2016 has certainly seen more crises than most years. But while the attention of the general public and the media tends to move quickly from one disaster to the next, many of those crises remain far from resolved. One of

Pianist Egon Petri (1881-1962) was a Dutch citizen, born in Hannover, Germany, to Dutch parents. He first learned violin from his father, Henri Petri, who had been a student of Joseph Joachim, one of the most significant violinists of the

Charles-Marie Widor’s 10 organ symphonies, inspired by the magnificent Cavaillé-Coll organ at Saint-Sulpice in Paris revolutionized the art of organ playing and composition in France. However, the composer also left behind a substantial number of meticulously crafted compositions for a

The combination of music and imagery—as we have known since antiquity—is one of the most powerful psychological agents acting directly on human emotions. And ever since sound was first coupled with images at the turn of the 20th century, classical

Nicolai Gedda (1925-2017) was one of the most versatile lyrical tenors of the 20th century. He was rightfully called the “poet among lyric tenors,” and Luciano Pavarotti suggested “there is no tenor with a greater ease in the upper register

When we think of the composer Bernard Herrmann, we think of his film music and how it could carry a scene. Think about it: after you see Psycho, with those, literally, slashing strings, did you ever take a shower with

Hector Berlioz ((1803-1869) is known for his monumental orchestral works, for his utter command of orchestration, and for his gothic horror in the Symphonie fantastique. We often forget, however, that he was also known for his songs. In a rare