I'd never seen Perlman perform live. Never seen how slowly he makes his way on those crutches and how a violin section parts itself extra-wide so he can get to his podium and chair. The concertmaster held his violin and bow, waiting. The audience greeted him especially warmly. The applause was still full as he planted his left crutch up on the podium and swung his left leg up. Then the right crutch. As he swung his right leg upâI can't say exactly what happened next, but for some reason his right leg missed the podium altogether, and his right crutch flew out with it.
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
An amiable, modest public figure or a morbidly sensitive, possibly suicidal, neurotic? Such are the conflicting images of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, whose birthday we celebrate this month. Though the popularity of his music is undisputed, the picture of Tchaikovsky the man has been anything but. Alexander Poznansky, a Russian music scholar at Yale, has taken a fresh look at this complex personality in "Tchaikovsky Through Others' Eyes" (University of Indiana Press, 1999) - a fascinating account of his life and career collected from the diaries of people closest to him.
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
It's the most famous aria in the world. Everybody knows it - but not everybody knows what it's about. So we called in the experts from the Minnesota Opera's production of The Barber of Seville. Listen to baritone Ryan Taylor and conductor Emmanuel Plasson as they join MPR's John Birge to deconstruct Figaro.
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Sometime in the Middle Ages, Christian churches began observing Holy Week by retelling the story of Christ's crucifixion in music. Those beginnings were simpleâBible verses set to simple chant melodiesâbut eventually they would culminate in one of the most ambitious musical compositions of all time. When J. S. Bach came to write his St. Matthew Passion in the 1720s, the passion, as a musical form, had grown to allow orchestra, choirs, and non-scriptural choruses and arias. But even by the standard of the Baroque passion, the Passion According to St. Matthew is exceptional for its musical richness and its grand scope.
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Sounds Irish features music by and conversation with some of Ireland's most prominent classical artists and ensembles, including James Galway, two harp players (Minnesota's Ann Heymann and ClÃona Doris of County Down) in studio sessions, singer CaitrÃona O'Leary, remembering composer Joan Trimble and more.
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Female musicians in the United States have gone from playing piano in their families' drawing rooms during the early 20th century to conducting or composing for some of the country's most renowned orchestras today. But it hasn't been an easy road to travel. Women who have faced incidents of prejudice in their careers as musicians recount the hurdles they've had to overcome in Instrumental Womenâa two-hour radio special that celebrates women's contributions to 20th century classical music.
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
With the season of carols upon us, and our own Festival of Carols right around the corner, MPR asks VocalEssence Series Artistic Director (and annual Welcome Christmas! Carol Contest judge) Philip Brunelle to educate us on the sounds of Christmas.
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Over the years, Aaron Copland has been hailed as the quintessential American composer by everyone from Leonard Bernstein, who said, "He's the best we've got," to director Spike Lee, who paid musical tribute to Copland in his films. November 2000 marks the centenary of his birth - 100 years of Copland. To mark the occasion, we've come up with 10 nuggets about 10 aspects of the composer - 100 audio clips, anecdotes, quotes, and more.
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Like your Thanksgiving Day feast, Giving Thanks combines traditional fare with unexpected delights. For Thanksgiving 2000, we've invited some wonderful new guests to the program, including Studs Terkel, Tom Bodett, Lynne Rossetto-Kasper, Donald Hall, Bill Holm, and Ellen Kushner In addition to Garrison Keillor and Bill Moyers, a rare recording of Charles Laughton returns to Giving Thanks. His spellbinding story connects his personal discovery of Chartres Cathedral with an excerpt from Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums and the 104th Psalm. It's a moving and powerful tale, giving thanks for the discovery that art connects us all to the creative spirit, offering a beautiful focus for the program and the day.
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Can you recommend some pieces of Halloween music? Some real scary ones? And so in that spirit, from the world of classical music, we bring you a passel of quirky, ghoulish and upsetting lore about the people who created it.
But be warned. There are no peeled grapes here. Everything you will read here is, as far as can be ascertained, quite true. If you prefer to think of Beethoven as a master musician who made important advances in the treatment of symphonic form, you may want to turn back at this point. But if you're curious who got hold of his skull in 1888. . . .
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
When it comes to staying informed in Minnesota, our newsletters overdeliver. Sign-up now for headlines, breaking news, hometown stories, weather and much more. Delivered weekday mornings.
