Gerhard Oppitz in Munich

Spätwerk (= Late works). There are two basic implications when talking about late works. First, the conventional view that late works are rich compositions by a mature and wise composer. This approach stresses the dignity and complexity of the compositions and implies that they embody the summit of an artist’s compositional development. Seen in this [...]

Ridiculous Dress Code at La Scala

This has probably been roaming around for quite a few days but nevertheless I don’t want to deprive you, dear readers, of this fabulously ridiculous story about a new dress code at the Scala in Milan.

The dress code
Our correspondent Opera Chic in Milan on the matter
Tagesschau covering

God, I’m glad I live in Berlin. The [...]

Word Creations #2

Tonloses Geraschel
(Peter Uehling: “Tonloses Geraschel,” Berliner Zeitung, September 27, 2006, p. 30)
Natureuphorien
Verdämmernde Exposition
Streicherwärme
Julia Spinola: “Streiflicher aus dem Jenseits,” Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, September 30, 2006, p. 41.

Die-hardism and music

Thank you to Jonathan Bellman for an inspiring post on Bach and the lunatic musician’s life style we all adhere to!
Dial “M” to see the details!

warning! this music fit only for lunatics, university types

Arnold Schoenberg: Serenade, op.24; Suite, op. 29. Robert Craft (conductor). Koch Classics, 1997.
“and talentless composers. the music contained on this cd is proof enough in and of itself that Arnold Schoenberg was a mediocre musical talent, and turned to composing in an alienist atonal style only after he could plainly see that he could not [...]

Word Creations #1

molldüster
engelhaft süßes Tenortimbre
flehentlich-expressive Nuancierung
warme Baßfülle

Julia Spinola on Mozart’s Betulia liberata at the Salzburg Festival. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, August 22, 2006, p. 31.

Leere

There is simply nothing to report from Berlin. Maybe I have more to say next week when I will be going to the Salzburg Festival again. Take care for now.

Shopping

After weeks of abstinence I finally bought new CDs, scores, and books yesterday. For those of you who live in Berlin, check out the Kulturkaufhaus Dussmann. It has a huge collection of classical music CDs in the basement. Here is what I bought: 1) The Camerata Salzburg conducted by Sandor Vegh with Bartok’s Divertimento for [...]

Musical Moments

In a recent blog post at On a Pacific Aisle, Joshua Kosman, the music critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, introduces us to what he calls a “magic moment” in Gustav Mahler’s 9th Symphony. The passage in question lasts only one quarter note, and in his article, Joshua shares with us his thoughts and feelings [...]

Untersberg

When I first came to Salzburg in 1992, 15 years old, I lived in a small room on Moos Strasse that had a beautiful view on the Untersberg. From that first day on, I wanted to climb this mountain which casts its shadow over the town on sunny days (and believe me there aren’t many [...]

The Muezzin’s Silence

In Turkey five times a day all music stops. The loudspeakers on public beaches stop pounding dancing rhythms, the DJs in bars and clubs grant their audiences some time to get new refreshments, the shopkeepers’s radios cool down their tubes: all of Turkey listens to the Muezzin’s call to prayer (click here to hear a [...]

Ästhetik des Performativen

Imagine a world in which there is no way to record music. Imagine a world in which there is no possibility to broadcast sound. A world without CDs, radio, cell phones that play mp3s, websites that stream music. A world in which music sounds only in live performances. Most people would find this world terribly [...]