Tempest in a Tenor
Google the term “Mozartean tenor” and you come up with roughly 35,600 results. Do the same to “Beethovenean tenor” and you’re left with a paltry 7. Perhaps that’s unsurprising—Mozart, after all, wrote...
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How Beethoven Became an American Icon
Ever since Beethoven’s music arrived on the shores of the United States in 1805, the composer has become a constantly morphing icon. In his expansive new book Beethoven in America, Michael Broyles...
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85 CDs of Beethoven, from Symphonies to Mandolin Works
As more classical music fans shift to downloading, this may seem like an inopportune time for bulky box sets that hang around like unwanted pieces of furniture. Yet every so often a set with rich...
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Planet Opera: Following Beethoven's Footsteps in Vienna
One of the pleasures of this city is how its illustrious past cozily coexists with its vibrant present. For many, the received notion of Vienna is of a well-upholstered dowager who lives on her...
View ArticleInterpreting Beethoven: How Authentic?
When British early-music conductor John Eliot Gardiner and his Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique storm Carnegie Hall on Wednesday night, they’ll be equipped with the musical equivalent of muskets...
View ArticleMayor Designates November 20 as 'Beethoven Day' in NYC
Sunday, November 20 is "Beethoven Day" in New York City, signed and sealed by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. The honor comes in recognition of the Beethoven sonata marathon taking place in The Greene...
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Beethoven’s Deafness: For Better or Worse – Or Neither?
When composers have disabilities, it strongly impacts the way we hear their music, whether it's Robert Schumann and his battle with mental illness, or Frederick Delius, who became paralyzed and blind...
View ArticleCritical Assaults on Beethoven
As Beethoven Awareness Month wraps up, we’ve given a lot of praise to this composer, who changed music forever. But we want to provide coverage of the composer that's, as they say, fair and balanced....
View ArticleBeethoven Enters the 'Mad Men' Universe
A season of AMC's “Mad Men” that began with the French pop ditty "Zou Bisou Bisou" has now progressed to Beethoven's "Ode to Joy."Sunday night's eventful Episode Five included multiple references to...
View ArticleClassical Music Featuring Dances from European Countries
Many composers used European dance forms in their work. Dvorak, Haydn, Chopin and Beethoven are just a few of the composers featured here.
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May the Ninth Be With You
This past Friday, May 4, Star Wars fans were having their fun saying "May the fourth be with you," and today, May 9, we're asking you pick the best of the Ninths on the ninth.Is it Schubert, Dvorak or...
View ArticleSaturday Morning Cartoons: Play It Again, Schroeder
We know that number-one Ludwig van fan Schroeder from the Peanuts gang can play just about any Beethoven piece beautifully on his toy piano, despite the numerous distractions from Lucy and Snoopy.Here...
View ArticleWhy Beethoven's Fidelio Speaks to Us Now
When Beethoven sat down to begin writing his only opera, Fidelio, he was a man who was swimming upstream. Severe hearing loss had set in ten years earlier, and this had a significant effect on his...
View ArticleBeethoven's Fidelio from Italy's Royal Theater
• Listen to the Operavore streamLudwig van Beethoven spent as much time on his only opera as some composers did on their entire portfolios -- and it shows. Fidelio is one of opera's greatest stories of...
View ArticleRudolf Buchbinder Records Beethoven's 32 Sonatas Live
The Viennese pianist Rudolf Buchbinder is steeped in Beethoven. He has recorded all the composer's piano music – the concertos, the sonatas, the variations. He has performed the complete cycle of...
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Eight Composers Who Beat the Summer Heat
The first seven months of this year have been the hottest on record in the northeastern United States, researchers at Cornell University said on Tuesday. Other parts of the US have been suffering from...
View ArticleNew York Philharmonic's Season Opener: 'The Rite' and Beethoven
On Wednesday, Sept. 19 at 7:30 pm, WQXR broadcast the New York Philharmonic's opening night concert from Avery Fisher Hall.Music director Alan Gilbert and the Philharmonic restructured the opening of...
View ArticleTop Five Beethoven Quotes & Samples in Popular Music
Chuck Berry famously demanded Beethoven “Roll Over” to help usher in a new era of rock and roll. But rather than eschewing the famous German composer, popular musicians started quoting him in their...
View ArticleWhy November Is Perfect For Ludwig
Growing up in England, "put the kettle on and let’s have a nice cup of tea" is the first line of the famous unwritten Constitution. Brits will swear allegiance to the power of a well-made cuppa. A fix...
View ArticleThe 25 Essential Beethoven Recordings: Symphony No. 1
Every day this month, except for Sundays and Thanksgiving, we'll unveil a new installment on an ongoing survey of the 25 essential Beethoven recordings. We invite you to discuss our choices and share...
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