And here we are again at the end of another month of marvelous music. I feel like if I could get around to doing more of these series for more individual nations/cultures, there would be so many gems to discover. … Continue reading Danish December: wrap-up
Well, that was fun. In most cases, I end up preparing/presenting a month or so of posts as a program, building around an idea or connecting things by some underlying concept. But not this month. Also, drop down below to the … Continue reading New November wrap-up (and soapbox)
Dear Orchestra I Was Looking Forward To Seeing This Year, (and also Famous Pianist I Don’t Really Know) I’m flattered, but also a little annoyed. In most cases, we are very glad to have your type come through. Living in … Continue reading You and Your Programming: an open letter
There isn’t much to say, maybe, about August’s line-up. There was quite a variety of influences peppered throughout the four composers featured this month, from Ravel’s earliest work and influence from Debussy to his later fascination with jazz and then … Continue reading Various Violin Virtuosity: A wrap-up
If you’ve read this blog for any length of time (as in, any more than about twice), you’ll know I’m a sucker for a good series. I try to approach things in an organized, logical manner, so I like to … Continue reading Various Violin Virtuosity
Needless to repeat, but I shall, that none of my series are comprehensive; there’s no way they can be. The blog as an entire entity is not comprehensive. But I think in this challenging and intense month of listening and writing (the … Continue reading Darmstadt 2016: A Review
It’s July. Do you remember what we did last July? Go have a look. It seemed like a cool thing at the time to dedicate July to an interesting program of stuff, and last year’s month-long piano series was originally … Continue reading Series: The Darmstadt School
I used to have ‘thoughts’ articles a lot more often than I do now. Concert reviews would be every Tuesday, but now they’re the evening of (or a day or two after) the concert, and I’m taking on too much … Continue reading Wrap-up to a Series?
Truly in Schubert there is the divine spark. Ludwig van Beethoven His influence is interesting, and we’re not really going to be discussing his influence as much as his potential influence, or something. This article that I scanned quickly asks … Continue reading Influential People: Franz Schubert
There are so many string quartets… The obvious contributors: Haydn has 68 numbered quartets Mozart has 23 Beethoven has 16 numbered quartets (and the Große Fuge) But that’s not all. There are composers the average classical music listener (including myself) has … Continue reading String Quartet Series
or Thoughts in preparation for attending my first live performance of one of the greatest symphonies ever written My goodness. How long I’ve been waiting for this concert. And I know it’s not Vienna or New York or Chicago or anything, but it’s still Mahler, and it’s still one of the most respected (or at least oldest) ensembles in the country. And I don’t have to travel down to 台中 to hear them. In any case, this was the Mahler work that made me fall in love with Mahler, and I’m not entirely sure why. (Also, if you’re unfamiliar with this … Continue reading Thoughts: NTSO’s ‘Resurrection’