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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Vocal Eyes July 8th, 2014 Opera Holland Park, set in a patch of beautiful green space just west of London’s Hyde Park, adds a rich dimension to the city’s already active opera scene. As well as fine productions of core repertoire, the company boasts an -
The Conductor Gets it In The End:
Deception and the Korngold Cello Concerto July 6th, 2014The classic film noir Deception, starring Bette Davis, is a racy, classic tale of passion, jealousy, and lust for power. The romantic music written by Erich Wolfgang Korngold carries the movie. At the time, Korngold was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish refugee. -
Music, art and literature and the Great War: Part II July 5th, 2014 Last month’s article focused on the impact of the Great War on musicians, artists and writers in France –today I will focus on its impact in Germany and Austria. -
Ensemble Tips A to Z July 3rd, 2014 A is for Audition. Have a plan to learn your material and be able to play it any tempo, any dynamic under any circumstance with absolute accuracy, rhythm and expression. Recruit your scariest friends to play through your material in -
The Talich Quartet: Kalliwoda String Quartets July 2nd, 2014 It’s a real treat, in these days of so much being available at the drop of an internet query, to find a recording of music that truly is rare. We heard the other day a recording of Johan Wenzel Kalliwoda’s -
Avi Avital July 1st, 2014 A Mandolin in Carnegie Hall? Surely not? But yes, it’s been done, in addition to Wigmore Hall and the Lincoln Center. Israeli-born Avi Avital is on a mission: to make the mandolin as at-home in the concert hall as the -
Skipping Town: Christoph Willibald Gluck June 30th, 2014 Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) was a prodigious musical talent. By age 13—entirely self-thought—he was a proficient vocalist and expert performer on the violin, cello, harpsichord, and the organ. Regrettably, his father, a successful and prosperous forester did not share his -
The Miracles of Salzburg
Maria Plain and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart June 29th, 2014Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Missa Brevis, K. 192 “Credo” Leopold Mozart and his wife Anna Maria Walburga had seven children, of whom only two survived infancy. Being good Catholics and all, they continued to sponsor Holy Masses for their dead children.