1/18 UPDATE: see this link on travel safety if visiting Kosovo. Travel to the north of the country is currently not advised, other areas are relatively safe. "What brings you to Kosovo?" In most countries, …
October 22, 2017
Europe
What brings you to Kosovo?
Feeling the "other" Bern: Switzerland's capital
Bernie Sanders attracts big campaign crowds with his authenticity and populism - but this unique candidate has met his match in unorthodox Alexander Tschäppät, Switzerland’s outspoken rabble-rouser. Sanders is a Vermont Senator; Tschäppät has served …
January 30, 2016
Unexpected Budapest
The two cities of Buda and Pest once stared each other down with nothing but the Danube separating them. But in 1873, they merged to form Budapest after the Chain Bridge opened as the first …
December 28, 2015
Fresh Stone beer for Europe Monday
Monday, December 7th, European countries will get their first official taste of Stone brews on draught, as the inaugural batch of beers out of the new Stone Brewing Berlin brewhouse will simultaneously debut at 6 …
December 3, 2015
Puccini's ode to Paris
In the opera La Rondine by Puccini, the young Ruggero arrives in Paris for the first time and Puccini lets him sing an ode to the City of Light. The aria is difficult to find. …
November 27, 2015
Lohengrin and the feminine redemption
The time has come to baptize this little playlist. We’ve worked around the Germanic pantheon of composers with Beethoven, Mahler, and Bruckner but it’s time to bring the lumber and add Wagner. This scene, Lohengrin’s …
November 17, 2015
Juan Vargas, international hipster
Congressman Juan Vargas and his staff are getting ever more familiar with Germany, thanks to repeated free trips there provided by the German Marshall Fund of the United States and Robert Bosch Stiftung, two big …
November 11, 2015
Hidden Lisbon
The slightly dirty tile sidewalks welcomed us as we left our hostel to begin our first day in Lisbon. The magic in this city was palpable from the get-go. As we followed the trail of …
November 6, 2015
The Umbrage Files: "Diva" edition
I haven’t taken umbrage with anything in a while. What good is a column without some umbrage? Today’s umbrage is brought to you by the term diva. Nowadays, we have three-year-olds wearing "diva in training" …
November 3, 2015
Gergiev and Vienna do Scheherezade in Salzburg
It’s time for another video installment. This is video number three. Since Beethoven’s Fifth is the starting point for the playlist, how do a Russian composer and a Russian conductor fit in? Via the orchestra, …
October 10, 2015
"For a remember of Sarajevo"
It was 38 degrees Celsius (100F) when we arrived in Sarajevo. The soaring minarets that mark the Islamic world were ubiquitous. It also happened to be a national religious holiday in Bosnia – Ramadan Bajram …
October 9, 2015
Music video number ein
This is the first of a series of curated YouTube videos. As videos are featured they will be added to a playlist here. The first piece to be featured is Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. Don’t …
September 12, 2015
Zen Buddhism on the conductor's platform
Alexander Scriabin was the composer who wanted to compose us all into nirvana. Sergiu Celibidache was the conductor who wanted to conduct us into enlightenment. Celibidache brought Zen Buddhism to the conductor’s podium along with …
September 10, 2015
Take up the cause of Schmidt
The BBC Proms is taking up the cause of Franz Schmidt in a concert on September 10 at London’s Royal Albert Hall. A performance of Schmidt’s Symphony No. 2 will be given by the Vienna …
September 1, 2015
Wave of the baton creates political intrigue
Politics in classical music is not new. Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, Shostakovich, and countless other composers were politically active and, at times, censored. Almost every mid-20th-century conductor, singer, and instrumental soloist was politicized by World War …
August 30, 2015