Romeo and Juliet in Classical Music

The great and somewhat controversial conductor Leopold Stokowski said this about Tchaikovsky: "His musical utterance comes directly from the heart and is a spontaneous expression of his innermost feeling. It is as sincere as if it were written with his blood." I couldn't agree mo ...  Show more

I'm always tickled by composer trivia questions, like which standard canon works begin in a major key and end in a minor key? I'll give you one, but please comment others below: Mendelssohn's 4th Symphony. Well, how about this one: how many of Beethoven's 16 string quartets end i ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss William Shakespeare's famous tragedy, written in the early 1590s after a series of histories and comedies. His audience already knew the story of the feuding Capulets and Montagues in Verona and the fate of the young lovers from their rival houses, ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss William Shakespeare's famous tragedy, written in the early 1590s after a series of histories and comedies. His audience already knew the story of the feuding Capulets and Montagues in Verona and the fate of the young lovers from their rival houses, ...  Show more

Welcome to the first episode of That Classical Podcast! Do you like classical music? Then COME ON DOWN. Do you not like classical music? THEN COME ON EVEN MORE DOWN. This episode we talk about why we think classical music is great, and why we really want you to think the same. Mu ...  Show more

Claire and I swoon over our favorite bits of Romeo and Juliet, and discuss why this play is not a cautionary tale of unbridled passion and the excesses of youth, but rather a hymn to the redemptive powers of love itself.