Lectures by Will Crutchfield
Tuesday Morning Music Class
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Archives

Spring 2016

March 15  |  English History and Opera Queens 
When Romanticism came to Italy, the barbarous history of northern realms leapt to the fore as a subject for operatic drama.  English queens starred in hundreds of works, most long forgotten, some now rejoining the classic repertory.  [Roberto Devereux at the Met starting March 24]

March 29  |  Verdi’s Darkest Masterpiece
"It is still sad, but it has to be sad."  Thus Verdi on his 1881 revision of an opera that had more or less failed in 1857, putting his finger on the quality that held it back from the charmed circle of favorites.  But the revision was the gateway to Verdi's astonishing late works, and the opera itself was closer to his heart than any other.  (Simon Boccanegra at the Met starting April 1)

April 5  |  Brahms At Home 
More than half of Brahms's scores were written essentially for private use.  The letters (and a few recordings) of the musicians for whom he wrote it open a new window on his chamber works.  [Leif Ove Andsnes, Chrstian Tetzlaff and colleagues play he complete piano quartets at Carnegie Hall April 9]

April 12  |  Mozart’s Romp in the Harem 
Mozart, whose own romantic life was a bit of a romp, reached operatic maturity with a German Singspiel that still delights and touches.  [Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Met starting April 22]

April 19  |  Thirteen Ways of Studying an Étude
The "étude" - literally "study" - was originally an instrumental piece designed for repetitive practice of a particular technical difficulty.  Chopin’s two collections maintain that tradition, but reach far beyond it; we will compare two gems (Op. 10 no. 5 and Op. 25 no. 9) in a century of kaleidoscopically diverse interpretations.

May 3  |  The Convalescent's Ode to Hope
Der Genesene an die Hoffnung was a meditation on recovery from grave illness by the Swabian poet Eduard Mörike (1804-1875).   The composer Hugo Wolf (1860-1903), afflicted all his life with a crippling writer's block, emerged from it in 1889 to compose an unforgettable series of 53 masterpieces based on Mörike's verses within a few months. 

May 10  |  Master Class   
Will Crutchfield with guest singers from Caramoor’s Bel Canto Young Artists, illustrating the painstaking but exhilarating process of getting the best out of the human voice.  

May 17  |  Richard Strauss’ Love Affair (with the soprano voice) 
Strauss settled down early in life with just one soprano, and over 57 years of marriage he seems to have strayed seldom if ever.  He transferred his infatuation to the voice itself, and sopranos for a century have reciprocated enthusiastically.  [Renee Fleming with the Met Orchestra at Carnegie May 22]

May 24  |  Rediscovery of a Masterpiece 
Expectations were modest when the Rossini Opera Festival revived one of the obscurest titles in the composer's catalogue in 2014.  But Aureliano in Palmira - restored to its original form for the first time - turned out to be a sleeper, winning awards and welcomed as a companion to Rossini's masterpieces.  How it got there is a first-rate detective story.  [American premiere of Rossini’s Aureliano in Palmira at Caramoor, July 16]

Other Semesters

Spring 2019

Fall 2018

Spring 2018

Fall 2017

Spring 2017

Fall 2016

Fall 2015

Spring 2015

Fall 2014

Spring 2014

Fall 2013

Spring 2013

Questions? Please email WillCrutchfieldAssistant@gmail.com