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Conductor and Naxos artist Marin Alsop discusses Robert Schumann’s four symphonies in the wake of her recordings of the works as reorchestrated by Mahler (8.574429 and 8.574430). Following observations about instrumental developments of the time, Mahler’s myriad tweaks to the score, and the somewhat bipolar flavour of the music (with counterpoint always at hand as Read More …
September’s list of new releases again boasts a wide spectrum, from big-hitting orchestral performances to intimate solo recitals. I’ve taken a small-is-beautiful focus for the overview of this month’s line-up, highlighting solo performances, works for chamber ensembles and music for chamber orchestra. And I’m going to start with a large-scale work for chorus and orchestra Read More …
Although storm clouds were starting to gather over Robert Schumann’s mental health in the years 1849–50, it proved a remarkably fertile period for his musical output, not least as reflected in works featuring the cello. The majority of the pieces on this new release were composed during that period, some with the instrumentation as originally Read More …
“Freed from the shackles and tatters of the old tradition and prejudice, American and European women in music are now universally hailed as important factors in the concert and teaching fields and as … fast developing assets in the creative spheres of the profession.” This affirmation was made in 1935 by Frédérique Petrides, the Belgian-born Read More …
The recent passing of the actor Jerry Lewis, forever branded the nutty professor in the madness rankings, put me in mind of British entertainers The Crazy Gang (yes, I am that old), the 1960s comedy film It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world, and a whole host of other loony screenings. When crazy turns from Read More …
New Year in the Gregorian Calendar has become a point in time for both public celebrations and private moments of reflection and resolution. These days we don’t associate New Year festivities and music so much with churchgoing, but in 18th-century Leipzig it was very much part of the Christmas cycle of celebratory services which ran Read More …
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the piano music of Robert Schumann was under-appreciated—viewed as bitty, light and flighty, more like parlour music fare. But today it’s recognised as some of the most creative and original piano music ever composed. To Schumann, music represented a state of mind where mood, atmosphere, colour and Read More …
While there’s no magic formula for clinching success when two people tie the knot, the old adage of ‘opposites attract’ has proven a winner for many a couple, allowing them to mix and enrich contrasting personas. But, for many musicians, both partners being in the same game has also proved a winning recipe. There have Read More …
The acclaimed Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux sings two major song cycles by Robert Schumann (1810-1856), and four other songs by the composer (”Der Nussbaum,” “Er ist’s,” “Loreley,” and “Widmung”), on a new recording from naïve. Pianist Daniel Blumenthal accompanies Lemieux in the Liederkreis (Op. 39) and Frauenliebe und-leben (Op. 42), both written in 1840 when Read More …