Peachnote could change everything. At least everything about studying a score. In the past people would follow a recording or even a live performance with the score in hand. It's similar to keeping a score …

Now that it is September I feel as though some solemnity is required. The start of the school year will forever imbue this month with scholasticism. For as long as I have revelled in the …

As we enter the final days of summer the Symphony Pops is completing its run at the Embarcadero while San Diego Opera brings some culture to the other side of the tracks. It’s Tchaikovsky time …

“I find Haydn’s music to be too formulaic.” “Ah, but he is the father of the string quartet.” This brief exchange between Marianne and Willoughby in the Old Globe’s Sense and Sensibility sealed the deal. …

Have you heard of Soundcloud? It's for sale if you've got $1 billion. There are murmurs that the company is seeking to be purchased because it's not making money. In other words, Soundcloud isn’t “making …

I feel that it is appropriate every now and then to get a tad personal in my writing here. Today I look to Mozart once again. We just discussed the mammoth release of recordings for …

Next year will be the 225th anniversary of Mozart’s death. To celebrate/capitalize there is a new complete edition of Mozart’s music being released in the form of a 200 disc box set. It’s called W. …

Let’s connect some dots between Verdi and Puccini and Puccini and himself. This will only take a moment. The scene, which is an “other than arias” gem, is from Act II of Puccini’s La Rondine. …

Junk: The Golden Age of Debt is currently running at the La Jolla Playhouse. The play is set in the financial situation of the mid 1980s. This is the period of Wall Street, Boiler Room, …

John Blackwood McEwen was a Scottish drifter who killed nine men in gunfights between 1889 and 1895. He was the scourge of the New Mexico territory and finally had his neck stretched in 1899. He …

It’s been an operatic week in mid-August. There was Opera Wednesday, then on Thursday I went to The Elixir of Love at Point Loma Opera Theatre, and on Saturday night I caught Don Giovanni presented …

The Elixir of Love by Donizetti is a bel canto opera, except when it’s not. Sometimes it’s not bel canto and it’s just opera. The most present understanding of bel canto is based on the …

I haven’t been to an Opera Wednesday in quite some time, so I went on over to the La Jolla Community Center on Wednesday night and listened to four solid singers sing three pieces each. …

We’ve never discussed personality type and musical preference have we? This might sound far-fetched or woo-woo in nature but I think there is something going on here. If we consider basic personality traits we can …

I was browsing the performance history of the San Diego Opera when I saw Henry VIII by Camille Saint-Saëns. This was not the only rarity in the company history but I’m a fan of Saint-Saëns …

Ernest Bloch is best known for his composition Schelomo for cello and large orchestra but he wrote a ton of music for “large orchestra.” We take an esoteric look at his Avodath Hakodesh: Sacred Service …

Hershey Felder plays Leonard Bernstein in Maestro, a one-man show about music and love told through the life events of the composer/conductor. I had heard of Mr. Felder’s one-man shows based on Beethoven, Gershwin, Chopin, …

The next entry in our women in music thread is Nadia Boulanger. Boulanger was one of the most influential musicians of the 20th Century but her main contribution was as a teacher as opposed to …

It's August, which means the La Jolla Music Society SummerFest is starting. Each summer, the month of August is crammed with performances at the Sherwood Auditorium in La Jolla. With construction of “The Conrad” coming …

As promised, here are a few more moments of classical music in movies. For this group I’ve selected a personal axe to grind and a few well-known scenes. Let’s start with my axe. At the …

With the massive celebration of pop culture over (Comic Con), I’ve been inspired to take a look at the best use of classical music in movies. This is not about original motion picture scores but …

I will admit that I missed the phenomenon that is The Legend of Zelda. The reason I missed it is clear. I’ve never had a Nintendo. In spite of my non-participation in the Nintendo world, …

The next woman in our line of female composers is Clara Schumann. She might be the most famous of the early women pioneers in classical music. Nannerl Mozart was not allowed to play in public …

Before Madama Butterfly there was Iris, the tale of a young and exploited Japanese girl. The opera was written by Pietro Mascagni, the king of verismo. Mascagni is the composer of the quintessential verismo masterpiece …

I feel like an idiot saying this, but Comic-Con is coming. If you didn’t know that then, in reality, you’re the idiot — or maybe just new to San Diego. Comic-Con has had a running …

