Cliburn Conversations

Rossini’s Petit Messe Solonnelle

May 18, 2007

What’s this program about? Rossini, the master of bel canto opera, retired young, rich, and famous. Decades later, in old age and ill health, Rossini returned to composition and crafted a liturgical mass as his final work, a work both spiritual and theatrical, Petit Messe Solonnelle. Works Discussed: Rossini’s Petit Messe Solonnelle Where you can [...]

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Programming the Recital

April 4, 2007

What’s this program about? Chopin would have been surprised at the idea of a solo piano recital in a concert hall. Professor Carol talks about the programming of recitals and works of Bach-Busoni, Beethoven, Chopin, and Debussy. Works Discussed: Bach-Busoni Chorale Preludes; Beethoven Sonata No. 21, Opus 53 (“Waldstein”); Chopin Sonata No. 2; Debussy “Children’s [...]

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Schumann’s Papillons and Fantasy

March 2, 2007

What’s this program about? Professor Carol gives a biography of Schumann’s early years, comparing Schumann’s youthful work Papillons with his later Fantasy in C Major against the backdrop of his courtship of the young pianist Clara Wieck and the emerging Romantic image of the artist. Works Discussed: Schumann: Papillons, Op. 2; Fantasy in C Major, [...]

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Beethoven the Musical Wordsmith

January 23, 2007

What’s this program about? Beethoven sliced and diced his themes, using musical rhetoric that rebelled against the natural melodic style of Mozart and that charted a path into 19th-century Romanticism. Professor Carol uses the Piano Sonata in E-Flat, Op. 31, to show how he did it. Works Discussed: Beethoven: Piano Sonata in E-Flat, Op. 31 [...]

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Tales of the Young Brahms

January 22, 2007

What’s this program about? A youthful Brahms finds his signature style early in the Opus 10 Ballades based on the Scottish Ballad “Eduard” by Herder. Works Discussed: Brahms: Four Ballades, Op. 10 Where you can find: Brahms Op. 10 Ballades

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Chopin and Liszt in Paris

November 1, 2006

What’s this program about? In post-revolutionary France, the piano had replaced the harpsichord and the driving force behind the arts was moving from the court to the salons of Paris high society. Two composers, Liszt and Chopin, capitalized on these changes in very different ways and between them defined the future of piano music. Where [...]

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The Story Behind the Chopin Ballades

September 19, 2006

What’s this program about? A ballad tells a story, and this popular literary form was appropriated by Romantic composers into songs. Carol explains how the ballad was transformed by Chopin into solo piano works. Works Discussed: Chopin, Ballade No. 4 in F Minor; Chopin, Impromptu No. 2; Schiller, Der Taucher (The Diver). Where you can [...]

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The Taste of Mozart

September 14, 2006

What’s this program about? Carol discusses Jeffrey Kahane’s performance with the Fort Worth Symphony, performance practices of piano concertos in Mozart’s time, cadenzas, and how stylistic conventions of the Classical era affected the ability of one person to take the dual role of soloist and conductor. Works Discussed: Mozart, Overture to The Magic Flute; Mozart, [...]

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