The greatest Monuments for Composer of classical music in Europe – Travel tips

The monument dates back to 1845 and was created for the first great Beethoven festival, where it was ceremoniously unveiled. The pedestal shows the musical forms in which Beethoven had composed. In the front you can see a Greek sphinx (fantasy / improvisation), on the left Saint Cecilia (sacred music), in the back a muse of the art of music with lyre (symphony) and on the right a woman with a mask (opera).

The monumental statue was inaugurated on September 21, 1882. It is entirely made of white marble. The seven steps symbolize the 7 notes, on the steps there are four figures from the operas “Norma”, “I puritani”, “La sonnambula” and “Il pirata”.

Monumento Vincenzo Bellini:

There are two Monteverdi monuments in Cremona. Both are recent

An older one from 1967 in Piazza Lodi:

A recent one from 2013 in Piazza di Roma:

The 2-year stay in Düsseldorf (1833-1835) must have cost Mendelssohn a lot of nerves. His first encounter with Düsseldorf, however, was gratifying. The performance he conducted at the Lower Rhine Music Festival in May 1833 was so acclaimed that he was immediately offered the position of music director. Mendelssohn accepted and began his duties in September. However, the ambitions of the town of 30,000 souls at the time were greater than his means. So it came thick and fast for Mendelssohn. First, he quarreled violently with his co-director, the theater director Immermann. In addition, he had to deal with amateur orchestra musicians (” stupid musici”) whose skills did not meet his expectations, who had a tendency to brawl, and who cost him a great deal of administrative support. As if that were not enough, he had choristers at his disposal who showed up drunk for duty.

The first theater performance, a “Don Giovanni”, staged by Immermann and conducted by Mendelssohn, became a scandal, the audience jeered and whistled because of the increased ticket prices. Mendelssohn raged, but the audience listened reverently until the end.

Today, statues by Mendelssohn and Immermann commemorate this time of artistic awakening in Düsseldorf.

Mendelssohn statue:

The Mendelssohnruhe is located somewhat isolated from public roads on a forest path in the eastern part of the Frankfurt city forest called Oberwald. In July 1839, citizens of Frankfurt organized a festival in the forest in honor of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. The composer is said to have been inspired to write some of his compositions by walks in the Stadtwald, including some of the Sechs Lieder im Freien zu singen (Six Songs to Sing Outdoors), which was laid out as three song cycles. Several of these songs were premiered at the celebration in the forest by a choir. The composer himself took part in the celebration and later reported on it in letters. To commemorate the event, the Jeanrenaud family, family of Mendelssohn’s wife Cécile Charlotte Sophie Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1817-1853), donated a memorial stone in 1909 – an erratic boulder made of syenite, nearly one meter high, with a masonry base and a bronze plaque with an inscription by an unknown artist. The Mendelssohnruhe was destroyed in 1934, during the Nazi period, and the memorial stone was buried on the spot by forest workers. In 1948, after the end of the Second World War, the stone was dug up again and the memorial was restored on the spot. (source: wikipedia, own translation)

Due to its location on a dirt road in the middle of the forest, the Mendelssohnruhe can be reached directly only on foot, by bicycle or on horseback (see also map above). The nearest stop of the streetcar line 17 is Oberschweinstiege. From there, Welscher Weg leads southeast toward Neu-Isenburg. The first forest path branching off diagonally to the right in a southerly direction leads directly past Mendelssohnruhe. The distance to be covered is about one kilometer. The next parking lot is about one kilometer northwest of the Mendelssohnruhe on a side path of the Isenburger Schneise. (Source: wikipedia, own translation)

Mendelssohnruhe:

Vincenzo Bellini spent some summer months at his beloved Lake Como in the villa town of Moltrasio. There he composed “La straniera” and “La sonnambula” and met with his (married) mistress Giuditta Turina.

He lived as a guest in various villas in the exclusive Moltrasio. For example, the fantastic Villa Passalacqua (which enchanted Churchill and Napoleon Bonaparte) with its magnificent garden and view of the sea (bookable). The village honored the Bellini with a monument.

The Mendelssohn monument, erected in 1892, was removed and melted down during the Nazi years for anti-Semitic reasons. In 2008, under the patronage of Kurt Masur, a replica of the old monument was unveiled in front of St. Thomas Church. It shows the composer on the pedestal, with the Muse of Music on the steps. On the side there are 2 putti and a medallion each representing secular and ecclesiastical music.

The monument is in front of the Puccini Museum in Lucca. The museum in Piazza Cittadella is Puccini’s birthplace, where he lived for over 20 years with his parents and sisters. You can find here many objects belonging to the composer, including the Steinway on which he composed, among others, “Turandot”. The museum is nicely done and informative.

Puccini monument in Piazza Cittadella:

http://www.puccinimuseum.org/it/

In front of the Teatro Comunale stands this magnificent monument showing Pavarotti accepting the audience’s applause with open arms and handkerchief in hand. Incidentally, Pavarotti’s final applause at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin during a performance of Donizetti’s Elisir d’amore found its way into the Guinness Book of Records. The ovation lasted 67 minutes.

The Jardin du Luxembourg houses a total of 106 statues, one of which is dedicated to Massenet, at the southwest part of the garden.

The bronze statue of Dvořák stands imposingly in front of the beautiful Rudolfinum Concert House.

Dvořák monument in front of Rudolfinum: