Musings, coherent and otherwise, from my life.
1. Herbert von Karajan grumpily churning the butter. 2. Valery Gergiev mostly likely suffering from food poisoning. 3a. Gustavo Dudamel suddenly noticing there's a scorpion on his hand. 3b. Gustavo Dudamel touches a hot stove and refuses to learn that he will get burned. 4. Pierre Boulez brings you the glass of … Continue reading 11 Conductors Who Are Doing Something Else While Conducting
"Composers are messengers from an ideal world." -Witold Lutosławski 2013 is a big anniversary year for classical music. It's the bicentennials of Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813) and Giuseppe Verdi (October 10, 1813); the centennial of Benjamin Britten (November 22, 1913); and the 100th anniversary of the premiere of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring (May … Continue reading Happy 100th, Witold Lutosławski!
Two very different recordings came out this week that I highly recommend. I previously wrote about both of them for The Music Issue of the very cool lit-quarterly The Aviary. More of my summer music picks are posted there, as well as those of such writerly folks as Amy Gerstler, Katy Henriksen, Mathias Svalina, and … Continue reading You Must Hear This: A Human-Ape Hybrid & Drowning Witches
