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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Antique Instruments in the Orchestra December 23rd, 2015 Can you name an instrument used for an orchestral solo that used to be so common that nearly everyone owned one but now are quite rare? One piece of popular light music calls for an instrument that was in every -
You’re a Pro and You Still Have to Practice? December 22nd, 2015 Once I entered an elevator with my red cello case. I swung it up so it stood upright. Although I tried not to make eye contact someone was still prompted to ask questions. -
The Music is the Least of It December 21st, 2015 The remarkable Orquesta de Instrumentos Reciclados de Cateura [Recycled Orchestra of Cateura] is a project from a village next to the Cateura landfill outside the city of Asunción, Paraguay, and is the subject of a new documentary entitled Landfillharmonic. -
Music and Art: Pollock December 20th, 2015 In this series on Music and Art, we’ve mainly been looking at representational pictures (people, trees, and landscapes). When we look at an artist from the world of abstract expressionism, all of our horizons open wide. Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) was - “If music be the food of love, play on.”
Shakespeare and Music III: The Tempest December 20th, 2015Although The Tempest, written in 1610, is thought to be one of Shakespeare’s greatest works, it had a lukewarm reception. The subsequent ban on the performance of dramas in the theater in 1642 caused The Tempest to disappear into obscurity. -
Christmas Voices of the Paris Conservatoire December 19th, 2015 The shameful, cowardly and revolting attacks on Paris in 2015 serve as a sad reminder that the veneer of civilization continues to be paper-thin! In a repulsive case of history repeating itself, Paris was also under attack roughly 100 years -
The Kids of Perugia December 18th, 2015 David Ilana and I were invited to the Silk Road Piano Festival in Xian in 2014. Xian is famous for its thousands of terracotta soldiers buried in 210–209 BCE by a paranoid emperor, Qin Shi Huang, who wanted to make - Niccolò Jommelli: Requiem December 17th, 2015 When Niccolò Jommelli died on 25 August 1774 in Naples, the composer Gennaro Manno organized a magnificent funeral attended by the most prominent musicians and writers in the city. However, since Jommelli was considered one of the most important and
