When Wilhelm Furtwangler died in 1954, Das Wunder Karajan was waiting to succeed him as conductor for life of The Berlin Philharmonic. Herbert von Karajan was born in Salzburg, Austria in 1908. By the age of 26, he had a …

In 1989 when Carlos Kleiber turned down the Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan had just resigned and died shortly thereafter. Berlin has been considered one of the top three orchestras in Europe for decades. The other two are The Vienna …

When I’m talking to someone about classical music and they mention Carlos Kleiber, the level of conversation automatically goes up. His recording of Beethoven’s Fifth and Seventh Symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic are considered the best ever pressed to vinyl. …

During Carmen chorus rehearsal, one of the altos stuck her hand up and asked the chorus master what recordings of Carmen he recommends. He said that he tended to choose recordings based on the conductor because he wants to hear …

March 3rd was the anniversary of the debut of Bizet’s Carmen. It just so happened that I was in rehearsal for Carmen on that very day. As that Sybil, The Church Lady, would’ve said, “Well, now, isn’t that special.” Carmen …

A friend and I went for a walk this morning at Black’s Beach. Unfortunately there were no naked octogenarians. We entered from the La Jolla Farms side on the south instead of via the glider port next to Torrey Pines …

How conductors handle rehearsals says a lot about the way they perceive themselves as a musician. If some conductor spend most of the rehearsal talking, it can mean they’re not very confident about their abilities—especially if they seem arrogant. By …

The L.A. Philharmonic is going to be broadcasting itself on over 450 movie screens across the U.S. and Canada on March 13th. This is the second time the L.A. Phil has presented itself in this format. The concert will be …

Recital season is starting up. Between now and May, most music students will be giving their junior or senior recitals. I talked to Mezzo-soprano Alexandra Rodrick about her senior recital preparations. Alex was the third place winner in the Young …

This next one hurts a little. Richard Wagner is a pivotal figure in the history of music. We can almost divide the entire history of music into pre-Tristan and post-Tristan. The “Tristan Chord” from the prelude of Tristan und Isolde …

I caught part of VH1’s show, One Hit Wonders of the 80’s. It got me to thinking about classical one hit wonders. One hit wonders are an interesting phenomenon. One piece of music becomes so popular that it eclipses the …

For Valentine’s Day, I give you Ich grolle nicht from Schumann’s Dichterliebe. Dichterliebe, Poet’s Love, is the best song cycle ever written. I won’t back away from that and say, it’s my favorite or, in my opinion it’s the best. …

As we discussed earlier, the term classical music applies to music as diverse as Bach and Ligeti. Speaking of Bach, let’s talk about The Baroque period a little bit. The Baroque period preceded The Classical period and ran from 1600 …

Who was Gyorgi Ligeti? Born in Romania to a Hungarian Jewish family, Ligeti briefly lived in Hungary and ultimately became a citizen of Austria. His music is esoteric to the extreme. He appears to have been a favorite of movie …

This week I headed over to Mission Hills to sit in on a rehearsal of Sacra/Profana. Who is Sacra/Profana? A semi-professional group founded and directed by one Krishan Oberoi. Krishan is a Yale educated musician with a master’s degree in …

The term classical music is a generic term and covers a range of music too immense to quantify. There is also the classical period of music. The classical period is roughly 1750 to 1830 and the primary composers were Haydn, …

Chamber music is an interesting animal. The chamber referred to is a palace chamber. This music was originally written to be performed in the private chambers, or bedroom, of the patron. At the time chamber music originated, the composers and …

Turandot opened last night at The Civic Theater to a sold out audience. Before the show, I sat down to chat with Lise Lindstrom, the American soparano performing the title role. Lise was sitting in a chair having her Ice …

After realizing I’d forgotten Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata I started going back over other music I’d forgotten. I recalled that for several years Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 was a favorite of mine. I was especially obsessed with the middle “romance” …

The Sitzprobe for Turnadot was magnificent this evening. What is a Sitzprobe? It is a rehearsal on the stage with the orchestra but without costumes or staging. The singers sit on stage and go through the entire show to make …