June, 2013

23 Posts
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Poets from the East
Leonid Desyatnikov From Kashchey’s Life Evelyn Chang, piano From Poets from the East (2009) Released by Avie Records Leonid Desyatnikov: From Kashchey’s LifeThe solo debut recital recording by Taiwanese pianist Evelyn Chang is an ingenious blend of Eastern musical poetry
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Plants growing in the wrong climate:
Verdi and his String Quartet
Originally, the term “Grand Opera” meant nothing more than a work that dealt with a serious subject and featured recitatives to separate musical numbers, rather than the dialogue used in opéra comique. By 1830, however, it had come to refer
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Don’t lose your Head: Haydn’s Skull
Around the turn of the 19th century, Schädellehre (doctrine of the skull) — better know as phrenology — was considered on the cutting edge of medical theory. Developed by the renowned Viennese neuroanatomist and physiologist Dr. Franz Joseph Gall, the
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Lise Lindstrom
The New York Post once claimed that ‘the tall, slender Lindstrom wielded the icy glamour of a 30s film star, working the trains and veils of her elaborate costumes with the panache of a runway model’. About six feet tall,
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Music and Religion:
The Catholic Retaliation
The Counter-Reformation, also known as the Catholic Revival or Catholic Reformation, began with the Council of Trent in 1545 and ended at the close of the Thirty Year’s War in 1648. A direct response to the Protestant Reformation, it sought
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In touch with Marco Berti:
The Otello of the Future
Sharing the same birthplace, Como, with Cosima Liszt, the daughter of Franz List and second wife of Richard Wagner, tenor Marco Berti is perhaps destined for greatness. After hearing Marco Berti’s debut as Otello at the Festival de Opera de
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Dvořák Quartet no. 12, Op. 96 American / Smetana Quartet no. 1 From my Life
Dvořák: Quartet no. 12, Op. 96 American III Molto Vivace Tokyo String Quartet From Dvořák Quartet no. 12, Op. 96 American / Smetana Quartet no. 1 From my Life (2013) Released by Harmonia Mundi Dvořák: Quartet no. 12, Op. 96
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