StarkConductor Blog
The StarkConductor blog has been around since August 2020, and since then a number of articles have come together. To make browsing as convenient as possible, this page is divided into three sections: At the top you can use the search function to find articles. After that, you will always find the 3 most recent articles. Finally, you will find all articles sorted by category.
If you would like to be notified by e-mail when a new article appears, please subscribe to my newsletter.
Have fun reading!
Jonathan Stark
The 3 most recent articles
Here you will always find the 3 most recently published articles.
Gustav Holst’s Career: A Roller Coaster Ride (Spring 2023 Mini-Experience Part 3/3)
Gustav Holst’s career was like a roller coaster ride: major failures alternated with minor successes.
“He should have tested us!” – How Anton Bruckner went on and on and on (Spring 2023 Mini-Experience Part 2/3)
In this article you will learn why Anton Bruckner was one of the “Prussian tin soldiers” among composers: he just went on and on.
Composer Careers: Whiz Kid, Tin Soldier, or Roller Coaster Rider? (Spring 2023 Mini-Experience Part 1/3)
Some composers had great success early in their lives – they were whiz kids. But there were also composers with very different career paths…
Mini-Experiences
The Mini-Experiences are anecdotes from classical music in story format. Four of them are published per year.
Composer Careers: Whiz Kid, Tin Soldier, or Roller Coaster Rider? (Spring 2023 Mini-Experience Part 1/3)
Some composers had great success early in their lives – they were whiz kids. But there were also composers with very different career paths…
What collaboration can trigger… (Winter 2023 Mini-Experience Part 1/3)
A Russian painter, a Russian composer and a little French boy…. Together they help a long unnoticed piece to break through.
The Groundbreaking Article (Autumn 2022 Mini-Experience Part 1/4)
In 1872, a 23-year-old musicologist published an article that astonished experts. In it, a whole new way of perceiving music was outlined.
The article was signed “Hugibert Ries”.
Everyone in the professional music world wondered: Who is this man?
The Change (Summer 2022 Mini-Experience Part 1/4)
It was around the year 1800 that a centuries-old tradition began to falter. Read the StarkConductor Summer 2022 Mini-Experience Part 1/4.
The Founding Story of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra – Part I
The founding story of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra does not begin in Chicago. Nor does it begin in New York, nor even in America. It begins in a tiny town in northern Germany, where 10-year-old Theodor plays his violin.
Composers
These articles are about everything to do with Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and many other composers.
Mozart’s Assistants (2/2)
Mozart’s days were packed with work. How was that to be accomplished? The answer: he had assistants. Two of them remained loyal to him until his last breath.
The first article in this two-part series was about Joseph Weigl, a Kapellmeister with whom Mozart liked to rehearse his operas. Today’s article focuses on a man who was especially helpful to Mozart in composing.
Mozart’s Assistants (1/2)
Mozart’s days were packed with work. How was that to be managed? The answer: he had assistants. Two of them remained loyal to him until his last breath.
Bach’s Weimar Problem (And How He Solved It)
Johann Sebastian Bach could have been satisfied on March 2, 1714. After his early professional years, he was appointed concertmaster in Weimar. This meant he received a handsome annual salary of 250 florins. However, there was a problem.
Lortzing’s Operas (List)
Albert Lortzing (1801–1851) is one of the lesser-known composers today, although he played a decisive role in shaping the genre of German Spieloper. His work “Zar und Zimmermann”, for example, is still popular today. In this list you will find all Lortzing operas with the corresponding work number.
A Day in the Life of Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven liked to finish work in the early afternoon. Late afternoon and evening were devoted to relaxation. Find out what a typical day in the life of Ludwig van Beethoven looked like in this article.
Britten’s Operas (List)
In this list you will find all operas by Benjamin Britten with the year of the premiere.
Orchestras and concert halls
This is where classical music resounds! Interesting facts about orchestras and concert halls from all over the world.
Big Five Orchestras: The 5 most important orchestras in the USA?
The Big Five orchestras are the 5 most important orchestras in the USA. These are the orchestras in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Chicago. Whether this classification is still up to date, however, is disputed.
Cleveland Orchestra: 3 Facts You Didn’t Know
The Cleveland Orchestra is the youngest of the Big Five orchestras, the 5 most important orchestras in the USA. I will show why the Cleveland Orchestra is a special orchestra with three facts.
Philadelphia Orchestra: 4 Highlights between 1904 and 1916
The Philadelphia Orchestra was founded in 1900 and shaped cultural life on the American East Coast from the very beginning. The world stars of classical music enjoyed coming to the young orchestra. Four particularly significant Philadelphia Orchestra concerts took place between 1904 and 1916.
New York Philharmonic: 5 Facts You Didn’t Know
The New York Philharmonic is considered one of the five most important orchestras in the USA and is therefore one of the so-called “Big Five”. Why the New York Philharmonic is such an important orchestra, I show along 5 facts.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra: 5 Facts You Didn’t Know
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is known for its characteristic brass sound. But there are other things that make the Chicago Symphony Orchestra a unique orchestra. I present five of them to you in this blog post.
Boston Symphony Orchestra: Shaped by 6 cultures
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is a cultural melting pot. In the orchestra’s long history, various cultural influences have been reflected in the orchestra’s sound. This is one of the reasons why the Boston Symphony Orchestra is considered one of the best orchestras in the world today.
