Jos van de Braak

Giacomo Puccini's opera "Tosca" might be described as a thriller with political overtones. Set in Rome in 1800 at a time when the Police Chief Scarpia is conducting a reign of terror, it shows its her...

The Toy Symphony, (Kinder-Sinfonie) was also published as Sinfonia Berchtolsgadensis because it was written for instruments that were manufactured in the toy industry of Berchtensgaden that flourished...

Josef Strauss (1827-1870) was an Austrian composer, son of Johann Strauss ('Vater') and brother of Johann jr. and Eduard. Josef Strauss was arguably the most talented of the Strauss dynasty, although...

Cantique de Noël (O Holy Night) is a Christmas carol composed by French composer Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the poem "Minuit, Chrétiens" (Midnight, Christians) by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877), a wine merc...

Cantique de Noël (O Holy Night) is a Christmas carol composed by French composer Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the poem "Minuit, Chrétiens" (Midnight, Christians) by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877), a wine merc...

German composer Peter Cornelius composed his song cycle "Weihnachtslieder" ("Christmas Songs"), Opus 8, in 1856. Cornelius, who also was a gifted writer and had first pursued a career as an actor, wro...

Richard Wagner's Fliedermonolog Was duftet doch der Flieder is sung in the second act of the Opera Die Meistersinger: Sitting outside his house on a sultry Midsummer's Eve, Hans Sachs tries to concent...

The Wahnmonolog Wahn! Wahn! Uberall Wahn! is sung by Hans Sachs in the first scene of the third and last act of Richard Wagner's Opera Die Meistersinger. On a sunny morning Sachs is sitting in his wor...

Johan Wagenaar (1862 -1941) was a Dutch composer and organist. His compositions include operas, cantatas, organ music, and orchestral works. The music of Hector Berlioz had a modest influence on his w...

George Gershwin no escribió mucha música de cine, pero ¿qué habría pasado si no hubiera muerto a una edad temprana? Una de las excepciones es la música para la película de 1937 "Shall We Dance". De es...

French composer Charles Gounod (1818-1893) regained great successes as a composer of operas, oratorios, masses and as an organist soon after graduating at the Paris Conservatory. When Gounod's Opera '...

The third movement, "Allegretto grazioso", of Dvorák's eighth symphony is a melancholic 'sweet and languid" waltz in 3/4 time, which at the end changes into a more Bohemian folk dance in 2/4 time. The...

Le Nozze di Figaro es una de las tres óperas que Mozart compuso sobre libretos de Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838), famoso director de teatro y poeta vienés. La "Canzonetta sull'aria" es cantada en el ter...

Vincenzo Bellini is one of the great composers of the bel canto era. The role of Norma was one of the favourites of the legendary soprano Maria Callas. (2 Sopranos and Concert Band)

Josef Strauss (1827-1870) was an Austrian composer, son of Johann Strauss ('Vater') and brother of Johann jr. and Eduard. Josef Strauss was arguably the most talented of the Strauss dynasty, although...

Josef Strauss (1827-1870) was an Austrian composer, son of Johann Strauss ('Vater') and brother of Johann jr. and Eduard. Josef Strauss was arguably the most talented of the Strauss dynasty, although...

The Cavatina 'Quel guarda il cavaliere' is sung in the first act of Donizetti's opera Don Pasquale by the young Norina .She comments on a novel she is reading, but also dwells on her skills as a charm...

Bellini wrote his opera I Capuleti e I Montecchi in 1825. It handles about the traditional story of Giulietta e Romeo. The aria Eccomi in lieta vesta... is sung in the first act: In her room, Giuliett...

Tschaikovsky composed his Solo Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in the spring of 1878. The work does have a rocky beginning, somewhat like that of his first Piano Concerto. The premiere was both some...

Beside his 150 waltzes Johann Strauss composed several operettas of which 'Die Fledermaus' his best contribution to this genre is. The aria Spiel'ich die Unschuld vom Lande is sung in the third act by...

Il Barbiere di Siviglia (1816) de Rossini es una de las más grandes óperas cómicas. Basada en una excelente obra de Beaumarchais, "El barbero de Sevilla" deleita al público con sus personajes agudamen...

Beside his 150 waltzes Johann Strauss composed several operettas of which 'Die Fledermaus' his best contribution to this genre is. The choir 'Ein souper heut' uns winkt' is sung at very beginning of t...

Beside his 150 waltzes Johann Strauss composed several operettas of which 'Die Fledermaus' his best contribution to this genre is. The choir 'Ein souper heut' uns winkt' is sung at very beginning of t...

La Bohème was first performed in 1886 at the Teatro Regio in Turin. It soon became a staple of the operatic repertoire and has remained so ever since. Puccini had begun for the first time to speak wit...