Did Johann Kruse really stand out that much among the other violinists Joachim taught, making him the obvious choice for preferential treatment?While he was giving in concerts in London, a number of other Joachim students were also making a living in the biggest city in the world. Several were exactly his age and had been […]
View DetailsJohann Kruse and the London Popular Concerts It is a challenge to define the parameters of this venerable and beloved fixture of nineteenth-century London concert life. Its name alone seems designed to create maximum confusion. First, “popular” is hard to define. One explanation is when they began, they were meant to be popular in content, […]
View DetailsJohann Kruse (1859-1927) was one of Joachim’s more important students: he taught at the Hochschule and was a member of the Joachim Quartet for five years. My preparation for writing up a short profile has stretched out into months, and this post has grown tentacles that need to be hacked off. These are the role […]
View DetailsBesides the day when both Strauss and Mahler took part in a concert of their own works, there were other special and unusual concert offerings in February of 1907 (to be discussed later). However, the biggest story of the month concerned the fate of “the German Opera Company,” which had been put together by the […]
View DetailsOn the occasion of the London premiere of the Brahms Double Concerto, Op. 102 on February 14, 1888, The Times newspaper wrote: No one but Brahms among living masters could have written this work, which shows all the earnestness of purpose, all the freedom from mere clap-trap, to which this composer owes his leading position. […]
View DetailsHausmann first performed the Schumann Cello Concerto in Leipzig on January 29, 1879. His previous concerto performances had been of more popular-style, now-forgotten works (Lindner, Dressler, Raff). He played it in London the following year, for the first time since Piatti had played it on a Music Society concert in 1866. Although the reviews were […]
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