The love story between Robert and Clara Schumann is often regarded as one of the most romantic in classical music history. Happily for historians, many of their love letters survive. They document their inner thoughts and emotions, as well as
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Dancing to Death:
Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story September 9th, 2014If we look at Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) we see a musician who came to embody the best of classical music. He was a conductor, most famously making his debut in 1943 with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra on a moment’s -
Lavender Marriage
Marc Blitzstein and Eva Goldbeck September 8th, 2014The 2005-film Brokeback Mountain—an adaptation of the 1997 short story by Annie Proulx, which featured two married cowboys in love with each other—brought the issue of mixed-orientation marriages to public attention. However, this type of marriage between partners of differing -
Designing Sound September 7th, 2014 We all know what a piano looks like – large and square, if it’s an upright; or large and black, if it’s a concert grand. Yet, through the years, piano makers have done many explorations into the design of piano -
James McNeill Whistler – Claude Debussy – Nocturnes in Painting and Music September 6th, 2014 ‘Comme de longs échos qui de loin se confondent…. Les parfums, les couleurs et les sons se répondent’ (As long echoes confound from afar….perfumes, colors and sounds respond to each other’) Charles Baudelaire, ‘Correspondances’ The recent exhibition at the Sackler -
Tchaikovsky in the Hands of Two Masters September 5th, 2014 Two visiting orchestras will bring a lot of Tchaikovsky to Guangzhou this year, with appearances by the St. Petersburg Philharmonic under Yuri Temirkanov and the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Vassily Sinaisky. Both conductors are Russian, Temirkanov has led the St. -
Maurice Ravel: Mysteries of the Brain September 5th, 2014 Maurice Ravel was small and slender in stature, standing about 162 centimeters, with an unusually large head in relation to his body. He was an avid walker and swimmer and until the age of 50 he was perfectly healthy. Ravel -
Everything Old is New Again:
Orff and Carmina Burana September 4th, 2014We went to a performance recently of Orff’s Carmina Burana and really welcomed the rare chance to hear a performance of the work on stage. This is a work that is more heard on the radio or as part of -
Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky vs. Wilhelm Fitzenhagen September 3rd, 2014Every summer, the “Intimacy of Creativity Festival” brings together aspiring composers and seasoned performers in Hong Kong. Emerging composers present and revise their work after in-depth discussions with world-renowned performers. The principle aim of this gathering is to rekindle the