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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Tangentenflügel
Mozart’s favorite keyboard instrument (for a while) September 29th, 2017Today I accidentally stumbled over another rarity from the vault of unusual and singular instruments! The instrument in question—variously called “Tangent piano” in English, “Tangentenflügel” in German, “cembalo angelico” in Italian, and “clavecin harmonieux et celeste” in French—sounds like a -
It’s All About the Character: An Interview with Riccardo Massi September 28th, 2017 Tenor Riccardo Massi takes the world’s stages in the most heroic of roles: Radamès in Aida, Don José in Carmen, Calaf in Turandot, but for the years while he was studying voice, he took to the cinema screen in other -
A Monument of Twentieth-Century Pianism:
Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l’enfant Jésus September 28th, 2017Olivier Messiaen’s monumental and profound work Vingt Regards sur l’enfant Jésus (Twenty Gazes on the Infant Jesus) surely ranks amongst the “greats” of the piano repertoire, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with such titans as Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier and Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas -
Forgotten Pianists: Monique Haas September 27th, 2017 Monique Haas (1909-1987) received the Premier Prix in 1927 from the Paris Conservatoire before going on to study privately with Rudolf Serkin, Georges Enescu and Robert Casadesus. As was common with most French pianists of her generation, she was an -
Daniil Trifonov, Rafal Blechacz and Arthur Rubinstein September 25th, 2017 Two of the world’s most outstanding talents – Daniil Trifonov and Rafal Blechacz were featured earlier this month in the South China Morning Post. The article was meant to alert Hong Kong audience to their imminent recitals in late September -
Paintings in Sound: An Interview with Thomas Lennartz September 25th, 2017 We first heard Thomas Lennartz at the helm of his old organ – the magnificent Silbermann organ (built ca 1750-51) in the Dresden Cathedral (Katholische Hofkirche). Old organ in two ways -one is its age, remembering that Silbermann had been -
Muses and Musings
Bettina Brentano: Everybody’s Muse! September 25th, 2017She aroused the curiosity of Napoleon Bonaparte and went for intimate walks with Karl Marx. She entertained a significant passion for Goethe, who deflected her craving into an extended correspondence and companionship, and she was Beethoven’s muse. Robert Schumann and -
The Joy of being a Musical Prodigy
Alma Elizabeth Deutscher September 24th, 2017If you have been reading my miniseries on the shenanigans of abusive parents beating their children to musical stardom, this little story will probably restore your faith in humankind. I am talking about the pianist, violinist and composer Alma Elizabeth