Did you know that September is both Classical Music Month and National Piano Month? Now you have two powerful reasons to celebrate! Both month-long holidays were proclaimed in the early 1990s. National Piano Month was first named in 1991 by
Café Ludwig’s Artistic Director Orli Shaham Joins Juilliard’s Piano Faculty
The Juilliard School just announced that Orli Shaham is joining the prestigious school’s piano faculty in the 2022-23 academic year. Pianists Soyeon Kate Lee and Shai Wosner also join the faculty. Congratulations, everyone!
Celebrate Opening Night, Sept. 30
Can you feel the excitement and anticipation building? The fall concert season is about to begin.
Interviewing the talent
By TIMOTHY MANGAN The stories behind the stories: I won’t assert that they are more interesting than the stories themselves, but they’re not without interest. I’ve learned a lot about classical musicians, both individually and as a group, interviewing them
Weissenberg plays ‘Petrushka’
Here’s one of my favorite concert videos. It features pianist Alexis Weissenberg playing Stravinsky’s Three Movements from Petrushka. The director is Ake Falck, and while he didn’t exactly reinvent the wheel, the lighting and the camerawork here are superb. Notice
Giltburg’s encore Thursday night
Many people were wondering what pianist Boris Giltburg’s encore was last night. It was Op. 39, No. 6 from Rachmaninoff’s Etudes-Tableaux, sometimes called “Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf.” Here’s Giltburg playing it in 2014.
André Watts, 16, debuts with New York Philharmonic
The 16-year-old André Watts debuts with the New York Philharmonic in a Young People’s Concert, nationally broadcast in prime time on CBS, Jan. 15, 1963. Leonard Bernstein introduces him with distinct references to Watts’ race. (His parents were Hungarian and
Ticket deal for ‘Watts Plays Beethoven’
Readers of this blog will receive 20 percent off of their ticket purchase for ‘Watts Plays Beethoven’ by going here and entering the promo code “blog”. The concert features the venerable André Watts as soloist in Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto and
Friday in New York
Friday was an eventful day for the orchestra as well as for me. First, on the personal front, the wife and I grabbed a cab and took in the fabulous Thomas Cole exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. During
Pacific Symphony’s 2018-2019 chamber music series announced
Pacific Symphony announced today programming and dates for the 2018-2019 Café Ludwig chamber music series. Pianist Orli Shaham will again serve as curator and host of the concerts and teams with members of the Symphony. Performances are held in Samueli