Exploration of the intersection between music and medicine
Listening to an invisible organ Long before it was an image, a pressure curve, an electrical trace or a stream of numbers on a monitor, the heart was a sound. For centuries a physician had two options: feel the pulse at the wrist, or put an ear against the patient’s chest, with all the awkwardness … Read more
Scene: Violetta’s room. It is morning; the room is elegantly furnished but shows signs of her illness and poverty. Violetta is lying in bed, visibly weak. Annina is close to her. Dr. Grenvil enters. Annina: How is she, doctor? Dr. Grenvil: Alas, she is very ill. She has little time left… it’s agony. Consumption has … Read more
(Hear me, hear me, listen, o countrimen) – The Elixir of Love by Gaetano Donizetti The Composer Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848) was a leading Italian composer of the 19th century, renowned primarily for his operas. Alongside Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he is considered one of the main exponents of bel canto—a lyrical style of operatic … Read more
(“A un dottor della mia sorte” – “to a doctor of my station”) ““The Barber of Seville,” a witty comedy written by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais in 1775, was later transformed into a lively opera by Gioachino Rossini in 1816. Rossini’s adaptation breathed new musical life into this classic tale. The Story Rosina lives under … Read more
Mozart aria “Here is yout doctor, lovely ladies” “Here is yout doctor, lovely ladies” is an aria from the opera “Così fan tutte” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The opera, composed between 1789 and 1790 with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, was first performed in Vienna on January 26, 1790. The full title is “Così … Read more