In essence

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Old Bach meets Old Fritz!
Musical Offering, BWV 1079 Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra Ton Koopman Frederick the Great of Prussia, affectionately known as “Der Alte Fritz” (Old Fritz) is generally known as a brilliant military campaigner who established the reputation of Prussian military might. In addition,
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Schumann Fantasie Op. 17
Clara, Ludwig, or both? Robert Schumann (1810-1856) had one of the most fascinating and varied biographies of all the nineteenth-century German composers. Forced by his guardian to study law, he rebelled against its pharisaical quibbling at age nineteen and moved
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Redemption through Consumption!
Liszt and Marie Duplessis
Liszt Liebestraum After Franz Liszt had successfully escaped the ravenous attention of Lola Montez in early autumn 1845, he hastily made his way to Paris. Performing in a variety of public and salon concerts, he apparently liked to spend his
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German Adventures II
Lola and her “Montez”
King Ludwig I of Bavaria had the somewhat conceited habit of having his lovers, real and imagined, portrait by the royal painter Joseph Karl Stieler. When the Bavarian Revolution forced his abdication in 1848, he possessed a proud collection of
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Hands off my Flute!
Frederick the Great and his greatest Obsession Frederick II, of Prussia, subsequently known as Frederick the Great, was the eldest surviving son of Frederick William I and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, the sister of George II of England. Daddy Frederick,
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Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 9 (1908-11)
The German born conductor Bruno Walter worked closely with Gustav Mahler as an assistant and protégé. In addition, he frequently heard Mahler conduct his own works. Since Mahler did not live to lead performances of Das Lied von der Erde
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Mozart in London V
Scholars are generally in agreement that the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart attended a performance of J.C. Bach’s opera “Adriano in Siria,” which premiered at King’s Theatre London on 26 January 1765. J.C. was clearly at the centre of London’s almost
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German Adventures I
Liszt and Charlotte von Hagn
Liszt Was Liebe sei?, S288/1/R575a Was Liebe sei?, S288/2/R575b Was Liebe sei?, S288/3/R575c After a highly successful tour of Russia, Franz Liszt arrived in Berlin and played his first recital at the Berlin Singakademie on 27 December 1841. His performance
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