The love story between Robert and Clara Schumann is often regarded as one of the most romantic in classical music history. Happily for historians, many of their love letters survive. They document their inner thoughts and emotions, as well as
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The Exotic Other Brought Home
Les pêcheurs de perles, Lakmé and Le roi de Lahore August 21st, 2022The world of opera is a world of fantasy – people fall in love just by hearing the other person, all rumours are instantly believed, and miscommunication rules. Three French operas stand out because of their use of exotic locations -
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21 August: Janet Baker Was Born August 21st, 2022Janet Baker, born in Yorkshire on 21 August 1933, considers herself perfectly lucky. “I have all the thing which, to the outward eye, spells success,” she writes. “A marvelous career, the kind any performer dreams about… All my working life -
The Wind, The Wind August 20th, 2022 Wind-Inspired Classical Music In depicting the meteorological phenomenon, one of the most interesting is the most invisible – the wind. It can be the gentle breeze of spring or the rough gales of winter, the cooling breeze of summer, or -
Ice Lollies and Classical Music Marketing August 20th, 2022 Scrolling through Twitter recently, this concert poster immediately jumped out at me: It’s striking, isn’t it? Not just the bright colours and simple design, but the choice of image which instantly says “summer” – appropriately, for a summer concert. It’s -
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20 August: Maxim Vengerov Was Born August 20th, 2022Maxim Vengerov, born on 20 August 1974 in Novosibirsk, combines “superb technical command with lyrical eloquence that easily captivates audiences.” He is hailed as one of the world’s finest musicians, and sometimes lauded as “the greatest living string player in -
Dance, Dance, Dance: The Bourrée August 19th, 2022 Popular for just over a century, the Bourrée or Bourée started as a folk dance in the mid–17th century but upon its adoption by the Academie of Dance at the French court (the Academie was established by Louis XIV in -
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19 August: Vilde Frang Was Born August 19th, 2022In 2012, violinist Vilde Frang was unanimously awarded the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award, and she made her debut with the Vienna Philharmonic under Bernard Haitink at the Lucerne Festival shortly thereafter. Born on 19 August 1986 in Norway, Frang -
Musicians and Artists: Tsao and Goya August 18th, 2022 Ming Tsao: If ears were all that were needed Los caprichos, by Francisco Goya, are a series of 80 prints done in aquatint and etching created in 1797 and 1798. The series illustrates the world follies, as represented in contemporary