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| (1918−1990) |
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Did you know ...
... that the complete Psalm 131
and the first verse of Psalm 133
in Hebrew comprise the text
of the last movement of
Chichester Psalms
by Leonard Bernstein?
(5 November)
More images edit
28 August 2013 edit
Birmingham music
28 August 2013 - Kurhaus Wiesbaden - Rheingau Musik Festival
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet
Edward Elgar: Cello Concerto
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 8
Sol Gabetta
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Andris Nelsons
Did you know
- ... that when rehearsing Dvořák's Eighth Symphony, conductor Rafael Kubelík said: "Gentlemen, in Bohemia the trumpets never call to battle – they always call to the dance!"?
- ... that Ben Gunn, imprisoned 32 years for killing a friend when he was 14, earned a Master of Arts degree in peace and reconciliation?
"Let us not forget that even one book, one pen, one teacher can change the world", Malala Yousafzai at the opening of the Library of Birmingham on 3 September 2013
28 January 2014 edit
Christmas 2017 edit
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mein hertze soll dir grünen
my heart shall green for you
(Paul Gerhardt, 1653)
Did you know ...
... that the musicologist Willi Gundlach, who founded the chamber choir of Dortmund University, trained volunteers to sing a Bach cantata in one day, including Part I of Bach's Christmas Oratorio? (25 Dec)
2017 review edit
Green Year
-
Cross country -
Blackthorn blossom -
Snow drops -
Almond blossom -
Swallow tail -
Old Rhine -
Thistles -
Mountain lake -
Sunflowers -
Beech trees in fall -
Rose hips -
Spruce in snow
2018 edit
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| rejoice, serve, serve with joy, reflect, come together to dance and give thanks | |
|---|---|
| in loving memory of my mother who was born on 9 January, and my father who died on 15 January listen, 2017 |
2018 – Serve with Joy
- 4 Feb
- Eberlin: Missa secundi toni (M)
- Good Friday 30 Mar
- Kuhnau: Tristis est anima mea
- Stainer: God So Loved the World (M)
- Easter 31 Mar
- Easter 1 Apr
- Mozart: Coronation Mass (B)
- 3 Oct
- Brahms – Ein deutsches Requiem (B)
- 8 + 9 Dec
- Bach: Christmas Oratorio (U)
- 16 Dec
- Bach: Christmas Oratorio (excerpts, B)
- 25 Dec
- Gounod: St. Cecilia Mass (B)
Playlist 2018 edit
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Eilat edit
February 2018
-
16 Avdat -
17 The Red Canyon -
-
19 Timna Park -
Arches closer -
Red Canyon -
20 The Hidden Valley -
looking back -
21 Red Sea fish 1 -
Red Sea fish 2 -
Red Sea fish 3 -
Red Sea fish 4
,_Negev,_February_2018.jpg)
Black Birthday edit
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| (4 March 1932 – 9 November 2008) | |
|---|---|
|
Did you know ...
... that Der Gemischte Chor Zürich sang the premiere of Nänie in 1881, conducted by its composer Johannes Brahms, and the premiere of a commission by Edward Rushton in 2013 for the choir's 150th anniversary? (4 March)
... that Marcel Cordes, a German baritone known for Italian opera, appeared as the King in the first recording of Carl Orff's Die Kluge? (6 March)
... that the Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum was founded in 1979 by Max Pommer and members of the Gewandhausorchester after Bach's model? (5 March)
Women in March 2018 edit
.jpg) | |
| Zofia Posmysz, born 1923 | |
|---|---|
| Opera in Frankfurt on YouTube |
Did you know ...
... that Zofia Posmysz (pictured), Auschwitz inmate No. 7566, wrote an audio play on her memories, which became the basis for her 1962 novel Passenger, a 1963 film, and a 1968 opera? (16 March)
... that Canadian soprano Kirsten MacKinnon, a winner of the Met Auditions, appeared as Fiordiligi at the Glyndebourne Festival, and as Meyerbeer's Inès at the Frankfurt Opera, staged as a space mission?
... that Elsa Cavelti, who appeared in dramatic roles at the Opernhaus Zürich and taught voice at the Musikhochschule Frankfurt, was Wagner's Brangäne at La Scala? (25 March)
... that Camilla Nylund appeared as the Countess in Capriccio by Richard Strauss at the Frankfurt Opera, staged by Brigitte Fassbaender, who set the opera in Occupied France? (14 March)
... that pianist Katharina Sellheim and two other women played piano trios by Beethoven, Waterhouse, and Mendelssohn at the Beethovenfest? (10 March)
... that Catherine Rückwardt, who was Generalmusikdirektorin at the Staatstheater Mainz for a decade and one of only four women in such a position in Germany, conducted a recording of the First Symphony by Hans Rott? (8 March)
... that the lyric soprano Anny Felbermayer, who performed 54 roles at the Vienna State Opera, created the role of Xanthe in Die Liebe der Danae by Richard Strauss at the 1952 Salzburg Festival? (1 March)
... that Ilona Durigo, one of the leading concert contraltos of her time, performed in the first recording of Bach's St Matthew Passion, conducted by Willem Mengelberg?
Passion 2018 edit
 | |
| Good Friday | |
|---|---|
|
Did you know ...
... that several composers of the 18th century used Paul Gerhardt's hymn "Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld" to begin their Passion music? (30 March)
... that in the structure of Bach's St John Passion (top of the first page pictured), the centre of symmetry is "Durch dein Gefängnis ...", expressing: "By your prison ... came our freedom"?
... that Willem Ravelli was the voice of Christ in Bach's St Matthew Passion more than 400 times, including the first recording of the work conducted by Mengelberg? (30 March)
... that Ilona Durigo, one of the leading concert contraltos of her time, performed in the first recording of Bach's St Matthew Passion, conducted by Willem Mengelberg?
... that the baritone Johannes Hill was the voice of Jesus and Pilate in Bach's Passions, and of Pope Francis in the premiere of Laudato si'? (29 March)
... that in a motet for Maundy Thursday, Tristis est anima mea, Jesus says in Gethsemane "Sad is my soul even unto death"?
... that the third verse of Martin Schalling's death song "Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr" concludes Bach's St John Passion in its first and fourth version, ending with "praise you for ever"?
... that in Handel's Messiah
, Part II contains the famous Hallelujah Chorus and the oratorio's longest movement, the air for alto He was despised?
Rheingau Musik Festival edit
 | |
| Eberbach Abbey, venue of the first concert in 1987 | |
|---|---|
| ... and I was there, C. P. E. Bach's Magnificat |
Did you know ... that Claus Wisser founded the services company WISAG, and co-founded the Rheingau Musik Festival which staged a concert of Orff's Carmina Burana for his 60th birthday? (30 June, his 76th birthday)
... that Michael Herrmann is founder-director of the Rheingau Musik Festival, which holds about 150 concerts every season in vineyards and historical buildings?
... that Princess Tatiana von Metternich-Winneburg turned the East Wing of Schloss Johannisberg into a concert hall for the Rheingau Musik Festival? (27 July 2011)
... that Hans Otto Jung was a jazz musician during World War II, ran a winery from the Boosenburg, and was co-founder of the Rheingau Musik Festival?
... that today (16 August 2010), the 80th birthday of Walter Fink is celebrated at the Rheingau Musik Festival with compositions of Kirchner, Lachenmann, Rihm, Widmann and Hosokawa?
2 August edit
 | |
| Sara Hershkowitz | |
|---|---|
| Festival Voices, opening concert at Gut Holzhausen on 7 July, after singing Strauss songs |
Did you know ...
... that Sara Hershkowitz,
who usually appears on the opera stage
as the Queen of the Night and Zerbinetta,
parodied Donald Trump
in Ligeti's Mysteries of the Macabre
at the Lowlands Festival?
Sara Hershkowitz and the NNO perform Ligeti's Mysteries of the Macabre on YouTube
(2 August 2018)
November edit
 | |
| Udo Zimmermann |
|---|
Did you know ...
... that Udo Zimmermann composed two operas about the resistance group
White Rose, one while he was a student? (19 November)
... that Antonio Vivaldi composed three settings of Dixit Dominus,
each an extended setting of the vespers psalm
for five soloists, choir, and orchestra, and one even for double choir? (20 November)
... that Camille Saint-Saëns composed the Messe de Requiem
in memory of his friend and patron, Albert Libon,
and conducted the first performance in 1878 at Saint-Sulpice in Paris?
(18 November, the day we learned
that Shock Brigade Harvester Boris died
December edit
 | |
| To the Holy Angels |
|---|
Did you know ...
... that Rabbi Michael Robinson and 15 other Reform rabbis
were arrested and jailed after answering Martin Luther King's
call to stand with him for civil rights in St. Augustine, Florida?
(20 December)
... that the 1964 church (pictured) for the new parish
Zu den heiligen Engeln (To the Holy Angels)
in Hanover was designed by Josef Bieling
to symbolize the tent of God among men?
(18 December)
 |
Did you know ...
... that the German Christmas hymn
"Fröhlich soll mein Herze springen"
(Merrily my heart shall leap) by Paul Gerhardt was published
by Johann Crüger, who also wrote the melody?
(24 December)
... that the choir sings Jauchzet, frohlocket! (Shout for joy, exult!),
the beginning of Part I of Bach's Christmas Oratorio,
first imitating kettledrums due to its secular model?
(25 December)
... that the cantata Kündlich groß ist das gottselige Geheimnis
was written by Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel
for the Third Day of Christmas
at the court of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen?
(27 December)