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𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈 𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐓𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐄𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐎 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐍 Arcangelo Corelli occupies an unusual position in the history of musical pedagogy. He left no violin method, no systematic…

𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐅𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐀 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐅𝐑𝐘𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐊 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐍 — 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃, 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂 Julian Fontana (1810–1869) was one of Frédéric Chopin’s closest Polish friends, and his importance in Chopin’s life went far beyond ordinary…

𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐎𝐒 𝐊𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐁𝐄𝐑 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓 Carlos Kleiber occupies an almost unique position in the history of conducting. He never directed a major orchestra for decades in the manner…

𝐌𝐀𝐇𝐋𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐘𝐌𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐃𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) spent each concert season conducting some of Europe's greatest opera houses, leaving very little time to compose. His solution was remarkable: every…

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲... 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐢 𝐑𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐤𝐲-𝐊𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐤𝐨𝐯 (𝟏𝟖𝟒𝟒–𝟏𝟗𝟎𝟖) was appointed 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝…

𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗚𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗩 𝗠𝗔𝗛𝗟𝗘𝗥 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗧 – 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗔 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗺 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴? 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀: 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲. At the time, conducting was not yet a formal discipline…

𝗞𝗟𝗜𝗠𝗧 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗠𝗔𝗛𝗟𝗘𝗥: 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 "To every age its art, to every art its freedom." Few mottos better capture the revolutionary spirit of fin-de-siècle Vienna than the inscription above…

𝗠𝗔𝗛𝗟𝗘𝗥 𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗥𝗨𝗖𝗞𝗡𝗘𝗥? 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗚𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗘𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗲 Every generation of music lovers eventually arrives at the same crossroads: 𝗚𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘃 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿 (1860–1911) or 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗲𝗿 (1824–1896)? The question…

𝗠𝗔𝗛𝗟𝗘𝗥 𝗝𝗢𝗦𝗘 𝗟𝗨𝗜𝗦 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗭 𝗗𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗚𝗔 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝟭𝟯 𝗛𝗮𝗺𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗴: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗛𝗮𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 — 𝟭𝟴𝟵𝟭 When 𝗚𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘃 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿 left Budapest for Hamburg in 𝟭𝟴𝟵𝟭, he was…

𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘇 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘇𝘁 𝗕𝘆 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝘂𝗻𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗜𝗜 — 𝗔𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝟭𝟰 — 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘇𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻 The relationship between 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘇 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘇𝘁 and 𝗙𝗿é𝗱é𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻 was one of the most fascinating…

𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗨𝗥 𝗥𝗢𝗗𝗭𝗜𝗡́𝗦𝗞𝗜 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝟭. 𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗜𝗞𝗢𝗩𝗦𝗞𝗬 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗨𝗧𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗥, 𝗢𝗣. 𝟳𝟭 — 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗧𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗧 𝗥𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗢𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮 Recorded at Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London, September 1956 Westminster This should unquestionably occupy one…

𝗠𝗔𝗛𝗟𝗘𝗥 𝗝𝗢𝗦𝗘 𝗟𝗨𝗜𝗦 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗭 𝗗𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗚𝗔 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝟮 𝗔 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗼𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮, 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝗲𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 Long before 𝗚𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘃 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿 became a celebrated conductor or began…

The Sextet in Mozart’s Don Giovanni: Its Dramatic and Musical Importance The famous sextet in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, “Sola, sola in buio loco”, appears in Act II and is one of the great ensemble…

𝗔 𝗡𝗘𝗧𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞 𝗢𝗙 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗣𝗦 (𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗖𝗛 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰) Since March 2024, I have been creating and administering a growing network of Facebook groups devoted to classical music, bringing together listeners, collectors, readers, and…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗙𝗙𝗔𝗜𝗥𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 — 𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗨𝗠𝗘 𝗜 𝗥𝗨𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗧 𝗛𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗘𝗦 𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗡 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗚𝗘𝗢𝗥𝗚𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗣𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 When 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗱 enters Chopin’s life, Rupert Hughes’s chapter moves from nocturnal solitude into one…

𝗙𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗬 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗦 𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗛𝗠𝗦 𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗨𝗠𝗘 𝗜𝗜 — 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟴 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗼, 𝗠𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗻, 𝗡ä𝗻𝗶𝗲, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗼 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗼, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘁, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘇𝗲𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗱, 𝗔𝗻𝗱…

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗥𝗲𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗢𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗿 The history of the 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗿 begins not with a royal decree, a wealthy patron or the carefully planned creation of…

𝗦𝗜𝗥 𝗦𝗜𝗠𝗢𝗡 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗥 𝗣𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟭𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝘆 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆, 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿, 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟮–𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟴 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗔𝗯𝗯𝗮𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲: 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿…

𝗘𝗨𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘 𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗬 𝗤𝗨𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗦 𝟭. “𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 in which you cannot say a mean or sarcastic thing.” Interview, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀, 𝟭𝟵𝟳𝟬 𝟮. “𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮; you must…

𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗢 𝗕𝗢𝗜𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗲𝘁 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗶 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗼 𝗕𝗼𝗶𝘁𝗼 was one of the most fascinating figures in nineteenth-century Italian music: poet, composer, critic, librettist, intellectual agitator, and finally the man who…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗛𝗠𝗦 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 — 𝗙𝗨𝗥𝗧𝗪Ä𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗘𝗥, 𝗪𝗘𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗡𝗘𝗥, 𝗧𝗢𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗜, 𝗞𝗟𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗥, 𝗕𝗥𝗨𝗡𝗢 𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗘𝗥 The 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗵𝗺𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 in conducting is not a single straight line, but a constellation of moral, architectural, and sonic philosophies inherited from the…

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜? In an age when almost any song is available instantly on a phone, computer, or speaker, some people ask why live…