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2020-04-11 17:44:00
Mozart's Final Symphonies: Classical and Romantic
(This essay was written to accompany a Pentatone recording of Mozart's Symphonies nos 40 and 41 by the NDR SO and Andrew Manze and first published in that form.) There are many temptations to romanticisation of Mozart, not least the lacunae that persist in our knowledge of his life – and perhaps always will. Lttle is known, for instance, of the circumstances of his final three symphonies, 39-41. We know that Mozart wrote all three in Vienna. within a six-week period during summer of 1788, yet know little concerning performance. They were probably written for winter subscription concerts ‘in the Casino’, either in the Trattnerhof or on the Spiegelgasse; a possible visit to London may also have proved a spur. There are, however, indications enough of possible, even likely, performances during Mozart’s lifetime. So far uncontested evidence has recently come to light of a performance of the G minor Symphony […]
2020-04-10 09:40:12
The 17th century opera by an Italian composer, premiered in Vienna with a Spanish libretto: Antonio Draghi's El Prometeo
Antonio Draghi El Prometeo; Cappella Mediterranea, Choeur de Chambre de Namur, Leonardo Garcia Alarcon; Alpha Classics Reviewed by Robert Hugill on 8 April 2020 Star rating: 4.0 (★★★★) Something of a delightful curiosity, a 17th century opera in Spanish, composed by an Italian for performance in ViennaNow this is a real curiosity, an opera written by an Italian composer, premiered in Vienna with a Spanish libretto. Antonio Draghi's El Prometeo (Prometheus) premiered in 1669, and is here revived on Alpha Classics by Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, Cappella Mediterranea and choeur de chambre de Namur with soloists Fabio Trumpy, Scott Conner, Mariana Flores, Giuseppina Bridelli, Borja Quiza, Zachary Wilder, Ana Quintans, Damil Ben Hsain Lachiri, Victor Torres, Anna Reinhold, Alejandro Meerapfel, and Lucia Martin-Carton. The final act of the opera does not survive, so has been completed by Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, and the recording was made following performances at Dijon […]
2019-11-05 09:04:00
Is Beethoven actually trying to kill me?
I spent last week in Vienna, on the Beethoven trail for my new book, IMMORTAL; what follows is my Letter from Vienna for the Unbound 'shed', which is emailed to all the book's supporters. It's both substantial and quite interesting (I think), so I wanted to bring it to you here too. Delighted to say that the funding is all in place, but if you would like to be part of the IMMORTAL family, be thanked in print, pre-order your copy and receive regular updates on progress, you still can, here. I came home from Vienna on Friday evening sick as the proverbial dog and barking like one. I was already unwell when I set off the previous Sunday; charging around the city, trying to see everything, walking about 7 miles a day during a nasty cold snap, did me so little good that I wondered if Beethoven is trying […]
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Royal Opera House
2017-01-01 12:36:14
Waltzing down the years: the powerful symbolism of Vienna's defining dance
Court Ball at the Hofburg by Wilhelm Gause, 1900 One of the most enduring images of Vienna is of a city that waltzes. Elegantly dressed couples whirl around the ballroom as an orchestra plays something by Strauss – Johann II , rather than Richard , of course. And on New Year’s Day morning, the celebratory concert by the Vienna Philharmonic from the Musikverein promotes the association even further, not least with that famous, obligatory encore of An der schönen blauen Donau (By the beautiful blue Danube). When Baron Ochs introduces a waltz in Act II of Der Rosenkavalier , it is through a popular song, which then pervades the musical atmosphere and continues into Act III. If we are in Vienna, then there must be waltzes! The waltz was associated with Vienna’s culture from the earliest stages of the dance’s evolution, through the public dance halls that opened […]