Mar 22, 2019
Very few pieces of classical music are as iconic as George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, so this week we're taking a look back at one of my favorite episodes, all about this wonderful piece. We'll talk about the amazing circumstances of the piece's premier, the difficulties of crossing the bridge between jazz and...
Mar 14, 2019
It's the Season 4 Finale and we're going out with a bang with the Finale of Mahler's 9th Symphony. This is one of Mahler's most unusual and passionate creations, a 25 minute slow movement that embraces church hymns as well as some of the most barren and expressionless music he ever wrote. We'll talk about these...
Mar 7, 2019
Mahler was the Artistic Director of the Vienna Court Opera from 1897-1907. During his tenure, he instituted reforms, raised playing levels, and introduced new operas to the audience. Despite grudging admiration from all corners, he was reviled for his bull in a china shop attitude. Openly anti-semitic critics attempted...
Feb 28, 2019
When I started writing the show this week, I realized there’s so much to get into that each movement really does deserve to have its own special show, so this week we're focusing on the second movement of Mahler 9. There are a few ways to hear this movement: as the idealization of a genuine country dance, as a pure...
Feb 14, 2019
Mahler never said that his 9th symphony was a response to the death of his daughter Maria, and never hinted at the programmatic aspects behind the symphony, Mahler's 9th has become indelibly associated with saying goodbye, to Maria, to the world, to life itself. With Maria's death, and the diagnosis of his own...