Stravinsky: Petrouchka

Brahms spent much of his adult life battling with his ambition to write the next great symphony and his terror at the shadow of Beethoven standing behind him. Brahms tortured himself for 14 years with his first symphony, and only published it when he was 49 years old. But when th ...  Show more

The story of Alexander von Zemlinsky's The Mermaid begins with a passionate love affair and ends in heartbreak of the most unabashedly big-R Romantic kind. In 1900, the young, fabulously talented, and famously beautiful Alma Schindler came to Zemlinsky's home to study composition ...  Show more

Synopsis There are dozens of famous cello concertos that get performed in concert halls these days, ranging from 18th century works by Italian Baroque master Antonio Vivaldi to dramatic 20th century works of Russian modernist Dmitri Shostakovich. American composer Sean Hickey was ...  Show more

Which three composers tore up the rule book and changed music forever? Joanna and Stephen begin this episode with the cold-blooded murderer, Carlo Gesualdo - a dreadful man who composed sacred music. Known for plundering the depths of emotion in his madrigals, Gesualdo's 'word-pa ...  Show more

Synopsis A concerto, according to Webster’s Dictionary, is “a piece for one or more soloists and orchestra with three contrasting movements.” And for most classical music fans, “concerto” means one of big romantic ones by Beethoven or Tchaikovsky, works in which there is a kind o ...  Show more

Synopsis Deadlines are a fact of life for many of us — and composer are no exception. In 1875, Peter Tchaikovsky agreed to write 12 short solo pieces, one a month, for a St. Petersburg music magazine, beginning with their January 1876 issue. Tchaikovsky dashed the first piece off ...  Show more