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Seven Times When The Encore Outshined the Concert
As concert life has gradually returned in this pandemic season, so too, have encores. In the April 2022 issue of BBC Music Magazine I look at the uneven history of this beloved and occasionally contentious practice, from moments when encores were banned to examples of supreme encore creativity. In researching the piece, I encountered a…
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2021 Year in Review: Classical Music’s Memorable Moments
The classical music world lurched back to life in 2021. And while at times bumpy and unpredictable, the year was hardly lacking in creative energy. Below are the top six stories.
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Chicago Symphony Brass: A History – Part 2
Jay Friedman knew early on what kind of sound Georg Solti was after when the Hungarian maestro became the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s music director in the fall of 1969. “When he first came — and this is regarding the brass section — you couldn’t play loud enough for him,” the orchestra’s principal trombone recalls. “It…
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Mozart Looms Large in Salzburg (Modest Stature Aside)
A visit to the Mozart Residence in Salzburg, Austria one early spring day found a surprising number of young visitors in their teens and twenties, representing various nationalities and many seemingly absorbed in the composer’s personal story.
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Philip Glass on Piano Music, Memories and Motorcycles
On a blustery afternoon in early December, Philip Glass climbed the massive staircase that leads up to the Juilliard School lobby, and barely winded, sat down for a long conversation about this music, life and career. Our talk, which formed the basis of a cover story for the February issue of BBC Music Magazine, veered from topic to topic, and one was…