Robert Greenberg
Historian, Composer, Pianist, Speaker, Author
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Dr. Bob Prescribes Nicolas Slonimsky
December 10th, 2019
Nicolas Slonimsky (1893-1995) My Music History Monday post of November 25 last discussed, among other things, the role of the critic. Over the course of that post I asserted that “painful to the critical community though it may be, the fact remains that the surest way for a critic to be remembered is to get it wrong.” That statement led me to mention one of my very favorite musical resources: “There is a wonderful book…
Music History Monday: A Life for the Tsar
December 9th, 2019
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804-1857) in 1840 On December 9, 1836 (or November 27, 1836 in the old style, Russian Julian calendar), Mikhail Glinka’s opera A Life for the Tsar received its premiere at the Imperial Bolshoi Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. More than just an opera and a premiere, the opening night of A Life…
Dr. Bob Prescribes Olivier Messiaen’s ‘Turangalîla’ Symphony
December 3rd, 2019
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) in 1946 Yesterday’s Music History Monday post noted and celebrated the premiere of Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony in Boston, on December 2, 1949, by the Boston Symphony conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Composed between 1946 and 1948, the Turangalîla Symphony caps the first part of Messiaen’s compositional career. There’s nothing else like it…
Music History Monday: Turangalîla
December 2nd, 2019
December 2 is – was - a great date for world premieres, as well as for one unfortunate and extremely notable exit. Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 received its first performance on December 3, 1883 – 136 years ago today – in Vienna, when it was performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton… Robert Greenberg | Copyright © 2019 All Rights Reserved