The solo violin has long been acknowledged as the perfect instrument to express emotions like love, longing, heartbreak, rapture, and romance. The Romantic era lasted from the early nineteenth century to the early twentieth century and produced numerous works that
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What Happens Next: Ching’s Buoso’s Ghost July 9th, 2020 In a sense, at the end of the opera, we’ve received closure for the story at hand (they marry, they die, they get their revenge, etc.) but sometimes there’s a large story that we are locked out of. Modern composers -
Meet James Anagnoson – Dean of The Glenn Gould School July 9th, 2020 James Anagnoson (Jim), one of Canada’s most esteemed pianists and pedagogues, is originally from Boston, but relocated in 1976 to Toronto, where he collaborated with Canadian pianist Leslie Kinton to form the “Anagnoson & Kinton” piano duo. Jim joined the -
Leopold Auer July 8th, 2020 “Art begins where technique ends” The Hungarian-born violinist, conductor and educator Leopold Auer (1845-1930) counted Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein, Mischa Elman, Efrem Zimbalist, and numerous other great musicians as his students. In fact, he is rightfully referred to as the -
Beethoven’s Lairs
“Sailerstätte 1055/6” July 7th, 2020Between 1815 and 24 April 1817, Ludwig van Beethoven resided at quarters in Sailerstätte No. 1055/6. It was a lofty and narrow house, and Beethoven had an apartment on the 3rd flood. Some of his rooms were positioned towards the -
Why Bach Wrote the Rules and Debussy Broke Them All July 6th, 2020 Bach is often considered as the father of Western classical (and popular) music. His influence is great and still resonates today. Through a vast creative output Bach consolidated the rules of rhythm, melody and harmony, as well as improvisation and -
Fauré and the French Harp July 6th, 2020 The harp as an instrument came to its greatest development in Paris in the 20th century with the development of the chromatic harp by Pleyel. The chromatic harp (also known as cross-strung harp) was the first to have all 12 -
The Music of Poetry
Charles Baudelaire: “L’invitation au Voyage” July 5th, 2020When Charles Baudelaire published his collection of poems entitled Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil) in 1857, he shocked an entire generation. “Candor and goodness are disgusting,” he wrote in the epilogue, describing his masterpiece instead as a -
The Role of Audiences July 5th, 2020 A Response to Sir András Schiff’s Comment About Modern Audiences The attitude and behaviour of classical music audiences has been in the British news (not for the first time!) thanks to an article about Hungarian pianist Sir András Schiff in