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# **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,…

# THE MAKING OF *TOSCA* **A Complete History of the Opera’s Composition, 1896–1899** ## **I. Origins: Sardou, Bernhardt, and a Reluctant Puccini (1893–1896)** Although *Tosca* premiered in 1900, its roots stretch back several years…

# **THE DEATH OF FELIX MENDELSSOHN — A COMPLETE ANALYSIS** Felix Mendelssohn’s final weeks in the autumn of **1847** form one of the most tragic and bewildering chapters in 19th-century musical history. The composer…

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐘𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐊 𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐈𝐍 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐔𝐌 — 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 The 𝐅𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐤 𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐦 is located in the historic 𝐎𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐬𝐤𝐢 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, at 𝟏 𝐎𝐤ó𝐥𝐧𝐢𝐤 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭 in central 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐰, close to the Vistula escarpment and the city’s…

Mahler "Symphony No 10 (Cooke version)" Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra - Simon Rattle (Revised performing version of Mahler's draft prepared 166-74 by Deryck Cooke in colaboration with Berthold Goldschmidt, Colin Matthews and David Matthews) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fu3dqBKDxU…

𝗞𝗨𝗥𝗧 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗨𝗥 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 Kurt Masur was sometimes characterised as a sober, traditional conductor: dependable, serious, architecturally disciplined and resistant to interpretative eccentricity. Such descriptions are not entirely wrong, but they…

𝗢𝘁𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿 (𝟭𝟴𝟳𝟯–𝟭𝟴𝟵𝟱). 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘃 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿 (𝟭𝟴𝟲𝟬–𝟭𝟵𝟭𝟭): 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿. https://www.mahlerfoundation.org/gt-member/otto-mahler/ Died: 06-02-1895 Vienna. Aged 21. Suicide. Shot himself in the head, leaving a note saying that life no longer pleased him so he…

# 𝗡𝗜𝗞𝗢𝗟𝗔𝗨𝗦 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗧 — 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗔, 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗨𝗔𝗟 ## 𝗔 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲 𝗕𝘆 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗠𝗶𝗸𝗮, 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗙ü𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘂𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗶𝗸𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘂𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 **𝗡𝗶𝗸𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘂𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁: 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮, 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹** presents the world of opera as it…

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…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗗𝗜 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗨𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗜𝗡 𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗔𝗡: 𝗔 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗕𝗨𝗧𝗘 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗟 𝗢𝗙 𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗔 The 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗶𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗽𝗲 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗶 in 𝗠𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗻 stands in 𝗣𝗶𝗮𝘇𝘇𝗮 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹𝗼 𝗕𝘂𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗶, directly in front of the 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗮 𝗱𝗶 𝗥𝗶𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗼 𝗽𝗲𝗿…

𝗠𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗵𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻? Two great Romantic symphonic cycles, born from the same German tradition, yet strikingly different in spirit. 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗵𝗻 offers clarity, elegance, classical balance and luminous orchestral writing. His symphonies often look…

𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧: 𝗔 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗠𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗭𝗕𝗨𝗥𝗚 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟭𝟰 𝗙𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗭𝗕𝗨𝗥𝗚 ════════════════════════════ 𝗜. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗭𝗕𝗨𝗥𝗚 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 This chapter marks the end of Mozart’s Salzburg life. It does not end with a…

𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧: 𝗔 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗠𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗭𝗕𝗨𝗥𝗚 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟭𝟯 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗟 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗦 ════════════════════════════ 𝗜. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 After the chapters of love, maternal death, Parisian grief, and musical inwardness, the biography turns back…

𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗜𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗲𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝘇𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗴, 𝗚𝗶𝗹𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸, 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗶 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗵 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗹𝗲 Around 1930, a photograph preserved…

𝗔𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗼 𝗧𝗼𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗶 and the young 𝗬𝗲𝗵𝘂𝗱𝗶 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗵𝗶𝗻 photographed on board the 𝗜̂𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 during their transatlantic journey from 𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 back to 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲, 𝟮𝟭 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟵𝟯𝟮. Photo: 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼 / 𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀

𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗼𝘃 – 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗢𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮 - 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝗝𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗶 - 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗶𝘁 𝗦𝘆𝗺𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗻𝘆 𝗢𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮 https://www.patreon.com/posts/rachmaninov-for-158807721?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link This Chandos disc is especially interesting because it presents 𝗥𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗼𝘃 not only as the great composer-pianist of the Russian late-Romantic tradition,…

𝗪𝗼𝗹𝗳𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘂𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘇𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗹’𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗵 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗼𝘇𝗮𝗿𝘁’𝘀 𝗥𝗲-𝗢𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗹'𝘀 𝗠𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗵 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗪.𝗔. 𝗠𝗼𝘇𝗮𝗿𝘁 - 𝗢𝗥𝗙 𝗢𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘂𝘀 — 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘀 - 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀, 𝗕𝗶𝗿𝗴𝗶𝘁 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗹𝗮,…

𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗢 𝗕𝗢𝗜𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗲𝘁 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗶 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗼 𝗕𝗼𝗶𝘁𝗼 was one of the most fascinating figures in nineteenth-century Italian music: poet, composer, critic, librettist, intellectual agitator, and finally the man who…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗩𝗜𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗢 𝗜𝗡 𝗗 𝗠𝗔𝗝𝗢𝗥, 𝗢𝗣. 𝟳𝟳, 𝗕𝗬 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗦 𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗛𝗠𝗦, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗜𝗧𝗦 𝗗𝗘𝗘𝗣 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗢 𝗝𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗣𝗛 𝗝𝗢𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗠 https://www.patreon.com/collection/2148724 The origins of 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗵𝗺𝘀’𝘀 𝗩𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻 𝗗 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿, 𝗢𝗽. 𝟳𝟳, lead us back to…

𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐊𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐬, 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 Ever since Richard Strauss and Clemens Krauss first met at the Vienna Opera in the 1920s, Krauss increasingly became an esteemed Strauss interpreter. The intensity of their…

𝗚𝗜𝗨𝗦𝗘𝗣𝗣𝗘 𝗗𝗜 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗙𝗔𝗡𝗢: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗢𝗟𝗗𝗘𝗡 𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗔 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝗻 20 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀, 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗔𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗱𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗡𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝘁𝘀 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗲 1. 𝗕𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗧𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗹𝘆 Giuseppe Di Stefano was…

𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗹 - 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟭𝟬: 𝗡𝗔𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗦, 𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗘, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗔𝗚𝗥𝗜𝗣𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗔 (𝟭𝟳𝟬𝟴–𝟭𝟳𝟭𝟬) If Rome had revealed to Handel that a city without opera could still become a place of musical glory, the…

𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧 𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣𝗦 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗦 - 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗜𝗜 — 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗚𝗟𝗨𝗖𝗞 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗡 In this second great historical block, the center of gravity shifts from the mature Baroque world toward the age…