If the Bayreuth Festival is for the elite or at least the very dedicated then the BBC Proms in London is the summer festival for the literal masses. The Royal Albert Hall seats 5544 and …

We took a brief look at the Bayreuth Festival when conductor Andris Nelsons bowed out of the opening night. Almost 60,000 people shuffle through Bayreuth every summer paying homage. However, as big a number as …

Starting on Tuesday, July 12, at 5:30 p.m. (Glyndebourne time) Wagner’s Die Meistersinger will be available to stream online at the Glyndebourne Opera site and at the Telegraph site. This is one of three productions …

Orchestral ReleasesJohn Corigliano is an American composer who should be more famous than he is. His most notable compositions are the opera The Ghost of Versailles, commissioned for the Metropolitan Opera’s 100-year anniversary, and the …

I had promised to feature some women composers here, and this summer lull provides an excellent opportunity. Once August comes around the La Jolla Music Society cranks up the Summerfest and then September is upon …

I want to write about an American composer for the Fourth of July, but I’m tired of the same ol’ group of characters — Bernstein, Copland, Gershwin, Barber. Let’s go with Charles Ives and the …

Each summer it feels as though we need to check in with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. I’m not sure it’s an accurate barometer but there is a general feeling that as the Met …

There is no lack of drama behind the scenes at the world’s most exclusive and prestigious music festival. Conducting super-star Adris Nelsons has canceled his appearance at this year’s Bayreuth Festival in Germany. Nelsons was …

Written and performed by Sylvia Milo, The Other Mozart moves chronologically through the life of Maria Anna Mozart. Nannerl and her musical abilities were oppressed by a society in which some people thought uterine bleeding …

Years and years ago, a famous opera singer was singing a famous aria from a famous opera during an orchestral dress rehearsal. When the aria ended the music continued but that appeared to be an …

Macbeth is opening at The Old Globe this weekend and it has me thinking about musical settings of Shakespeare. Besides Goethe, Shakespeare is the most influential author in classical music. Perhaps Shakespeare supersedes Goethe’s influence. …

As a musical apologist — and I am certainly more of an apologist than a critic — I often have ideas about how to get great music into the ears of more people. Once it’s …

As much as I think I know about classical music I continue to be humbled by how much I don’t know. As we turn toward summer, the esoteric pick of the week is back on …

The Mainly Mozart Festival concluded on Saturday night with a program of music which was both brilliant and, shall we say, curious? The Toy Symphony by Leopold Mozart was the first piece on the program. …

The Old Globe’s tokyo fish story features plenty of big themes from generational disconnection to familial nihilism to art versus commercialism to gender discrimination. The other theme is titling one’s play in all lowercase letters. …

In general, I’m not a happy clappy person. I’ll applaud a great performance, for sure, but I tend to be more polite with my appreciation instead of exuberant. It’s a personal flaw, but I’m working …

The last time I spoke with Mainly Mozart music director Michael Francis, he mentioned a book entitled The Ignorant Maestro by Itay Talgam. I looked it up and realized the author had made one of …

The Other Mozart is a play for the stage based on the lIfe of Mozart’s sister Nannerl. The production is here for one night only on Sunday, June 12, 7:30 p.m., at the Balboa Theatre. …

Here we go again with the surprise “opera” singer on a talent show. America’s Got Talent just revealed Laura Bretan as the latest Jackie Evancho or Paul Potts or whats-her-name, the Scottish woman who sang …

Have you ever wished you could meet someone before they became the person you know and love? Maybe wish you could meet one of your parents when they were an adolescent or perhaps experience your …

The Masterworks Season for the San Diego Symphony has concluded, so let’s take a brief look at the high-water marks. While the Mahler Symphony No. 6 concert had some technical issues this was more than …

Tis the Mainly Mozart season. For two weeks the glory of the Mozart shall shine upon us as the Voltron of orchestras assembles. You don’t know Voltron: Defender of the Universe? There was Lion Force …

There is a type of music that is crucial to almost every element of our culture. The old, the young, the rich, the poor, the enlightened, the depressed, the sick, and the healthy all respond …

I mentioned that Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalm is being performed this weekend at San Diego Symphony. That just so happens to coincide with a new documentary about Lenny. Leonard Bernstein: Larger than Life is being …

The Jacobs Masterworks Series comes to its conclusion this weekend at Symphony Hall. Music by the all-star American lineup is on the program. Samuel Barber, George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, and Leonard Bernstein will all be …