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.
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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.
Pamina, Who Are You?
Pamina is the daughter of the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Magic Flute. In this blogpost you will learn more about Pamina and her role in perhaps Mozart’s most famous opera.
Bellini’s Operas (List)
He is still one of the most important opera composers today, although he only lived to the age of 33: Vincenzo Bellini. His most famous operas are probably Norma and I Puritani. In this list you will find all the operas by Vincenzo Bellini, including the year and place of the premiere.
A Day in the Life of Benjamin Britten
Many composers’ recipe for success was their daily routine. The British composer Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) loved to follow a precisely planned daily routine. Find out what a typical day in Benjamin Britten’s life looked like in this article.
7 Facts about Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”)
At the time, it broke all standards: Beethoven’s third symphony, titled “Eroica” (the “Heroic”), was longer, larger and more monumental than the symphonies known to the Viennese public around 1800. Read here what makes the “Eroica” so special.
Mozart’s Allies in Prague: the Bondini Couple
Sometimes, as an artist, you simply have to know the right people – it was no different in Mozart’s day. Many of Mozart’s Viennese patrons are still famous today, for example Gottfried van Swieten, a Habsburg diplomat. In Prague, however, Mozart was actively supported by a couple who are hardly ever spoken of today: the Bondinis.
3 Curious Facts about George Frideric Handel
He was the German who learned in Italy and became a star in England: George Frideric Handel. Learn three curious facts about the baroque composer here.
Orchestras and concert halls
This is where classical music resounds! Interesting facts about orchestras and concert halls from all over the world.
Opera and opera houses
Would you like a little more singing? Then this is the right category for you.
Verdi’s Operas (List)
Giuseppe Verdi is still one of the most performed and most popular opera composers today. Verdi often revised his operas several times, which can be confusing. Therefore, in this list you will find all operas by Giuseppe Verdi with the year of the premiere. If there were adaptations of a work, you will also find the year of the premiere of the adapted version.
The Invention of Opera
Who invented opera? Around 1580, scholars met in Florence and created a new art form with the opera. However, there was a misunderstanding…
Mozart’s 22 Operas (List)
Mozart created 22 stage works in his lifetime. Among them are world-famous ‘evergreens’ such as The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni. But many Mozart operas are also completely unknown, or have you ever heard of the ‘Goose of Cairo’? All 22 Mozart operas can be found in the following list.
Buffo bass: the opera character to love
The bass buffo is a funny, sometimes tragicomic character in opera that you just have to love. Read about the roles of a bass buffo in opera and who the most famous performers are.
Who was the first Don Giovanni?
Mozart’s premieres often featured the stars of his day. There was one exception, however: Don Giovanni.
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.
Music theory light
Musical background knowledge, presented in an understandable way.
The Two Faces of the Upbeat
The upbeat is a widespread phenomenon in music. For us conductors, it has a particularly great significance, because there are different kinds of upbeats.
Tango – Musical And Cultural Melting Pot
With the Tango, I finish together with Adrian, the Music Theory MentOWL, the mini article series on dance music. The Tango stands for Latin American temperament and is also becoming increasingly popular in Europe. What elements make up a tango?
Waltz – Variety in Three-Four Time
You know the waltz – of course. Probably you were even tormented with it in dance school. What is often forgotten: not all waltzes are the same. This dance is characterized by an extraordinary richness of facets. Adrian and I will give you an insight.
Csárdás – An Ecstatic Folk Dance
After our time travel to 17th century France, we now make a trip to Hungary. We dance Csárdás! You don’t know Csárdás? You have certainly heard this dance before – perhaps unconsciously.
French Court Dances – “Help, which dance is this?”
A time machine hurls you into the year 1665 and you end up in the ballroom of the Palace of Versailles in Paris. The 27-year-old, luxurious Louis XIV is King of France. However, you only have a brief opportunity to admire the young monarch in his elegant and sinfully expensive fur coat, because at this moment the royal court orchestra starts playing.
Upgrade Your Melody Vol. II – Time Signature
Maybe you know this: When you wake up, a sequence of tones buzzes around in your head. What do you do with it now? One possibility: create different pieces of music with one and the same tone sequence – by using different time signatures.
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.
Conducting
Insights into the mysterious craft/art of conducting.
