When 18-year-old pianist Yunchan Lim stunned the world at the 2022 Van Cliburn Competition, audiences saw a once-in-a-generation talent whose playing combined a rare poetry with ferocious technique. But Lim’s artistry didn’t come from nowhere. This is a musician who,
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The Music of Poetry
Charles Baudelaire: “L’invitation au Voyage” July 5th, 2020When Charles Baudelaire published his collection of poems entitled Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil) in 1857, he shocked an entire generation. “Candor and goodness are disgusting,” he wrote in the epilogue, describing his masterpiece instead as a -
The Role of Audiences July 5th, 2020 A Response to Sir András Schiff’s Comment About Modern Audiences The attitude and behaviour of classical music audiences has been in the British news (not for the first time!) thanks to an article about Hungarian pianist Sir András Schiff in -
13 Facts You Didn’t Know About Fanny Mendelssohn July 4th, 2020 Most musicians don’t know a lot about Fanny Mendelssohn besides the fact that she was Felix’s uber-talented older sister. But she was a hugely important musical figure in her own right. We look at thirteen facts you (probably) didn’t know -
Opera for Everyone: In Memory of Carl Reiner (1922-2020) July 3rd, 2020 First broadcast on Caesar’s Hour on 19 October 1955 on NBC television, we have a version of Pagliacci that everyone will understand, even if they can’t understand Italian….and especially if they can’t understand Italian. In Sid Caesar’s inimitable pseudo-Italian, we -
The Freeing Disciple: Mime and Music July 3rd, 2020 What can a musician learn from a mime’s art and training? We were speaking the other day with Valérie Aimard, cellist with Cello Kids and learned that some 15 years ago, she’d taken up another discipline: Mime. As she said -
Sustainability and Classical Music
How the Metropolitan Opera “Recycles” an Opera in a Good Way July 2nd, 2020I was asked the other day for some ideas for sustainability and classical music. Hmmm. Not a topic I’ve heard much on. In doing research on sustainability and music, two non-classical topics turn up: how to make rock festivals (think -
Nathalie Stutzmann July 1st, 2020 On Conducting: “I am risky, but not insecure” Not only is Nathalie Stutzmann one of the most renowned contraltos in the world, she is also highly in demand as a conductor, having worked with groups including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, -
The Madras Musical Association Through the Ages June 29th, 2020 Hailed as India’s longest-running music society, the Madras Musical Association (MMA) celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2018 with a series of concerts and tours illustrating its diverse musical repertoire and expanding membership and popularity. This year, the MMA embarked on