Category Archives: Music
Top 10
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 3rd February 2011Anthony Tommasini the music critic of the New York Times has been driving music lovers to frustrated distraction by his endless quest for his very own list of “classical” music’s top 10 composers – in order of merit no less. Such compilations are basically frivolous, but they’re harmless. They can even yield some amusement. While it took…
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Magdalena Kožená
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th January 2011Magdalena Kozena is a Czech mezzo-soprano who was born in 1973. Her repertoire is based on baroques and classical music. She also sings Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande. As far as I know she performs no 19th century roles. Active mostly in Europe she made her Met debut in 2003 as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze…
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Alex Ross and His Useless Advocacy of Modernist Music
Written by Orpheus | 12th December 2010On Sunday November 28th , the Guardian published a piece by Alex Ross titled, “Why Do We Hate Modern Classical Music?” First of all, the title of the article by Mr. Ross is misplaced — people don’t “hate” modern classical music, they are just indifferent to so much of it. It’s very frustrating to see him, like so many others before…
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Why Beethoven is so Great
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd October 2010There’s nothing I can say about Beethoven that will in any way affect his Olympian stature other than to echo Verdi’s declaration that we must all bow before him. But if you want to see just how visceral his connection to all humanity is look at the video below.
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Roman Rabinovich Opens Lubbock Symphony Orchestra Season
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th September 2010Twenty Four year old Israeli pianist Roman Rabinovich will open the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra’s 2010-2011 season with a performance of Prokofiev’s 3rd Piano Concerto. Maestro Tomasz Golka will also conduct Smetana’s Overture to the Bartered Bride and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony #6. Below is a complete performance of the Prokofiev concerto with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra recorded…
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Mariangela Vacatello at the Spencer Theater
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd August 2010Pianist Mariangela Vacatello gave the last of the three recitals of this years Ruidoso Chamber Music Festival on Saturday evening July 31. The audience for this performance was by far the largest of the series. The Spencer Theater was almost full. Ms Vacatello chose a formidable program. The first half was Liszt’s Piano Sonata in…
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Ray Chen: Violin Recital in Ruidoso
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 1st August 2010Ray Chen is a 20 year old violinist who was born in Taiwan, raised in Australia, and who moved to Philadelphia when he was 15 to study at the Curtis Institute. Somewhere along the way he picked up an American accent. He gave the second performance of this year’s Ruidoso Chamber Music Festival – 2…
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Jasper Quartet Shines in Ruidoso
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 31st July 2010The Jasper String Quartet gave a brilliant performance of works by Haydn, Berg, and Schumann before a sparse but enthusiastic audience at the Spencer Theater Friday evening July 30. Their challenging program began with Haydn’s Op 77 #1 in G Major. This was one of the genre’s supreme master’s last works in this or any…
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Recording of the Week: Rudolf Serkin Plays Beethoven
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 23rd July 2010Rudolf Serkin (1903 – 1991) was one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century. Born in what is now the Czech Republic, Serkin was a child prodigy who made his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic when he was 12. World War II caused him to emigrate to the United States where he lived for…
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Recording of the Week: Four Last Songs
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 17th June 2010Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs are not only a personal valedictory, but they are the end of more than a century of glorious German art songs; they are the farewell to the lieder of Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf, Mahler, and finally Strauss himself. These hibernal songs written shortly before the composer’s death, and not performed…
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About Neil Kurtzman
Neil A Kurtzman MD is the Grover E Murray Professor Emeritus and University Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Internal Medicine at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. He has combined careers in clinical medicine, education, basic research, and administration for more than 30 years.› Read the biography
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