Category: Features

• Happy 94th birthday, Milton Babbitt

  May 13

  I missed American composer Milton Babbitt’s 94th birthday this Monday. One of the least performed (in this country anyway) and most misunderstood composers of this century and the last, Babbitt… more ›

• Vladimir Horowitz: His Reputation Today

  May 13

  The German word Klaviertiger — which hardly needs translation — might have been invented to describe the musical and technical prowess of the young Ukrainian-born pianist Vladimir Horowitz, who shot… more ›

• Gustavo Dudamel and the great agent showdown

  Apr 30

  The greatest rivalries are frequently between people who were once close colleagues, and may even have grown up together. Think of Cain and Abel, Lenin and Trotsky, Blair and Brown,… more ›

• Anthony Braxton – Tri-Centric Modeling: Past, Present, and Future

  Apr 30

  Featuring Anthony Braxton 12+1tet, plus performances by Marilyn Crispell-Mark Dresser-Gerry Hemingway trio; Steve Coleman-Jonathan Finlayson duo, Nicole Mitchell, Richard Teitelbaum, Matthew Welch, John Zorn-Dave Douglas-Brad Jones-Gerry Hemingway quartet, and more… more ›

• Timothy Andres and his many, varied musical influences

  Apr 30

  Timothy Andres grew up listening to Brahms and Beethoven as he studied piano at the Juilliard School’s precollege program. When he enrolled at Yale in 2003, he discovered a new… more ›

• Ballet Stars Now Twitter as Well as Flutter

  Mar 29

  In the rarefied world of ballet, where dancers are expected to speak with their bodies, sometimes it seems that aloofness is something to aspire to. Lately, though, the ribbons are… more ›

• Hanns Eisler, a Marxist for our time?

  Mar 29

  Hanns Eisler is not, yet, a recovered voice. A two-time Oscar nominee for best score, the German composer, who fled the Nazis in 1933, was the first in motion pictures… more ›

• Renée Fleming: Diva goes to the dark side

  Mar 28

  Earlier this year New York musical manager Peter Mensch played a guessing game with a round-up of recording executives in London. He travelled across the ocean with an enigmatic white-labelled… more ›

• ‘Pop Music’ vs. ‘Classical Music’, Part One

  Mar 21

  Written by Ronnie Rocket, Classical 2.0 (www.classical20.com) The recent debate on the influence of classical music on indie rock and vice versa, originally initiated with this post in the excellent… more ›

• Indie and modern classical music: the quixotic links

  Mar 21

  Before I’m away for a week, a belated catchup with a good post over at flavorwire.com (thanks to Peter Meanwell, breakfast researcher, Ligeti and ukulele fanatic, and Radio 3 producer,… more ›