Tag Archives: classical music

Talisman’s Music of Russian Princesses: From the Court of Catherine the Great

When one hears the phrase “Russian Classical Music”, one thinks perhaps of the ballets of Tchaikovsky with their searing drama and heartbreaking grace. One thinks of the piano concertos of Rachmaninov, with their wondrous lyricism and blazing virtuosic demands on … Continue reading

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Gustav Mahler: The Complete Symphonies

Both Tim Page and Erik Ryding, in their essays accompanying this Sony reissue of Leonard Bernstein’s landmark cycle of the complete symphonies of Gustav Mahler, give Bernstein pride of place in Mahler’s “rehabilitation” in the 1960s. While I don’t want … Continue reading

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Arnold Steinhardt’s Violin Dreams

I run across a fair number of musical biographies, autobiographies, reminiscences, and the like, all the way from Berlioz as seen by his contemporaries to Ned Rorem’s somewhat scandalous diaries. The common thread, of course, is that they are about … Continue reading

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Roger Norrington, conductor and The London Classical Players’ Ludwig van Beethoven’s 9 Symphonies 

Listening to these recordings of Beethoven’s nine symphonies, plus the overtures to “Creatures of Prometheus,” “Coriolanus,” and “Egmont,” I find myself right back in the middle of the “tradition versus innovation” argument. This is particularly entertaining, given that the subject … Continue reading

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Ludwig van Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets

Beethoven Early String Quartets Beethoven Middle String Quartets Beethoven Late String Quartets Beethoven String Quartets Live (DVD) Mmm . . . two of my favorite things in one review: Beethoven and string quartets. I willingly confess to a weakness for … Continue reading

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Milos Forman’s Amadeus

The story of Amadeus is by now fairly well known. From a screenplay by Peter Shaffer based in turn on his original stage play, the film is told in flashback from the viewpoint of Italian composer Antonio Salieri, who lived and worked … Continue reading

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Hector Berlioz’s  Evenings with the Orchestra 

No honest discussion of the Romantic era in classical music can take place without making mention of Hector Berlioz, the great genius from France who seemed to typify Romanticism in casting almost all of his music in dramatic terms and … Continue reading

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Claude Debussy’s Noel des Enfants Qui N’ont Plus De Maisons (Christmas Carol for Homeless Children)

Though Claude Debussy is one of my favorite composers, I hadn’t heard “Noel des Enfants Qui N’ont Plus De Maisons” (“Christmas Carol for Homeless Children”) until recently. It’s on soprano Carmen Balthrop’s lovely CD The Art of Christmas, Vol. 1. It’s … Continue reading

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Art Tatum’s Piano Starts Here

Craig Clarke contributed this review. Jazz pianist Art Tatum, more than 50 years after his death, still has the power to impress new listeners and wow even the most accomplished pianists. Largely self-taught, Tatum’s style was so original and his … Continue reading

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Shigeru Umebayashi’s House of Flying Daggers and Tan Dun’s Hero

Recent years have witnessed a major resurgence of interest in Asian culture in the West, as anime and manga become more and more popular, and as Asian martial-arts epics receive major releases in American movie houses. The first real mainstream … Continue reading

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