How easy it might be to overlook this lesser-known Schreker opera, composed in 1928 and dedicated to Schrekerís good friend Arnold Schoenberg, here in its recorded debut. It has a quite curious libretto, complex and multilayered, and Schreker moves between what are at times quite disparate styles.
SPITZER & ZASLAW: The Birth of the Orchestra ó History of an Institution, 1650-1815
At a time when the press has made the public aware of the difficult circumstances that exist for the symphony orchestra in the United States, it is refreshing to find a book that demonstrates unequivocally the nature of that institution and, as a consequence, its power in culture.
GOUNOD: Faust
Faust, OpÈra en cinq actes
Music composed by Charles Gounod. Libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel CarrÈ after Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
ENO woes continue with new sacking and strike
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1961532,00.html
Unhappy birthday? It’s his 250th anniversary, but Mozart is too ‘chocolate-boxy’ for Radio 3
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/news/article335215.ece
Music writers put an ear to the ground
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/0eab6a7a-767d-11da-a8a9-0000779e2340.html
SCHUBERT: Winterreise
Franz Schubertís song cycle Winterreise has been performed by many fine singers, who keep the work alive in the repertoire and in the imagination of audiences. In recent years the work has been subject to a variety of interpretations, and with this recording, the well-known tenor RenÈ Kollo offers his perspective on the work, accompanied by the young pianist Oliver Pohl.
A Trio of New Year’s Concerts
The first thing I saw when I opened the La Scala DVD was a notice on the back that track 5 plays ìVa! Pensiero da: I vespri siciliani (1855).î One wonders if there is nobody at the La Scala Bookshop who has at least a bit of knowledge of one of the most popular pieces in the operatic repertoire that served Italy for more than hundred years as an unofficial anthem ó the Venice DVD has it right, of course.