“Anecdotes and maxims are rich treasures to the man of the world.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The universe of classical music is jam-packed with musical anecdotes. Frequently these short narratives delineate subtle stories that highlight specific traits of a classical composer or a performer. Often humorous, anecdotes of classical composers don’t simply provoke laughter but can reveal a more general and subtle truth. We find Sophia Corri escaping her inattentive husband in an empty harp case, Beethoven being thrown in jail for vagrancy, and Rossini and Pavarotti both cooking their favorite meals. Napoleon gave free reign to his infatuation with an opera singer, Bach was challenged to a duel, and Frederick the Great had not only a great passion for music but also for a handsome Lieutenant in the Royal Guard. A musical anecdote is part of the process of telling a story, but it means sharing an experience with someone and not simply supplying him or her with information. And don’t worry, embellishment, exaggeration or fictitious invention are all part of the process. Anecdotes of classical composers impart the sense of a lived experience, as they usually involve real people in recognizable places and locations. In fact, musical anecdotes exhibit a special kind of realism and an identifiable historical dimension. Check back with us for more insightful and delightful musical anecdotes.
In 1935, the filmmaker Josef von Sternberg directed a romance film starring actress Marlene Dietrich. Titled “The Devil is a Woman,” it was the last of the six Sternberg-Dietrich collaborations for Paramount Pictures. The plot is based on a novel
Written in1940, late in his career, the Symphonic Dances by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943) started out to be a ballet with choreography by Leonid Fokin, but Fokin died in 1942, and the idea died with him. Almost a symphony, albeit in
Ever since the establishment of music printing, publishers have attached various nicknames to compositions in order to increase sales. More often than not, composers really did not have a say. But on occasion, they are at least based on specific
Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) originally hailed from Florence, and he was essentially known as a cheeky street musician in his youth. His talents, musical and otherwise, were recognized, and he ended up as an Italian language tutor to Louis XIV’s cousin
A foodie connoisseur once wrote, “Food shares with music an enduring repertoire subject to interpretation.” And when we talk about Leopold Mozart, the emphasis is clearly on interpretation. He was a man prone to complain about most things, including the
He single-handedly revolutionized the world of opera by applying an unprecedented entrepreneurial philosophy to arts management. Giulio Gatti-Casazza managed La Scala in Milan for a decade, and he also served as the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera of New
For 30 years, the British recording label “NMC Recordings” has specialized in recording works by living composers from the British Isles. A veritable national archive for new and contemporary music, it marked its 20th Anniversary in 2009 with a special
The Italian composer, impresario, music publisher and voice teacher Domenico Corri (1746-1825) was a towering and eventually insane figure in the music industry of the British Isles of the late 18th century. Born in Rome, he became a student of
