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𝗕𝗥𝗨𝗡𝗢 𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗘𝗥 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 Bruno Walter occupies a unique position in the history of conducting. He belonged directly to the final world of late Romanticism, worked closely with Gustav Mahler and…

𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗢 𝗧𝗢𝗦𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗜 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 Arturo Toscanini was one of the decisive figures in the creation of modern orchestral performance. His reputation was built upon fidelity to the written score, rhythmic discipline,…

𝗞𝗔𝗥𝗟 𝗕𝗢̈𝗛𝗠 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 Karl Böhm’s reputation rests above all upon Mozart, Richard Strauss, Wagner, Schubert and Bruckner. He was neither a cultivator of orchestral glamour in the Karajan manner nor…

𝗢𝗧𝗧𝗢 𝗞𝗟𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗥 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝟭𝟱 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 Otto Klemperer’s recorded legacy is frequently reduced to a convenient stereotype: monumental tempos, massive sonorities and granite-like severity. Those qualities certainly formed part of his mature style,…

𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗦 𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗛𝗠𝗦’𝗦 𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗦 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗨𝗦 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠 Johannes Brahms is often portrayed as the great conservative of nineteenth-century music: the guardian of Classical form, the heir of Bach,…

𝗙𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗫 𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗟𝗦𝗦𝗢𝗛𝗡’𝗦 𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗦 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗨𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧, 𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 Felix Mendelssohn has often been admired for his elegance and simultaneously underestimated because of it. His music appears so lucid, balanced…

𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗧 𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗡’𝗦 𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗦 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗥𝗬 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗖 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗟 Robert Schumann was perhaps the composer who most completely transformed private thought, literary imagination, emotional contradiction and unstable memory into music.…

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…

𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗡 — 𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗝𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗦 — 𝗢𝗫𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟵 — 𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗗 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗟𝗘𝗜𝗣𝗭𝗜𝗚 𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗦𝗘𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗗 After so many years of waiting, secrecy, humiliation, legal anxiety,…

𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗡’𝗦 𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗩𝗘 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗖𝗘𝗦: 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗕𝗘𝗖𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗬 To choose Beethoven’s twelve “true” masterpieces is not simply to choose his most famous works. Fame is not enough. Beethoven wrote works so central to Western…

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,…

𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗵𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 Listening to classical music while driving is not the same as listening to it at home, in a concert hall, or…

𝗙𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗭 𝗫𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗛𝗧𝗘𝗥: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗛𝗘𝗜𝗠 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗗𝗚𝗘𝗗 𝗕𝗔𝗥𝗢𝗤𝗨𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘇 𝗫𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗻: 𝟭 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟳𝟬𝟵, 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀̌𝗼𝘃, 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗮 𝗗𝗶𝗲𝗱: 𝟭𝟮 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟳𝟴𝟵, 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘀𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗴, 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘇 𝗫𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿 was one of…

𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗢̀ 𝗝𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗔 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗔 𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗘𝗥 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗢𝗔𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗚𝗟𝗨𝗖𝗞 𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼̀ 𝗝𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗻: 𝟭𝟬 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟳𝟭𝟰, 𝗔𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮, 𝗜𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘆 𝗗𝗶𝗲𝗱: 𝟮𝟱 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟭𝟳𝟳𝟰, 𝗡𝗮𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀, 𝗜𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘆 Among the great reforming figures of eighteenth-century opera,…

𝗘́𝗧𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗡𝗘-𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗔𝗦 𝗠𝗘́𝗛𝗨𝗟: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗬 𝗙𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗘-𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗖 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗘́𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗲-𝗡𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘀 𝗠𝗲́𝗵𝘂𝗹 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗻: 𝟮𝟮 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟭𝟳𝟲𝟯, 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘁, 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗲𝗱: 𝟭𝟴 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟴𝟭𝟳, 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘀, 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 Among the most powerful French…

𝗛𝗔𝗬𝗗𝗡, 𝗕𝗬 𝗝. 𝗖𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗗𝗗𝗘𝗡 - 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟭𝟲 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗 𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗢𝗡 𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗙 𝗔 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗔 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗥 When 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗵 𝗛𝗮𝘆𝗱𝗻 returned to England in 𝟭𝟳𝟵𝟰, he did not arrive…

𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧: 𝗔 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗠𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗭𝗕𝗨𝗥𝗚 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝟴 𝗔 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗥’𝗦 𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗖𝗘 ════════════════════════════ 𝗜. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗔 𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗖𝗘 After the chapter of Salzburg as Mozart’s ambiguous home—admiring him, employing him, limiting him, and eventually…

𝗔𝗟𝗧𝗢 𝗗𝗜𝗚𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝟭 𝗔𝗟𝗖𝟭𝟬𝟬𝟭 — Czech Chamber Philharmonic, Vojtech Spurny - Baroque Bohemia & Beyond I 𝗔𝗟𝗖𝟭𝟬𝟬𝟮 — Czech Chamber Philharmonic, Vojtech Spurny - Baroque Bohemia & Beyond II 𝗔𝗟𝗖𝟭𝟬𝟬𝟯 — Czech Chamber…

𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗔𝗛𝗨 𝗜𝗡𝗕𝗔𝗟 — 𝗔 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲-𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗲 Eliahu Inbal belongs to that rare generation of conductors whose careers were shaped by the great European symphonic tradition,…

𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗔𝗠 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲 — 𝟭𝟱𝟲𝟰–𝟭𝟲𝟭𝟲 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲 was not merely the greatest dramatist of the English language; he became one of the most inexhaustible literary sources for…

𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗗𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗛 𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗧𝗭𝗦𝗖𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗡𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘇𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲 — 𝟭𝟴𝟰𝟰–𝟭𝟵𝟬𝟬 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗡𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘇𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲 was not only one of the most influential philosophers of the modern age; he was also one of the thinkers…

𝗘𝗗𝗚𝗔𝗥 𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗡 𝗣𝗢𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖 𝗘𝗱𝗴𝗮𝗿 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝗲, born in Boston on 19 January 1809 and dead in Baltimore on 7 October 1849, was not a musician in the professional…

𝗙𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗬 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗦 𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗛𝗠𝗦 𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗨𝗠𝗘 𝗜𝗜 — 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗢𝗚𝗨𝗘 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗔𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆 𝗢𝗳 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗵𝗺𝘀 After the death of 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗵𝗺𝘀, Florence May’s biography changes its nature.…

𝗙𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗬 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗙𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗦 𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗛𝗠𝗦 𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗨𝗠𝗘 𝗜𝗜 — 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟭: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝘀, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀, 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗵𝗺𝘀 𝟭𝟴𝟵𝟳–𝟭𝟵𝟬𝟯 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 There is…