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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Lang Lang: Goldberg Variations January 3rd, 2022 The plethora of Goldberg Variations recordings, since pioneered by Wanda Landowska in 1933, has garnered many different, if not conflicting, views. Even the great pianist Glenn Gould who recorded them twice, first in 1955 then later in 1981, crystallises opposite -
4 Piano Suites From Latin America in the 20th Century January 2nd, 2022 Since the turn of the 20th century, the piano suite has become a popular genre among Latin American composers. From Baroque dance suites (such as French and English suites by J.S. Bach) to suites written in the Romantic era (Kreisleriana -
Time of Day: Dawn
Mussorgsky, Pigovat, Sviridov, Eller, Harris and Qin January 2nd, 2022How do you take the morning, musically? Bright and brassy alarm bells, a gentle reminder from the buzzer, the shock of morning radio? We decided to survey music for the earliest time of day: Dawn. We’ll start with Mussorgsky’s music -
On My Music Desk……
Drei Klavierstücke, D946 – Franz Schubert January 2nd, 2022Impromptus in all but name, the three “piano pieces” D946, were completed in May 1828, the year Schubert died, and follow the far more well-known and popular Impromptus D899 and D935, which Schubert composed the previous year. Like the Impromptus, -
On This Day
1 January: Johann Christian Bach Died January 1st, 2022In April 1782, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart famously wrote to his father, “I suppose that you have heard that the English Bach is dead? What a loss to the musical world!” Johann Christian Bach, known in London circles as John Bach, -
Everybody Does the Blues
Tansman, Copland, Ravel and Schulhoff January 1st, 2022The idea of using jazz idioms in an otherwise “serious” composition was a recurrent element in European music between the two World Wars. Composers of all nationalities sought to break down the distinction between high and popular art, and the -
Philippe Sly January 1st, 2022 I talk to French-Canadian bass-baritone Philippe Sly just before his final appearance as Leporello in a run of Don Giovanni at the Wiener Staatsoper. Hailing from Ottawa, Philippe won first prize at the renowned Concours Musical International de Montréal, and -
My Top Ten Concert Experiences in China in 2021 December 31st, 2021 If there is one perfect word to sum up the audible culmination of China in 2021, homogeneity must be somewhere close to the top. The whole country indulged in a year-long celebration of the centennial of the Chinese Communist Party