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Masashi Sada’s “Serenade” and Lehár’s “The Merry Widow: Lippen schweigen”
Popular music sometimes contains pieces so similar to classical works that they seem like quotations. Masashi Sada’s “Serenade” is one of them; the moment I heard it, I was astonis…
The Merry Widow at the Paris Opera / Palais Garnier: DIE LUSTIGE WITWE
I heard Lehár’s “The Merry Widow (Die Lustige Witwe)” at the Paris Opera (Palais Garnier). I rarely listen to opera or operetta because I do not understand the language, but I also…
Haydn’s Symphony No. 89 in F Major, “Shojoji”?!
Everyone knows the children’s song “Shojoji no Tanuki Bayashi,” commonly called “Shojoji,” right? Yes, the one that begins, “Sho, sho, Shojoji, in Shojoji’s garden….” It is a…
Was “Yuki ya Konko” Composed by Rentarō Taki?
After a long interval, I received a comment on an earlier article, “So ‘Yuki ya Konko’ Was Composed by Dvořák…” The comment said, “Rather than having an unknown composer, was…
Professor Kazuo Matsuzaka
Professor Matsuzaka has passed away. He was one of my mentors and was widely known for having written many excellent introductory mathematics books. He had suffered from kidney dis…
Romance from the Opera “Maître Pathelin”
Ever since hearing this piece on Ayako Takagi’s CD “Sicilienne”, I had thought it was beautiful without properly researching it. Feeling remiss, I finally looked into it. François…
Schumann’s Red Dragonfly
In a book I read in high school—I think it may have been Hiroyuki Agawa’s Rongo Shirazu no Rongo Yomi or something similar—there is a passage saying that the melody of Kosaku…
The Magic Flute @ Staatsoper im Schillertheater, Berlin
On Sunday afternoon, I saw The Magic Flute at the Staatsoper im Schillertheater in Berlin. A girl of about 9 was sitting next to me, and she was leaning forward as she watched. I t…
Godzilla Appears in the Third Movement of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major
Have you ever heard Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major?It was featured in the second half of the final Nodame Cantabile film released this summer, so quite a few people have probabl…
On the Symphonic Suite Space Battleship Yamato
The NHK Symphony Orchestra conducted by Naoto Otomo Composed by Kentaro Haneda Symphonic Suite Space Battleship Yamato Watch this video on YouTube.Playing the video connects to You…
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