Lectures by Will Crutchfield
Tuesday Morning Music Class
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Archives

Spring 2015

March 24  |  “It must flow like oil.”
What do we mean by “line” in music?  The quoted phrase is from Girolamo Crescentini around 1800, and describes one aspect – among many – of the most elusive and necessary quality of interpretation.

March 31  |  Opera’s first genius?
If Henry Purcell had not died at 36 in 1695, the history of musical theater would be different – and England might have been in the lead.  [All-Purcell programs at Carnegie April 8 and 12]

April 14  |  Cav and Pag  
Two debut operas by composers who never quite surpassed their first lucky shots; two perfect embodiments of what we call “verismo”; two targets of a century of critical condescension; two feasts of impassioned Italian singing – if you can find the singers.  [New MET production opens April 14]

April 21  |  Merry Widows in Lands of Smiles  
The limitations of Viennese operetta are obvious:  fluffy plots, unambitious characterizations, faded social relevance (if any).  What is the musical magic that keeps it alive? [MET revival of Die Lustige Witwe opening April 24]

April 28  |  Stravinsky’s Progress  
Forty years after The Rite of Spring set off riots in Paris with its primitive energy, and several self-transformations later, the cosmopolitan Russian who dominated 20th-century music produced his only full-length opera – a wry pastiche of Mozart and the British comedy of manners.  It still managed to be controversial. [MET revival of The Rake’s Progress opening May 1]

May 12  |  What’s in a Mazurka?  
The longest and boldest series of Chopin’s works packs infinite shades of expression and drama into a little-understood folk dance. [Yevgeny Kissin in recital at Carnegie May 16]

May 19  |   Nicolai Gedda at 90  
The beloved Russian-Swedish tenor’s birthday actually falls a bit after our series concludes, but this is a good occasion for reviewing the career of a singer whose voice brings smiles every time we hear him in class – perfect style and unmistakeable clarity whether singing in French, German, English, Italian, Swedish, Russian, Polish, Spanish, Czech, or Norwegian.

May 26  |  The Amazing Scarlattis  
Alessandro and Domenico, father and son, concentrated an astounding fantasy and inventiveness into small forms, the Italian aria and the keyboard sonata, each leaving a legacy so extensive and fascinating that no-one can quite grasp it all.

June 2  |  Donizetti at zenith  
When Italy’s busiest opera composer came to Paris, he had shows running at all four main theaters:  “une veritable invasion,” according to Berlioz.  We are told he composed the final act of La favorite at a single sitting after dinner – but a lifetime of mastery lay behind the spontaneity.  [Caramoor revives La favorite July 11] 

Other Semesters

Spring 2019

Fall 2018

Spring 2018

Fall 2017

Spring 2017

Fall 2016

Spring 2016

Fall 2015

Fall 2014

Spring 2014

Fall 2013

Spring 2013

Questions? Please email WillCrutchfieldAssistant@gmail.com