LISTENING TO TCHAIKOVSKY: Béla Hartmann uses his knowledge of Eastern Europe to argue against the banning of all Russian culture following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
VIDEO PODCAST: Slava Ukraini! - recorded on 24 February 2022, the day Europe woke up to the news that Vladimir Putin's Russian forces had invaded Ukraine. A fifty minute video which also features Caitríona O'Leary and Eric Fraad discussing their new film Island of Saints, and pays tribute to Joseph Horovitz, Malcolm Troup and Maria Nockin.
Venetian composer and performer Baldassare Galuppi ('Il Buranello') was born on the island of Burano (hence the nickname) on 18 October 1706. He studied with Lotti and became Maestro di musica at the Ospedale dei Mendicanti. He wrote opere serie for the King's Theatre in London, ran the music at St Mark's in Venice, turned to opera buffa - teaming up with playwright Carlo Goldoni and earning another nickname, 'The father of comic opera' - and worked in the chapel of Catherine the Great in Russia. He played keyboard instruments and also wrote much sacred music.
Galuppi died in Venice on 3 January 1785, aged seventy-eight. His works were, variously, forgotten, destroyed and lost at the end of the eighteenth century, until being redescovered at the end of the twentieth century.
CD Spotlight. Most Remarkable - Jamaican pianist Orrett Rhoden, heard by Bill Newman
DVD Spotlight. Seldom Equalled - Michelangeli plays Beethoven, Galuppi and Scarlatti, and impresses Howard Smith. 'His relentless perfectionism allows him spellbinding precision ...'