We mark the death on June 17, 2014 an even 10 years ago today of the Grammy Award winning American record producer and Director of Columbia Masterworks Recordings John Taylor McClure. McClure was

On June 10, 1865 159 years ago today Richard Wagners magnificent and groundbreaking music drama Tristan und Isolde received its premiere in Munich under the baton of Hans von Blow (whose wife, C

We mark the death on June 3, 1877 147 years ago today of the Austrian lawyer, botanist, geologist, teacher, writer, publisher, composer, and musicologist Ludwig Alois Friedrich Ritter (Ritter

There Must Be Something in the Air Have any of you done or anticipate doing anything particularly foolish today, anything particularly inappropriate? If you do, know that you will be in good compa

Before we get to the principal topic of todays post, we must note an operatic disaster that had nothing to do with singers or the opera being performed on stage. Rather, it was a disaster that inspi

(Composer Drinking Habits and Drinking Songs)

We mark the public release, on May 6, 2015 nine years ago today of a scientific/statistical study published by The Royal Society Open Science Journal, a study entitled The Evolution of Western Po

We mark the birth of The Duke on April 29, 1899 125 years ago today in Washington D.C. By The Duke, we are not here referring to the actor John Wayne (who was born on May 26, 1907, in Winterset

I am writing this post from my hotel room in what is presently (but sadly, not for long) warm and sunny Vienna. As I mentioned last week, I will be here for eight days acting as color commentator f

We mark the death on April 8, 1858 166 years ago today of the Austrian composer, editor, and music publisher Anton Diabelli in Vienna, at the age of 76. Born on September 5, 1781, his enduring fa