwards. During the 1930s, with the rise of the Nazi party, life became challenging on account of various Jewish members of his family – not least his second wife Berta, such that performances of his music decreased rapidly. In 1943 he was eventually evacuated to Baden, south of Vienna, where he soon suffered a serious stroke. Happily, his legacy has been preserved in a Reznicek archive at Wedemark, near Hanover.
© Alan George
