February, 2018

44 Posts
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HARRISON, L.: Violin Concerto / Grand Duo / Double Music
Violin Concerto III. Allegro – Vigoroso – Poco presto From HARRISON, L.: Violin Concerto / Grand Duo / Double Music (2017) Released by Naxos Harrison: Violin Concerto – III. Allegro – Vigoroso – Poco prestoLou Harrison was a composer far
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When a factory becomes a concert hall
A brand new concert hall built on a former industrial site reinvigorates the city and unveils a new chapter for its local orchestra. Sounds like an exemplary story from Hamburg. Well I am actually referring to Zürich in Switzerland.
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Destination Beijing
The new city of the new century, Beijing has grasped the future and has taken its history with it. Its literary background, its Forbidden City, its love for its traditions, and its desire to lead the future give us a
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2018
The Year of the Earth Dog
A long, long time ago, the Jade Emperor was looking for 12 animals to become designated as calendar signs. So he sent an immortal being into the world of man and announced that the first 12 animals to pass through
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César Cui
Spokesman of the “Mighty Handful” Antoine Queuille named his sons after great military men, and that included Alexander, Napoleon and César. He was an officer in the French Army who settled in Vilnius, Lithuania after Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow in
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Paul Wittgenstein
The Lefty Concertos
The undisputed masterwork to emerge from the Wittgenstein commissions was the Concerto pour la main gauche by Maurice Ravel. Yet the collaboration between composer and interpreter was decidedly acrimonious. Composed between 1929 and 1930, Ravel was intrigued by the challenge
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Rubinstein and the Rocky Island
Starting in 1848, Anton Rubinstein was in great shape musically. He had an attentive patron in the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, sister-in-law to Tsar Nicholas I. In addition to his teaching and performing careers, he also composed 3 symphonies, 5
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At the Center of the Musical Universe
Frédéric Chopin II
Completed in April 1893, the 18 Morceaux, Op. 72 were Tchaikovsky’s last works for solo piano. Putting together the relevant musical materials for a series of piano pieces he told his brother, “in order to earn some money, I will
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