Opera and opera houses
Would you like a little more singing? Then this is the right category for you.
Richard Strauss’ 15 Operas (List + 1-Sentence Summaries)
All 15 Operas by Richard Strauss at a glance. Including time of composition, premiere dates, short summaries and beginner-friendliness.
Rossini’s 39 Operas (List + 1-Sentence Summaries)
All 39 Rossini operas at a glance. Including time of composition, premiere dates, short summaries and beginner-friendliness.
Puccini’s 12 Operas (List + 1-Sentence Summaries)
All 12 Puccini Operas at a glance. Including time of composition, premiere dates, short summaries and beginner-friendliness.
Lortzing’s Operas (List)
Albert Lortzing (1801–1851) is one of the lesser-known composers today, although he played a decisive role in shaping the genre of German Spieloper. His work “Zar und Zimmermann”, for example, is still popular today. In this list you will find all Lortzing operas with the corresponding work number.
Britten’s Operas (List)
In this list you will find all operas by Benjamin Britten with the year of the premiere.
Tamino, Who Are You?
Tamino must pass difficult tests to win Pamina in Mozart’s Magic Flute. In this blogpost you will learn more about Tamino and his role in perhaps Mozart’s most famous opera.
Music theory light
Musical background knowledge, presented in an understandable way.
Hugo Riemann – Biography
Hugo Riemann was one of the most important musicologists of all time. Read why in this detailed biography.
Understanding Tempo (Music) Step by Step
Tempo is a significant factor in music. It is more influential in shaping the effect of a piece of music than almost any other aspect. In this article, you will learn everything about tempo in music, step by step. By the end, you will be able to understand any tempo indication.
Dynamics (Music) Explained (+ Cheat Sheet!)
What does dynamics mean in music? Dynamics describes the volume in music. It indicates how loud or soft a passage in a piece of music should be played. In the following, I explain dynamics in music as well as the most important dynamic indications. You will read a definition of dynamics in music, hear audio examples and get a PDF Cheat Sheet.
Articulation (Music) Explained (+ Cheat Sheet!)
What does articulation mean in music? Articulation describes two things: first, how a tone is formed, second, how several tones are joined together. Below is a more detailed explanation of articulation in music, an overview of the main types of articulation with matching audio examples (and a cheat sheet!), and answers to the most important questions about articulation in music.
Dynamics and Articulation: The 39 Most Important Terms in Music
In music, there are many ways to indicate dynamics and articulation. Over time, however, some terms have become established and are used over and over again. Discover here 39 different dynamic and articulation terms in the four musical languages: Italian, English, German and French.
The 67 most important tempo markings in music
In music, there are many ways to indicate a tempo. Over time, however, some tempo markings have become established and are used over and over again. Discover 67 different tempo markings in the four musical languages Italian, English, German and French here.
Music world
News from the classical music industry, interviews with colleagues and more of everything that is happening in the exciting world of classical music.
Bayreuth Festival 2021: all operas, all stars
The Bayreuth Festival 2021 starts on July 25, 2021 and delights all opera fans with the works of German composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883) until August 25. So here on the StarkConductor blog I’m giving an overview of the Bayreuth Festival 2021. In the course of this you can read here which pieces will be performed this year and who is in the cast.
Pianist Pawel Markowicz: Philip Glass’ Music as an “Exciting Mystery”
The pianist Pawel Markowicz has achieved what many soloists dream of – he is considered a specialist for a certain repertoire. Pawel’s focus is on the works of the American composer Philip Glass, whose Symphony No. 8 he arranged for piano solo in years of detailed work and released as an album in August 2020. In the StarkConductor Interview Pawel gave me an insight into his work.
Germany’s Cultural Construction Sites
In today’s blog post I present three cultural construction sites in Germany. These are “construction sites” in the truest sense of the word – the opera houses in Bayreuth and Stuttgart are being renovated, and a new concert hall is being built in Munich.
Operetta Composers: Four World Stars Form the Core Repertoire
Even if you are not a big operetta fan, the titles Die Fledermaus, Die lustige Witwe and Die Csárdásfürstin might be familiar to you. Do you also know the operetta composers? They are Strauss, Lehár and Kálmán. Together with another colleague – Offenbach – these operetta composers are responsible for the core operetta repertoire.
Corona in Opera – Two Innovative Formats
Three weeks ago, three approaches to solving the current corona problem in the concert business were presented here in the StarkConductor Blog. Today’s blogpost is dedicated to the world of opera.
The 2019/20 Opera Repertoire: 35 Works Form the Lion’s Share
How many operas do you know? And how many operas do you estimate there are? In fact, there are thousands – and most of them live a shadowy existence. I have graphically illustrated this phenomenon in today’s blog article.
Conducting
Insights into the mysterious craft/art of conducting.
Metronome (Music): Finding The Tempo Made Easy – Right?!
A metronome is a device that can be used to indicate the tempo of a piece of music. In the past, metronomes worked exclusively mechanically, but today they are mostly electronic.
Conductor’s Tools 2: the Tailcoat
Along with the baton, the tailcoat is probably the most eye-catching trademark of a conductor – even though not all conductors wear tailcoats regularly any more. A few thoughts on the history, meaning and purpose of this festive garment.
Conductor’s Tools 1: the Baton
For many concert-goers it is a mystery: What does the conductor need a baton for? Indeed, the baton is an extremely useful tool for us conductors. In the following I will explain why.
