Brahms: The King of Practical Jokes
According to my Oxford English Dictionary, a practical joke is “a trick played on someone in order to make them look foolish and amuse others. Some practical jokes can be funny; for example, the ones on the old Candid Camera TV show. The advent of YouTube has turned everyone and her sister-in-law into an Allen Funt (the host of Candid Camera). It makes us wonder: What sort of people perpetrate practical jokes and why? In response to that question I can only offer up my own opinion. I’m not saying that females do not perpetrate practical jokes, although my unscientific investigation – conducted on YouTube – revealed not a single instance of such. It appears that many male practical jokers are not just getting a cheap laugh at someone else’s expense but are acting out their sexually charged hostility on the very females they wish they could mate with. Most guys mature past this, and we may be thankful that they do. Brahms had real issues with woman. For all the details, tune into Ora TV’s Scandalous Overtures, for “Brahms’ Rocking Chair”.
Gottschalk: The Justin Bieber Of 1860s San Francisco
by Prof. I personally see no harm in fortune. Fame however, is another thing. Fame – celebrity -- carries with it a much more insidious danger than a mere lack of privacy. This is especially true for young celebs, whose personalities are still relatively unformed and who are thus much more likely to be addled by their celebrity status. Bieber’s rap sheet is longer than a double roll of Charmin Ultra Soft and includes DUIs and reckless driving, disorderly conduct, vandalism, assault, substance abuse, and resisting arrest. Which brings us to another young celebrity, one whose epic BAD CHOICES caused him to be permanently exiled from his country of birth, the United States of America. During his lifetime Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869) was considered to be the greatest pianist and composer ever born in the western hemisphere. It might be difficult for us, today, to imagine women throwing their underclothes, girls fainting, and men weeping aloud during a performance by a concert pianist. In April of 1865, Gottschalk arrived in San Francisco for what was to be a five-month tour of California. Big celebrity; poor choices.
WATCH & WIN: Gottschalk #ScandalousOvertures Quiz-away!
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Wagner’s Manuscripts: A Lost Treasure Trove
by Prof. The scope of Nazi Germany’s crimes against humanity will forever boggle the mind. The stories of these treasure hunts read like fictional WWII thrillers by such authors as Len Deighton, Ken Follett, and Jack Higgins. Hitler came to power on January 30, 1933 and blew out his diseased brain on April 30, 1945. During the course of those 12 years the Nazis plundered art and treasure from across Europe. Discoveries, when they happen, can be spectacular. Less valuable but more powerful is a 10-acre site in Klandorf, thirty miles north of Berlin. In 2013, this same Yaron Svoray – along with the National Geographic Society – began an underwater search of Lake Stolpsee, a 920-acre lake roughly 50 miles north of Berlin. And so it goes as the searches go on. Hitler’s personal stash of diamonds – which was squirrelled away in order to finance so-called “Werewolf” (guerilla) groups – is believed to be buried somewhere in Mittenwald, in southern Germany. The fabulous Amber Room panels, looted from the Tsarkoye Selo palace outside of St. We would add to the list of missing treasures a large cache of opera manuscripts, handwritten scores of by none other than Richard Wagner. What happened to these priceless manuscripts?
WATCH & WIN: Wagner #ScandalousOvertures Quiz-away!
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WATCH & WIN: Berlioz #ScandalousOvertures Quiz-away!
For this week's 'Quiz-away' we're focusing on Hector Berlioz - who's music may be well-known, but a case of scorned love turned him into a madman.
Berlioz: Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
by Prof. So here’s what happened. In 1830, the 26-year-old composer Hector Berlioz fell in love with an adorable 18-year-old pianist named Camille Molke. Hector Berlioz reacted poorly. Let us observe Berlioz’s reaction through the lens of our contemporary break-up “literature”. Breakup, Stage 1: The Protest Stage. Yes indeed, Berlioz’s first reaction was murderous rage. According to contemporary thinking, this was not an entirely constructive reaction. Breakup, Stage 2: The Obsession Stage. Well, this fits Berlioz to the proverbial “T”, because obsessively brood he did. Once again, Berlioz was at odds with contemporary “jilt” literature, which suggests that rather than plot murder and suicide, he should have joined a basketball league or softball team, or gone on a road trip with a buddy. Breakup, Stage Three: The Acceptance Stage. Berlioz’s rage-induced fire went out while he was on a stagecoach passing through Nice, about half-way back to Paris from Rome. At this stage, the contemporary literature advises jiltees to express their feelings in a journal or in letters to friends and family. Berlioz, luckily, did not have the means to drunk-dial Camille. Breakup, Stage 4: The Worst is Over Stage. For the full scoop on this extraordinary episode in the life of the artist, stay tuned to “Scandalous Overtures” on Ora TV for “Hector Berlioz: Dressed to Kill!
WATCH & WIN: Sergei Rachmaninoff #ScandalousOvertures Quiz-away!
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