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December 10, 2009
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OFF-THE-CUFF REVIEW No. 2
Exactly how does one become famous? How do you elbow your way into the pantheon of 'Greats'? Beethoven did it by showing up in Wien and schmoozing with the musically minded aristocracy, just when they were feeling the lack of Mozart. Mozart had it done to him by a ... more |
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December 8, 2009
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OFF-THE-CUFF* REVIEW No. 1
I like this guy, Schnittke. He has a strong dose of Shostakovich's inability to take himself seriously -- what the russians call a Holy Fool. Anyone who can put the buzzing of flies into a quartet dedicated to his dead mother, has self-irony.
And the Janácek Trio -- a ... more |
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February 19, 2009
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VOICE I
“It’s only nowadays that everyone is so smart and no one doubts the genius and viability of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century music. But in those days, let’s be frank, the picture was completely different, that music was hidden beneath seven seals. Even Rimsky-Korsakov felt that music began ... more |
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February 1, 2009
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THE SOUND
Sound Engineer Brad Michel has triumphed over the pitfalls inherent in venue, microphone placement, digital technology and interpersonal politics… and has given the world a warm but detailed recording of four enthusiastic master musicians with audible space around them – quite an ... more |
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December 16, 2008
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Sufferers of the present Sub-prime Mortgage Meltdown may find fellowship with Ludwig Beethoven who shivered, stinting on fuel during the economic downturn of 1825 – as he penned Das Grosse Fuge. He laboured on despite failing health, so that he would not have to dip into his bank shares but could ... more |
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