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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…

𝗛𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗭’𝗦 𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗦 Hector Berlioz occupies a unique place in nineteenth-century music. He was neither a conventional symphonist in the Beethovenian tradition nor principally a composer of absolute music. His greatest creations…

𝗚𝗘𝗢𝗥𝗚𝗘 𝗦𝗭𝗘𝗟𝗟 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 George Szell is often remembered as the supreme orchestral disciplinarian: a conductor of relentless rehearsal, exact ensemble, perfectly balanced textures and uncompromising technical standards. Under his direction,…

𝗟𝗘𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗜𝗡 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 Leonard Bernstein left one of the most extensive, varied and immediately recognisable recorded legacies of the twentieth century. He was not only a conductor but also a…

𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻 𝗜𝗻 𝗘𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗢𝗳 𝗭𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗮𝘂’𝘀 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 Standing in the Hauptmarkt of Zwickau, Saxony, the imposing bronze monument to Robert Schumann is more than a public statue. It represents the…

𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘇 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘇𝘁 𝗕𝘆 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝘂𝗻𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗜 — 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘇𝘁: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝟬𝟴 — 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲 𝗱’𝗔𝗴𝗼𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗹 The relationship between 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘇 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘇𝘁 and 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲 𝗱’𝗔𝗴𝗼𝘂𝗹𝘁 belongs to the…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗠𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝗨𝗡𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗟𝗬 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗨𝗘𝗗 𝗦𝗬𝗠𝗣𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗖 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗢𝗜𝗥𝗘 The symphonic canon is far narrower than the actual history of orchestral music. Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius and Shostakovich occupy their…

𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗨𝗡𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗟𝗬 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗨𝗘𝗗 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 The operatic repertory is not a neutral museum of masterpieces. It is the result of institutional tradition, language, economics, star singers, political history, editorial availability and theatrical…

𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧: 𝗔 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗠𝗢𝗡 𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟮𝟳 𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗚𝗨𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗘𝗬𝗢𝗡𝗗 ════════════════════════════ 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗛𝗜𝗠 After the inward family tragedies of 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗱 and “𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝗮,” Solomon turns outward again, but…

𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗼 𝗖𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗮’𝘀 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘀 — 𝗔 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 Cimarosa composed more than sixty securely documented operas, although older catalogues sometimes claim over eighty by counting revisions, alternative titles, doubtful attributions and works written partly by…

𝗖𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗮 – 𝗜𝗹 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗼 𝗦𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗼 – 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗹 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗶𝗺 https://www.patreon.com/ClassicMusicComposersGroup/posts/cimarosa-il-163511926?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link 𝗜𝗟 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗢 𝗦𝗘𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗢 — 𝗖𝗜𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗔’𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗖 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗖𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗗𝗢𝗪 𝗢𝗙 𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧 Domenico Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto is one of the finest surviving examples of…

𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗧 𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗠𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗗𝗧 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗢 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗦𝗘𝗘𝗠𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 Few conductors have travelled through nearly an entire century of musical history while preserving such freshness, modesty and intellectual curiosity. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗺𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱𝘁, who…

𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗠 𝗙𝗨𝗥𝗧𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗙𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗬 — 𝗕𝗘𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗢’𝗦 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 Wilhelm Furtwangler’s public image was that of an austere, intensely concentrated conductor, almost entirely absorbed by music. Behind this formidable artistic personality, however,…

𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧: 𝗔 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗠𝗢𝗡 𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟮𝟱 𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗟𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗗 ════════════════════════════ 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗗 With 𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗟𝗘𝗢𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗗, the biography enters its final large movement: 𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦. The title sounds almost tender,…

𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘇 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘇𝘁 𝗕𝘆 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝘂𝗻𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗜 — 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘇𝘁: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝟬𝟱 — 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮: 𝗖𝘇𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘆, 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗶, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻 The journey from 𝗥𝗮𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 to 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗮 was the first decisive movement in Franz…

𝗙𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗭 𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗭𝗧’𝗦 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗡: 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗨𝗦, 𝗔𝗕𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘, 𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗦, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗔 𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗖 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘇 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘇𝘁’𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻? Franz Liszt’s private life cannot be understood only through the dazzling image of the travelling…

𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧: 𝗔 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗠𝗢𝗡 𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗡𝗔 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟮𝟰 𝗙𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗙𝗨𝗟 𝗦𝗬𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 ════════════════════════════ 𝗜. 𝗕𝗘𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗬 𝗔𝗦 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥 After the worlds of 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗥𝗬, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗭𝗢𝗥𝗢𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡 𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗗𝗟𝗘𝗦, and 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗤𝗨𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡, Solomon turns to Mozart’s music itself, especially…

𝗣𝗬𝗢𝗧𝗥 𝗜𝗟𝗬𝗜𝗖𝗛 𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗜𝗞𝗢𝗩𝗦𝗞𝗬: 𝗔 𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗨𝗦, 𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗘𝗫𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦 To describe 𝗣𝘆𝗼𝘁𝗿 𝗜𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗧𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗸𝗼𝘃𝘀𝗸𝘆 as a tormented man is not a romantic exaggeration, but neither should it become a simplistic legend.…

𝗠𝗢𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗦𝗢𝗥𝗚𝗦𝗞𝗬 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗔𝗗𝗗𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡: 𝗔𝗟𝗖𝗢𝗛𝗢𝗟, 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗨𝗗𝗘, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗥𝗔𝗚𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗨𝗦 To speak of 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗴𝘀𝗸𝘆 is to avoid two opposite errors. The first would be to reduce him to the romantic image of…

𝗧𝗔𝗗𝗔𝗔𝗞𝗜 𝗢𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗔 — 𝗔 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗗𝗜𝗚𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬, 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗥𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗡𝗢𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗧𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗮𝗸𝗶 𝗢𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗮 is one of the most distinguished Japanese conductors of the post-war generation: a musician whose career has united 𝗝𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻…

𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗡 — 𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗝𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 — 𝗢𝗫𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟲 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗚𝗨𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗗𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗗 𝗔𝗡 𝗜𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗬 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟 𝗕𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 In the early 1830s, Robert Schumann began to…

𝗦𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻 - 𝗟'𝗢𝗲𝘂𝘃𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲 𝗣𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗼 - 𝗞𝗮𝗿𝗹 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹 - 𝗕𝗼𝘅 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝟭𝟯𝗖𝗗𝘀 𝗖𝗗 𝟭 Schumann: Abegg Variations, Op. 1 Schumann: Papillons, Op. 2 Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 8 Schumann: Intermezzi, Op. 6 "Pièces phantastiques" 𝗖𝗗…

𝗙𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗭 𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗭𝗧 — 𝗔𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗗𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗦, 𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗘𝗦, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗙𝗔𝗦𝗖𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗗𝗘𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞 Franz Liszt was not merely one of the greatest pianists of the nineteenth century. He was a phenomenon: 𝗮 𝘃𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗼𝘀𝗼, 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿,…