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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When you don’t feel like practising…… September 2nd, 2018 Practising is a habit. If we are serious about our music, our progress with our repertoire and our technical and artistic development, we need to establish good and regular practising habits, as regular as cleaning one’s teeth. No one, not -
Cello Concerto Overview: The Should Haves Part I September 1st, 2018 Concert Favorites: Cello Concertos That You Should Learn My teacher János Starker used to say that cellist soloists have to be ready to play a greater number of concertos than our more brilliant sister, the violinist, who can play an -
Schaghajegh Nosrati September 1st, 2018 ‘Stay in Touch with the World’ ‘Part of being a musician is not just practice. There are so many people who spend so many hours in the practice room, their minds don’t grow, and that’s really sad. You really need -
Music and Emotions
Mourning: Astor Piazzolla and Adíos Nonino August 31st, 2018In the last article in this series, we looked at how Tan Dun turned to his roots for inspiration when composing his first composition. In the same manner – though around four decades earlier – the Argentinean composer Astor Piazzolla -
Liszt: Missa Solemnis
Premiered Today in 1856 August 31st, 2018Picturesquely located on the banks of the Danube River, the ecclesiastic basilica at Esztergom is Hungary’s largest church. Stephen I of Hungary erected the foundation of the present building between 1001 and 1010. Various fires and destructions by foreign powers -
Late Style August 30th, 2018 The accepted notion is that age confers a spirit of reconciliation and serenity on late works– Edward Said, ‘On Late Style’ What is ‘Late Style’? It’s a question that has preoccupied writers and thinkers, from Theodor Adorno, who coined the -
The Musical Knife August 29th, 2018 I trust you have previously enjoyed reading about the “Musical Bed” and the “Musical Bike”. Now, here comes a real musical curiosity in the form of a double-bladed musical knife! It is a rare treasure indeed, as only three of -
Haydn: L’Incontro Improvviso
Premiered Today in 1775 August 29th, 2018Visitations by foreign heads of state can be rather lavish affairs. And that was certainly the case when Archduke Ferdinand and Maria Beatrice d’Este, alongside a retinue of well over one hundred servants, visited the former hunting lodge of Prince