by Barry Lenson | Sep 12, 2016 | Camille Saint-Saens, Giuseppe Verdi, Richard Wagner, Uncategorized
Over Labor Day weekend, I decided to write a post for this blog about all the wonderful pieces of classical music that celebrate working. The problem seems to be, there aren’t too many of them. At the same time – and this is funny – there is no shortage of popular...
by Barry Lenson | Sep 1, 2016 | French Music, Maurice Ravel, Orchestral Music, Uncategorized
I am enthralled with one of the new releases that are available for listening here on Classical Archives. It is a two-CD recording on the Urania Arts label of the great Belgian/French maestro Andre Cluytens conducting the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du...
by Barry Lenson | Aug 22, 2016 | Great Pianists, Ignace Pleyel, Muzio Clementi, Piano Music, Uncategorized
Can your piano be a composer? Not really. I have to admit that the title of today’s post is a trick question. But the fact is, at least two important composers – Muzio Clementi and Ignace Pleyel – were also manufacturers of pianos. They put their names on the...
by Barry Lenson | Aug 12, 2016 | Choral Music, Opera, Orchestral Music, Uncategorized
Einojuhani Rautavaara, widely called the finest Finnish composer since Jean Sibelius, passed away on July 17th in Helsinki at the age of 87. If you’re not familiar with his music (and I have to admit that I have only gotten to know it in the weeks since he died), you...
by Barry Lenson | Aug 1, 2016 | German Supernatural Opera, Opera, Richard Wagner, Uncategorized
In a future post, I’ll be sharing some of the basic information that classical music bluffers need to know about the operas of Richard Wagner (1813-1883). Today, we will listen to some of the rather spooky German romantic operas that influenced him. If the topic of...
by Barry Lenson | Jul 25, 2016 | Choral Music, NDR Chor, Russian Music, Sacred Music, Uncategorized
We invite you to watch this video of a performance of one of Tchaikovsky’s sublime “Cherubic Hymns” Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky has rightfully earned a place on lots of “greatest” lists. He is one of the greatest ballet composers of all time, one of the greatest...
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