Category Archives: Music
Mikhail Alexandrovich
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 3rd August 2025Latvian tenor Mikhail Alexandrovich (1914-2002) was another 20th century cantor who sang more than liturgical music. Some of the others were Yossele Rosenblatt, Joseph Schmidt, and Richard Tucker. Born in Bērzpils, Vitebsk to a very poor family, his extraordinary vocal gifts were recognized when he was six years old. In 1920 he was enrolled in…
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The Mozart Requiem
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 15th July 2025Mozart’s last composition, his Requiem Mass K 626, was left incomplete when he died on December 5, 1791. It was finished by the composer’s student, Franz Xaver Süssmayr. The extent to which he relied on notes left by Mozart is uncertain. Süssmayr’s other compositions are rarely performed and do not reach the level of his…
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Around the World in 73 Years
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 19th June 2025Memory is a highly fallible record of the past. This divergence from fact to fancy increases with age and its attendant distance from the recalled event, as well as the fog and confabulation that the accumulation of years inevitably accrues. Despite these difficulties, I started recalling all the cities in which I had heard serious…
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Joint Concert by Israel Philharmonic and Munich Philharmonic
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 13th May 2025Last week on May 8, the Israel Philharmonic and Munich Philharmonic performed a concert on the 80th anniversary of “Liberation Day.” In 1945, the day marked the unconditional surrender of Germany and the official end of World War II in Europe. Israel Philharmonic Music Director Lahav Shani led the performance of works by Tzvi Avni…
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A Few Serenades
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th May 2025A serenade, as its name implies (‘la sera’ is Italian for the evening), was originally a song in praise of a loved one sung in the evening. It gradually morphed into orchestral versions still retaining a hint to the original praise and its object as well as a vocal piece. Below are 10 plus 1…
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Finale 44 – Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th February 2025Beethoven’s C minor Symphony, built around the universally known four-note phrase, transitions quietly from its third movement to its fourth. The brief journey over the orchestra explodes in a burst of C major, unusual for a symphony that began in a minor key. The four-note figure occurs repeatedly in different guises as it does in…
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Grieg String Quartet Op 27
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 10th February 2025Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) had three goes at the string quartet. The first try was a student exercise that is lost. The second is the subject of this article. He abandoned the third after completing the first two movements. The Op 27 is confusingly often listed as his String Quartet No 1. The only extant and…
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New Years Greetings from Franz Shubert
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 2nd January 2025I can think of no better way to start the new year than with some music by Franz Schubert (1797-1928), the most incandescent of composers. They are presented in no particular order and are selected by no criteria save personnel taste. The Boy Wonder began producing masterpieces when he was just 17 and continued to…
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The Greatest Musical Composition Ever – VI
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 16th November 2024Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis is one of art’s mightiest thunderbolts. Written about the same time as the 9th Symphony, it was first performed in Saint Petersburg, Russia on April 7, 1824. The mass is scored for a quartet of vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra. The first three parts were performed in Vienna a month later. A performance…
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Great American Composers – Irving Berlin
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th October 2024Irving Berlin (1888-1989) was the greatest songwriter in American history. Born in Imperial Russia his father, an itinerant cantor, brought his family to America after their house was burned to the ground during a pogrom. Irving was 5 years old when he arrived in New York. Raised in Dickensian poverty he was out on the…
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