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𝗞𝗨𝗥𝗧 𝗦𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗦𝗨𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗘𝗘 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗𝗦 Kurt Sanderling was not one of those conductors who built a career on glamour, theatrical poses, or the cult of personality. His greatness belonged to…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗦𝗨𝗡 𝗢𝗻 𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 — 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘂𝘀, 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 For 𝗟𝘂𝗱𝘄𝗶𝗴 𝘃𝗮𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻, the artist was not merely a gifted professional, not simply…

𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗡 𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗢 𝗢𝗻 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 — 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗹 For 𝗟𝘂𝗱𝘄𝗶𝗴 𝘃𝗮𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻, performance was never a mere display of dexterity. To play music was not simply to move the fingers…

𝗟𝗨𝗟𝗟𝗬’𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗟𝗢𝗨𝗜𝗦 𝗫𝗜𝗩 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗔 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿, 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗜. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘂𝗻 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 In the last decade of…

𝗧𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗰𝗸 (𝗯. 𝟭𝟵𝟰𝟲): 𝗔 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗽𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗱, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁, 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗯𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗜. 𝗔 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗚𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗮 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲…

𝗔𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀 (𝟭𝟵𝟯𝟰–𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟱): 𝗔 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿-𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮 𝗜. 𝗔 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽, 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀 was born on 𝟭𝟳 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟵𝟯𝟰 in…

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗔 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝘆𝗻𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 The 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 represents one of the most extraordinary hereditary musical lineages in European history. It was not simply a family…

𝗞𝗔𝗥𝗟 𝗕𝗢̈𝗛𝗠 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗬 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦 “𝗕𝗢̈𝗛𝗠 𝗜𝗡 𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗗𝗘𝗡” 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮, 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗜. 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘇 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Karl Böhm was born in…

𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗨𝗦𝗦 𝗜𝗜: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗭 𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗡𝗔 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗬 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗡𝗔: 𝗔 𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗡 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗥𝗛𝗬𝗧𝗛𝗠 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗧 Johann Strauss II was born in 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗼𝗻 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟱, 𝟭𝟴𝟮𝟱, into…

𝐎𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡, 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐝𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐀 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 There are composers whose greatness lies in craft, and there are others whose greatness seems to come from a…

𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 There are conductors who conquer through sheer power, and there are others whose greatness lies in 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫, 𝐫𝐡𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, and the ability to…

𝐕𝐚́𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐯 𝐍𝐞𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐆𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐂𝐳𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐀 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞 There are conductors who become famous through power, glamour, or controversy, and there are others whose authority grows from something deeper: style,…

𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐆 𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐏 𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐍 (𝟏𝟔𝟖𝟏–𝟏𝟕𝟔𝟕): 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767) was born in Magdeburg on 14 March 1681 and died in Hamburg on 25 June 1767. He…

𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈 (𝟏𝟔𝟓𝟑–𝟏𝟕𝟏𝟑): 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713) was born on 17 February 1653 in Fusignano, in the Papal States, and died on 8 January 1713 in…

𝐅𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂̧𝐎𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍 (𝟏𝟔𝟔𝟖–𝟏𝟕𝟑𝟑): 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 François Couperin (1668–1733), later called “le Grand,” was born in Paris on 10 November 1668 and died there on 11 September 1733.…

𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐍 𝐒𝐄𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐇: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 Johann Sebastian Bach is often imagined as the supreme embodiment of order, discipline, faith, and musical perfection: a devout Lutheran master whose…

𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐆𝐈𝐔 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐁𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐀 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐁𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓 Sergiu Celibidache was one of the most original, demanding and controversial conductors of the twentieth century. Although he possessed the…

𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐎 𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐀𝐃𝐎 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐁𝐔𝐈𝐋𝐓 𝐎𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒, 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐄𝐆𝐎𝐒 Claudio Abbado belonged to a generation in which the great conductor was still frequently imagined as an absolute ruler: an imposing figure…

𝐁𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐎 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐄𝐑 — 𝐌𝐀𝐇𝐋𝐄𝐑’𝐒 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐈𝐏𝐋𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐀𝐂𝐘 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 Bruno Walter was much more than one of the leading conductors of the twentieth century. He was…

𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐑 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐔𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐍𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐘 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐑 Otto Klemperer’s life was marked not only by exceptional musical achievement, but also by illness, exile, physical disability and repeated personal catastrophe. Among…

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…

𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗕𝗔𝗨𝗗 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝘀𝗯𝗮𝘂𝗱 was one of the twentieth century’s most complete and least theatrical great conductors. His reputation rests largely on his advocacy of modern music, especially 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗲𝗻𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗴,…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗘𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗡𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗗: 𝗗𝗘𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗦𝗬, 𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗕𝗜𝗡, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗜𝗥 𝗠𝗬𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗟 𝗣𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗦 Few unrealised encounters in the history of modern music are as intriguing as the possible meeting between 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘀𝘆 and 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗻.…

𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖 𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗦𝗔𝗬 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 Ferenc Fricsay’s international career lasted scarcely fifteen years, yet he left one of the most concentrated and consistently distinguished discographies of the twentieth century. He died in…