August, 2019

42 Posts
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Stephen Hough’s Rough Ideas
The title is a play on his name and the collection of essays in this satisfyingly chunky volume were often “roughed out” by Stephen Hough while travelling between concert engagements, If you think the life of the international concert pianist
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Two Female Composers Whose Music Deserves to Be Better Known
Born within a year of one another, female composers Dora Pejačević (1885-1923) and Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) gained little recognition during their own lifetimes and it has only been in recent years that their music has become better known, and deservedly
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Louis Moreau Gottschalk
Chopin of the Créoles Louisiana-born Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869) spent most of his life as a touring concert pianist. Son of a Jewish businessman and a Créole mother, the boy was quickly recognized as a musical prodigy and departed for
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João Gilberto (1931-2019)
“Father of Bossa Nova”
When the legendary Brazilian musician João Gilberto (1931-2019) released his first record, Chega de Saudade, nobody could foresee that it would become one of the most influential events in modern Brazilian music. Gilberto had created a unique romantic and reflective
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Musicians and Artists: Gottschalk and Art
Louis Moreau Gottschalk was the original 19th-century musical rebel. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1829, he was a music prodigy, making his public debut at age 11. When he was 13, he went to Paris with his father and
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Are Classical Musicians “Stuffy”?
Many people, who are not “in the know” – and even some who are! – regard classical music as elitist and its practitioners as either formal and old-fashioned or pretentious so-and-so’s who have set themselves up as demi-gods, garnering praise
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Long Yu: Guardian of the Orchestral Galaxy
For any music journalist, to nail down an interview with Long Yu would be mission impossible. Not only because the man has an endless line-up of meetings, auditions to attend, rehearsals, concerts to lead who spends his day by minute,
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WIRÉN, D.: String Quartets Nos. 2-5
String Quartet No. 2, Op. 9 – I. Theme and variations From WIRÉN, D.: String Quartets Nos. 2-5 (2018) Released by Naxos Wirén: String Quartet No. 2, Op. 9 – I. Theme and variationsThe tapestry of drama, refinement and expressive
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