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.

Mini-Experiences

The Mini-Experiences are anecdotes from classical music in story format. Four of them are published per year.

Composers

These articles are about everything to do with Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and many other composers.

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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.

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Haydn the folklorist_featured image

Haydn, the Folklorist

Have you ever asked yourself where great composers got their ideas from? No doubt: a thorough education, a solid mastery of the craft of composition and an untiring will to work have always been decisive. But sometimes great composers have simply copied.

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Mozart on Tempo

“The most necessary and the hardest and most important thing in music is the tempo.” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote this in 1777 in a letter to his father. Is it still true today?

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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.

Papageno Tor Wien

Papageno, who are you?

Papageno is half man and half bird, loves wine, women and music and is the secret star of Mozart’s Magic Flute. In this blog post you will learn more about Papageno and his role in perhaps Mozart’s most famous opera.

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Singspiel featured StarkConductor

Singspiel – what is that?

Singspiele were extremely popular in the opera houses of the 18th century. But what is a Singspiel anyway? Find out in this blog post.

You can also read why the middle class of the 18th century preferred to go to the Singspiel instead of the court opera, how Joseph II set up what was perhaps the first cultural funding pot of all time, and which Singspiele you absolutely have to know.

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Teatro La Fenice StarkConductor featured

Teatro La Fenice – A Drama in Three Fires

The Teatro La Fenice in Venice is one of the most important opera houses in the world. To be able to build and maintain this good reputation, perseverance and optimism were necessary – because this opera house has been burned down and rebuilt several times. In this blog post, I tell the story of Teatro La Fenice. A drama in three fires.

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Deutschlands Kulturbaustellen

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.

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Music theory light

Musical background knowledge, presented in an understandable way.

Einfache Liedbegleitung_featured_image_ENG

Song Accompaniment: Become the Star of the Family Celebration

Family celebrations are an exciting thing. If there are small children in your family, you know that singing the theme tunes of current children’s series is always highly appreciated. Wouldn’t it be practical if you could spontaneously sit down at the piano to accompany a song? Together with Adrian, the Music Theory MentOWL, I’ll show you how to do it.

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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.