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

  by  Georg Predota    January 10th, 2021 Khatia Buniatishvili One of the most visually glittering pianists today, Khatia Buniatishvili steadily appears on television sets, front covers of glossy magazines and every imaginable social media outlet. She certainly attracts attention; on the cover of a recent  Schubert  release, Khatia takes on the physical persona of the famous corpse Ophelia, prompting a critic to sheepishly ask, “artistic or airheaded?” Unquestionably, she is one of the most highly sought after pianists, and readily appears in the world’s most prestigious concert halls. And it is her appearance in outfits with often plunging necklines that have earned her various nicknames, including the “Betty Boop” of the piano, and “the pop star of the classical music world.” For some, Khatia is a phenomenon “titillating the classical public… shaking and disrupting this fragile world.” To others, she is a “Lady Gaga or Beyoncé craving attention, with fash...

  by  Georg Predota    April 13th, 2026 Wind Quintets at 200 Two hundred years ago, on 13 April 1826, Franz Ignaz Danzi (1763-1826) died in Karlsruhe, aged 62. He had known  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart  in his youth, had mentored the young Carl Maria von Weber, and had been a contemporary of  Ludwig van Beethoven . Danzi was most famous for his wind quintets, and he composed nine such works between 1820 and 1824. These are genial and gentle works, modest in reach, but beautifully crafted in every detail. Franz Ignaz Danzi The wind quintets were written in part to raise the level of musicianship at the court of Karlsruhe. But that’s not the only reason why wind players should know this music. To commemorate the 200 th  anniversary of Danzi’s death, why don’t we explore the wind quintets in a little more detail?  Beyond the Jolly Exterior Franz Danzi was described as a plump little man with a rounded head and clever eyes which always...

 by Georg Predota   March 30th, 2026 Born on 30 March 1959 in the rolling hills of southern Germany, Sabine Meyer grew up in a family dedicated to the clarinet. Her grandfather, her father, and her older brother all played the clarinet, and by the age of eight, she made the instrument her own. As she later recalled, “The modulation of the sound, playing with your breath… right from the start I had the feeling: That’s my instrument.” And she was incredibly talented, making her professional debut at the age of sixteen and accepting an invitation from Herbert von Karajan to join the Berlin Philharmonic at twenty-three. Sabine Meyer The appointment caused a sensation and met with plenty of resistance from some colleagues, and after a brief period of orchestral playing, she embarked on a glittering international career as a soloist. On the occasion of Sabine Meyer’s birthday, let us explore her lifelong love affair with Mozart, and specifically with the...

 by Georg Predota  March 23rd, 2026 The German conductor, composer and pianist Wilhelm Taubert (1811–1891), born on 23 March 1811, was part of a Berlin circle of musicians that included   Felix Mendelssohn ,   Giacomo Meyerbeer , and the singer and writer Eduard Devrient, the librettist of two of his operas. Wilhelm Taubert Mendelssohn and Taubert studied piano with Ludwig Berger , and they exchanged a number of letters. In one of these letters, Mendelssohn identifies “the lack and impetus of spirit which, for all of Taubert’s musicianship, refined taste and great industry, nevertheless hindered him from achieving complete success as a composer.” (Lindeman,  Grove Music Online , 2001) On the occasion of Taubert’s birthday on 23 March, let’s explore the life and works of a capable yet eclipsed composer whose prolific output was ultimately overshadowed by his more illustrious contemporaries. Childhood Promise Carl Gottfried Wilhelm Taubert was born into a mi...

by Georg Predota   March 18th, 2026 Born in Tokyo on 18 March 1943, Nobuko Imai initially studied the violin but, after hearing Joseph de Pasquale at the Tanglewood Festival , she decided to take up the viola . Graduate studies brought her to Yale and Juilliard, and she made her US recital début at Carnegie Hall in 1968. Imai was a member of the Vermeer String Quartet from 1974 to 1979, which she still considers one of her greatest triumphs. “Every single day taught me so much… as chamber music has always been closest to my heart.” (Stewart, Nobuko Imai, The Strad) Nobuko Imai © Marco Borggreve Her playing is known for its technical precision and expressive depth. In addition, she is a dedicated advocate of 20 th -century music, and this includes the works of  Paul Hindemith . Her two Hindemith recordings for BIS from the early 1990s have been highly praised, and on the occasion of her birthday, let’s compare her interpretations with other notable recordings.  ...

  by   Georg Predota When   Yunchan Lim   became the youngest person ever to win a gold medal at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition at the age of 18, he instantly gained superstar status. His   Rachmaninoff   performance at the Cliburn received millions of views on social media, and huge crowds of fans travel internationally to see his performances. He is frequently described as a phenomenon, and  Marin Alsop , who chaired the Cliburn jury and conducted his winning performance, described him as “a musician way beyond his years.” Certainly, Yunchan is shy and soft-spoken, and his monk-like devotion lends him a sense of wisdom and spiritual purity. Yunchan Lim As we celebrate Yunchan Lim’s 22 nd  birthday on 20 March 2026, we might well ask a deeper question. Could these extraordinary qualities of a young man be the result of growing up in the intensely success-driven culture of his native South Korea?    Candid Revelation Yun...

  by  Georg Predota    February 21st, 2026 The Austrian composer, pianist and teacher   Carl Czerny   (1791–1857) was one of the towering figures in the history of nineteenth-century pianism. He is probably best known for his extensive pedagogical works, such as his études and exercises. Yet, Czerny was more than just a teacher of technique. He was a visionary who understood the evolving demands of the piano and the pianist, helping to shape the very vocabulary of modern piano playing. The young Carl Czerny The predominant view of Czerny at the end of the 20 th  century as a pedagogue churning out a seemingly endless stream of uninspired works was circulated by  Robert Schumann . However, this cavalier dismissal of Czerny was not uniformly shared. Czerny was a musical bridge between the Classical and Romantic eras, most notably as a student of  Ludwig van Beethoven  and later as the teacher of  Franz Liszt . Beethoven considered Cze...