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Rosalyn Tureck: The Greatest Bach Pianist You’ve Never Heard Of
Most classical music lovers know about Glenn Gould and his legendary recordings of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. But do you know about Rosalyn Tureck, the incredible keyboard player who inspired him? Over the course of her very long career, Rosalyn Tureck
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Modest Tchaikovsky: A Younger Brother In the Shadows
Pyotr Tchaikovsky is one of the most beloved composers of the Romantic Era. One reason Tchaikovsky’s music has endured is that he had a devoted younger brother named Modest, who spent years of his life tending to his brother’s legacy.
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Konstancja Gładkowska: The Singer Who Was Chopin’s First Love
Konstancja Gładkowska, a talented Polish soprano, was a major figure in the life of Frédéric Chopin. Without even knowing it, Gładkowska became Chopin’s muse when he was in his late teens and early twenties. Their relationship may never have been
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Was Brahms Forced to Play in Brothels?
It’s one of the most famous stories about the life of Johannes Brahms: he played piano in brothels as a teenager, and the experience scarred him for the rest of his life. However, is this mythology based on truth? Some
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Alma Moodie: Why Has This Great Violinist Been Totally Forgotten?
Australian violinist Alma Moodie was one of the most important figures in early twentieth-century classical music. Her international career burned bright in between the world wars, and she inspired multiple major works by German composers in the 1920s. But she
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Making Fun of the Wild Pianists
Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals: Pianists
One of the unusual movements in Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals is his 11th movement: “Pianists.” We opened with the march of the lions, we had an elephant, and upcoming is the most famous movement, The Swan, but in the
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Seven Tumultuous Divorces From Classical Music History
Composers tend to have famously tumultuous personal lives. Some struggled mightily in their marriages, and more than a few got divorced…sometimes more than once! Today, we’re looking at seven divorces experienced by five famous composers, as well as the stories
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If You Like Beethoven, You Might Like Daniel Barenboim
Ludwig van Beethoven, the titan of classical music, has inspired generations with his profound emotional depth, structural genius, and unrelenting passion. His symphonies, sonatas, and quartets are more than just musical compositions. They are monumental expressions of human experience, ranging
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