September, 2024

85 Posts
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Playing with the Prelude and Fugue: Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C major
The combination of the Prelude and Fugue seems to be a particularly 18th-century construction. The two works should be in the same key and have different compositional rules: the Prelude as an introductory piece, sometimes of an improvisatory nature, and
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30 Best Classical Music Movies As Rated by Rotten Tomatoes
Looking for a movie about classical music to watch? You’re in luck! Today we’ve not only assembled a list of thirty movies about classical music, but we’ve also checked in with movie review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes to see which
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The Unofficial Olympics
Credit: NPR Classical
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On This Day
30 September: George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess Was Premiered
On 30 September 1935, the Colonial Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, hosted the world premiere performance of Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin. It was the try-out run for the first Broadway showing at Alvin Theatre in New York City on
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On This Day
29 September: Lisette Oropesa Was Born
The lyric coloratura soprano Lisette Oropesa has achieved worldwide acclaim for her seamless vocal technique, expressive musicality, linguistic affinity, and stylistic integrity. According to critics, “she has a technique without weakness, and everything she touches turns into gold.” She sang
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The Mountain Maid
Edvard Grieg and Arne Garborg
In 1895, Edvard Grieg came across the book Haugtussa (The Mountain Maid) by Arne Gaborg. He immediately was fire and flame writing to his friend Julius Röntgen, “In the last few days I have been occupied with a very peculiar
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The Perils of Playing and Instrument Drops- it’s a Thing
As if we musicians don’t have more than our share of challenges to contend with, we heard the recent story of the energetic and exultant conductor who kicked a soloist’s violin right out of his hands. The Czech violinist, classical,
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Violence Against Men
The Age of the Castrato III
Current research has suggested that the castrati “were considered to be a gender of their own, partly because they were not classified as male or female in society. They drifted, so to speak, in a gender limbo, often carrying a
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