Carlo Gesualdo GESUALDO: Tenebrae Responsories for Maundy Thursday (1611) The brutal slaughter of Maria d’Avalos and her lover Don Fabrizio Carafa at the hands of Don Carlo Gesualdo was not exclusively motivated by jealousy. In fact, Italian noblemen during the

Carlo Gesualdo Madrigals, Book 6 (1611) The third act of William Shakespeare’s tragic play “Othello” contains the ominous words “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on”. As we

After sampling the sexual exploitations by some members of the Viennese Strauss family, it might be time to restore our faith in humanity—especially with Valentine’s Day around the corner—by taking a look at a different Strauss, namely Richard from Munich.

Johann Strauss II Eine Nacht in Venedig (A Night in Venice) (1883) Kaiser Walzer (Emperor Waltz), Op. 437 (1889) Aufs Korn, Op. 478 (1898) Psychoanalytical models suggest that a human being, emotionally responding to the loss of a loved one,

Johann Strauss II Abschied von St. Petersburg (1858) An der schonen, blauen Donau (The Beautiful Blue Danube), Op. 314 (1867) Die Fledermaus (1874) I am not entirely sure who coined the saying “like father, like son”, but they certainly could

Johann Strauss Täuberlin-Walzer, Op. 1 Kettenbrücken-Walzer, Op. 4 “Homage to Queen Victoria of Great Britain”, Op. 103 (1838) “Radetzky March”, Op. 228 (1848) One would be hard pressed not to agree with the assessment of a contemporary music critic, who

By the summer of 1874, Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884) was fighting an apparently minor throat infection that resulted in a blockage to his ears. By September, however, he had lost all hearing in his right ear, and by October he was

After merely two years in London, Faustina Bordoni departed for Venice. Exhausted from her petty quarrels with Francesca Cuzzoni, and tired of a feuding and bickering general public and musical establishment — which of course included Handel’s futile attempts at