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𝐄𝐔𝐆𝐄𝐍 𝐉𝐎𝐂𝐇𝐔𝐌 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐑𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋 𝐉𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐘 For Eugen Jochum, Anton Bruckner’s symphonies were far more than monumental constructions designed to display the splendour of a great orchestra. He…

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…

𝐋𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐈𝐍 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐍𝐎 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐄𝐋𝐒𝐄 Leonard Bernstein possessed a gift that was almost as remarkable as his ability to conduct and compose: he could explain how…

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…

𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓 𝐕𝐎𝐍 𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐉𝐀𝐍 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐔𝐈𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 Herbert von Karajan approached an orchestral rehearsal not as a routine preparation for a concert, but as the laboratory in which an interpretation had to…

## 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐎 𝐓𝐎𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐈 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃 Arturo Toscanini became legendary for stepping onto the podium and conducting vast symphonies, operas and choral works **entirely from memory**. To…

𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐌 𝐅𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐖Ä𝐍𝐆𝐋𝐄𝐑 — 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐐𝐔𝐄 Wilhelm Furtwängler did not believe that a musical masterpiece could be reproduced like a finished object. For him, a score was not a set…

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…

𝐌𝐎𝐙𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐄 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart possessed 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. From early childhood, his astonishing ability to 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐳𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜…

𝐀𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐍 𝐂𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂 𝐀𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 (𝟏𝟗𝟎𝟎–𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟎) is widely regarded as 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞. More than any other twentieth-century composer, he…

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐄𝐗𝐄𝐂𝐔𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄... 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀'𝐒 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐔𝐒 Decades before the musical avant-garde became fashionable, one remarkable composer was already reinventing the future of music. When 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐯𝐞𝐬 (𝟏𝟖𝟕𝟒–𝟏𝟗𝟓𝟒)…

𝐉𝐄𝐀𝐍-𝐁𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄 𝐋𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐃𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐅𝐅... 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐇 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 One of the most influential composers in history transformed French opera—and his extraordinary life ended in one of music's most astonishing tragedies.…

𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐍 𝐓𝐀𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐘𝐖𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐎 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐑... 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐌 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 One of the greatest film composers in history proved that music can become the true protagonist of a movie. When 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗛𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗭 𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗕𝗬 𝗛𝗜𝗠𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗛𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗭 𝗔𝗦 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗕𝗬 𝗛𝗜𝗠𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝟭𝟴 𝗔 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗲𝘁 𝗔𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱: 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆, 𝗛𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗿𝘆, 𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗡𝗼 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗲…

𝟭𝟬 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗿-𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝘆𝗻 𝟭. 𝗛𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗔 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗴𝘆 Alwyn entered the Royal Academy of Music at the age of 15 as a gifted flute student. He quickly…

𝐉𝐎𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐌 𝐑𝐀𝐅𝐅 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐇𝐌𝐒... 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐋𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐎𝐓 𝐇𝐈𝐌 One of the nineteenth century's most admired composers almost disappeared from concert halls. When 𝐉𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐑𝐚𝐟𝐟 (𝟏𝟖𝟐𝟐–𝟏𝟖𝟖𝟐) was at the height…

🎼 𝑻𝒆𝒏 𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝑨𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒏í𝒏 𝑫𝒗𝒐řá𝒌 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑴𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝑲𝒏𝒐𝒘 Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) is celebrated for his unforgettable melodies and his ability to blend Czech folk spirit with the great symphonic tradition. Beyond…

🎼 𝑻𝒆𝒏 𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝑨𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒏í𝒏 𝑫𝒗𝒐řá𝒌 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑴𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝑲𝒏𝒐𝒘 Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) is celebrated for his unforgettable melodies and his ability to blend Czech folk spirit with the great symphonic tradition. Beyond…

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…

𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗞𝗬 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗟 — 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗠𝗨𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬 𝗧𝗢 𝗔 𝗖𝗢𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝗠𝗢𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗡 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 The relationship between 𝗜𝗴𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗸𝘆 and 𝗠𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹 was one of the most significant artistic friendships of the years immediately…

𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗢𝗙𝗙 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗞𝗬 — 𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗔𝗦, 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗝𝗔𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗬 Few encounters in twentieth-century music could have been more symbolically charged than those between 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗶 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗼𝗳𝗳 and 𝗜𝗴𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗸𝘆. Both were Russian exiles, internationally…

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.…

𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗𝗦 𝗔𝗟𝗠𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝗠𝗘𝗧: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗨𝗡𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗩𝗘𝗗 𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗗𝗘𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗦𝗬 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗢𝗙𝗙 The possibility that 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘀𝘆 and 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗶 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗼𝗳𝗳, two of the most powerful and apparently contrasting musical personalities of their age,…