Music

Soundbytes: Top Albums Of 2016

December 31, 2016 - 3:15pm

With a new year upon us, it's time to reflect on all that the year 2016 gave -- and a little that it took -- from our collective listening.

“I think they’re very interesting. You should learn them.” So said conductor Alfredo Antonini to violinist Louis Kaufman in the autumn of 1947. The Columbia Broadcasting System’s music director had just said much the same thing in the hope that Kaufman would perform the distinctive 200-year-old Vivaldi concertos in an...

The Humpty-Dumpty Concerto

December 29, 2016 - 11:30am

The two sisters from Baltimore so impressed Max Bruch with their performance of his Fantasy for Two Pianos that he agreed to write a two-piano concerto for them. Writing it would be relatively easy, putting it back together would be the hard part. When Ottilie and Rose Sutro asked Bruch...

The Magic Touch

December 28, 2016 - 11:30am

Canadian pianist Glenn Gould had enough quirks as it was, but a concert tour of Israel brought out even more. He was scheduled to play Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto in Jerusalem on a cold December day, but let it be known that he had changed his mind. He and his...

Neighborhood Druggist In Milwaukee Community For Decades

December 27, 2016 - 4:05pm

Dr. Lester Carter, Jr. has been providing remedies to his community since the late 1960s when he purchased a neighborhood pharmacy in Milwaukee. He talks about his military past, his path to pharmacy school, and his longstanding commitment to dispensing relief to his loyal customers in this extended interview.

Neighborhood Druggist Has Provided Medicine To Milwaukee Community For Decades

October 25, 2016 - 4:15pm

Summation

December 27, 2016 - 11:30am

As the year 1842 ended, Gaetano Donizetti was nominated to become a corresponding member of the prestigious French Academy. Coming at the twilight of his career, his acceptance speech was an opportunity for the composer to sum up his philosophy of music. He devoted a significant part of his remarks...

The Price of a Comeback

December 26, 2016 - 11:30am

On December 12, 1800, Napoleon had survived an assassination attempt in Paris, and although a number of bystanders were killed by the explosive device known as “the infernal machine,” a deputation from Paris societies and corporations waited to congratulate the First Consul on his escape. Representing the Paris Conservatory was...

Remembering George Michael: 'Freedom' Was Rare Fusion Of Pop Hit With Artistic Purpose

December 26, 2016 - 8:00am

George Michael never looked the role of a musical freedom fighter. Between his Adonis-like features, his stylish, camera-ready wardrobe and his devotion to dance music made him appear as a pop star keener to keep the party going than in tearing the whole proceeding down. And yet, Michael once stood...

A Gift from the Magi

December 23, 2016 - 11:30am

Back in 1939 NBC producer Samuel Chotzinoff had commissioned Gian Carlo Menotti to write an opera for radio. In 1951 he commissioned a second opera from Menotti, this time for the up-and-coming medium of television. Although he accepted the commission, Menotti was not fast to fulfill it. The opera was...

King of Kings

December 22, 2016 - 11:30am

“Having just done a picture in which Jesus played a supporting role, I was dumbfounded to learn that the new film was King of Kings , in which he was the star.” So said composer Miklós Rózsa in his autobiography about the MGM assignment that followed his Oscar-winning work on...

The Tightrope Walker

December 21, 2016 - 11:30am

Johannes Brahms held his gruffness at bay when writing to thank Elizabet von Herzogenberg for sending some duets her husband Heinz had written, music that Brahms didn’t entirely care for. His reply also included some of his own choral songs, plus a copy of a “very special favorite”--Georges Bizet’s opera...

The Connection

December 20, 2016 - 11:30am

After writing the librettos to operas by Mozart, Salieri, Gluck, and other prominent composers, Lorenzo Da Ponte fell on hard times and sailed for brighter prospects in America. But, after a stint as a grocer in New York led to more financial setbacks, he was again insolvent. By December 1807,...

The Nettlesome Messiah

December 19, 2016 - 11:30am

For Christmas 1881 the Cincinnati Music Festival Association wanted to top its lackluster performance of the previous year and at the same time to upstage the festival of a rival opera company in the same city. So conductor Theodore Thomas hired the most famous prima donna of the day–Madame Adelina...

Katie Dahl

December 18, 2016 - 7:00pm

Door County musician Katie Dahl came out with a new single this month, “In the Dark,” which she says is “a hymn for the longest nights of the year. During times of darkness – in a year, in a life, in a nation – who brings the light?” We just...

Out of the Jaws of Victory

December 16, 2016 - 11:30am

Perhaps it was an omen. Wagner had agreed to accept the dedication of Anton Bruckner’s new symphony. They had spent a day together, drinking beer and talking music. It was one of the happiest days of Bruckner’s life--until he forgot which symphony he was supposed to dedicate–the second or the...

Professionals

December 15, 2016 - 11:30am

Robert Schumann did more than anyone else to make the music of Johannes Brahms known to the world. After Schumann’s death in 1856, his widow Clara continued to promote the piano music of Brahms by performing it in and around Leipzig. On December 15, 1861, just before the publication of...

An Easy Act to Follow

December 14, 2016 - 11:30am

As the new court pianist of Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III of France, Emil Waldteufel was expected to play dance music for the autumn house parties of the imperial family. The social occasions at the castle of Compiègne, fifty miles north of Paris, included not just the aristocracy, but...

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Soundbytes: Top Albums Of 2016

The Right Season

The Humpty-Dumpty Concerto

The Magic Touch

Neighborhood Druggist In Milwaukee Community For Decades

Neighborhood Druggist Has Provided Medicine To Milwaukee Community For Decades

Summation

The Price of a Comeback

Remembering George Michael: 'Freedom' Was Rare Fusion Of Pop Hit With Artistic Purpose

A Gift from the Magi

King of Kings

The Tightrope Walker

The Connection

The Nettlesome Messiah

Katie Dahl

Out of the Jaws of Victory

Professionals

An Easy Act to Follow

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