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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Presentation of the Rose
Richard Strauss: Rosenkavalier Suite August 14th, 2014From his glorious summation of 19th-century Romanticism to the deeply probing psychological experimentations of 20th-century Modernism, the long career of Richard Strauss spanned one of the most chaotic political, social, and cultural periods in human history. Composing in all genres, -
A Master of the Orchestra – Bechara El-Khoury’s Sound Worlds August 13th, 2014 Following the release of his new CD, featuring concerti for horn, violin, and clarinet, I spend lunch getting to know Franco-Lebanese composer and poet Bechara El-Khoury. Born in Lebanon before moving to France and eventually becoming a French national, his -
Egos and Ballet August 13th, 2014 Ravel: Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2 Once upon a time, a ballet dancer had a dream of doing a ballet on a classical Greek theme. At the time, he was just a dancer in the Imperial Russian Ballet and -
Alma Mahler – Giving Music Life August 12th, 2014 I’m still a little bit scared of Alma Mahler. I can feel her gigantic personality looming over me, transcending the years, inevitably offering some acid-tongued rebuke at my futile attempts to capture this complex and volatile person in writing. When -
The Morbid Compulsion of Anton Bruckner August 11th, 2014 Having been born, raised and educated in rural Austria ill prepared Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) for the acidic and highly competitive musical environment of imperial Vienna. Retaining his shy and unassuming demeanor throughout his life, Bruckner presented a wide target for -
Fighting About Music in 1913 August 10th, 2014 Now, the most famous fight about music in 1913, occurred at the première of The Rite of Spring. Audience in an uproar, fights in the audience, the dancers can’t hear the music for the noise in the hall, Nijinsky futilely -
Dull Classical Musicians – NOT August 9th, 2014 Orchestral musicians like to have fun just like everyone else. We may appear dignified but fooling around is a requirement; pranks are ingenious. Sometimes the joke is on the conductor. There was once a conductor who was not, shall we -
Boneless Preludes and Greetings to the Goat
Erik Satie and Suzanne Valadon August 8th, 2014Recently, I came across a composition entitled Three Boneless Preludes for a Dog. With a name like that, it was instantly clear that it could only have come from the pen of Erik Satie. But it was still rather surprising