January, 2019

51 Posts
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Mozart’s Musical Journey
17 January 1778: Piano Sonata No. 9
On 17 January 1778, Mozart wrote to his father “Now for another subject. Last Wednesday there was a great feast to which I was also invited. There were fifteen guests, and the young lady of the house was to play
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The Inspiration of Imagination – Frodo & Bilbo
J.R.R. Tolkien created an entire world of high fantasy in his work The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Creating the world of Middle Earth beginning with The Hobbit in 1937, he fleshed it out in the three volumes
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Pulling out all the Stops
Celebrated Organ Concertos IV
Princesse Edmond de Polignac, synonymous with the heiress to the Singer sewing machine fortune Winnaretta Singer holds the distinction of commissioning the most frequently performed organ concerto not written in the Baroque period. The Princess envisioned a work for chamber
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Mozart’s Musical Journey
14 January 1775: La Finta Giardiniera
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote to his mother on 14 January 1775, “God be praised! My opera was given yesterday, the 13th, and proved so successful that I cannot possibly describe all the tumult. In the first place, the whole theatre
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On This Day
14 January: Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major Was Premiered
After months of careful planning, Maurice Ravel embarked on a 4-month tour of North America in 1928. In all, he visited 25 cities coast-to-coast, and performed and conducted the leading orchestras of Canada and the Unites States. Ravel also made
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From Mozart to Monk – Murakami’s Killing Commendatore
In Haruki Murakami’s many novels, there are always a number of references that will appear: Cats, Ears, Hokkaido, Wells or Deep Holes, Jazz, Classical Music, and so on. In his latest novel, Killing Commendatore, we have music in the very
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Prodigy Problems
prodigy ˈprɒdɪdʒi/ noun noun: prodigy; plural noun: prodigies 1. a young person with exceptional qualities or abilities. “a Russian pianist who was a child prodigy in his day” synonyms: child genius, genius, wonder child, wunderkind
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Gioacchino Rossini: “La Cenerentola”
Why go to Padua in the heart of the winter, travelling five hours by train, and looking at a sad barren landscape of the Veneto to listen to an opera?
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