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

by Georg Predota, Interlude The young Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart loved billiards, his pet starling, and food! Food was plentiful in Vienna during Mozart’s time, and a cheap and common meal would have consisted of two large meat dishes with soup, vegetables, bread, and a quarter liter of local wine.  With Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and numerous other composers hanging around, Vienna was clearly a musical center. Concurrently, it was an epicurean center that created and established the Viennese cuisine we still enjoy today. Recipes for such fabled dishes as “Wiener Schnitzel, Tafelspitz, Kaiserschmarrn, and Sacher and Linzer Torte,” became formalized and circulated in a variety of cookbooks. And Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a good and happy eater. From a journey to Milan, his father  Leopold  writes to his wife, “We are in God’s hands wherever we are. Wolfgang will not ruin his health by eating and drinking. He is fat and in good health, and is mer...

by  Frances Wilson , Interlude Yuja Wang (without score!) It’s one of the great romantic images, isn’t it? The solo performer, alone on an empty stage, faced with that huge black beast of a full-size concert grand piano, armed with nothing but his or her memory and willing, well-trained fingers. There’s a lot of snobbery surrounding memorisation, and yet it’s one of the most absurd things pianists put themselves through. We have  Clara Schumann  and  Franz Liszt  to thank (or blame!) for the tradition of the pianist playing from memory, and both were significant in turning the piano recital into the formal spectacle it is today. Before the mid-nineteenth century, pianists were not expected to play from memory and playing without the score was often considered a sign of casualness, or even arrogance: Beethoven disapproved of the practice, feeling it would make the performer lazy about the detailed markings on the score; and Chopin is repo...

The first 10 days of gifts.  Picture: Getty By Sophia Alexandra Hall, ClassicFM London @sophiassocials   We all know the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ song, what is the story behind those sometimes bizarre lyrics? Leaping Lords await... Twelve days of Christmas? ...we sing about them every year. But this Christmas it might be time for a deeper dive. Let’s discover that incredibly generous ‘true love’ who bestows the bunch of daily bizarre gifts on the song’s protagonist. Who gets their true love  8 maids  [who are]   milking  [a cow]? and where do you even get eight milkmaids from? Are they there by choice? Do we need to call the police? Keep hold of those gold rings, as we break down the story behind one of the season’s most iconic songs. When are the twelve days of Christmas? The twelve days of Christmas are sometimes also known as  Twelvetide . There is a raging debate as to when exactly Twelvetide starts. While some would suggest the first day of Chri...

Born: September 22, 1958 (age 63) Italy Andrea Bocelli, (born September 22, 1958, Lajatico, near Pisa, Italy), Italian tenor noted for his unique blend of opera and pop music. From a young age Bocelli was afflicted with congenital glaucoma. He began taking piano lessons at age six and later played flute and saxophone. At age 12 he became totally blind after suffering a brain hemorrhage as the result of a soccer accident. Undeterred by his lack of sight, he studied law at the University of Pisa while singing at piano bars and nightclubs to finance his education. After obtaining his degree, he practiced law as a state-appointed attorney for a year before deciding on a musical career and studying voice with tenor Franco Corelli. USA 2006 - 78th Annual Academy Awards. Closeup of giant Oscar statue at the entrance of the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, film movie hollywood Bocelli’s breakthrough came in 1992, when he was asked by Italia...

From writing the world's best-loved soundtracks - such as Star Wars and Harry Potter - to conducting the Boston Pops, John Williams is one of today's musical giants. 1. The force is with him Born on 8 February 1932 in Long Island, John Williams has composed some of the most popular and recognizable film scores ever, including Jaws, the Star Wars films, Superman, the Indiana Jones movies, E.T., Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan and three Harry Potter instalments. He has won five Oscars, four Golden Globes, seven BAFTAs and 21 Grammys. With 48 Oscar nominations, he is second only to Walt Disney as most nominated person ever. 2. Aspiring young musician John Williams grew up in a musical family; his father was a jazz percussionist. Young John attended UCLA while studying composition privately with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Drafted in 1952, Williams spent three years conducting and arranging music for the U.S. Air Force Band. After his service ended, Williams...