Lucia Popp Sings Schubert’s “An die Musik”
Franz Schubert died at age 31. Yet he was able to leave us about 600 songs scored for voice and piano. These actually began as poems by several different poets. In one such case the …
“A German Requiem” By Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms first mentioned the idea of the German Requiem in correspondence to Clara Schumann in 1865. Between 1857–1868, Brahms worked in part on elements which would appear in the Requiem. Many standard interpretations say that this was …
Who was Erich Wolfgang Korngold?
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was 50 years old at the time of the 1947 debut of his Violin Concerto in D Major, a lyrical work begun a decade earlier. The half-century mark can seem significant to …
Ravel’s “Le Tombeau de Couperin”
Le Tombeau de Couperin actually began before the war. Ravel had started the suite in 1914 with a dance, writing to Cipa Godebski, “I am transcribing a forlane by Couperin…” Later that year, Ravel wrote …
David Oistrakh and Sviatoslav Richter Play Beethoven and Brahms
For sheer joy of musical collaboration, enjoy this fine video record from 18 March 1970, when two great Soviet artists, David Oistrakh (1908-1974) and Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997), played Beethoven and Brahms at Alice Tully Hall …