May, 2014

47 Posts
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York Bowen: 24 Preludes / Suite Mignonne / Berceuse (Ortiz)
Bowen: Berceuse in D Major, Op. 83 From York Bowen: 24 Preludes / Suite Mignonne / Berceuse (Ortiz) (2014) Released by Grand Piano / Naxos Bowen: Berceuse in D Major, Op. 83York Bowen was described by Saint-Saëns as ‘the most
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Richard Strauss and the Rise of Modernity
Six years after the dismal failure of his opera Guntram in Munich, Richard Strauss collaborated with the librettist Ernst von Wolzogen on a project he hoped would exact revenge on the bourgeois provincialism of his hometown. Feuersnot (In need of
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In touch with Jorja Fleezanis
Concertmaster and Prophet
Jorja Fleezanis became one of two female concertmasters in the country when the Minnesota Orchestra recruited her in 1989. After twenty years in that position, the longest tenured concertmaster in the orchestra’s history, she joined the faculty of Indiana University
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The Supernatural in Music
XI. Black Angels: Electrified Fear
The American composer George Crumb took the idea of the classical string quartet and turned into an electric ensemble of darkness. His 1971 work, Black Angels: Thirteen Images from the Dark Land, extended the string quartet by electrifying it, and
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The Dossier Richard Strauss
The Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of National Socialist ideology was launched after the end of the Second World War. The directives of “denazification” identified specific groups and
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An Alpine Symphony
Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss’ Alpine Symphony is seen as one of the peaks of his orchestral writing (oh dear, I’m on the puns already…). Lasting almost an hour, written for a huge orchestra, it follows the dramatic story of a journey up
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Fazioli: The Ferrari among Pianos
When I was doing some research on piano makers, I came across a rather interesting statistic. In the first half of the 20th century, 300 piano makers plied their trade in Europe. By December 2013, only 9 makers remain. Like
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Ciccolini and the Waltz
We heard, the other day, a new disc by Aldo Chiccolini, simply entitled 13 Waltzes and it got us thinking about the waltz. The waltz was one of several similar dances that came out of southern Germany, Bavaria and Austria
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