Category Archives: Music
Touched By God
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 22nd January 2020There are some artists whose gifts are so great, even by the standard of genius, that they seem the result of direct divine intervention. Franz Schubert was such an artist. Dead at 31, he left behind about 1500 compositions many of which are among the greatest pieces of music ever to issue from the mind…
› Read the full entry
A Few Love Duets and a Jazz Encore
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th December 2019The days are short; accordingly there’s a lot of darkness around. So, I thought I might brighten things up a bit with a few love duets. Of course, the best of these duets portray characters who typically don’t survive the opera’s end. But they are lovely and make us forget that they lead to death….
› Read the full entry
Shostakovich’s First Film Score
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 28th September 2019Dmitri Shostakovich wrote 25 film scores. The first of these was composed when he was 23 years old. The New Babylon is an expressionistic depiction of the Paris Commune of 1871. It was released in 1929 and was a failure. It’s plot is summarized here. The music is brilliant and presages virtually everything Shostakovich was…
› Read the full entry
Stories Used By More Than One Composer – Romeo and Juliet
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 14th September 2019The Romeo and Juliet story, whether derived from Shakespeare or not, has been irresistible to composers. He are excerpts from four 19th century works and two 20th based on the doomed lovers. First up is Bellini’s take on the two teenagers. His I Capuleti e i Montecchi is based on a play by Luigi Scevola…
› Read the full entry
Stories Used By More Than One Composer – Faust
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th August 2019You’d think there were enough good stories available so that composers didn’t need to recycle them. But there are a number of operas that are based on tales that have been around the operatic block more than once. This article is the first of a series examining operas and related musical works based on the…
› Read the full entry
Korngold Documentary
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 27th August 2019Between Two Worlds is a documentary about the life and career of Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957). It’s very well done and worth the roughly one hour it takes to view. It seems strange that the film never mentions why Korngold was forced to move to Hollywood. The piece is in English, but has computer generated…
› Read the full entry
Haochen Zhang Plays Debussy and Schumann
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 1st August 2019Haochen Zhang the young Chinese virtuoso gave a solo recital this noon consisting of two stalwarts of the piano literature: Debussy’s Images Series I & II and Schumann’s Fantasie in C Major. Debussy’s music is full of interest and delicate effects. It has earned its place among the finest in Western music. So here am…
› Read the full entry
Shostakovich and Korngold in Santa Fe
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 1st August 2019Two major works by Dmitri Shostakovich and Eric Krongold were presented yesterday evening by the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. They were preceded by a bit of fluff by Alfred Schnittke – Mo-Zart for Two Violins, after Mozart’s K 416d. For the carnival season of 1783 Mozart wrote some music for his family’s use. Most…
› Read the full entry
Die Winterreise in Santa Fe
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 31st July 2019Canadian bass-baritone Philippe Sly and pianist Michael McMahon performed Franz Schubert’s towering depiction of self pity, Die Winterreise, at today’s Music at Noon series of the Santa Fe Music Festival. The song cycle is as great a piece of vocal writing as anything by Mozart, Wagner, or Verdi. Of course, there’s a lot more to…
› Read the full entry
Rachmaninoff and Schubert in Santa Fe
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 30th July 2019The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival presented Rachmaninoff’s Trio élégiaque in G min and Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata as part of its Music at Noon series. A full house was in attendance for the 45 minutes of music that constituted the lunch hour program. The trio was played by pianist Wei Luo, violinist Jennifer Gilbert, and cellist…
› Read the full entry
Recent Posts
Top Posts New
Recent Comments
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
› Archives: Older posts and additional material
