In classical music, the Romantic Era lasted from around 1810 to around 1910. That century gave us some of the most famous symphonies in the repertoire. Nineteenth-century composers like Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Dvořák, Schubert, Mahler, Rachmaninoff, and others elevated the symphony
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Music in Exile
Displaced by War February 25th, 2016With Nazi security forces hot on his heels, Kurt Weill crossed the French border on 22 March 1933. For the next two years Weill settled in Paris, and the composer barely managed to make a living. He completed his Symphony -
Giovanni Paisiello February 24th, 2016 The Original Barber of Seville In 2016, we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Giovanni Paisiello’s death (1740-1816). One of the most successful and influential opera composers of his time, he wrote music for 94 operas that cultivated a comic, simple, -
Muses and Musings
Anna and the Red Priest: Anna Girò and Antonio Vivaldi February 23rd, 2016Amid anguish and torment, Lives the contented soul, Chaste love, its only hope! Antonio Vivaldi: Nulla in mundo pax sincera, RV 630 (There is no honest peace in this world) These most powerful lines about the true nature of love -
Minors of the Majors
Franz Joseph Haydn: Baryton Trio No. 97 in D Major, Hob. XI:97 February 22nd, 2016“Minors of the Majors” invites you to discover compositions by the great classical composers that for one reason or another have not reached the musical mainstream. Please enjoy, and keep listening! -
What’s the point of reviewing concerts? February 21st, 2016 I’ve been reviewing classical music concerts in London for my blog and for an international concert and opera listings site for over five years now. In many ways, it’s the ideal job for me as it combines my twin passions -
Music and Art: Schoenberg and Kandinsky February 21st, 2016 In January 1911, the painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) was in Munich and went to a concert. He and the other members of the Munich New Artists’ Association heard something that changed Kandinsky’s whole artistic theory. The concert was of music -
Ernst Krenek (1900-1991): Composing the Chaos February 20th, 2016 The Reichsmusiktage (Music Days of the 3rd Reich) in 1938 featured a number of customary performances and lectures. However, it also marked the opening of an exhibit entitled Entartete Music (Degenerate music). The exhibit was intended to show the “cultural -
How You Should Feel in the Key of C Major February 19th, 2016 The Austrian composer and pianist Ernst Pauer (1826-1905) was a student of Mozart’s son, Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart, before moving to London in 1851. He is one of the first piano professors at the Royal College of Music and also