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𝐉𝐄𝐀𝐍-𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐄 𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐀𝐔 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐙𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐘... 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐄𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐐𝐔𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂 One of the greatest musical thinkers in history transformed both music theory and French opera forever. When 𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐧-𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞 𝐑𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐮 (𝟏𝟔𝟖𝟑–𝟏𝟕𝟔𝟒) was approaching 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐲, he was respected…

𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈 𝐖𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐖 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒... 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 One of the greatest violinists of all time proved that quality matters far more than quantity. When 𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢 (𝟏𝟔𝟓𝟑–𝟏𝟕𝟏𝟑) died, his…

# 𝗚𝗘𝗢𝗥𝗚𝗘 𝗦𝗭𝗘𝗟𝗟 𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 — 𝗕𝗢𝗫 𝗦𝗘𝗧, 𝟭𝟬 𝗖𝗗𝘀 ## 𝗖𝗗 𝟭 **𝗕𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻:** *Egmont* — Incidental Music, Op. 84 Pilar Lorengar (soprano) Wiener Philharmoniker, George Szell ## 𝗖𝗗 𝟮 **𝗕𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻:** Symphony No. 5 in…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗕𝗔𝗥𝗢𝗤𝗨𝗘 𝗞𝗘𝗬𝗕𝗢𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 Selecting the greatest Baroque keyboard masterpieces requires a broader definition of “keyboard” than the modern piano repertoire usually implies. These works were written for harpsichord,…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗬𝗖𝗟𝗘𝗦 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗢 𝗣𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗢 𝗢𝗙 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗔 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗗 𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 Selecting the fifteen greatest achievements in solo piano literature cannot be reduced to choosing fifteen isolated compositions.…

𝗦𝗜𝗥 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗡 𝗗𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗦 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 Sir Colin Davis was one of the most cultivated, humane and intellectually independent conductors of the second half of the twentieth century. He never cultivated the…

# 𝗡𝗜𝗞𝗢𝗟𝗔𝗨𝗦 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗧 — 𝗪𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗔 𝗙𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗪𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗢𝗙 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗥𝗦 ## 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝘀 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 **𝗪𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗿𝘀** recounts the beginnings of a…

𝗡𝗜𝗞𝗢𝗟𝗔𝗨𝗦 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗧 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 Nikolaus Harnoncourt did not merely change the way Baroque and Classical music was performed. He transformed the modern understanding of what interpretation itself could mean. For him,…

# 𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗧 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗡 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗢𝗙 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗦 𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗛𝗠𝗦 — 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗙𝗨𝗟 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗜𝗣𝗟𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗛𝗘𝗜𝗥 The influence of **𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻** on **𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗵𝗺𝘀** was profound, but it cannot be reduced to direct imitation.…

𝗟𝗲́𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗮𝘂 — 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗼𝘇𝗮𝗿𝘁 Among the great lyric tenors of the twentieth century, few embodied elegance, musical intelligence and vocal purity as completely as Léopold Simoneau. His was not a…

𝗦𝗜𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 Sir Thomas Beecham was one of the most charismatic, cultivated and immediately recognisable conductors of the twentieth century. His interpretations rarely depended upon severity, intellectual demonstration…

𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗛 𝗞𝗟𝗘𝗜𝗕𝗘𝗥 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 Erich Kleiber was one of the great representatives of the Central European conducting tradition, yet he never belonged comfortably to any single school. His performances combined rhythmic…

𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗦 𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗛𝗠𝗦’𝗦 𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗦 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗨𝗦 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠 Johannes Brahms is often portrayed as the great conservative of nineteenth-century music: the guardian of Classical form, the heir of Bach,…

𝗙𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗫 𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗟𝗦𝗦𝗢𝗛𝗡’𝗦 𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗦 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗨𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧, 𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 Felix Mendelssohn has often been admired for his elegance and simultaneously underestimated because of it. His music appears so lucid, balanced…

𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧: 𝗔 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗠𝗢𝗡 𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟮𝟵 𝗔 “𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗦𝗔𝗗𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦” ════════════════════════════ 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡 After 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻, Solomon brings the narrative into one of the most painful zones of Mozart’s adult…

𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧: 𝗔 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗠𝗢𝗡 𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟮𝟴 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗝𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗬 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗡 ════════════════════════════ 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗔𝗗 After 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱, Solomon turns to one of the strangest and most…

𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗵𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 Listening to classical music while driving is not the same as listening to it at home, in a concert hall, or…

𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗢̀ 𝗝𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗔 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗔 𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗔𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗚𝗟𝗨𝗖𝗞 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼̀ 𝗝𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗻: 𝟭𝟬 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟳𝟭𝟰, 𝗔𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮, 𝗜𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘆 𝗗𝗶𝗲𝗱: 𝟮𝟱 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟭𝟳𝟳𝟰, 𝗡𝗮𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀, 𝗜𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘆 Among the great reforming figures of eighteenth-century opera,…

𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗠 𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗡 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗛: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗖 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗨𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗛 𝗙𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗬 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗺 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗻: 𝟮𝟮 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟳𝟭𝟬, 𝗪𝗲𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿, 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗗𝗶𝗲𝗱: 𝟭 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟭𝟳𝟴𝟰, 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻, 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 Among the children of 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗯𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗺 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻…

𝗖𝗛𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗣𝗛 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗕𝗔𝗟𝗗 𝗚𝗟𝗨𝗖𝗞: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗖𝗨𝗘𝗗 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗔 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗧𝗬 𝗩𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗨𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗵 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗱 𝗚𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗻: 𝟮 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟭𝟳𝟭𝟰, 𝗘𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝗕𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗗𝗶𝗲𝗱: 𝟭𝟱 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟳𝟴𝟳, 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮, 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮 Among the great composers of the eighteenth century,…

𝗛𝗔𝗬𝗗𝗡, 𝗕𝗬 𝗝. 𝗖𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗗𝗗𝗘𝗡 - 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟮𝟬 𝗛𝗔𝗬𝗗𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗡, 𝗛𝗔𝗬𝗗𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗬𝗠𝗣𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗬 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗔 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗧 At the end of 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗵 𝗛𝗮𝘆𝗱𝗻’s story, after Rohrau,…

𝗞𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗟𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗥 — 𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗔𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗗𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗦 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿 was one of the most beloved British singers of the twentieth century: a contralto of rare depth, humanity and spiritual intensity. Her career…

𝗛𝗔𝗬𝗗𝗡, 𝗕𝗬 𝗝. 𝗖𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗗𝗗𝗘𝗡 - 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟭𝟳 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗙𝗔𝗜𝗧𝗛, 𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗨𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗨𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗙𝗟𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗙 𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 There are artists whose genius burns brightest in youth, and…