Bernstein, Blitzstein and Brecht

Synopsis On today’s date in 1964, the musical Anyone Can Whistle opened at Broadway’s Majestic Theater. The book was by Arthur Laurents, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The show told the story of a town that's gone bankrupt because its only industry manufactured so ...  Show more

Synopsis On today’s date in 2003, a new orchestral work by American composer Elliott Carter had its premiere in Boston. Carter was then 94 — he would live to be a month shy of 104, and, even more remarkable, he was composing new works almost to the end of his days. When you live ...  Show more

I had the great pleasure and honor this week(and next week) to speak with the author of the new book Time's Echo Jeremy Eichler. The book chronicles four composers and their varied reactions to World War II and the Holocaust, including Schoenberg, Strauss, Shostakovich, and Britt ...  Show more

The conductor Charles Hazlewood chooses the great American composer Leonard Bernstein, music director of the New York Philharmonic and creator of West Side Story, Wonderful Town, and Candide. The charismatic Bernstein clearly influenced Charles Hazlewood's own choice of career - ...  Show more

Violinists from around the world, a journalist and an Archers legend explain why Bruch's Violin Concerto in G minor holds particular significance for them.A Violin Concerto in G minor, Opus 26, became the best-known work of the German composer Max Bruch. Originally written in 186 ...  Show more

Mathew Baynton is an actor, writer, comedian and musician – who shot to fame as part of the troop who brought us the historical and hysterical sketch show Horrible Histories on CBBC.

Since then, along with his fellow co-stars, he has gone on to create, write and star in ...