Tracing one’s roots is a popular pastime today. In music, the schools of cello playing can be traced genealogically through the connection we have with our teachers, and their teachers. Just as with piano teaching traditions, the Russian school of

In his day, Franz Strauss was recognized as an important artistic personality. Foremost, he was a celebrated horn virtuoso, “breathing soul into the unthankful instrument.” Even Richard Wagner, against whom the musically conservative Strauss took literally every opportunity to make

Hear My Prayer (Da ispravitsya molitva moya) From BELLS OF DAWN (2014) Released by Ondine Chesnokov: Hear My PrayerOndine’s third release with the star baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky is devoted to sacred works by Russian composers and to Russian folk songs.

Franz Berwald just couldn’t wait to leave provincial Stockholm behind. With a number of compositions in his back pocket, he departed for Berlin in 1829 to follow his musical calling. He had some distant relatives in that city, and alongside

“I wish to be honest,” wrote Jean Françaix (1912-1997), “When I am composing, the finest theories are the last things that come to mind. My interest is not primarily attracted by the motorways of thought, but more the paths through

Play always as if the presence of a master– Robert Schumann The ability to self-critique, evaluate and reflect on one’s playing during practicing is a crucial skill for musicians, and is a component of the skillset of “deliberate practice”, which

The legendary pianist, composer, and pedagogue Leopold Godowsky was a world traveler. He considered “travel not only a way of lifting the creative intellect, but also a philosophical, spiritual enterprise, a way of advancing one’s journey of self-discovery.” Drawing inspiration