Robert Greenberg

Historian, Composer, Pianist, Speaker, Author

The Robert Greenberg Blog

Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), painted in 1896 by Ilya Repin

Music History Monday: Fake It ‘til You Make It

March 18th, 2024
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), painted in 1896 by Ilya Repin We mark the birth of the Russian composer Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov on March 18, 1844: 180 years ago today.  Born in the Russian town of Tikhvin – roughly 120 miles east of St. Petersburg - Rimsky-Korsakov died at the age of 64, on June 21,…

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Dr. Bob Prescribes Giuseppe Verdi – Rigoletto

March 12th, 2024
A Lurid, Depraved Tale! Put in contemporary terms, the plot of Rigoletto is, frankly, revolting: a sixteenth century version of the Jeffrey Epstein/Ghislaine Maxwell story. The opera tells the tale of a rich, slimy, powerful, utterly amoral man (the Duke of Mantua/Epstein) who, among his many carnal sins, rapes and traffics in teenaged girls, abetted…

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Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) in 1852, a year after the premiere of Rigoletto

Music History Monday: An Opera Profane and Controversial: Verdi’s Rigoletto

March 11th, 2024
We mark the first performance on March 11, 1851 – 173 years ago today – of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Rigoletto at Venice’s storied Teatro la Fenice: The Phoenix Theater. Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) in 1852, a year after the premiere of Rigoletto We set the scene.   The year was 1849.  Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (1813-1901)…

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Joan Morris and William Bolcom at New York City’s Town Hall, 1985

Dr. Bob Prescribes “After the Ball”

March 5th, 2024
Year of the Song As I’ve mentioned in previous Dr. Bob Prescribes posts, I’ve unilaterally designated this campaign and election year “The Year of the Song,” so desperate am I for the distraction and solace only the best popular American songs can provide. We began with Barbara Cook’s wonderful Disney Album on February 6, and…

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“Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1843-1893), circa 1875, at the time he was composing Swan Lake

Music History Monday: Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and Some Myths Debunked

March 4th, 2024
“Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1843-1893), circa 1875, at the time he was composing Swan Lake We mark the first performance of the ballet Swan Lake on March 4, 1877: 147 years ago today.  Premiered at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, with music by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), choreography by the Czech-born dance master Julius Reisinger (1828-1892),…

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Dr. Bob Prescribes Carmen

February 27th, 2024
The original cast of Star Trek, the crew of the starship Enterprise, in 1966 Reruns I don’t know about you, but personally, I have mixed feelings about reruns. On one hand, I will never tire of seeing of watching the original Star Trek, which ran for 79 episodes spread over three seasons, from 1966 to…

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George Bizet (1838-1875) in 1875

Music History Monday: Too Late to Matter for Georges Bizet, though Better Late Than Never for the Rest of Us

February 26th, 2024
George Bizet (1838-1875) in 1875 We mark the premiere on February 26, 1935 – 89 years ago today – of Georges Bizet’s Symphony in C.  The premiere took place in Basel, Switzerland, in a performance conducted by Felix Weingartner (1863-1942).  Bizet (1838-1875) never heard the symphony performed; he had died in the Paris suburbs in…

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Sergei Nakariakov (born 1977), circa 2018

Dr. Bob Prescribes Sergei Nakariakov

February 20th, 2024
Yesterday’s Music History Monday focused on the crime of passion that was the murder of the be-bop trumpet player Lee Morgan (1938-1972), a crime committed on February 19, 1972, by his common-law wife, Helen Moore. Morgan was an extraordinary player, someone who recorded prodigiously and who – being only 33 years old when he was…

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The Leighton Brothers, Frank (on the left, 1880-1927) and Bert (1877-1964)

Music History Monday: Frankie and Johnny, and Helen and Lee

February 19th, 2024
I am aware that Valentine’s Day is already 5 days past, but darned if the romantic warm ‘n’ fuzzies aren’t still lingering with me like a rash from poison oak. As such, I will be excused for offering up what I will admit is a belated, but nevertheless Valentine’s Day-related post. Gratitude We should all…

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Portrait of Haydn by Ludwig Guttenbrunn, painted in 1791, based on an earlier portrait depicting Haydn circa 1770

Dr. Bob Prescribes: Joseph Haydn: Six String Quartets, Op. 76

February 13th, 2024
Wax sculpture of Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) by Franz Thaler, circa 1800 Haydn’s six string quartets published in 1799 as Opus 76 are his supreme works of chamber music, works that show him at the very peak of his craft and imagination. The quartets were composed between 1796-1797, soon after Haydn’s return from his second residency…

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