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On This Day
3 October: Ruggero Raimondi Was Born
The bass-baritone Ruggero Raimondi catapulted to world fame both as an actor and a singer not long after making his debut in Spoleto in 1964. Immediately in the highest demand for his vocal mastery and stage presence, Raimondi worked with
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30 Best Classical Music Movies As Rated by Rotten Tomatoes
Looking for a movie about classical music to watch? You’re in luck! Today we’ve not only assembled a list of thirty movies about classical music, but we’ve also checked in with movie review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes to see which
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On This Day
30 September: George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess Was Premiered
On 30 September 1935, the Colonial Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, hosted the world premiere performance of Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin. It was the try-out run for the first Broadway showing at Alvin Theatre in New York City on
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On This Day
29 September: Lisette Oropesa Was Born
The lyric coloratura soprano Lisette Oropesa has achieved worldwide acclaim for her seamless vocal technique, expressive musicality, linguistic affinity, and stylistic integrity. According to critics, “she has a technique without weakness, and everything she touches turns into gold.” She sang
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The Perils of Playing and Instrument Drops- it’s a Thing
As if we musicians don’t have more than our share of challenges to contend with, we heard the recent story of the energetic and exultant conductor who kicked a soloist’s violin right out of his hands. The Czech violinist, classical,
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Violence Against Men
The Age of the Castrato III
Current research has suggested that the castrati “were considered to be a gender of their own, partly because they were not classified as male or female in society. They drifted, so to speak, in a gender limbo, often carrying a
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On This Day
27 September: Georg Philipp Telemann’s Pimpinone Was Premiered
On the occasion of the recent wedding of Louis XV and Maria Leszczyńska, daughter of the deposed king of Poland, the Hamburg Opera am Gänsemarkt saw the premiere of Georg Philipp Telemann’s intermezzos Pimpinone on 27 September 1725. The Telemann
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Free Polyphony in a Modern Style: Martinů’s Madrigals
Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959), the younger compatriot of Czech composer Leoš Janáček (1854–1928), was much more widely traveled than Janáček, largely due to the wars of the 20th century. Martinů, living in Paris in 1940, emigrated temporarily to Portugal and then
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