Brahms Requiem

While many musicians offer differing views on the interpretations of Brahms’ works, most seem to advocate performances that passionately and clearly communicate the balance between his backward looking classicism and his forward looking harmonic and structural innovations. Brahms music confounds interpreters with his supreme mastery of all the structural components of music and how he [...]

Listen and Watch

On April 9, 2007, the Classical music world experienced a shock of seismic proportions. Countless critics had been constantly proclaiming the death of classical music. The LA Philharmonic announced that its music director, composer-conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, was stepping down and that Gustavo Dudamel was taking over. Gustavo Dudamel, who has spent less than three decades [...]

Neo-Classical Perfection

In my opinion, the future of music will have more in common with the music of Stravinsky and Debussy than with Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern. Esa-Pekka Salonen, in a DVD, made a similar assertion and after much thought, I agree. While the influence of the Second Viennese School cannot be denied, I do see a [...]

Concert Performance

I just received word that two videos of my performance with my friend Kristin of the Franck Violin Sonata were posted on you tube. Here they are. While I didn’t play perfectly, I felt the performances were acceptable and that we were able to communicate the music. Here they are. Maybe the other movements will [...]