Diaries of Hope is a new five-movement work for orchestra, choir and soloists by Polish film score composer Zbigniew Preisner which premiered on 8th October 2013 last at the White Stork Synagogue in Wroclaw, Poland. The UK premiere took place in the Barbican Hall in London four days later. The score is entirely based on the […]
Classical
The Great Beauty
The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza – 2013) is a visually dazzling film by Italian director Paolo Sorrentino boasting a brilliant and eclectic soundtrack ranging from electro-pop to classical choral music. The film won the 2014 Golden Globe [update: and Oscar] in the “best foreign film” category. An unexpected event forces aging journalist and disenchanted socialite […]
Claudio Monteverdi: Lamento Della Ninfa
L’Arpeggiata Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) was an Italian composer in the late Renaissance whose innovative compositions led to the birth of opera as a new style of music. In addition to early operas and church music, Monteverdi published nine books of Madrigals, or Renaissance love poems sung and arranged for several voices. “Lamento Della Ninfa” (the […]
Max Richter: Vivaldi recomposed
From a statistical point of view, Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” probably belongs to the top ten most popular pieces of classical music recorded and played (sometimes even overplayed) on classical music radio stations. Not daunted by its overwhelming popularity, neoclassical composer Max Richter set to revisit Antonio Vivaldi’s concerto as part of the “recomposed” series on […]
About Spellbinding Music
Why is it that a particular piece of music, a tune or a song will move us in such a way that it will stop us in our tracks, send shivers up our spine or give us goose bumps? Spiritual or secular musical traditions such as Sufi music, Gnawa music, plainchant, gospel, blues etc. all […]
