Jan 16, 2020
A bit of a preamble is necessary here: devotees of the podcast will know that I’ve already done an episode on Tchaikovsky 6. Looking back though, I realized that a short episode was just not nearly enough to go through all of the details behind this controversial and hotly debated piece. So, I decided to open...
Jan 9, 2020
One more week until Season 6! For now, let's look back at one more episode. People are often fascinated when I tell them what I do for a living. When it comes down to it, I always seem to get some kind of variation of the same question: "What does a conductor really do?" This week is all about answering this question,...
Dec 26, 2019
What is there to say about this ubiquitous holiday classic? Quite a lot, actually! This week's show will delve into the complicated process that brought the ballet to life, the not so successful premiere, and the brilliant and characteristic music that has made it such an enduring classic. This is episode is not meant...
Dec 20, 2019
Since its first appearances in the early 1900s, atonal music has been one of the most polarizing topics in the classical music world. Some people believed that atonal music was the only way forward, while some thought that it would ruin music for good. Today, we're going to explore the roots of atonal music and...
Dec 12, 2019
The Bach Cello Suites represent the apex of the path of every cellist. On this show, previously aired January 3, 2019, we go through the history of the Suites, including their disappearance, rediscovery, and now ubiquity. We'll then look at one movement from each of the Suites, comparing the wildly different approaches...