Classical guitarists get comparitively little consideration and wrongfully so. We will have much to say about the classical guitar, particularly when we get to Benjamin Britten much further down the line. Compared with rock gods and jazz freaks, classical guitarists operate in a world where they are largely shunned by classical audiences and ignored by … Continue reading Music History, by Guitar
Category: Reviews and Musings
Samantha Hankey: Aural Ambrosia
We've had the distinct pleasure of following mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey's career ever since her senior year at the Juilliard School. A very deserved winner of the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions (coming out of the NY region!) in 2017, Samantha's career has taken off spectacularly, debuting at many of the world's greatest opera houses including … Continue reading Samantha Hankey: Aural Ambrosia
Bach, The First Jazzman?
In the film High Society, Bing Crosby takes to the stage to educate "the great and the good" of Newport about the basics of jazz: Take some skins,Jazz begins,Take a bassSteady pace,Take a box,One that rocks,Take a blue horn New Orleans-born.Take a stickWith a lick,Take a bone,Dixie-grown,Take a spot,Cool and hot,Now you has jazz jazz … Continue reading Bach, The First Jazzman?
A Musical Conversation in a Time of War
Sting released an accoustic version of his 1980s solo hit Russians in light of the war in Ukraine. It is, I think, a decided improvement on the original. https://youtu.be/r5qhS9Ic96A This new version, stripped of the lyric about President Reagan, is a bit more one-sided, but the message of universality remains the same. Perhaps this is … Continue reading A Musical Conversation in a Time of War
The Firing of Anna Netrebko
You would think that writing a blog on music history would be a safe refuge from politics. This week shattered any such illusion. So let it be said here, plainly and with no ambiguity—Peter Gelb is a coward and a fraud. He has overstayed his welcome and it is beyond time for him to go. … Continue reading The Firing of Anna Netrebko
A Gertus History of Music 