February, 2016

34 Posts
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Muses and Musings
Anna and the Red Priest: Anna Girò and Antonio Vivaldi
Amid anguish and torment, Lives the contented soul, Chaste love, its only hope! Antonio Vivaldi: Nulla in mundo pax sincera, RV 630 (There is no honest peace in this world) These most powerful lines about the true nature of love
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Minors of the Majors
Franz Joseph Haydn: Baryton Trio No. 97 in D Major, Hob. XI:97
“Minors of the Majors” invites you to discover compositions by the great classical composers that for one reason or another have not reached the musical mainstream. Please enjoy, and keep listening!
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What’s the point of reviewing concerts?
I’ve been reviewing classical music concerts in London for my blog and for an international concert and opera listings site for over five years now. In many ways, it’s the ideal job for me as it combines my twin passions
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Music and Art: Schoenberg and Kandinsky
In January 1911, the painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) was in Munich and went to a concert. He and the other members of the Munich New Artists’ Association heard something that changed Kandinsky’s whole artistic theory. The concert was of music
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Ernst Krenek (1900-1991): Composing the Chaos
The Reichsmusiktage (Music Days of the 3rd Reich) in 1938 featured a number of customary performances and lectures. However, it also marked the opening of an exhibit entitled Entartete Music (Degenerate music). The exhibit was intended to show the “cultural
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McCabe: Piano Music – Variations, Op. 22 / Studies No. 3, 4 and 6 / 5 Bagatelles / Haydn Variations
Haydn Variations From McCabe: Piano Music – Variations, Op. 22 / Studies No. 3, 4 and 6 / 5 Bagatelles / Haydn Variations (2015) Released by Naxos McCabe: Haydn VariationsJohn McCabe was a composer-pianist who excelled internationally in both fields.
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How You Should Feel in the Key of C Major
The Austrian composer and pianist Ernst Pauer (1826-1905) was a student of Mozart’s son, Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart, before moving to London in 1851. He is one of the first piano professors at the Royal College of Music and also
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Yamaha Pianos
The fastest way from Bach to Zappa
In my youth, I spent countless Saturday and Sunday afternoons playing for weddings until I was finally able to buy my own wheels. Since playing for weddings does not really pay all that well, I had to settle for two
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