April, 2015

54 Posts
archive-post-image
Frédéric Chopin: Arranging the poet of the piano
Frédéric Chopin was not only one of the greatest pianists the world has ever known, he also left the finest body of music for his instrument. “In my music,” he once remarked, “one can divine the restlessness of the artist.”
Read more
archive-post-image
Aimez Vous Brahms? III
With his widely recognised achievements as a pianist, composer and conductor, Brahms had succeeded in amassing a considerable fortune: 4000.000 marks from his compositions, earnings wisely invested by his publisher. It was also due to a frugal life: he dined
Read more
archive-post-image
Painting Music in the Age of Caravaggio
A recent exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum in New York paired one of Caravaggio’s paintings, ‘The Musicians’ (1595) with two other paintings, ‘Allegory of Music’ by Laurent de la Hyre (1606 -1656) and ‘The Lute Player’ (c.1626) by Valentin de
Read more
archive-post-image
From the frying pan into the fire!
“Giacomo Puccini and Elvira Gemignani” Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) (in)famously described himself as “a mighty hunter of wild fowl, operatic librettos and attractive women.” Bravado self-assessment aside, his entire musical career hinged on the success of his second opera Edgar, began
Read more
archive-post-image
Violin Design
We all know what a violin looks like – a beautiful instrument with a warm wood body and an elegant black fingerboard, finished off with a perfect wooden scroll. Ah, but that’s so last century. The modern violin can be
Read more
archive-post-image
SCHUMANN, R.: Carnaval / Davidsbündlertänze / Papillons (Giltburg)
Davidsbundlertanze, Op. 6 No. 18. Nicht schnell From SCHUMANN, R.: Carnaval / Davidsbündlertänze / Papillons (Giltburg) (2015) Released by Naxos Schumann: Davidsbundlertanze, Op. 6 – No. 18. Nicht schnellThe three works on this recording are collections of short pieces, strung
Read more
archive-post-image
David Hertzberg
When the Gotham Chamber Opera and the Jarvis & Constance Doctorow Family Foundation presented up-and-coming composer David Hertzberg with the inaugural Catherine Doctorow Prize for Music last year, they called his music “an extraordinarily beautiful sound world with a unique
Read more
archive-post-image
Opinion masquerading as Fact
CNN: Top 10 greatest orchestras in the world Every day we are presented with lists and rankings that purport to be the ultimate authority on a given subject. From establishing credit worthiness for various nations to slugging percentages of somebody
Read more