“For three hours I lived in a magic dream, intoxicated by fairies and princesses, by splendid palaces, streaming with gold, by the enchantment of fairy-tale…All my being was in cadence with those rhythms, with the radiant and fresh waves of beautiful melodies, already my friends.” Thus wrote the young artist Léon Bakst after attending the … Continued
In the summer of 1929, the conductor Serge Koussevitzky was making plans for the 50th anniversary season of the Boston Symphony, for which he served as music director. A champion of contemporary music, he decided to mark the occasion by commissioning a symphony from one of the world’s leading composers: Igor Stravinsky. Returning to the … Continued
In 1909, the Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev was running out of time. After a grand duke who had been a key backer of his ventures dropped dead and his widow refused to give him any more money, Diaghilev had been forced to abandon his plans to present Russian opera in Paris in the spring of … Continued
Many have accused Bernstein of pretentiousness in associating his Serenade with Plato’s Symposium, suggesting that he merely tacked on the highfalutin subtitle after he had already composed it. Critics typically cite discrepancies between Plato’s classic and the Serenade, arguing that one has little to do with the other: compared with Plato’s book, the movements are … Continued
The Houston Symphony is excited to announce that the Dutch label Pentatone has released a new recording featuring Andrés Orozco-Estrada and the orchestra: Music of the Americas. Recorded over the course of two concert weekends in early 2017, the album brings together 20th century composers from North and South America with four lively, dance-inspired works, … Continued
This Valentine’s Day, you may be wondering how to let your Valentine know how you really feel. Here are five pieces of orchestral music guaranteed to help send the right message. Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture No list of romance-inducing classical music would be complete without Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, which contains the … Continued