January 20, 2021Of all of the major composers of the nineteenth century, Hector Berlioz is perhaps the most personally interesting. What a…
January 20, 2021Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich are the two composers who stood above the rest of those who labored during the…
January 19, 2021“A Light in the Ocean” is a pure reflection of the wonders of life across our planet. As I composed…
January 16, 2021In the crystalline perfection of Mozart’s works, pride of place must be given to his operas, nonpareil dramatic works that…
January 16, 2021Public memory is cruel, and there are legions who were household names during their lifetimes, only to gradually fade into…
January 16, 2021Ravel and Debussy are often paired in music lovers’ minds. They certainly were friends, admirers of their respective talents and…
January 16, 2021Beethoven wrote a gaggle of overtures, some were admittedly potboilers (his heart really wasn’t into them, but his financial needs…
December 18, 2020The years 1801-02 marked the nadir of Beethoven’s emotional life, as he grappled with the reality of his increasing and…- December 18, 2020By 1806 Beethoven had surmounted a series of significant distractions that had seriously affected his creative life. The difficulties that…
- December 18, 2020Until recently Farrenc has been practically unknown to symphonic audiences—especially in this country--but in her time she was held in…
