Blog
Mozart, Don Giovanni, K 527, Furtwängler(c)
April 8, 2021I am only going to say a few things about this performance. It is the best Don Giovanni that I have... Read More
Charles Panzéra, Swiss Baritone
March 28, 2021Charles Panzéra was the leading baritone exponent of French song between the wars. French song in French is called mélodie. He... Read More
Die Walküre Act III – Leb’ wohl, Alexander Kipnis (Wotan), Leo Blech, Die Staatskapelle Orchestra Berlin (c)
March 25, 2021I am not done with Die Walkürie yet. I honestly believe, even given all my hesitation about Wagner, that the aria... Read More
Die Walküre, 1st Act, Lotte Lehmann and Lauritz Melchior, Bruno Walter (c)
March 25, 2021Oh, yes, I've done it. I have steered myself back to vocal music, but I got caught in Wagner. What I... Read More
Beethoven 6th Symphony (Pastoral) Weingartner (c)/Tchaikovsky 6th Symphony (Pathétique) Mravinsky (c)
March 20, 2021Believe it or not, I am wending my way back to vocal music. But it occurred to me that I have... Read More
Anton Bruckner 7th Symphony in E-major WAB 107, Eugen Jochum (c)
March 10, 2021Yes, it's true. I am stuck in German symphonic mode, and I haven't even touched Brahms! At some point, I will... Read More
Mahler Symphony 9 D major/D-flat, Bruno Walter conductor 1938
March 8, 2021This is one of those works in Western classical music that one should hear at least once. Actually, it is a... Read More
The Grande Messe des morts (or Requiem), Op. 5, by Hector Berlioz
March 5, 2021There are four major requiems in Western classical music: Mozart, Verdi, Brahms (which is a requiem in name only), and Berlioz.... Read More
Mozart’s Requiem, KV 626 in D minor
February 14, 2021This is one of those works that I should have written about years ago. I sang it as part of a... Read More
Joseph Schmidt, tenor
January 19, 2021JOSEPH SCHMIDT It is impossible to assess how many great artists were among the casualties of the last war. We do... Read More
