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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“Opera is the Ultimate Art Form”: Maestro Xu Zhong July 30th, 2021 Starting from 6:00am on July 19 at Times Square New York City – known as the “crossroads of the world”- a digital billboard has been displaying an unique poster to endorse opera featuring Xu Zhong, President of Shanghai Opera House -
Karaoke Bach July 30th, 2021 If you listen to the recordings by Glenn Gould playing Bach, you can’t help but notice that he kept singing, humming or groaning along as he plays. Since audio engineers were not always successful in erasing his voice from the -
The Nostalgia and Pain of Memory: Janáček’s On an Overgrown Path July 29th, 2021 The nationalism that hit the 19th century and carried through to the 20th century had a profound effect on music. Music that had been ignored for its folk-like character, or its non-urban nature, became the basis for new works that -
4 Hands 4 More Piano Fun II July 28th, 2021 Throughout his early years, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was teamed up with his older sister Nannerl to entertain audiences with music for piano four-hands. And not entirely unexpected, he composed a number of works for himself and his sister. However, once -
Ancient Evocations: Mouquet’s La Flûte de Pan July 27th, 2021 Jules Mouquet (1867-1946) studied at the Paris Conservatoire and after winning the Prix de Rome in 1896, became a professor at the Conservatoire in 1913. In the early 20th century, Mouquet wrote his lovely flute sonata, La Flûte de Pan. -
The Bartered Bride July 26th, 2021 How Smetana Established the “Czechness” in His Opera The Bartered Bride is a comic opera with three acts completed in 1866. It was written by Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884) with libretto by Karel Sabina (1813-1877).1 The first performance was held at -
The Music of Poetry
Giovanni Guarini: “Il Pastor Fido” (The Faithful Shepherd) July 25th, 2021Giovanni Guarini started work on his pastoral tragicomedy “Il pastor fido” (The Faithful Shepherd) around 1580. It took him a good four years before he was able to finish the five-act, 39-scene pastoral drama. Guarini circulated the play among literary -
Why the Piano Is My Favourite Instrument July 25th, 2021 When people learn that I’m a pianist, they usually say “oh I’d love to learn the piano” or “I wish I’d kept up piano lessons”. The piano is one of the most popular instruments to learn, especially for children as