Remembering Bela Bartók
It was way back when, after a madcap visit to Hungary, I became interested in all things Magyar. Sadly the attraction, as fascinations do, faded. Being of calm Celtic, Anglo … Continue reading →
Learning to Love Stravinsky
I had a friend of Russian extraction who adored the music of Stravinsky. He was Stravinsky mad. One time he went so far as to organize a “Rights of Man” … Continue reading →
The Most Beautiful Love Duet
The Coronation of Poppea was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice during the 1643 carnival season. The Coronation of Poppea is a story of inverse morality, in which virtue is punished and greed … Continue reading →
The Cobbler of Nuremberg
Apart from classical music enthusiasts, a smattering of the admirable citizens of Nuremberg, elder Germans or the general public outside of that country, I wonder how many have heard of … Continue reading →
YouTube’s Answer to Monday Blues
Whatever Monday blues feeling I may have been anticipating has just been banished by listening to the sublime melody of Erik Satie’s composition, Gymnopédie No.1, with grateful thanks to YouTube. … Continue reading →