Early Music’s Greatest Generation – A Rememberance
EARLY MUSIC'S "GREATEST GENERATION:" A PERSONAL REMEMBRANCE Bruce Lamott The recent death of Stanford's charismatic professor and musician George Houle (1927-2017) gave me pause to think of the giants of…
Rameau & Voltaire: A Brief History of Collaboration and Contention – (Part 2 of 2)
RAMEAU & VOLTAIRE: A Brief History of Collaboration and Contention (Part 2 of 2) Bruce Lamott A self-aggrandizing tyrant decides to enjoy an evening of theatrical entertainment after defeating…
Rameau & Voltaire: A Brief History of Collaboration and Contention – (Part 1 of 2)
RAMEAU & VOLTAIRE: A Brief History of Collaboration and Contention (Part 1 of 2) Bruce Lamott "Rameau's misfortune is to be a blockhead advised by self-styled connoisseurs. This is the…
The Truth About Countertenors
The Truth About Countertenors By Bruce Lamott The story goes that upon hearing the voice of the late countertenor Sir Alfred Deller in a recital in the 1950s, one dowager…
Adalbert Gyrowetz: The “Zelig” of Music History
Adalbert Gyrowetz: The "Zelig" of Music History By Bruce Lamott Protégé of Mozart, promoter of Haydn, pallbearer for Beethoven, and acquainted with Chopin, Goethe, and even Napoleon, the Bohemian composer…
BEYOND THE HALLELUJAH CHORUS
BEYOND THE HALLELUJAH CHORUS Bruce Lamott Choral music occupies a major place in Handel's works. For me and many others, his Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah was our first introduction to…
Piano, Pianoforte, Fortepiano:
To-may-to, To-mah-to?
Piano, Pianoforte, Fortepiano: To-may-to, To-mah-to? Bruce Lamott Ever since homo sapiens discovered that a taut string could produce a pleasing sound, they have looked for various ways to make it…
Baroque Violin Takes Guts
Baroque Violin Takes Guts Bruce Lamott Imagine a classic car collector who finds that every 1934 Packard had been retrofitted with an air conditioner and power brakes. Such is the…