Joseph Calleja: The Young Tenor With The Old-School Sound
Opera fanatics often trot out the tired old complaint about how "they don't make 'em like they used to" while pining for the great singers of the past. But as an unabashed opera nerd, I can tell you...
View ArticleClouds, Concertos And A Trip To Fiji: New Classical Albums
With all the chatter about the death of the compact disc, anxiety in the recording industry and the domination of downloads, the flood of CDs overflowing my mailbox never seems to recede. Need a new...
View ArticleFrom Hyperpianos To Harmonious Handel: New Classical Albums
What's the saying — the more things change, the more they stay the same? It seems that's how it goes in the ways we make music. MIT futurologist Tod Machover rethinks traditional instruments, coming up...
View ArticleFireworks From Cuba, And Schubert That Grooves: New Classical Albums
Although it always seems fashionable to forecast the downfall of classical music, enterprising musicians both young and not so young continue to make deeply satisfying recordings. For this visit to...
View ArticleA Know-It-All's Guide To Olympic Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IizWc4cJwbw In case you've been hiding under a rock, a friendly little assortment of international games called the Olympics begins in London Friday. That means...
View ArticleHeadbanging Bruckner And Debussy In Black And White: New Classical Albums
Some people are intimidated by the vastness of classical music. And while the prospect of more than 1,000 years of hits to consider may be daunting, just think instead of how many musical journeys of...
View ArticleCecilia Bartoli's Latest 'Mission' Rediscovers Agostino Steffani
Cecilia Bartoli has a passion for musical archaeology: "I am the Indiana Jones of classical," she says jokingly to All Things Considered host Robert Siegel. Bartoli rummages through music history to...
View ArticleElliott Carter, Giant Of American Music, Dies At 103
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1stGn4NA-tU Tom Cole's appreciation of Elliott Carter's life, which includes interviews with Carter and musicians Charles Rosen and Ursula Oppens, airs Tuesday on All...
View ArticleA Bald Mezzo And Three Shades Of Violin: Classical Favorites From 2012
From mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli 's ambitious revival of the early Baroque composer Agostino Stefani (and yes, she's got another outrageous album cover) to three very different roles for the violin,...
View ArticleWhatever Happened To The Classical Christmas Album?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr-csOGecGc Is it just me, or does it seem like Santa is delivering far fewer classical Christmas albums these days? Decades ago, many of the top opera divas — from...
View ArticleMeasures Of Affection: Five Musical Love Letters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht1OkPN6Zso If you've ever written a love letter, you know it's not easy. Amid a swirl of emotions, balancing elegant language and hormone-fueled passion can be tricky....
View ArticleVespers, Habaneras And Early Morning Walks: New Classical Albums
Robert Frost's famous poem "The Road Not Taken" begins with the line: "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood." Frost's traveler must choose between them. But slide that metaphor over to the world of...
View ArticleRevved-up Vivaldi, Persian Bamboo And Soaring Spirituals: New Classical Albums
It's a brave new musical world. Between downloads, iPods, music sharing websites and the good old CD, we have more easy access to the songs and symphonies we love than ever before. In this visit to All...
View ArticleIs Battle Fatigue Over? The Met Rehires A Banned Soprano
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvawSfGu6xA A Feb. 8, 1994 New York Times headline reads: " The Met Drops Kathleen Battle, Citing 'Unprofessional Actions' ." A Times headline from Monday reads: "...
View ArticleMusic News: Pultizer Prize Winners, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: In other Pulitzer news, this year's winner in the music category is composer and multi-instrumentalist Du Yun for her work "Angel's Bone."...
View ArticleThe Gould That Didn't Glitter: New Box Set Of 'Goldberg Variations' Outtakes
Pianist Glenn Gould rocketed to fame in 1955 with his startling and original take on Bach 's Goldberg Variations . Gould's fans were treated to a remake of Goldbergs in 1982, when he released a...
View ArticleDmitri Hvorostovsky, Renowned Baritone, Dies At 55
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m5D1HNhGYE The Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky — one of the most widely respected singers in the opera world today — died Wednesday morning in London of...
View ArticleHow The 'New World' Symphony Introduced American Music To Itself
This story is part of American Anthem, a yearlong series on songs that rouse, unite, celebrate and call to action. Find more at NPR.org/Anthem . Sometimes it takes an outsider to point out what's great...
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