Blogs

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Monumental Beethoven
We did a survey of Beethoven monuments and it turns out that there are basically two kinds. The most traditional is Beethoven in full glower, standing or sitting and thinking of things far beyond the knowledge of mere mortals. The
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The Next Operatic Stars
Five Promising Young Singers That You Should Watch Out For
Lockdowns have given this correspondent plenty of time to review the next crop of promising young singers. All under 40 years old, these performers have enormous talent and are likely to be on the cusp of stardom once the theatres
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Nicky Spence at Wigmore Hall
Jess Dandy: mezzo-soprano, Julius Drake: piano 16 November 2020: Janáček This concert will be live streamed on the Wigmore Hall website in HD, and all concerts in the Autumn Series will be available on demand for 30 days after the
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Five Notes
How the Pentatonic Scale Guided the Evolution of Contemporary Classical Music
Five notes, endless possibilities… The pentatonic scale is often associated with popular music — and for a very good reason, it has been used extensively from blues to jazz, rock, pop and everything in between. However, as much as it
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Lawrence Power and Ryan Wigglesworth at Wigmore Hall
9 November 2020: Dowland, Britten, Wigglesworth, Brahms This concert will be live streamed on the Wigmore Hall website in HD, and all concerts in the Autumn Series will be available on demand for 30 days after the date of the
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My Beethoven by Rob
Is there anyone who does not know the name of Beethoven? Beethoven might just be the universal word for classical music. His contemporaries thought so much of him that in 1877, Dr. Ludwig Nohl published a book titled Beethoven Depicted
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The Best Performances
“O mio babbino caro” by Giacomo Puccini
Without doubt, Giacomo Puccini scored an all-time hit with his aria “O mio babbino caro.” Just about everybody knows this famous melody, and it has been performed by some of the most illustrious singers of our time, not to mention
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The Curious Pleasures of LPs
My son (22) amused me when he told me recently that one of the reasons why he liked LPs was “because of the crackles”. For someone who has grown up in the digital age, with almost unlimited access to superb-quality
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