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I’ll dedicate the next few musical notes to Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. I have always had a difficult relationship with his music. My parents loved his first piano concerto, and I’ve listened to it a few thousand times ..
After I wrote last week about Arthur Rubenstein, the Polish-American-Jewish pianist, a reader suggested I read Rubenstein’s autobiography, which consists of two books, My Younger Years and My Many Years. I bought both. ..
Today I wanted to share with you the Piano Concerto in A Minor by Norwegian composer Edward Grieg, the only piano concerto he wrote. It is one of those concertos that you have to listen to with eyes closed. (That is why I am including ..
Pavarotti needs no introduction, but Joan Sutherland, who passed away in 2010, is maybe less known to the younger generation.
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 ..
I wanted to share with you probably the most unique performance ever recorded (other than Rachmaninoff playing Rachmaninoff): Beethoven’s Triple Concerto.
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 ..
Today I want to share with you an unbelievable piece: “Adagio,” from the ballet Spartacus, by Russian-Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian. Many of you, especially those who have kids, will know this piece from ..
I have known about Van Cliburn was since I was very little. He was about the only American that (Soviet) Russians did not hate but admired (maybe the only other one I can think of off the top of my head is Louis Armstrong). ..
When my father talks about classical music you’ll never hear him