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𝗔𝗹𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁: 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲, 𝗔𝗿𝘁, 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗱𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀 Alfred Brendel occupies a singular place in the history of twentieth-century pianism. He was not the glamorous prodigy, not the thunderous virtuoso, not…

𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗛𝗠𝗦’𝗦 𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗔𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗦, 𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗕𝗬 𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗥 — 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗗𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗬 𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗘 A reconstruction grounded in letters, recollections by close friends such as Joachim, Clara Schumann, and Billroth, and scattered diary fragments. This is not an…

# **𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗪𝗔𝗙𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗗’𝗦 𝗕𝗜𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗬 - 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟯 — 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴** **𝗗𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗶𝗼𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶, 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗳, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗼𝘇𝗮𝗿𝘁** At the beginning of November 1787, Mozart wrote from Prague to his…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞 𝗢𝗙 𝗙𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗭 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗨𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗧 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟮 — 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗟𝗗𝗔𝗬𝗦 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘇 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗱𝘁𝗸𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗸𝘁 (𝟭𝟴𝟬𝟴–𝟭𝟴𝟭𝟯) With the second chapter, Schubert’s life begins to move beyond the narrow but…

𝐒𝐢𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐦 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠 There are conductors whose greatness lies in severity, austerity, and intellectual weight, and there are others whose power comes from something more public, more…

𝐕𝐚́𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐯 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐡: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐆𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐀 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐎𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 There are conductors who inherit great orchestras, and there are conductors who create them in the deepest sense. 𝐕𝐚́𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐯 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐡 belonged to the…

𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐬 𝐊𝐥𝐞𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐬 𝐈𝐟 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 There are conductors who build careers, and there are conductors who become legends almost in spite of…

𝐓𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚, 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐀𝐠𝐞 There are opera conductors who serve repertory, and there are opera conductors who seem almost to stand…

𝐀𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐝𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧’𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐈: 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝟏. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 (𝟏𝟗𝟐𝟖) At the age of 10, Bernstein’s aunt Clara gave the family her…

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐉𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐙𝐀 (𝟏𝟖𝟖𝟕–𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟐) 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐕𝐀 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐎𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐎 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐍𝐀, 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐘𝐎𝐑𝐊, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐏𝐔𝐂𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐈 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐒 — 𝐀 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐀 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐀 𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃…

𝐉𝐎𝐍 𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐒 (𝟏𝟗𝟐𝟔–𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟓) - 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐀 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐑 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐀 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐀 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐀 𝐀 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒 — 𝟏𝟗𝟐𝟔 𝐉𝐨𝐧 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 (𝟐𝟗 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟗𝟐𝟔 –…

𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐒 𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐇𝐌𝐒: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐎𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 Johannes Brahms is often remembered as the great embodiment of musical seriousness, structural mastery, emotional reserve, and artistic integrity: the bearded classicist of…

𝐒𝐈𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐈𝐍 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐒 — 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐌𝐀𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 (𝟏𝟗𝟐𝟕–𝟏𝟗𝟔𝟕) 𝐈. 𝐀 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐌𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 (1927–1945) 𝐒𝐢𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐱 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐬 (25 September 1927 –…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗕𝗘𝗖𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗠𝗢𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗡 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗫𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗬 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗘𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗠𝗘𝗧 Ernest Ansermet (1883–1969) occupies a unique place in music history because his life intersected with almost every major…

𝐄𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐨 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐨 — 𝐀𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐝𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 Enrico Caruso was not simply a great tenor; he was one of the first global media celebrities, admired by kings, adored by the public, envied by rivals, and…

# **The Vienna Court Opera (Hofoper) — Origins and Historical Context ** ## The Vienna Court Opera (Hofoper) — Origins and Historical Context 4 The building shown in your photograph is the **Vienna Court…

# **Patriotism and Education** **(Book: Mozart, His Character, His Work** by Alfred Einstein) It is striking how closely this letter resembles another, likewise addressed to the Rhineland: Emperor Joseph II’s letter of **13 July…

## **André Rieu – Anecdotes and Curiosities from a Singular Musical Life** **The Violin That Became His Voice** One of the most personal curiosities of André Rieu’s life is his long-standing relationship with a…

# **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,…

# **Klaus Tennstedt – Psychological Profile & Relations with Other Conductors and Orchestras** Klaus Tennstedt was, perhaps more than any other major conductor of the late twentieth century, a man whose inner world shaped…

𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗟𝗦𝗦𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗚𝗢𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗘: 𝗔 𝗥𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗙𝗨𝗟 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗨𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗠𝗘𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: 𝗪𝗘𝗜𝗠𝗔𝗥, 𝟭𝟴𝟮𝟭 Felix Mendelssohn first met Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟴𝟮𝟭, when the boy was only 𝗧𝘄𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲…