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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Performing the New: An Interview With Madeleine Mitchell June 27th, 2023 The brilliant new recording by Madeleine Mitchell is a wonderful review of late 20th- and early 21st-century violin music. Many of the works were written as gifts for Ms Mitchell and on four of the works, their composers play the -
On This Day
26 June: Wagner’s Die Walküre Was Premiered June 26th, 2023Cosima Wagner wrote pointedly in her diary of 1873, “Die Walküre is the most emotional, the most tragic of Richard’s works.” Here as elsewhere, Cosima is responding to the classical theory of drama that Wagner had outlined during the initial -
Why Abel Selaocoe a Dazzling Cellist, Singer, and Composer, is a Revelation June 26th, 2023 South African cellist, singer, and composer Abel Selaocoe has a remarkable and inventive approach. Taking the cello to places rarely explored, he showcases the tremendous range of expression of the cello from the classics through non-Western musical traditions. His extraordinary -
10 Podcasts about Classical Music and Beyond June 25th, 2023 Do you listen to podcasts? I enjoy listening to podcasts, especially when I am driving. In this article, I share some podcasts about classical music that our contributors and I listen to. Perhaps there are a few that you might -
On This Day
25 June: Schumann’s Genoveva Was Premiered June 25th, 2023Premiered at the Stadtteater in Leipzig on 25 June 1850, Robert Schumann’s (1810-1856) four-act opera Genoveva elicited a strong response from Richard Wagner. “Schumann is a strange man,” he writes, “who has no sense of melody, and his opera Genoveva -
The Lyrical Piano
Mendelssohn’s Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words) June 25th, 2023Felix Mendelssohn is credited with creating a new genre of music for the piano: the short lyrical pieces known as the Lieder ohne Worte, the Songs Without Words. It was common in the Romantic period to have short lyrical piano -
Christophe Rousset
Music of a Lost World June 24th, 2023The harpsichordist and conductor Christophe Rousset is widely considered a leader in the contemporary revival of French Baroque music. A trained musicologist and founder of the French music ensemble “Les Talens Lyriques,” Rousset has been awarded the French honours of -
Making Fun of the Master
Richard Wagner in Caricature June 24th, 2023Richard Wagner (1813–1883) was a revolutionary in German music and in opera. For opera-goers, the advent of Wagner onto their stages was cause for comment, particularly in the caricature sections. In images, the cartoonists could take aim at all they