The solo violin has long been acknowledged as the perfect instrument to express emotions like love, longing, heartbreak, rapture, and romance. The Romantic era lasted from the early nineteenth century to the early twentieth century and produced numerous works that
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Nikolai Kapustin – “Classical Jazz” July 27th, 2020 The passing of Nikolai Kapustin is undoubtedly a great loss to the classical music world. He had remained largely obscure until the recent decades, thanks to Steven Osborne and Marc-André Hamelin’s recordings on Hyperion in the early 2000s. Since then, -
The Music of Poetry
Charles Baudelaire in “foreign” tongues July 26th, 2020In 1936, Edna St. Vincent Millay and George Dillon published a translation of Baudelaire’s “The Flowers of Evil.” Trying to infuse the publication with a sense of authority, they asked the French poet, essayist, and philosopher Paul Valéry for an -
Playing Badly Alone July 26th, 2020 I love to be able to play badly alone – pianist Mitsuko Uchida (from an interview with journalist Joshua Barone) Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 21 in B-Flat Major, D. 960 – IV. Allegro ma non troppo (Mitsuko Uchida, piano) Confined -
How to Talk So Colleagues Will Listen
Golden Rules for Chamber Music Playing July 25th, 2020Playing chamber music has always been a great joy. Now more than ever, chamber music has become the essential genre for musicians. During these challenging times, while we avoid large gatherings, musicians have realized we must re-imagine concerts and performing. -
Making a New Box
An Interview with Dean Anthony July 24th, 2020Every opera company and university opera center knows the current problem – no way to get on stage, no way to do productions, no way to reach your audience, and an unending number of Zoom meetings. For Dean Anthony of -
Trees of History
Respighi: Pini di Roma July 24th, 2020Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) continued his tour of Rome with his 1924 work Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome). Just as in Fontane di Roma (1916), he looked at the trees in various parts of the city at different times of -
Composers of the Zodiac
The Tropic of Leo July 23rd, 2020People born under the sign of Leo are natural born leaders, with the astrological symbol of the Lion going back to Greek mythology. The constellation Leo contains many bright stars, and it is associated with the Lion that Heracles overcame -
Playing Second Fiddle (Ahem, Clarinet) July 22nd, 2020 My work in Britten Sinfonia frequently involves playing second clarinet parts, yet elsewhere (like many wind players) I move between second and principal positions. I get asked if I enjoy one more than the other, and the honest truth is