by Barry Lenson | May 21, 2020 | Uncategorized
In these difficult days, it seems hard to make an argument that you and I are living in “The best of all possible worlds.” Yet that is the message of Candide, an operetta that Leonard Bernstein wrote in 1956 to a libretto by Lillian Hellman. Because Candide is based...
by Barry Lenson | May 15, 2020 | Uncategorized
A Playlist of Works Written by Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Before He Reached Age 18 A lot of the music composed by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy seems happy. But there is something especially joyous about works he composed while he was still a teenager. Youth, high spirits...
by Barry Lenson | Dec 31, 2019 | Uncategorized
I really like the book Year of Wonder, written by a British classical music commentator, author and announcer named Clemency Burton-Hill. In fact, I have spent a lot of time with this book since it was published back in 2018. (Note that Ms. Burton-Hill is now the...
by Barry Lenson | Oct 15, 2019 | Uncategorized
The songs composed by Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847) and Clara Schumann (1819-1896) are every bit as good as those composed by Felix Mendelssohn (Fanny’s brother) and Robert Schumann (Clara’s husband). Now, thanks to excellent releases available on Classical Archives,...
by Barry Lenson | Oct 15, 2019 | Uncategorized
Frederica von Stade, a great mezzo-soprano who has been a beloved artist at the Metropolitan Opera and other major opera houses during a career that has endured through five decades, somehow remains a little under-recognized by many lovers of great singing. How can...
by Barry Lenson | Oct 15, 2019 | Uncategorized
Some days you want to stretch your ears and brain by listening to Berg’s Lulu or Schoenberg’s Book of the Hanging Gardens. But there are other days when you want to listen to some classical music that is beautiful, reassuring, and just plain lovely. Gerald Finzi If...
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