My favorite classical composers are as follows: Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Dvorak. Note the order; Chopin leads the way. Is that because I was heavily exposed to Chopin from the age of four in ballet class? I don’t think it’s just … Continue reading →
I do believe that Chopin just might be my favorite composer. I fixed on him when I was still a very young child, because he was the most-played composer to accompany my ballet classes. I didn’t even know his name … Continue reading →
My favorite composer is Chopin. My love for his music began when I was a four-year-old child in dance class, although I didn’t know it was Chopin at the time. All I knew was that the music I heard—performed on … Continue reading →
IMHO the greatest interpreter of Chopin ever. In this clip, Horowitz’s wife – Toscanini’s daughter Wanda – seems rather annoyed:
Continue reading →Every now and then I get a commenter asking why I don’t write about a certain topic. But it’s often something I have written about. For example, today a commenter mentioned – perhaps tongue in cheek, so I’m not intending … Continue reading →
Compare and contrast. I’ve cued up a very short (less than 2-minute) excerpt from the beginning of each video of the ballet for the purpose of easy comparison, but you can go to YouTube to watch the longer videos if … Continue reading →
The other day the following little ballet to music by Beethoven, set on three women, appeared in my YouTube recommendations. And so I watched it. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t much like it: too static, very “on the … Continue reading →
I first heard the song “Little Girl Blue” when I was in high school, sung by Nina Simone. My high school boyfriend introduced me to her records, and I was immediately taken with her unique musical style. No one sounded … Continue reading →
I’m happy to say that I’m now able to identify which Bach piece I learned after that Chopin waltz, as described in this previous post. Actually, it was two Bach pieces, two minuets. Easy ones but very lovely. If your … Continue reading →
As part of my newish – or rather, renewed – interest in popular music, I’ve been listening to a lot of music old and new. No doubt it’s at least partly as an escape from the political dolors du jour. … Continue reading →
[NOTE: Part I can be found here and Part IIA here.] As I’ve written before, until recently all I knew about the Bee Gees were a few of their disco-era songs and a vague recollection of longish hair, and I … Continue reading →