This is a fictional story about the pianist Alexander Kravetsky. All characters appearing in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, is purely coincidental. 8:45am I arrive at the foyer of the Rathborne auditorium, where

In a recent conversation on the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the architect Frank Gehry, the conductor and composer Esa-Pekka Salonen and the art critic Nicolai Ouroussoff discussed the concept of

As I settled in for my million-hour flight from Chicago to Hong Kong, I eagerly scanned the audio channels to see what was scheduled for the classical section. Hmmm, no contents list for the playlist in the magazine, so I

“The Transformation of American Piano Making” Some inventions completely revolutionize the further development of an instrument. Take for example the 1837 worldwide patent registered by the Boston piano manufacturer Chickering & Sons. They introduced the first practical casting of a

In the great Chantilly Codex, written in the middle to late 14th century, there are two pieces of music tucked into the front, both by the composer Baude Cordier (ca. 1380 – 1440). The love song, ‘Belle, Bonne, Sage” (“Beautiful,

Ah, the poor viola, butt of a thousand jokes (What’s the difference between a violin and a viola? The viola burns longer), but, in the end, provides the warm sound that counteracts the often brittle violin sound. In a string

When it comes to transcriptions and arrangements, the music of Johann Sebastian Bach has beautifully served the aesthetic and practical musical needs of subsequent generations. As we have heard in a number of episodes, Bach’s music was variously aligned with

Music is powerful. It can make us smile, laugh and cry. It gives us something to enjoy or think about while we wait for the bus. It makes us want to dance. It gives us food for thought. It can