Klaus Döring's Classical Music/Klaus Döring's Klassische Musik

Khatia und Gvantsa Buniaishvili: Astor Piazzolla, Libertango vierhändig

Das "Air" von Johann Sebastian Bach aus der 3. Suite für Orchester (D-Dur; BWV 1068), 2. Satz. Einfach zurücklehnen, ins Grüne schauen und genießen. The "Air" by Johann Sebastian Bach from the 3rd orchestral suite (D minor; BWV 1068), 2nd movement. Just lean back, look into the green and enjoy. Photo 2005 by Nebelwarner: Forest at the "Venner Moor" near the city of Senden (German state North Rhine-Westphalia).

by  Maureen Buja  Three of Rossini’s operas mark turning points in his development as an opera composer.  Semiramide ,  Guillaume Tell , and  La gazza ladra  (The Thieving Magpie) each gather up a summary of his operatic development to that point and are made into very long operas. They also share another characteristic: none of these operas show the self-borrowing that marks much of his work.  Semiramide  is the culmination of his  opera seria  work and is the turning point in his withdrawal from Italian operatic life.  Guillaume Tell  is the end of the series of his operas written in Naples and then Paris, which were about experimentation and exploration – this is his farewell to his career in the theatre.  La gazza ladra , with its mix of serious and comic elements, is his last experiment in comic opera. His next area was the musical farce ( farse ), starting with  L’Italiana in Algeri , where his operas calle...

by  Georg Predota    He single-handedly revolutionized the world of opera by applying an unprecedented entrepreneurial philosophy to arts management. Giulio Gatti-Casazza managed La Scala in Milan for a decade, and he also served as the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera of New York for a record 27 seasons! His ideas of organizing opera houses as not-for-profit cultural companies situated an ancient art form decidedly in the modern world. Giulio Gatti-Casazza “Even the greatest genius,” he writes, “would not be able to change the nature of things and prevent the theater from being a great public service; its two faces, artistic and economic, must be wisely harmonized, to ensure the survival of an organism that is so schematic, but not less alive.” Gatti-Casazza was born in Udine but spent his formative years in Ferrara. He studied naval engineering, but his love of opera compelled him to take on the role of general manager at the Teatro Comunale in Ferrara. His way...

by Emily E. Hogstad , Interlude The best conductors are often workaholics intensely devoted to their craft and career. So it’s no surprise that over the course of music history, quite a few conductors have died or suffered fatal injuries while on the podium. Today, we’re looking at the stories of five conductors who did what they loved until the very end of their lives – and what music they were conducting when they passed away. Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Lully by Paul Mignard Lully was born in Tuscany in 1632. Historians don’t know a lot about his childhood, but it appears that he studied both music and dancing. When he was in his early teens, he was plucked off the street by a chevalier who was searching for an Italian conversation partner for his niece, Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier, who was heiress to one of the greatest fortunes in Europe. This was his introduction to the French aristocracy. In 1653, he made a big impression whi...