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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐨𝐝: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐎𝐟 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥, 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐆𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐭 There are composers who astonish by formal innovation, others by orchestral daring, and others by the…

𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗖 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀, 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗯𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵, 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻. Classical music is often spoken of as though…

𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐭: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐞𝐭 𝐎𝐟 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 There are composers who dominate by monumentality, and others who conquer through something apparently lighter but no less…

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗹 - 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟱: 𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣, 𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗥𝗬, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗦𝗢𝗡 (𝟭𝟳𝟬𝟰) Among the decisive encounters of Handel’s youth, few were as fruitful, as tense, or as revealing as his relationship…

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗹 - 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟰: 𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗕𝗨𝗥𝗚 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗦𝗧 𝗕𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘𝗙𝗜𝗘𝗟𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗔𝗠𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 (𝟭𝟳𝟬𝟯–𝟭𝟳𝟬𝟰) When Handel left Halle in the spring of 1703, he was not simply changing cities. He was crossing a…

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗹 — 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗡𝗼. 𝟭 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗛𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘 (𝟭𝟲𝟴𝟱–𝟭𝟲𝟵𝟳) Handel’s life begins not in glamour, but in a world of 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿. He was born…

𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐳𝐨𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐳𝐚𝐫𝐭, 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭, 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐦𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐫𝐭 𝐎𝐟 𝐍𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞, 𝐍𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 There are pianists whose greatness lies in sheer command, and there are others whose…

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘇 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘇𝘁 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗧𝗼 𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 Franz Liszt’s extraordinary life brought him into contact with nearly every major composer of the 19th century. From the final years of the Classical tradition…

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝘃𝗼𝗻 𝗞𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗷𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗲: 𝗘𝗹𝗺𝘆 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗼𝗲𝗳 Elmy Holgerloef was 𝗞𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗷𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗳𝗲 and is generally identified in reliable biographical sources as 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿. Karajan married her in 𝗔𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝟮𝟲 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟭𝟵𝟯𝟴,…

𝐕𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐫 𝐀𝐬𝐡𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐳𝐲: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞, 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐡, 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐀 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 There are musicians whose careers divide neatly into one identity, and there are others whose greatness…

𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐟 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐦𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 There are pianists whose greatness rests on elegance, others on poetry, others on sheer force, and a very rare few whose art…

𝐃𝐢𝐧𝐮 𝐋𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐢: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 There are pianists whose greatness is built on vast careers, huge repertories, and decades of public triumph, and there are others…

𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗛𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹 – 𝗔 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭 – 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 (𝟭𝟴𝟵𝟱–𝟭𝟵𝟬𝟱) Clara Haskil was born on January 7, 1895, in Bucharest, Romania, into a Sephardic Jewish family of modest means.…

𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦 𝐊𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐟𝐟: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐞𝐭 𝐎𝐟 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝 There are pianists whose greatness is built on force, brilliance, or spectacle, and there are others whose authority comes from something…

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐝𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐤𝐲: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐓𝐨 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤, 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 There are pianists whose fame rests on their own performances, and there are others whose deepest greatness lies…

𝐊𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐙𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝 There are pianists whose greatness lies in brilliance, others in poetry, and a very rare few whose art seems…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗙𝗥É𝗗É𝗥𝗜𝗖 𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗡 𝗜. 𝗔 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝘀 (𝟭𝟴𝟭𝟬–𝟭𝟴𝟭𝟮) Frédéric Chopin was born on 1 March 1810 in the small Polish village of Żelazowa Wola, a rural estate belonging to the…

𝗦𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻 — 𝗘𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗱𝗺𝗶𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Although Robert Schumann and Frédéric Chopin were never intimate friends, and never shared the kind of daily closeness that binds two lives together through habit…

𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐟𝐟: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐨𝐬𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 There are composers who survive in history through a vast catalogue, and there are others whose fame contracts over…

𝐄𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐖𝐨𝐥𝐟𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐲 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝 There are composers whose lives unfold within a single world, and there are others whose destiny seems split…

𝐄𝐮𝐠𝐞𝐧 𝐝’𝐀𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚 There are pianist-composers whose lives seem divided between the keyboard and the score, and then there are rarer figures whose whole existence…

𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐇𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞 There are pianists whose fame is built on conquest, and others whose greatness seems to arise from something infinitely rarer: 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬,…

𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐢 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐳: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐧 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 There are pianists whose fame rests on a few immortal works, and there are others whose importance lies in the…

𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐨 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐢: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝 There are pianists whose greatness lies in spontaneity, others in poetry, others in sheer power, and a very rare…