Music
Saint-Saens Piano Concertos 1-5
A few weeks ago I shared with my readers Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No. 1. To my surprise, I received a lot more ...
Casta Diva
Norma premiered in La Scala (the Mecca of opera in Millan Italy) in 1831. Casta Diva is one of the most challenging arias ever written for soprano.
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9
I wanted to share with you Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. It is not a traditional symphony, because it uses voices in addition to instruments.
Cavalleria Rusticana
I wanted to share with you music that you may have heard in the movie Godfather. It is an opera by Pietro Mascagni called Cavalleria Rusticana.
Great Conductors
On Saturday I was browsing TED talks and stumbled on this incredible talk by Itay Talgam, “Lead like the great conductors.”
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
I want to share with you Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.” Niccolo Paganini, Italian violin virtuoso and composer, wrote 24 capriccios for violin.
Macbeth
Today I wanted to share with you aria from Giuseppe Verdi’s Macbeth. I saw this opera for the first time with my wife on one of our first dates.
Netrebko & Garanca
An aria from opera Lakme by French composer Leo Delibes. It is sung by two of my favorite sopranos Anna Netrebko from Russia and Elina Garanca from Latvia.
Warsaw Concerto
Today I wanted to share with you the Warsaw Concerto, a piano concerto in one movement written by British composer Richard Addinsell for the 1941 film Dangerous Moonlight.
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6
A good friend asked me if I thought Tchaikovsky was overrated or underappreciated. A few years ago I probably would have said overrated; now I say both.
Mahler – Symphony No. 5
Today I want to point you to a piece by the Austrian Jewish composer Gustav Mahler, whose music I learned to love only recently.
Wagner’s Lohengrin
I’ve been conflicted about listening to Wagner’s music for a long time. He was a raging anti-Semite and a horrible human being.
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto
Just like Tchaikovsky’s piano concerto, this violin concerto became a tremendous success and is now among the most beloved violin concertos.
Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1
There is a great lesson from Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto Number 1. It was common to dedicate a piece of music to the musician whom you wanted to perform the music.
Tchaikovsky – Eugene Onegin
I’ll dedicate the next few musical notes to Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. I have always had a difficult relationship with his music.
Beethoven’s Piano Concerto Number 5
Today I want to share with you Beethoven’s Piano Concerto Number 5, also called the Emperor Concerto, performed by Rubenstein.
Grieg Piano Concerto
Today I wanted to share with you the Piano Concerto in A Minor by Norwegian composer Edward Grieg, the only piano concerto he wrote.
La Traviata – Joan Southerland
Pavarotti needs no introduction, but Joan Sutherland, who passed away in 2010, is maybe less known to the younger generation.
Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1
As one of my favorite childhood memories, I remember walking home with my father on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I was maybe nine years old. There was the sound of classical music coming from the fourth-floor window of our apartment building.
Beethoven’s Triple Concerto
I wanted to share with you probably the most unique performance ever recorded: Beethoven’s Triple Concerto.
Opera and I
When I was young there were a few things I could not understand – probably more than a few, but these stood out: why would anyone drink coffee or beer, since they both tasted awful; and why anyone willingly would listen to opera? My mother had a great voice and sang in a chorus, but I don’t remember my parents listening to opera at home.
