Opera Australia

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was one of the most influential public figures in 18th-century Vienna. His impact on the public is evident in two of his most influential works — an opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio, and an instrumental piece, Violin Concert No. 5. Mozart used musical exoticism in these works to create a stereotype of Turks as violent and out of control and juxtapose it against Western European ideals of rationality and restraint. In The Abduction from the Seraglio, Mozart paints a…

In the Slosberg Music Center the music was electrifying and it resurrected long gone composers such as Ludwig Van Beethoven and César Franck. While it also invoked Louis Gordon’s work, who it is the only out of the three composers whose work was presented that night and remains alive. On Oct. 3th, during Brandeis University’s concert series, named Primary Motivations, these three composers were very much alive and present thanks to the duo of Joshua Gordon, cello and Randall Hodgkinson, piano.…

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, also known as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart was an Austrian composer who was recognized as one of the greatest composers in the history of classical music. Mozart created operas, concertos, symphonies, and sonatas that shaped classic music. Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, to Leopold Mozart and Anna Maria, née Pertl at Salzburg. He was the youngest of seven children, five of his siblings died at infancy. Only two had survived. One of his…

The most challenging duty for a columnist, blogger, or anyone who writes about popular music is appealing to a demographic of musos and die-hard admirers. It’s one thing to venture off into the skeptical world of music aficionados alone, granted that you’ve taken a class or two on how to speak their technical language, but it's another thing to venture off without being able to communicate why an artist’s musical choices are, in fact, artistic. Take, for example, Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A…

Music has been a thing I’ve utilized when I need to get relaxed. But it's the certain kind of music you need to help you perform better. When you are listening to music while studying or taking a test, studies have shown that it's better to listen to classical music when it has a calm rhythm that helps you retain information, get you engaged and even make you more focused. Yes I do agree with this, even though I have not tested it myself, many experiments over many years have been done on this…

In the early 1940’s, the audience members of the theater knew exactly what they would see at a musical comedy. Defined by the “Follies formula,” the American musical followed a very precise recipe that produces success every time: a chorus line of beautiful women in revealing costumes; jazzy, upbeat tunes; coarse jokes and cheap gags; and a rollicking opening number. Most musicals consisted of great numbers strung together with a decidedly flimsy plot. Even in a more narrative show, irrelevant…

Henry Purcell attached significance to major and minor keys to show the listener the intense emotion behind the song. He made sure that by changing the keys the audience would hear the transition in sounds that told his story. Purcell’s changing of keys described fear, sadness, happiness and falling in love which captured the audience’s mind. Henry Purcell way of handling the keys was very clever, for the reason that he was able to draw the mind of his audience. Personally, I feel it made…

Professional Musician the career field i’m researching is the professional musician. musicians have been around since the beginning of time and will be here when time is no more. the reason i am studying the career of professional musician is because I myself am already a musician by choice and by passion. By researching this career field I hope to gain valuable insight into what it takes to be a professional musician. there are approximately “167,400 people in this job as said in 2012, and is…

Both of these concerts are undeniably different in atmosphere, sound, and eloquence; however, they do have one common factor. This common factor is the musicality they bring to their audience as well as the joy that is exuberated throughout the performance. The first virtual concert I watched entitled “Slatkin Conducts Appalachian Spring” was not a traditional band much like the other virtual concert entitled “Dr. Ralph Stanley and The Clinch Mountain Boys”. Appalachian Spring started out soft…

Franz Schubert was born on January 31, 1797, in Himmelpfortgrund near Vienna Austria. He was an Austrian composer. He himself wrote six hundred secular vocal works, seven complete symphonies, operas, sacred music and a large body of chamber and piano music. His appreciation was limited to a relatively small circle of admirers in Vienna. Schubert’s father, Franz Theodor Schubert, was a school teacher; his mother was what we call a modern day “stay at home mom.” Franz had three older brothers…