Rachmaninoff: Quite The Handyman
by Prof. The human hand contains 29 major and minor bones (though many people have a few more) and 29 major joints. Actual hand size is as variable as every other aspect of the human body, and while we will not – for now – address the urban legends surrounding thumb size in men, I would offer up a few observations about overall hand size. There are some occupations for which large hands are a downright liability. Then there are activities for which big hands are an asset. Likewise, hand size is now a major factor in evaluating quarterbacks, who often have to play in wet, windy, and cold environments. Where is this going, you ask? This is where it’s going. There is a perception among non-pianists that a pre-requisite for being a decent pianist is great big hands. Having said all of this, having big hands can admittedly make many aspects of piano playing easier. According to the ordinarily snarky Harold Schonberg (for 20 years the senior music critic for The New York Times): “Rachmaninoff would come on stage stiff and severe, never smiling, his hair cropped as close as a convict’s. High praise from the toughest of critics. Tune in to Scandalous Overtures on OraTV for the scoop on how Rachmaninoff dug himself out of his depression and returned to world of the living, hands and all.
Brahms And Clara Schumann, Or 'What Is It About Older Women?'
by Prof. Of all the composers I can think of, the only one who has lived that heaven was Johannes Brahms (1833-1897). The familiar image of Johannes Brahms is that of a portly, late middle-aged man with a big beard and an omnipresent cigar; an image that exudes a bourgeois, professorial machismo. But for most of his life, Brahms did not physically look like the Brahms we are familiar with today. Johannes Brahms at twenty looked nothing like the familiar image discussed above. But that all changed in May of 1853, when the 20-year-old Brahms met the woman who would become the object of his testosterone-engorged desire, his soul-mate, his confessor, a life-long friend and artistic collaborator, and maybe – just maybe – for the briefest of times, his lover: Clara Schumann. Yes, I know: on the surface, this does not sound very promising. Brahms rushed to Clara’s side, where he stayed for the next 2. What is it about older women? as a professional musician, saw past Brahms’ childish appearance the moment she heard him play his own music at the piano. Which brings up two questions, only one of which I will answer here in this post. Question 1:Was Clara a cougar, a Mrs. Answer: Um, no. Question 2:Did Clara and Brahms . For the answer to that question you’re going to have to tune in to “Scandalous Overtures” on OraTV!
WATCH & WIN: Johannes Brahms #ScandalousOvertures Quiz-away!
Take Our Weekly Quiz on the latest 'Scandalous Overtures' episode featuring Johannes Brahms & You Could Win An Awesome Prize!
WATCH & WIN: Verdi #ScandalousOvertures Quiz-away!
Take Our Weekly Quiz on the latest 'Scandalous Overtures' episode featuring Giuseppe Verdi & You Could Win An Awesome Prize!
Guiseppe Verdi & Michael Jordan: Spiritual Brothers
by Prof. Now, if you are one of the lucky few that genuinely like what you do for a living, retirement holds little attraction. before he “retired. For me, the issue isn’t so much retirement as having the liberty to do less: of not feeling constantly pressured to write and perform and worry, endlessly, about money. People who use their bodies for a living – professional athletes and dancers – do not have the option to do less. On the flip-side of that coin are those great athletes who quit in their prime and went out on top. Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) was the greatest Italian-born opera composer who ever lived. Aida, the then 58-year-old Verdi threw in the towel and announced that he was DONE. It’s one thing to quit when you’re relatively young. In 1993, 30-year-old Jordan was at the TOP of his game. Jordan was a bust as a baseball player and he returned to the Chicago Bulls and professional basketball in March 1995. Nah -- it was as if he had never left. The same can be said of Giuseppe Verdi’s and his comeback.
WATCH & WIN: Schubert #ScandalousOvertures Quiz-away!
For this week's 'Quiz-away' we're focusing on Franz Schubert- who's music may be well-known, but unbeknownst to many are the details surrounding the dark side of his workaholic's lifestyle.
Schubert: The Syphilis List
by Prof. “Heck no,” said I. Among the terrible diseases of the nineteenth century, two stick out for the length of time they took to kill their victims: tuberculosis (“consumption”) and syphilis. There was a certain tragic romance associated with tuberculosis in nineteenth century Europe. There was no such romance attached to syphilis. It’s for that reason that I’m fascinated by the various lists of people who supposedly had syphilis, lists that reflect the moral stigma associated with syphilis more than medical accuracy. One person who did most assuredly die as a result of syphilis was the composer Franz Schubert.
Lully: Most Hated Musician Of All Time?
by Prof. Lists, lists, lists: top tens; the greatest this, the most insignificant that; the best dressed, the worst hair, whatever - we love ‘em all. Among the most interesting such lists – for me – are the “most hated person” lists, not because I, myself, am a hater but because of what such lists tell us about contemporary values and culture. “Most hated. At the top of pretty much all “most hated” lists are those individuals whose deeds and actions -- perpetrated across their lives -- smack of irredeemable evil, “lifetime evil-doers” as Bush 43 might call them: leaders of rogue states like Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Caligula, Attila the Hun, and Vlad the Impaler; mass murderers like Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Richard Ramirez; and fitness personalities like Richard Simmons (FYI: I have it on good authority that the punishment in the fifth circle of Hell is eternal viewing of Simmons “Sweatin’ to the Oldies II”). The next category of “most hated folks” are those who did something really, really bad for which they will never be forgiven:O. Then there are those people who are not so much “hateful” as they are irksome: folks who acts like arrogant jerks, or who are existentially annoying, or who have squandered their talents, or who are incredibly self-righteous. Then there is the subset with which we are concerned, that of “most hated musicians. (It occurs to me that among those who should appear on “most hated” lists are the actual list makers themselves, whose unsolicited opinions and often cruel rationales qualify them as being, at very least, “hateful”. Finally, I can only hope that somewhere out there, I am included on such a list. Which brings us, at last, to the actual subject of this post: a composer, conductor, dance master, and music administrator who in all likelihood was the single most hated musician of all time, Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687). For an examination of Lully’s crimes against humanity and the delightful circumstances of his death(which amounted to nothing less than cosmic payback), watch “Lully’s Deathon Ora TV’s “Scandalous Overtures”.
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