February, 2019

49 Posts
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Moved to Tears
Music has the power to tug at the heartstrings, and evoking emotion is the main purpose of music – whether it’s joy or sadness, excitement or meditation. A certain melody or line of a song, a falling phrase, the delayed
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In Classical Music Performances, Do Appearances Matter?
Anyone in the field of the performing arts knows that first impressions are important. After all, as soon as performers walk onstage, even before the performance begins, audiences are bound to form some opinion on how likeable they are. Dancers
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Liszt: Les Préludes
Premiered Today in 1854
Franz Liszt’s flamboyant personality and colorful pianistic mannerisms frequently detract from the fact that he was a highly gifted composer. What’s more, he was instrumental in establishing the intellectual foundations for a musical form that derives its movement and its
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RIES, F.: Cello Works (Complete), Vol. 1 – Cello Sonatas, Op. 20, 21, 125
Cello Sonata in C Major, Op. 20 III. Polonaise: Allegretto moderato From RIES, F.: Cello Works (Complete), Vol. 1 – Cello Sonatas, Opp. 20, 21, 125 (2018) Released by Naxos Ries: Cello Sonata in C Major, Op. 20 – III.
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Franz Liszt Arrested in Istanbul
A number of historical documents preserve an amusing little anecdote about Franz Liszt’s visit to the Ottoman Empire in 1847. It basically reads as follows: “After a 54-hour long trip from Galatz, Liszt had at last reached Constantinople. Here, he
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The Curious Soundworld of Alexander Scriabin
The music of Alexander Scriabin inhabits a distinctive, personal soundworld which is hard to define. It is the music of excess, ecstasy, tumult and passion. It is excessive, overripe, decadent, heavily perfumed, sensuous and frenzied, lacking in structure and sometimes
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Mozart’s Musical Journey
20 February 1771: Ascanio in Alba
From his extended Italian journey, and after having dodged a serious flu epidemic, Wolfgang Amadeus writes to his sister. “I am still well, and, thank God, in the land of the living. Tell Herr Johannes Hagenauer that the Berlein family
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Rossini: The Barber of Seville
Premiered Today in 1816
The premiere of Gioachino Rossini’s opera buffa The Barber of Seville on 20 February 1816 at the Teatro Argentina in Rome was a verifiable disaster! It probably had very little to do with how the music was performed that evening.
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