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    20 downright bizarre classical music facts

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    How many pieces of wood in a violin? What's the most expensive opera costume of all time? Which orchestra was booked to sail on the Titanic? Discover these random, bizarre and thoroughly interesting facts from the world of classical music.

    1. Classical music facts - piano tension

      1. Classical music facts - piano tension

      The tension of the 230-odd strings in a grand piano exert a combined force of 20 tonnes on the cast iron frame.

    2. incredible classical music facts

      2. Schumann's fingers

      Robert Schumann would often plunge his hands into the entrails of a slaughtered animal to heal his ailments.

    3. strange classical music facts

      3. Haydn's skull

      There are two skulls in Haydn’s tomb. His head was stolen by phrenologists and a replacement skull was put in his tomb. In 1954, the real skull was restored but the substitute was not removed.

    4. strange classical music facts

      4. Risotto

      Rossini wrote the aria ‘Di tanti palpiti’ while waiting for some risotto in a Venice restaurant.

    5. incredible classical music facts

      5. Violin

      A single violin is made from over 70 individual pieces of wood.

    6. strange classical music facts

      6. Don Giovanni

      According to his boasts, Don Giovanni seduced 1001 Spanish, 640 Italian, 231 German, 100 French, and 91 Turkish women.

    7. incredible classical music facts

      7. Titanic

      The London Symphony Orchestra was booked to travel on the Titanic's maiden voyage, but they changed boats at the last minute.

    8. incredible classical music facts

      8. Leonard Warren

      Baritone Leonard Warren died on stage at The Met in 1960 just as he had finished singing Verdi's 'Morir, Tremenda Cosi' ('To Die, a Momentous Thing').

    9. incredible classical music facts

      9. Dogfish

      Dogfish skin was often used in the 18th century to sand violins.

    10. incredible classical music facts

      10. Nellie Melba

      Soprano Dame Nellie Melba died from a skin infection after an unsuccessful facelift operation.

    11. incredible classical music facts

      11. Yuri Gagarin

      Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin sang a Shostakovich song, 'My Homeland Hears', over the radio on his first space mission.

    12. incredible classical music facts

      12. Chicken on cellist

      During a performance of Boris Godunov at Sydney Opera House, a chicken fell off the stage and onto a cellist.

    13. incredible classical music facts

      13. Kidnap

      Renaissance composer Orlando de Lassus was kidnapped many times as a boy because of his beautiful singing voice.

    14. incredible classical music facts

      14. Expensive costume

      The most expensive opera costume of all time was worn by Adelina Patti at Covent Garden in 1895. It was worth £15 million.

    15. incredible classical music facts

      15. Dog fur

      Franz Liszt received so many requests for locks of his hair that he bought a dog and sent fur clippings instead.

    16. incredible classical music facts

      16. Karajan's wife

      When he died, conductor Herbert von Karajan's wife, Eliette, inherited a fortune worth €250 million.

    17. incredible classical music facts

      17. Mozartkugeln

      'Mozartkugeln' is one of the most popular chocolate brands in Austria.

    18. incredible classical music facts

      18. Havergal Brian

      Havergal Brian's Symphony No. 1, the 'Gothic', requires over 800 musicians to perform, including 82 string players.

    19. incredible classical music facts

      19. Cat Piano

      Domenico Scarlatti composed his 'cat fugue' after his cat, Pulcinella, walked across his keyboard.

    20. incredible classical music facts

      20. Karaoke

      The Japanese word 'karaoke' comes from a phrase meaning 'empty orchestra'.

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