Posts / Photos

# **Handel - Brockes-Passion - 1716 - Laurence Cummings ** [https://www.patreon.com/posts/handel-brockes-145844286?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link](https://www.patreon.com/posts/handel-brockes-145844286?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link) Handel’s *Brockes-Passion* is one of the most remarkable Passion settings of the early 18th century, not least because it is based on a…

# **Handel - Lotario - Opera - 1729 **- **Laurence Cummings ** [https://www.patreon.com/posts/handel-lotario-145844033?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link](https://www.patreon.com/posts/handel-lotario-145844033?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link) *Lotario* was composed in **1729–1730** and occupies a pivotal position in **Handel’s London operatic career**. It was written immediately after the…

# **Handel - Arminio - Laurence Cummings ** [https://www.patreon.com/posts/handel-arminio-145843802?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link](https://www.patreon.com/posts/handel-arminio-145843802?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link) *Arminio* was composed in **1736–1737**, during one of the most difficult and unstable phases of **Handel’s London career**. Italian opera was rapidly losing its dominant…

# **Handel - Rodrigo - Opera - 1707 - Laurence Cummings ** [[https://www.patreon.com/posts/handel-rodrigo-145843409?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link](https://www.patreon.com/posts/handel-rodrigo-145843409?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link)](https://www.patreon.com/posts/handel-rodrigo-145843409?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link) *Rodrigo* holds a unique place in Handel’s output as **his first fully Italian opera** and the work that effectively launched his…

# **Handel - Faramondo - Opera - 1738 - Laurence Cummings ** [[https://www.patreon.com/posts/handel-faramondo-145842133?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link](https://www.patreon.com/posts/handel-faramondo-145842133?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link)](https://www.patreon.com/posts/handel-faramondo-145842133?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link) *Faramondo* is an Italian opera seria in three acts composed by **George Frideric Handel** in **1737–1738**, during one of the most…

# **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…

# **Beverly Sills — A Life ** ## **Chapter 1 — Brooklyn Beginnings (1929–1933)** Beverly Sills was born Belle Miriam Silverman on May 25, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York, to immigrant parents of Russian-Jewish…

# **Fritz Reiner — Anecdotes and Curiosities from a Life of Discipline and Fire** Fritz Reiner (1888–1963) is often remembered as one of the most exacting conductors of the 20th century: feared by orchestras,…

## Gustav Mahler’s View of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart **A documented synthesis based on reliable sources** What follows is **a broad yet precise exposition** of **Gustav Mahler’s view of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart**, based **exclusively on…

## **Objective Statistical Data Ranking the Most Popular Composers in History** There is no single, absolute ranking of “the most popular composers in history,” but there **are reliable, measurable indicators** that allow us to…

# **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…

# **Bach, Mozart, and the Idea of Musical Genius: A Comparative Study** The word *genius* in music often conjures two names before all others: **Johann Sebastian Bach** and **Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart**. They represent two…

# **Bach and Mozart** Placing Bach and Mozart side by side is like placing two continents next to each other: they touch at the edges, share a landscape of harmony and counterpoint, yet each…

# **Why Bach Is Considered One of the Most Important Composers in the History of Music ** Speaking about Bach often means speaking about a point of origin. Not because he was the first,…

# **Mozart Seen by the Great Composers** When Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in December 1791, the world did not yet understand what it had lost. His contemporaries admired him, yes, but the depth of…

# **WHY MOZART WAS THE ABSOLUTE GENIUS IN THE HISTORY OF MUSIC** ## **1. An unrepeatable combination of natural gifts: intuition, ear, and total memory** Many composers were prodigies, but **none combined such a…

# **ANECDOTES ABOUT LEONTYNE PRICE AND HER RELATIONSHIPS WITH CONDUCTORS & COLLEAGUES** ## **1. Karajan and the First Encounter: “The Most Beautiful Voice in the World”** When Herbert von Karajan first heard Leontyne Price…

# **LEONTYNE PRICE — A LIFE ** ## **Chapter 1 — Origins in Laurel, Mississippi: A Childhood Shaped by Dignity, Faith, and Song (1927–1944)** Leontyne Price was born Mary Violet Leontyne Price on February…

# **ALAN CURTIS — A LIFE IN 20 CHAPTERS** *A monumental portrait of a scholar-musician who reshaped our understanding of Baroque opera* ## **Chapter 1 — The Birth of a Curious Mind (1934)** Alan…

# **Anecdotes and Curiosities from the Life of Paul Kletzki** ## **1. The boy who memorized orchestral scores before he could shave** In Łódź, musicians would give the teenage Kletzki orchestral parts to test…

# **PAUL KLETZKI — A LIFE IN 20 CHAPTERS** *A monumental narrative biography* ## **Chapter 1 — Łódź: Birth in a Multicultural World (1900)** Paul Kletzki was born Paweł Klecki on March 21, 1900,…

# **The Relationship Between Handel and Göttingen: ** **How a German University Town Became the Heart of the Modern Handel Revival** ## **1. A Paradox at the Beginning: Handel Never Set Foot in Göttingen**…

# **Laurence Cummings: A Narrative Portrait of a Modern Handelian Maestro** ## **I. A Conductor Formed by the Keyboard: Roots of a Baroque Interpreter** Laurence Cummings belongs to that rare category of early-music conductors…

# **G.P. Telemann - Der Geduldige Sokrates - **Musical comedy in 3 acts - First performance: Theater am Gänsemarkt, Hamburg, 28 January 1721. - **(Rene Jacobs, Live Concert in 2007) ** [[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf_EBIHTm2E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf_EBIHTm2E)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf_EBIHTm2E)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf_EBIHTm2E)** ** **Libretto**:…