Musicon

Chopin - Sensitivity and Revolutions

Silentiarius — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:33:46 +0000

“Chopin’s music came out of nowhere,” says pianist Byron Janis. “There is nothing that preceded it. He was truly unique. With Beethoven, you can hear it came out of Mozart. Not with Chopin.” Pauline Rovkah, head of the piano program at Chatham University, said Chopin’s music possesses a seductive quality. “It’s magical, irresistible — it [...]

Kissine - Silence is a part of music

Silentiarius — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:21:01 +0000

Kissine — who makes his home in Belgium, where he is a professor of music at two important conservatories — writes that he was a student at the Leningrad Conservatory when he first discovered Ives’ piece, “The Unanswered Question”. Considering it a “revelation,” he assiduously studied the details of its score, noting that Ives used [...]

Lasso, Penitential Psalms - Tolzer Knabenchor, G. Schmidt-Gaden

Silentiarius — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:24:52 +0000

I can’t find enough praise for this extraordinary performance of Orlando di Lasso’s penitential psalms. Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden leads the Toelzer Knabenchor and the Musikalische Compagney Berlin into the breathing of new life to this work, so far unknown to other recordings. Toelzer Knabenchor makes the great difference, soloists and chorus, always coordinated at a miraculous [...]

Boulez: Let us demand more from ourselves!

Silentiarius — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:25:01 +0000

If you want to have a more interesting life, you will make some effort. It’s about the organization of one’s life. I am still shocked that so many people are not more creative, by which I mean more demanding of themselves. The main question we need to ask ourselves is: Do I try to be [...]

Welcome the New Year with the Best of 2009

Silentiarius — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 12:31:29 +0000

Here are top albums featured by MUSICON in 2009. Enjoy! John Scofield, Piety Street Bob Dylan, Christmas in the Heart Allen Toussaint, The Bright Mississippi Bang Gang, Ghosts From the Past Bruch - 8 Pieces for Clarinet, Viola and Piano The Promise, by Vassilis Tsabropoulos Theodorakis, Zorbas Ballet Tags: Allen Toussaint, Announcements, ballet, Bang Gang, bob dylan, bright mississippi, [...]

Theodorakis, Zorbas Ballet - Montreal Ph.O, I. Forti, Ch. Dutoit

Silentiarius — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:58:19 +0000

Mikis Theodorakis’ soundtrack for the film Zorba the Greek is famous and, beyond this, it has given an impression to many people that this music expresses Greece more than any other. It was a pleasant surprise for me to listen to a new version (if it can be called a “version” and not a new [...]

Bob Dylan, Christmas in the Heart - 2009

Silentiarius — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:25:23 +0000

Just listening to the Christmas album of Bod Dylan. It is called “Christmas in the Heart” and contains the most of what we know as ‘Christmas hits’ - Here Comes Santa Claus, Hark The Herald Angels Sing, Little Drummer Boy, Adeste Fideles, Silver Bells, etc. I admire the passion of Dylan, that before his ‘conversion’, [...]

Seiji Ozawa: I hope Asiatic peoples love classical music

Silentiarius — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:38:10 +0000

Seiji Ozawa was born in Manchuria during the Japanese occupation - his father a Buddhist, his mother a Presbyterian - he was raised in Tokyo, and greatly influenced by western culture and a Christian upbringing. His love of music was first explored through the church, but later he studied at the Toho School of Music [...]

Debussy and Ravel Quartets - A note

Silentiarius — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:42:57 +0000

Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel only wrote one quartet each. Both of these are extremely impressionistic in style, correlating chronologically with the work of Monet and his contemporaries in France, full of colour, and rich in bold gestures. Thirteen years younger than Debussy, Ravel wrote his quartet with the Debussy work very much in mind, and [...]

Henry Cowell - Living in the Whole World of Music

Silentiarius — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:05:19 +0000

Born in Menlo Park, Calif., in 1897, Cowell toured the world in the 1920s as a pianist, winning amazed reviews and publicity when he, for example, smashed rows of adjacent piano keys with a forearm or played directly on the piano strings and sound board. Such techniques added musical color and atmosphere, and “moved music [...]