Live Music
Super Bowl Sunday was one of the greatest comeback performances in history. After a shaky start the team came together and finished like the champions they are. I speak not of the selfish and immature …
“Music stays the same across time but also transforms across time and it is full of layered patterns and the patterns interact harmoniously with one another. I was fascinated with music because it gives people …
Immature and selfish. Are there any two more undesirable attributes? You might say cruel and unfeeling but cruel and unfeeling are just different iterations of immature and selfish. As positive as I feel I’ve tried …
Have you ever taken a moment to ask yourself, “What the hell are we all doing?” It’s a legitimate question. What are we all doing and who decided gold is valuable? Every morning when we …
Hershey Felder portrays famed composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and others in Our Great Tchaikovsky. Combining a piano concert, a one-man show, and political theater, Felder creates a performance that both entertains and makes audiences think. …
Symphony CEO Martha Gilmore made some lovely statements before Saturday night’s symphony concert. She also made a sly remark about the house being sold out for the music of Erich Korngold. Of course, the house …
There are certain names one should know when it comes to conductors. Not just names but their contributions. Here are 10 dead conductors whom everyone should know of. I have limited to conductors of whom …
I spent Sunday night “doc-ing out” on YouTube. Surrounded by the puddles of a mediocre culture obsessed with any number of transient concerns, I found it necessary to bathe in something more permanent — admittedly …
The music of Tchaikovsky has long been a favorite of everybody except the most obtuse of emotional constitution. He, along with Puccini, is the master emoter. Whereas Puccini was almost exclusively a composer of opera, …
I found myself listening to the Robert Shaw Chorale over the holidays. It was a bit of a nostalgic journey as this was the soundtrack for Christmas at my grandparents' house. I also remembered that …
What does it mean to be an American composer? This is the question that the San Diego Symphony will be answering all month. January is dedicated to the American composer and the symphony is kicking …
The three performances that mattered most in 2016: Great Scott at San Diego Opera; Madama Butterfly at San Diego Opera; Holst The Planets at San Diego Symphony. Jake Heggie has been prolific by modern standards …
The Viennese Waltz has become the official anthem of New Year’s, at least in classical circles. On each New Year’s day the Vienna Philharmonic gives a concert of music predominantly by the Strauss dynasty. Since …
One hundred years ago a Ukrainian composer named Mykola Leontovich found an ancient tune of four notes and set them to text about the coming of spring. The story of the song was about a …
I’m afraid that when it comes to Christmas, no one can do it quite like the Mormons and their Tabernacle Choir. On second thought, St. Olaf offers a big-time Christmas experience as well. If there …