An American Cacophony: Tom Service on Trump’s MAGA Orchestra
Watching the absurdly-long State of the Union last night, I couldn’t help but think of this equally-absurd image of Trump conducting an orchestra of his MAGA cronies. Look closely and
Classical
What Price Glory? A Word on Music Directors
“Conducting has become the profession of a traveling salesman… A conductor has to stay put to educate an orchestra.” – William Steinberg (1899-1978) former music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony
Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer Triumph with Mahler 3 at Carnegie Hall
Despite the prevalence of Finnish conductors at the top of today’s orchestra heap – think Esa-Pekka Salonen, Klaus Mäkelä, or Susanna Malkki, among many others – it’s easy to forget
For Tamás Vásáry (1933-2026)
Recorded at the International Piano Competition “City of Vigo”, 2018. Telegraph obit here.
How to Get to Carnegie Hall: After 50 Years, the Colorado Symphony Returns with Itzhak Perlman
When you live in New York, where we’re spoiled by a never-ending stream of visiting international orchestras, not to mention our very own world-class orchestra, it’s easy to forget that
Pianist Unbound: Igor Levit Performs Variations by Beethoven and Rzewski at Carnegie Hall
This January, my musical cup runneth over. Just one day after hearing The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst dismantle symphonies by Mozart (41) and Shostakovich (11), I was back at
The Prague Philharmonia Bring Their Music – and Musicianship – to Carnegie Hall
Identity is an elusive quality among today’s symphony orchestras. Whereas orchestras were once home-grown, populated by players largely from within their own borders, today they have become global ensembles, drawing
The Cleveland Orchestra Returns to Carnegie Hall with Mozart and Shostakovich
It must bug the bejeezus out of the big-budget U.S. orchestras to hear over and over again that The Cleveland Orchestra – long regarded as one of the Big Five
A Pair of Pennsylvanians: The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center and the Pittsburgh Symphony at Carnegie Hall
Great music exists all over this country: from the northern plains, to southern California, and everywhere in between. Cross a couple of rivers west from New York and you’ll reach