Music History Monday: La Divina in Chicago
November
1st,
2021
We mark the American operatic debut on November 1, 1954 – 67 years ago today – of “La Divina” – “the divine one” - meaning Maria Callas at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Callas performed her signature role of Norma in Vincenzo Bellini’s opera of the same name under the baton of Nicola Rescigno. More…
Dr. Bob Prescribes Brahms, Quartets for Four Solo Voices and Piano
October
26th,
2021
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) in 1860, during his tenure as director and conductor of the Hamburg Frauenchor (the “Hamburg Women’s Choir”) A Brahms trivia question: what was the only regular, paying job Brahms ever held? Answer: that of a choral conductor. When we think of Brahms and his music, we typically think of a “serious” German…
Music History Monday: Johannes Brahms and his Symphony No. 4
October
25th,
2021
We mark the world premiere – on October 25, 1885, 136 years ago today – of Johannes Brahms’ fourth and final symphony. Performed by the superb Meiningen Court Orchestra, the performance was conducted by Brahms himself. It went well. We’ll get to Herr Doktor Professor Brahms in a bit. But first, some gratuitous, auto back…
Dr. Bob Prescribes Viktor Ullman
October
19th,
2021
Viktor Ullmann (1898-1944) On September 8, 1942, the composer and pianist Victor Ullmann was deported from Prague and sent to the concentration camp-slash-ghetto of Terezín (what the German’s called “Theresienstadt”) some 20 miles north of Prague, in what today is the northwestern corner of the Czech Republic. Even though roughly 33,000 Jews died at Terezín…
Music History Monday: Viktor Ullman, the Musical Bard of Terezín
October
18th,
2021
Viktor Ullmann (1898-1944) We mark the death on October 18, 1944 – 77 years ago today – of the composer and pianist Viktor Ullmann, in a gas chamber at the concentration and death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, in Nazi-occupied Poland. Last week’s Music History Monday focused on a soft-rock song entitled Je t'aime... Moi non plus…
Dr. Bob Prescribes: Strauss – Salome
October
12th,
2021
Yesterday’s Music History Monday post, entitled “Sex Sells”, featured the French pop song Je t'aime... Moi non plus, written by Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991) and performed by Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin (born 1946). By every possible musical standard, the song is complete drivel. But it didn’t climb to number one on most of the European charts…
Music History Monday: Sex Sells
October
11th,
2021
There was a time, in the not terribly distant past (in our days of relative musical innocence), when a little heavy breathing was all it took to get a recording banned from the airwaves. Today we celebrate just such an event. Jane Birkin (born 1946) and Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991) On October 11, 1969 – 52…
Dr. Bob Prescribes Leopold Godowsky
October
5th,
2021
Leopold Godowsky’s “Study on Chopin’s ‘Black Key’ Etude”, completed when he - Godowsky - was not quite 24 years old is but one of fifty-three studies on Chopin’s etudes Godowsky composed between 1894 and 1914. We’ll discuss his life in a moment, but first Godowsky’s version of/paraphrase on Chopin’s etude, in which the rapid, right-hand…
Music History Monday: Lending a Hand
October
4th,
2021
Before moving on to the main topic for today’s post, I would like to announce a new feature here on Music History Monday, something called “This Day in Musical Stupid.” I explain. As regular readers of this post know, I will, occasionally, dedicate a post to the shenanigans and sometimes plain old idiocy of musicians…
Dr. Bob Prescribes Antonin Dvořák in America
September
28th,
2021
Antonin Dvořák (1841-1904) circa 1895 Antonin Dvořák arrived in the United States (with most of his family in tow) on September 27, 1893. He had been offered and had accepted the Directorship of the National Conservatory of Music of America by the conservatory’s visionary founder, Jeanette Meyers Thurber. On his arrival, Dvořák hit the ground…