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 …