With all the worldwide commercial hype associated with Christmas, it is relatively easy to forget that it is also a sacred religious holiday. Localized traditions, economic considerations and rather peculiar cultural practices — Santa Claus comes for a visit every

The city of Mannheim, picturesquely located at the confluences of the Rhine and Neckar Rivers, was not only home to one of the best orchestras in Europe, it was also a thriving center for religious music. Much of the music

Brahms String Quartet in C minor, Op. 51, No. 1 “It is one of the superficialities of our time to see in science and in art two opposites. Imagination is the mother of both.” These thoughtful words, uttered towards the

Orpheus, S98/R415 For 12 years, the Villa Altenberg in Weimar became the holy shrine celebrating the religious and personal cults of Carolyne von Sayn-Wittgenstein and Franz Liszt. Working together in a church like atmosphere of religious solitude, they wrote essays,

In 1900, when Boston’s Symphony Hall was being built, Philip Hale, a distinguished American music critic working for the Boston Herald, suggested that a sign should be fitted over the central doorway reading, “Exit in case of Brahms”! Hale’s message

Ignatz Fränzl (1736-1811) was one of the most acclaimed virtuoso performers working at Mannheim. Already his father had been part of the orchestra, playing trumpet and viola under the leadership of Johann Stamitz. When Ignatz joined the ensemble as violinist

The differences between Marie Duplessis and Carolyne von Sayn-Wittgenstein could not have been more pronounced. Marie experienced a wretched and squalid upbringing with Daddy selling her into prostitution by age 12. Carolyne Ivanovska, on the other hand, was the only

We are so fortunate that we can witness some of the work of legendary maestros of the last century via recordings and YouTube. Oftentimes their reputations are well known among aficionados of orchestral music. We musicians have a history, a