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𝗕𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻’𝘀 “𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁” 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗮: 𝗔 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗮, 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Beethoven Piano Sonata No.14 in C sharp minor, Op.27-2 "Moonlight" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqaHP0FcJsU The work we now call the 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗮 was composed by…

𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧: 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 — 𝗝𝗔𝗡 𝗦𝗪𝗔𝗙𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗗’𝗦 𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧 Jan Swafford’s 𝗠𝗼𝘇𝗮𝗿𝘁: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 is one of the most ambitious recent attempts to rescue Mozart from the heavy mythological machinery…

# 𝗠𝗢𝗭𝗔𝗥𝗧 𝗜𝗡 𝗦𝗪𝗔𝗙𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗗’𝗦 𝗕𝗜𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗬 - 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘂𝗲 # 𝗘𝘁 𝗟𝘂𝘅 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗮 𝗟𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗘𝗶𝘀 ## 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗼𝘇𝗮𝗿𝘁 Death in the eighteenth century was never extraordinary in itself. Disease moved quickly through Europe, medicine…

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 The history of classical music is often presented as a noble succession of geniuses: 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗵, 𝗛𝗮𝘆𝗱𝗻, 𝗠𝗼𝘇𝗮𝗿𝘁, 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻, 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁,…

𝗕𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 The history of orchestral conducting is not made only of great interpretations, legendary recordings, schools of performance, and unforgettable…

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻 𝗛𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰: 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻, 𝗪𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿, 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿, 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗲𝗻𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 The relationship of 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻 𝗛𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲 and 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗻 with classical music was profound,…

𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻 (𝟭𝟴𝟭𝟬–𝟭𝟴𝟱𝟲), aged 34 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘆 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲 𝗛ü𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿, 𝟭𝟴𝟰𝟳, after a missing painting by 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗳 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗵ö𝘂𝘀 𝗔𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿 (𝟭𝟴𝟭𝟴–𝟭𝟴𝟴𝟲) of 𝟭𝟴𝟰𝟰 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗱𝘁𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘂𝗺 𝗕𝗼𝗻𝗻 This sheet, furnished with 𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻’𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲,…

𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻 (𝟭𝟴𝟭𝟬–𝟭𝟴𝟱𝟲), aged about 16 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲, around 𝟭𝟴𝟮𝟲 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲, 𝗭𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗮𝘂 This coloured miniature is 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻 and probably dates from 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵.…

𝗥𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰, 𝗝𝗮𝘇𝘇, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗨𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 The meeting between 𝗠𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗥𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹 and 𝗚𝗲𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗲 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝘄𝗶𝗻 belongs to one of the most fascinating moments in twentieth-century music: the moment when…

𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘇𝘁 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗼 When 𝗙𝗿é𝗱é𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻 arrived in Paris in 𝟭𝟴𝟯𝟭, he entered a city that had become the most brilliant musical capital of Europe. Paris was…

𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗦 𝗔 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗦𝗬𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗠 𝟭𝟲𝟲𝟭–𝟭𝟳𝟴𝟵 The Palace of Versailles was never simply a royal residence, nor even merely the most spectacular architectural expression of French absolutism. From the moment Louis XIV began transforming…

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗔 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝘆𝗻𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 The 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 represents one of the most extraordinary hereditary musical lineages in European history. It was not simply a family…

𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰-𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿 (𝟭𝟲𝟯𝟰–𝟭𝟳𝟬𝟰): 𝗔 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰, 𝗣𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆, 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘂𝗿 𝗜. 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵-𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝘆 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: 𝟭𝟲𝟯𝟰–𝗰.𝟭𝟲𝟲𝟱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰-𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗿 was born in Paris in 𝟭𝟲𝟯𝟰, into a France that was entering one…

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…

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝟭𝟴𝟵𝟬 In 1890, Mahler was about thirty years old and was already building his career as a conductor outside Vienna. Bruckner, born in…

𝗚𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘃 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿 — 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲: 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗢𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀, 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘂𝘀 𝗜. 𝗕𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 The story of Gustav Mahler begins not with music,…

𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗛𝗠𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗠𝗔𝗛𝗟𝗘𝗥 𝗔 𝗠𝗘𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗪𝗢 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗𝗦 — 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗚𝗨𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗛𝗘𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗡 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗟 The meeting between 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗵𝗺𝘀 and 𝗚𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘃 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗹𝗲𝗿 belongs to those rare…

𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗽 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘀 — 𝗔𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗱𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝟭. 𝗔 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗔𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗞𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗛𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 As a small boy in Barcelona, Carreras did not merely sing—he performed instinctively. Family members…

𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗟𝗗 𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗜 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧 𝗦𝗬𝗠𝗣𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗦? The idea that 𝗚𝗶𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗼 𝗥𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗶 might have written outstanding symphonies, had he chosen to devote himself to the genre, is not a romantic exaggeration or a form of…

𝗣𝗟Á𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗢 𝗗𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗢 𝗔𝗦 𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗢 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 The role of 𝗢𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼 was probably one of the great central pillars of 𝗣𝗹á𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗼 𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗼’s career. It was not simply another important Verdi…

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…

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𝗕𝗥𝗨𝗖𝗞𝗡𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗗𝗩𝗢ŘÁ𝗞 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗣𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀, 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘆𝗺𝗵𝗼𝗻𝘆 The relationship between 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗲𝗿 and 𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻í𝗻 𝗗𝘃𝗼řá𝗸 is much more difficult to describe than the relationship between Brahms and Dvořák.…