My wrongness was clear from the opening notes—those of Schumann’s “Abends am Strand.” Kissin was very songful. He sculpted ...

In 2000, John Adams composed El Niño, which is a telling, or a “reimagining,” of the Nativity. It is an opera-oratorio. And ...

Many of the pieces on display in “A Taste for the Renaissance” are very small—bringing a magnifying glass is a good idea. One ...

In this episode, Jay begins with a shout—“Carolina Shout,” the classic jazz number by James P. Johnson. There are songs by ...

Many people, if they wonder how music is made up, suppose that it consists of a tune and an accompaniment. The paradigmatic guitarist in front of a campfire croons the melody, while his hands create ...

For a few days, it was raining Martinů—Bohuslav Martinů, the Czech composer who lived from 1890 to 1959. I am exaggerating. But we did have two Martinů pieces in close succession, which is rare. The ...

During the high dudgeon of the Black Lives Matter movement, New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts joined the chorus of handwringers with a particular twist. “In our 60+ year history, we ...

Ever since I read Alan Jefferson’s Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (1996), the first and, after three decades, still the only biography of that impeccable vocal artist who for me and so many remains the ...