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Thoughts from a concert reviewer’s desk
There was a time, not so long ago and at least within my living memory, when critics were regarded as significant arbiters of taste and culture who could, seemingly, make or break a career with one well-aimed stroke of their
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“The Orchestra is my Instrument”
Georges Prêtre (1924-2017)
He was described as a “sound wizard and a musician with an unparalleled intensity.” And after seven decades of working with top orchestras, high-octane performers and cutting-edge composers, the French conductor Georges Prêtre has died at the age of 92.
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Another Casualty of War
Alexandrov Ensemble
Flying is supposed to be the safest form of transportation; at least that’s what statistics will tell you. In very recent memory, a crash in South America has received lots of media coverage because it carried a first division Brazilian
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Forgotten Pianists: Samuil Feinberg
The pianist Samuil Feinberg (1890-1962) was a contemporary of Heinrich Neuhaus and they both taught at the Moscow Conservatory. He’s now largely remembered for being the first pianist to play the complete Well-Tempered Clavier by J.S. Bach in Russia.
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Musical Giants of the 20th Century: Spinto Tenor
The spinto is a tenor with a larger, slightly pressed voice (from spingere, Italian for push). While it is distinctly different from a light lyric tenor in a standard Mozart opera (for example a Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni), a
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“The Miracle of Bach and Heinrich”
Heinrich Schiff (1951-2016)
When the cellist and conductor Heinrich Schiff suffered a devastating stroke in 2008, he was in serious danger of loosing all mobility on his left side. As soon as he got to the hospital he almost instinctively started to go
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Rewiring turns “I Can’t” into “I Can”
Whenever we have a thought or physical sensation thousands of neurons are triggered and get together to form a neural network in the brain. “Experience-dependent neuroplasticity” is the scientific term for this activity of continual creation and grouping of neuron
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Forgotten Pianists: Heinrich Neuhaus
The noise of the new so often pushes the old out of our sight that often it’s a good idea to go back and see what we might have missed or forgotten. Today, we’re looking at the influential Heinrich Neuhaus.
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