Meet Monteverdi in February

Join me in February for a visit to Italy and one of its greatest composers. On February 22nd and 29th I am offering more Mornings with a Masterpiece – my online talks for MANCENT (the Manchester Continuing Education Network). The composer is best known now for performances of the ‘Monteverdi Vespers’ but there is considerable […]

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Music talks for Summer 2023

  The latest in the series of Mornings with a Masterpiece explores chamber works by the Czech composer Antonin Dvořák. These will provide a delightful way to spend two Thursday mornings in May (4th and 11th). His love of his native Bohemia was the inspiration for much of his music, culminating in two of his […]

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Music talks for February 2023

The latest topic for my online music talks Mornings with a Masterpiece may seem slightly obscure – Mozart’s Wind Serenades – but they provide a wonderful window into the life of Mozart at a critical time in his development. The three serenades which we will consider (K361, 375 and 388) are certainly masterpieces, including the […]

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A Summer of Song

Rosemary will be offering two new online music courses in the Autumn Term 2022, and both focus on song. In preparation during the summer she has been enjoying the performances and insights of some great singers and accompanists, among them Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Ian Bostridge, Geoffrey Parsons, Gerald Moore and Alfred Brendel. For MANCENT (https://mancent.org.uk/) she […]

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New Masterpieces

Mornings with a Masterpiece, Rosemary’s series of online talks, continues on May 12th and 19th with two pinnacles of Romantic chamber music: the piano quintets by Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms. But the talks will focus on three great musicians, bringing out of the shadows Clara Schumann, one of the greatest pianists of the 19th […]

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Mornings with a Masterpiece

Mornings with a Masterpiece – Bach’s ‘Brandenburg’ Concertos In February, the focus of Rosemary’s Zoom talks for the Manchester Continuing Education Network (MANCENT) will move to Johann Sebastian Bach, and the six concertos he presented to the Margrave of Brandenburg in 1721, just over three hundred years ago.  Some are well known, some more obscure, […]

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Public music talks are back!

In October, Rosemary will once more offer talks on music for MANCENT (The Manchester Continuing Education Network). Under the title Mozart – Masses and Mysteries she will offer two morning sessions exploring the Great Mass in C minor and the Requiem. Both are masterpieces; one coincides with his marriage, and one with his final days; […]

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Lockdown Listening Club

Can anything good come out of the lockdown, especially as it affects live musical performance? Perhaps it can! Rosemary is a member of St. George’s Singers, a highly successful choir based in South Manchester. http://www.st-georges-singers.org.uk/  Their performing schedule has been washed out by the pandemic, eliminating or postponing two tours, and concerts at the RNCM, […]

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Enjoy music talks online!

Rosemary’s music lectures for the Manchester Continuing Education Network (www.mancent.org.uk) have moved online, so anyone can now join in via Zoom. Her Autumn series will consist of four two-hour sessions on Friday mornings in September and October, exploring The piano concertos of Mozart and Beethoven Mozart’s piano concertos span his life, from childhood experiments before […]

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