I am of two minds on this topic. On the one hand, the idea of clearing airport security, turning towards the gates, and finding a kiosk along the wall dispensing free stories is simply spectacular! Printed on strips of paper reminiscent of CVS receipts, the … Read more
Leoncavallo, Vesti la giubba Ridi, Pagliaccio. Laugh, Pagliaccio, your love is broken. It may be one of the most iconic lines and melodies in opera. If you want to conjure up the high emotional drama of opera in your soundtrack, commercial, or cartoon, you just … Read more
Rameau, Suite in A Minor People who study music seriously have a tendency to become “music purists,” insisting that performances adhere to certain historical characteristics or avoid certain anachronisms. That’s a polite way of saying we become musical snobs, and, yes, I can often be … Read more
If you are of a certain age, you heard much about D-Day growing up. If you are my husband Hank, you share your birthday of June 6 with the date of D-Day, once a coincidence that people readily commented upon. This year, the 80th anniversary … Read more
Dunstable, Quam pulcra es Very little is known about the life of English composer John Dunstable (c. 1390-1453) (sometimes listed as Dunstaple or Dunstapell or Dumstable), yet he is universally acknowledge as one of the most influential composers of the 15th century. His music in … Read more
Charlie makes me laugh. At age eight, my grandson displays a gift that children have of saying funny things, particularly when their words stem from a sincere confusions of ideas. He also has developed a knack for spotting and remembering the physical location of things. … Read more
Sondheim, Send in the Clowns Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021) had one of the longest and most successful careers on Broadway, spanning almost 70 years. His musical A Little Night Music premiered in 1973. Sondheim had, by that time, an impressive list of successes, beginning with West … Read more
Varèse, Ionisation Edgard Varèse (1883-1965) was born in Paris. He moved to America in 1915 and spent most of his professional life here. He studied music at the Schola Cantorum and the Paris Conservatory. He also spent a good deal of time studying engineering in … Read more
Massenet, Méditation The Belle Époque describes a peaceful and prosperous era between two catastrophic European wars: the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and the onset of World War I in 1914. Major advances in science and technology were accompanied by a flourishing of … Read more
It’s easy to learn a language when your feet are on the ground. For the first time in many visits to Croatia, my hit-and-miss efforts to grasp the language are bearing fruit. Croatian has just enough similarities to Russian to have tripped me up in … Read more