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# **Laughter While Composing Tragedy: Mozart and *****Don Giovanni*** One of the most disconcerting—and revealing—features of Mozart’s personality, as reported by contemporaries, is the apparent contradiction between **the gravity of his artistic creations and…

# **Mozart and Contrapuntal Improvisation in Social Settings** Among the many abilities attributed to Mozart, none was more consistently reported by contemporaries—and yet more poorly understood by later audiences—than his capacity for **contrapuntal improvisation**.…

# **Mozart and the Transcription of Allegri’s *****Miserere***** (Rome, 1770)** When Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart arrived in **Rome in April 1770**, he was fourteen years old and already widely known across Europe as a prodigy.…

# **Where Haydn Was More Genius Than Mozart — A Clear, Honest Comparison** The question is delicate, but entirely legitimate. Mozart is often — and rightly — regarded as the absolute musical genius. Yet…

# **Why Beethoven Is the Most Loved Composer in History — Even More Than Bach and Mozart** To say that **Beethoven is the most loved composer in history** does not mean denying the incomparable…

# **Thyra Hagen-Leisner** # **On stage and yet in the shade** **Thyra Hagen-Leisner (1888-1938) is a soprano. In the year 1920 she acts and sings the part of Rodelinde in the first performance. **The…

# **Vivaldi - Griselda - Opera - 1735** - **Aradia Ensemble - Kevin Mallon ** [https://www.patreon.com/posts/vivaldi-griselda-145332306?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link](https://www.patreon.com/posts/vivaldi-griselda-145332306?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link) *A masterpiece of Venetian opera, refinement, and emotional tension* ## **1. Background and Context** *Griselda* is an **opera…

# **Is Telemann Really the Most Prolific Composer in the History of Classical Music?** The short answer is: **Yes… almost certainly, though with important nuances.** And the long answer shows why Telemann occupies a…

# **The Psychological Profile of Beethoven Lovers — And a Narrative Guide to Beethoven’s Music for Every Emotional State** People who feel a deep, lifelong connection to Beethoven often share a distinct psychological profile—one…

# **KATHLEEN BATTLE vs. JESSYE NORMAN** Two Voices, Two Worlds, One of the Greatest Rivalries in Modern Opera** In the history of opera, rivalries often emerge from vocal similarity, competition for the same roles,…

# **DEMYSTIFYING SERGIU CELIBIDACHE** # **A great conductor… profoundly overrated** Sergiu Celibidache has become, over the decades, a near-mythical figure: the mystical maestro, the Zen philosopher of the orchestra, the sworn enemy of recordings,…

# **Carlos Kleiber: A Brilliant Myth, and a Director Ultimately Overrated** Few conductors of the 20th century have inspired such a disproportionate level of mystique as **Carlos Kleiber**. His reputation has grown into something…

# THE BACH CANTATAS — LEONHARDT & HARNONCOURT AND A NARRATIVE COMPARISON WITH OTHER COMPLETE CYCLES When **Gustav Leonhardt** and **Nikolaus Harnoncourt** began recording the Bach cantatas in **1971**, the world of Baroque performance…

# **ANECDOTES AND CURIOSITIES OF MARISS JANSONS’S LIFE** ## **1. The Child Who Hid Behind the Chairs at the Leningrad Philharmonic** As a boy, Mariss often accompanied his father, Arvīds, to Leningrad Philharmonic rehearsals.…

# **Handel - Amadigi di Gaula - Opera - 1715 - Christian Curnyn ** [https://www.patreon.com/posts/handel-amadigi-144841248?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link](https://www.patreon.com/posts/handel-amadigi-144841248?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link) ## **I. The Birth of *****Amadigi*****: Handel in His London Prime (1713–1715)** When Handel composed *Amadigi di Gaula* in…

# **LOUIS SPOHR — SYMPHONY No. 9 (“ERINNERUNG AN MARIENBAD”), A FULL ANALYSIS** # ***(WoO 75, 1851)*** ## **I. Introduction — A Late Work of Memory and Atmosphere** Although Louis Spohr never numbered it…

# **REYNALDO HAHN — A LIFE** ## **I. Origins, Childhood in Caracas and Paris, and the Awakening of a Poet-Musician** Reynaldo Hahn was born on **August 9, 1874**, in Caracas, Venezuela, the youngest of…

# **Anton Holzapfel and the Sonnleithners: The Schubertiade Households** ## **I. The Social and Cultural Landscape of Early 19th-Century Vienna** In the Vienna of the 1810s and 1820s, salons were the lifeblood of musical…

# **Moritz von Schwind (1804–1871): The Young Artist Devoted to Schubert** ## **I. Early Life and Arrival in Vienna: A Sensitive Youth in Search of Artistic Identity** When **Moritz von Schwind** arrived in Vienna…

# **THE DEATH OF GAETANO DONIZETTI — A COMPLETE ANALYSIS** ## **I. The Long Descent: Illness, Decline, and Early Signs of Collapse** The final years of **Gaetano Donizetti** form one of the most tragic…

# **Schubert’s Friend: Leopold Kupelwieser (1796–1862) — The Loyal Painter-Friend** Leopold Kupelwieser entered Franz Schubert’s life at a moment when the composer was increasingly seeking not only intellectual companionship but emotional anchorage. Born in…

# **Schubert’s Friend: Eduard von Bauernfeld (1802–1890) — The Ironically Affectionate Comrade** Eduard von Bauernfeld entered Schubert’s world in the early 1820s, at the very moment when Vienna’s artistic life was turning inward, more…

# **THE CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE OF MODEST MUSSORGSKY** ## **Chapter I — Origins in Karevo: A Childhood Rooted in Russia’s Landed Nobility** Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was born on **21 March 1839** in the remote…

# **Richard Wagner’s Final Year — A Narrative Psychological Portrait** In the last year of his life, Richard Wagner moved through the world like a man walking inside a storm of his own making.…