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• He shared his gift for music but gave the gift of life. My heart goes out to his family, friends and colleagues.
  in Costa Concordia Violinist Died While Returning for Instrument
  Friday January 20, 2012, 08:01 AM
• A mystery, folks: Did music of the synagogue influence music of the later Renaissance and early Baroque? You can hear the teruah shofar sound, the rapidly repeated note, in the repeated note called the trillo in early baroque ornamentation. Here’s a vid of the shofar sound of the High Holy Days: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKQrBURDtQE&feature=related Here’s Duo Seraphim from Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers. Listen for the teruah/trillo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_75ck4qa4c Monteverdi might have been familiar with music of the synagogue: He worked alongside Jewish composer/musician Solomon Rossi and Rossi’s sister, the singer called La Europa, at the court of Mantua. And it was not unheard of for Christians in late 16th- and early 17th-century Italy to attend Sabbath services at synagogues. It’s a presumption based on writings of the period. I have no proof that Monteverdi attended shul.
  in Jewish Sacred Music for High Holy Days
  Sunday October 02, 2011, 06:10 AM
• Good heavens ... Never heard an "Adelaide" like that. Bjorling's the first to make me think the poem's about an eternally lost love -- a dead girl.
  in Listening Room: Jussi Björling
  Tuesday August 23, 2011, 06:08 AM
• The sexiest performer in the hottest performance I have ever seen was dressed in full conductor-formal: Riccardo Muti at Carnegie Hall, November1984. Have to fan myself whenever I remember ...
  in Artists' Concert Attire: Can Sexy Be Serious Too?
  Friday August 19, 2011, 02:08 PM
• Whoa. The segment that opens the show reminds me of the overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla ... Waxman certainly knew what he was doing, didn't he?
  in Franz Waxman's 'Taras Bulba'
  Saturday August 13, 2011, 11:08 PM
• Wish I could have tuned in sooner. What I heard in the last 15 minutes was fun, actually. I LOVE Morricone! Could listen to his scores all night ... or at least for a full hour! Any chance of a Morricone-only show???
  in Cowboys versus Aliens
  Saturday August 06, 2011, 10:08 PM
• Wow. One of the sharpest interpretations I've heard. Love the crowd reactions! And how on earth did they sneak in those kettledrums?
  in Flash Mob Gives Dramatic Performance of Ravel's Bolero
  Friday August 05, 2011, 02:08 PM
• Gorgeous program! Heard a lot of Schutz in Johann Christoph's Furchte dich nicht ...
  in Bach Family Archive
  Sunday July 24, 2011, 07:07 AM
• Thanks for the link for the South Korean anthem, David! I'd never heard it before. It's lovely. Very hymn-like. To think the words were once sung to Auld Lang Syne!
  in Top Five National Anthems by Notable Composers
  Sunday July 17, 2011, 05:07 PM
• Er, has anyone noticed that the opening of the Scottish national anthem sounds like "Va pensiero"??? A link to the anthem, if I may: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnKkN-DjXt8&feature=related
  in Top Five National Anthems by Notable Composers
  Sunday July 17, 2011, 11:07 AM
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