Russian composers
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The Jazz Influences in Shostakovich’s The Golden Age
Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) is one of the most celebrated composers of 20th-century symphonic works. Despite that reputation, his ballets receive less attention and that is a major oversight in music history. His failure on the ballet stage has nothing to do with the quality of the music in the ballet, but around the volatile political…
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A Saxophone oratorio? Listen to Wladimir Vogel’s 1930 oratorio, Wagadus Untergang durch die Eitelkeit
When I started making the list of operas and ballets in the database, I did not include oratorios for one simple reason, the saxophone wasn’t used in oratorios. There’s an exception here and there (Massenet has an oratorio in this database) but for the most part, the oratorio excludes the saxophone. Imagine my surprise when…
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Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, now streaming on Operavision
Sergei Prokofiev’s 1936 masterpiece, Romeo and Juliet, is now streaming on Operavision. This new production is from the Polish National Ballet. It will be streaming until 8/16/21. Romeo and Juliet has a well known tenor saxophone solo, you can hear it in at minute 26:35 during the “Montagues and Capulets” scene, one of it’s most…
the Operatic Saxophone 