Austria's
AEIOU has
bar-by-bar analyses of major classical works (of composers associated with Austria): audio, annotations, scores, and performance/score animations in various video formats, together with biographical essays on the composers. Some possible points of departure:
1,
2,
3.
posted by Wolfdog
on Apr 12, 2006 -
10 comments
For all the hoo-ha about Callas first bringing real acting to the operatic stage, one has only to view the footage of Risë Stevens legendary 1952 “Carmen” to see what kind of Method she brought to the Met. Stevens was the definitive gypsy wanton, and her performance has it all— fire, ice, and that impossible balance between elegance and sluttiness. Her technique is superb—licking her fingers before extinguishing the candles in what will be her death chamber, then flicking off the wax; flinging her unwanted lover’s ring at him, spitting out a contemptuous “Tiens!”.
The Metropolitan Opera Guild honors the
Bronx-born singer, now 92. More inside.
posted by matteo
on Feb 9, 2006 -
9 comments
Mozart's musical diary - kept between 1784 and 1791 - goes online today courtesy of the British Library. There is a helpful audio commentary if you can't decipher his handwriting, plus excerpts from some of his music.
The same site also has works by artists and authors such as Jane Austen, Leonardo da Vinci and Lewis Carroll.
posted by greycap
on Jan 12, 2006 -
5 comments
Perhaps one of the most accessible classical works is
Ravel's
Boléro. In a
piece in
Wired, Michael Chorost decribes his journey of getting a cochlear implant since going totally deaf. He wanted to experience Ravel and his magic again. This is a very compelling and very emotional read. (via
BoingBoing)
posted by wheelieman
on Jan 5, 2006 -
25 comments
Music is nothing.
Sound could become music.
The end must be in the beginning,
and the beginning in the end.
I am here because I am not here.
Music lives in the eternal now.
Music is the now becoming now.
What I learned from
Sergiu Celibidache, by
Markand Thakar. More inside.
posted by matteo
on Oct 14, 2005 -
6 comments
'A novel contained in a single sigh' On Sept. 15, 1945,
Anton Webern stepped out to smoke a cigar. An American soldier, seeing the glow of the cigar,
panicked and shot Webern three times. Webern, along with
Arnold Schoenberg and
Alban Berg, is credited with -- or
blamed for -- ushering in an era of composition emphasizing strict, mathematical order over all elements of music, a reaction against the
suicidal excess of Romanticism. On the anniversary of his death, BBC Radio 3 hosts
Webern Day, during which Webern's complete works will be broadcast. The total time to perform his 31 works is about three hours. (Links grabbed mostly from
ArtsJournal.)
posted by NemesisVex
on Sep 14, 2005 -
19 comments
The Unheard Beethoven -
This website endeavors to make all of Beethoven's unrecorded music readily accessible to the public. These never-before-heard works are now available to anyone with a computer, a modem and a soundcard, in the form of MIDI files. At present, over twelve hours of Beethoven's music is available on this website and in no other listenable format.
posted by Wolfdog
on Jul 11, 2005 -
16 comments
San Carlo of the Symphony. Il Maestro
Carlo Maria Giulini, orchestra conductor who passed away Tuesday at 91 "had an almost uncanny ability to transform the sound of an orchestra, any orchestra, into a dark and intense glow, which became his trademark over the years". "We have lost one of the greatest musicians of our time," says
Esa-Pekka Salonen (.pdf), music director of the LA Philharmonic. Giulini has been called "the last humanist", a gentle man beloved by his orchestras, so humble in his approach to music that, always feeling the necessity to "fathom" each new work, it wasn't until the 1960s that he finally felt ready to conduct Bach, or the symphonies of Mozart and Beethoven. This from a man who, at the beginning of his career (as a viola player) had played under Richard Strauss. "I had the great privilege to be a member of an orchestra," Giulini said in 1982. "
I still belong to the body of the orchestra. When I hear the phrase, 'The orchestra is an instrument,' I get mad. It's a group of human beings who play instruments." More inside.
posted by matteo
on Jun 16, 2005 -
11 comments
By a weird coincidence, after reading
this interview in New Scientist with three of the engineers who made electronic music possible, I walked by a poster for a
documentary film about Bob Moog. One of my earliest memories of electronic music in the 1970s was an elementary school music teacher who was really into
Wendy Carlos' and
Isao Tomita's early arrangements of classical works for synthesizer. Of course, electronic music history goes back to the 1920s with the
theremin developed as a classical instrument. It has its own
web portal filled with lots of good stuff. And now for something slightly different,
Conlon Nancarrow wrote piano compositions that could not be performed by human hands, demanding the use of a player piano.
posted by KirkJobSluder
on Apr 4, 2005 -
20 comments
From the Top is a weekly radio show broadcast
throughout the USA. It originates from Boston's New England Conservatory, but travels all over showcasing young classical musicians. The show can be heard (RealAudio) from the website, and there is an extensive
library as well an
archive of past shows (
photos too)... the kids are very talented, and the show's
hosts are great at bringing out their personalities.
posted by indices
on Feb 26, 2005 -
2 comments
Classic Cat describes itself as "the free classical music directory," and offers links to 3rd-party-hosted downloadable recordings, sliced and diced by
hits,
composer,
performer, and
more. There are active
fora. Given the old-school look of the site, I was surprised not to find it in my repost search.
posted by mwhybark
on Feb 13, 2005 -
13 comments
