Ten Odd Facts about Handel’s “Messiah”
While Handel’s Messiah is, for many, an annual Advent spectacle—certainly orchestras and choirs across the country and abroad are delivering right now—in the Classical Girl household, the 1741…
Ten Spooky Classical Music Favorites for Halloween
It’s Halloween, and you’re looking for that perfect, spooky Halloween music that’s a little more sophisticated than “The Monster Mash” and “Thriller” and “Werewolves of London.” Look…
The Day Mozart Stole Music From the Vatican
The fourteen-year-old Mozart didn’t see himself as being a music pirate, mind you. He was just doing the thing he so excelled at, with his musical genius and…
The Exoticism & Euphoria of Debussy’s “Afternoon of a Faun”
When I listen to Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun,” often referred to as simply “Afternoon of a Faun,” I’m reminded of the vertiginous feeling of…
Waking to Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending”
Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending” falls into that delicious category for me, of classical pieces I discover upon awakening. On weekdays I set my iPad alarm…
Elgar, Enigma, and Easter
While my first choice for classical music on Easter will always be Handel’s Messiah, there are a few other wondrous, utterly memorable pieces that conjure up the same rush of…
The Day Mozart Stole Music From the Vatican
The fourteen-year-old Mozart didn’t see himself as being a music pirate, mind you. He was just doing the thing he so excelled at, with his musical genius and…
Schumann’s Enigmatic Violin Concerto
The program at the San Francisco Symphony was billed as “Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 in A minor, with guest conductor Roberto Abbado.” Great, enjoyable stuff. But one glance at my…
Creating Tchaikovsky’s First Symphony
While a longtime fan of Tchaikovsky, I must confess that, up to a year ago, I’d never heard his Symphony No. 1, subtitled Winter Daydreams. Further, a lot…
Finnish Perfection: The Sibelius Violin Concerto
It’s complex, gripping, devilishly complicated, and sounds like no other concerto in the violin repertoire. Listening to Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’ violin concerto, you hear dark, wintry night; pure,…
Sibelius, “Finlandia,” and the Cry of Freedom
Jean Sibelius’ tone-poem, Finlandia, wasn’t supposed to be the program headliner that Saturday night at the San Francisco Symphony. The main draw was the Sibelius Violin Concerto, gracefully and sensitively…
Is Rachmaninoff’s Music Too Schmaltzy?
Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Op 18 is the kind of music that grips you by the collar and draws you into its world instantly, with…
Haunted by Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Organ Symphony”
Being haunted by music sounds like something I should be writing about in late October, but I think it will still work. And there’s no better way to…
A Perfect Moment: Listening to the Saint-Saëns Violin Concerto
I fell in love somewhere near the North Pole one afternoon while kicking back at 35,000 feet. It was sudden, a veritable thunderclap. My breath caught, then quickened.…
Max Bruch: The Romantic Composer You’ve Never Heard (Enough) Of
Max Bruch, German composer of the Romantic Era, wrote more than 200 works. Ask any violinist and he’ll nod, maybe even roll his eyes, saying “of course,…