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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Plants growing in the wrong climate:
Verdi and his String Quartet June 8th, 2013Originally, the term “Grand Opera” meant nothing more than a work that dealt with a serious subject and featured recitatives to separate musical numbers, rather than the dialogue used in opéra comique. By 1830, however, it had come to refer -
Don’t lose your Head: Haydn’s Skull June 7th, 2013 Around the turn of the 19th century, Schädellehre (doctrine of the skull) — better know as phrenology — was considered on the cutting edge of medical theory. Developed by the renowned Viennese neuroanatomist and physiologist Dr. Franz Joseph Gall, the -
Lise Lindstrom June 6th, 2013 The New York Post once claimed that ‘the tall, slender Lindstrom wielded the icy glamour of a 30s film star, working the trains and veils of her elaborate costumes with the panache of a runway model’. About six feet tall, -
Music and Religion:
The Catholic Retaliation June 5th, 2013The Counter-Reformation, also known as the Catholic Revival or Catholic Reformation, began with the Council of Trent in 1545 and ended at the close of the Thirty Year’s War in 1648. A direct response to the Protestant Reformation, it sought -
In touch with Marco Berti:
The Otello of the Future June 4th, 2013Sharing the same birthplace, Como, with Cosima Liszt, the daughter of Franz List and second wife of Richard Wagner, tenor Marco Berti is perhaps destined for greatness. After hearing Marco Berti’s debut as Otello at the Festival de Opera de -
Searching for Authenticity: Turandot May 31st, 2013 Ever since the seventeenth century, composers in every generation have explored the Orient for musical and dramatic inspiration. In fact, the sheer durability of this Orientalist obsession in music has greatly extended the language of music by employing eastern instruments, -
Intimacy Revisited: A Look at Hong Kong’s Performer/Composer Summit, Two Years Later May 29th, 2013 Two years on, the question remains: what, exactly, is Hong Kong’s University of Science and Technology doing dropping gobs of money to invite top-class musicians from around the world to spend two weeks on a campus without a music department? -
Without Music, Life would be an Error:
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche May 29th, 2013Friedrich Nietzsche Das zerbrochene Ringlein Piano Sonata in G Major “God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.” This most widely quoted statement originating with Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900) first appeared in the 1882 publication Die fröhliche