Doctor Atomic Symphony at the Proms

Posted on Aug 22, 2007 | 0 comments
Filed under: Doctor Atomic, John Adams, Orchestra, Other People\'s Music

Last night the BBC Symphony premiered John Adams’ Doctor Atomic Symphony, and my spies tell me you can still listen to the stream for another week. Go here and look for Prom 50. More info on the concert is available here. (You’ll also hear Copland’s Billy the Kid – Suite and Adams’ Century Rolls.) Now, it’s no secret that I...

Sondheim Like That

Posted on Aug 12, 2007 | 3 comments
Filed under: Sondheim

This is asking for trouble; I’m sure of it. In recent days a large number of people have found this site by way of a Google search on the words “sondheim like that”, mostly from the Washington, D.C. area. Someone please tell me what this means. Should I also be Googling this phrase?

Congratulations to an Old Favorite

Posted on Aug 10, 2007 | 0 comments
Filed under: Other Blogs and Stuff

One of my favorites, the always entertaining The Standing Room, celebrates three years today. If you’re already a follower of TSR and haven’t seen it today, there’s a lovely surprise for you today. My congratulations to M. C—! You can park in my driveway any time

Dusting Off My Kodály

Posted on Aug 6, 2007 | 2 comments
Filed under: Kodály, Magyar Vonatkozású, Sight Singing, Solfège, Teaching

My latent, inner musicianship nerd has resurfaced lately. I am lucky to have had a very high level of musicianship training, largely based on the Kodály Method, which actually is more of a philosophy than a method. It’s mostly associated with the teaching of small children, but I encountered it first as a college freshman. I’ve been trying to...

Missed Museums

Posted on Jul 31, 2007 | 0 comments
Filed under: Bartók, Budapest, Kodály, Magyar Vonatkozású

Here’s a pathetic case of inertia combined with bad planning. I managed to live in Budapest for three years without ever visiting the Bartók Museum, which is housed in the composer’s final residence before leaving Hungary for the U.S. When I was back in 2005 for the Letter To Hungary performance, there simply wasn’t time. This time it was an...

Souvenirs

Posted on Jul 31, 2007 | 0 comments
Filed under: Budapest, Magyar Vonatkozású

Slices of Slovenia

Posted on Jul 25, 2007 | 1 comment
Filed under: Friends, Other People\'s Music, Performance, Slovenia

Over the weekend we rode out the rest of the Budapest heat wave in an idyllic town (village? jury’s out.) in Slovenia, where my old friend, conductor Steven Loy has lived for the past ten years. It’s a heavenly place, particularly after two 100-degree weeks in one of Budapest’s more polluted and noisy districts. Not only that, but Steven and...