In classical music, the Romantic Era lasted from around 1810 to around 1910. That century gave us some of the most famous symphonies in the repertoire. Nineteenth-century composers like Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Dvořák, Schubert, Mahler, Rachmaninoff, and others elevated the symphony
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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 -
In touch with Dimitri Maslennikov September 2nd, 2014 Thank you for agreeing to being interviewed by Interlude.HK! We have several questions that we think would be of interest to our readers and those who will attend your upcoming concert in Guangzhou with the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra in -
Mahan Esfahani September 1st, 2014 ‘You didn’t just wake up, did you?’ After many Facebook messages, negotiating times here and there to try and arrange a convenient time to talk, my phone finally buzzes unannounced on a Saturday morning, causing me to leap up and -
Auguste Mustel: Celesta
The silvery sounds of Heaven August 31st, 2014If you listen to Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from the Nutcracker, you are acutely aware of a silvery, ethereal and otherworldly sound coming from the orchestra. That sound, similar to that of the glockenspiel—a percussion instrument composed -
My Three Stand Partners
Aide-de-Camp Marriages pt 1 August 31st, 2014The time you spend with a stand partner in an orchestra frequently exceeds the time you spend with your spouse. I had three long-term stand partners all vastly different in approaches. My first stand partner was the veteran and irascible -
Marc Blitzstein
A Forgotten Father of American Song August 30th, 2014It’s hard to imagine someone who called the music of Kurt Weill (the composer of ‘Mack the Knife’) ‘drivel’ eventually writing musicals and popular songs himself. Yet for Marc Blitzstein, this huge shift in aesthetic was just the start –