The Classical Music Guide Forums

Lance, the date of death apparently isn't known yet, because the relatives wanted to keep the whole thing secret.

Thanks so much for the link Matti! I especially enjoyed hearing her sing Or sai chi l'onore. I had never hear her sing that one before. I'm glad her countrymen honor and esteem her so greatly.

Of the sentimental nineteenth century carols my favorites are Minuit Chretien and Stille Nacht. Little Town of Bethlehem contains the poignant line "the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight." Joy to the World is a good number to send them out into the cold dark night thoroughly w...

I disagree with the musicologists analysis of classical and romantic, because they stress form and technical elements rather than listening for the emotional content. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert may have been formally similar, but the spirit of their music is quite different. I would say H...

Mozart #41 Beethoven ninth and fifth Schubert eighth Mendelssohn Italian symphony Brahms first Tchaikowsky fifth Mahler fourth Sibelius second Dvorak new world symphony These are not all necessarily my very favorite symphonies, but they should provide a good representative introduction to the form. ...

Excuse my nitpicking, but Beethoven was 56 when he died.

I think Sullivan's book about Beethoven is the best book I have ever read concerning music. Isn't Maynard Solomon's biography also outstanding? The illustrations in the second edition add a lot to my enjoyment. Is his conclusion that Toni Brentano was the immortal beloved now generally accepted, or ...

I know Dutchman isn't Wagnerian. I just thought it would be a palatable segue for those who like Verdi and standard length operas (two hours). After discovering that Wagner could write a regular opera, people might be more willing to attempt his marathon works.

I would recommend The Flying Dutchman as the best possible introduction to Wagner. It is of normal length and quite accessible to the average opera fan. Glynn Ross told me he didn't think anyone could pay perfect attention to Parsifal all the way through, and he went on to become director of the Sea...

Two wrongs don't make a right. I don't want an overidealized Constanze. I just want the truth. I read somewhere that Constanze ran a successful boarding house after marrying Nissen.

I have read a couple of biographies of Mozart, yet this article greatly increased my knowledge of an important aspect of his life. I am very grateful for having it posted. I have always felt that Mozart was more responsible for their financial troubles than Constanze. Sadly, if Wolfgang had been mor...

My first thought was that John Lennon was the richest composer.

Holden Fourth wrote:Favourite Schumann Pianists: Richter, Horowitz, Moisewitsch, Rubinstein

Moisewitsch was asked on the B.B.C. whether he had one special favorite among composers and he immediately answered "Schumann." He liked Schumann better than Chopin and commented on how sad Schumann's life was.

I met Glynn Ross about 1955. He had just returned from Italy where they addressed him as Signore Rossi. I remember he remarked that noone could pay complete attention to Parsifal all the way through. That really impressed me coming from such an opera lover. I suppose it depends on how one defines co...

In the 1950's Marilyn Horne frequently performed in the Monday Evening Concerts in Plummer Park in West Hollywood. I thought she was good, but frankly I had no premonition of her later rise to greatness.

Is anyone familiar with the new book just published in England called "Insider." It is written by Saddam's personal physician. He gives a startling insight into just how crazy and dysfunctional the family was. It makes you grateful that the tyrant is deposed, but at the same time skeptical that a so...

It's amazing how times change. I visited Ireland in 1956 and saw poverty only equalled by Spain and Southern Italy at that time.

I seem to remember that the Lone Ranger used Liszt's "Les Preludes" at particularly dramatic moments.

I can't imagine Wagner idolizing anyone. Idolatry was Bruckner's job.

Ralph, it seems you appreciate the two ends of Wagner's career. You like Rienzi at the beginning and Parsifal at the end. I will never forget a production of "The Flying Dutchman" with Hans Hotter in the title role. I saw it many years ago with the San Francisco opera. It's a good opera which shows ...

I think there is some validity in the article, but I can't completely agree with it. For one thing Beethoven did not control the course of music after him. He simply mirrored the spirit of his time. He was a child of the French revolution, Napoleonic wars and a new era. This is an aspect of the ques...

If you have tears prepare to shed them for the slow movement of Beethoven's Hammerklavier sonata. Rach had a good idea with the Mozart G minor quintet. That was Wolfgang's most tragic piece, as he responded to the Dying Leopold.

jbuck919 wrote:
Leo (3). The name of the only other pope to be called "the Great," .

I thought Nicholas I was also know as "the Great." That would still be a remarkably small total of only three "great" popes in two millenia.

I haven't read much of Bellow, but I was very impressed by "Seize the Day." This may be a good opportunity to read more of him. Would Augie March be the best place to start?

Lance, thanks for the list. It was virtually all a surprise to me. It's interesting to see how people want to change their names for artistic reasons or to facilitate assimilation into their adopted country. Matti raises the interesting question of how to use the word Scandinavian. The Skandanavien ...

Israel Baline became Irving Berlin. Jacob Gershowitz became George Gershwin.

I guess I can count myself fortunate to still own the LP records of the Amadeus quartet playing k387,458 and 464. I also treasure my LP of the Fine Arts Quartet doing k421 and k465, which are two of my very favorite Mozart works. The truly late quartets from Hofmeister to the Prussians don't seem as...