Recently I went to see the play RED on Broadway.  Because I knew that it was about the artist Mark Rothko, I spent some time reading about his life and work before I went. However, I did not read any reviews or informational pieces about the actual play until after I saw it. A couple of days after the performance, I had a ball reading as many reviews as I could find! For the most part, I found I agreed with the various critics.  But, there was one who I felt missed the point of the show entirely. Interesting.

Tonight at 8 o'clock, WQXR offers a Web cast--a broadcast exclusively on our Web stream at WQXR.org--of a concert by the Emerson String Quartet.

I'm going to the theater more often than I used to.

This past weekend, I performed a wonderful 19-year-old piece: Four Seasons of Futurist Cuisine, by Aaron Jay Kernis, on a program that also included "Four Seasons" compositions by Antonio Vivaldi and Astor Piazzolla.

Recently I went to a birthday party where there was a piano. When asked to play, I had one piece in my fingers, the Op. 118 Intermezzo by Brahms--the Intermezzo isn't party music. That incident reminded me of a piano teacher saying "always have a piece in your fingers." In this case I needed two.

When I was in high school, I took the Metro-North into New York City every weekend to study classical music. Those weekends I would often end up hanging out with friends in Greenwich ...

Greetings after a grand hiatus in my blogging activity, due to a healthy-sized sojourn back on home soil (East and West coasts of the U.S.), and some adventures within Italy too, including a recent visit to nearby Palestrina, birthplace of Giovanni Pierluigi da... (Palestrina), memorialized here as the Prince of Music:

This Thursday, the beloved American mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade (known as ‘Flicka’) will sing her farewell recital at Carnegie Hall. When I was a young singer, Frederica von Stade was an important role model for many of us--a young, talented, attractive, hometown girl who made it big! Needless to say, her retirement will serve as a major benchmark in my life.

Hear the New York Philharmonic’s second CONTACT! concert this week on Q2, and read what the blogosphere is saying right now.

Earth Day is this Friday. The idea has come a long way in the four decades since it was first observed, but it seems to me that one of the most obvious consequences of Earth Day must be New York City’s recycling laws, which have us all sorting the paper from the glass, and the glass from the plastic (and the plastic from the plastic--nothing is easy).

Mondays through April bring back a long running vocal recital series to WQXR. On Wings of Song was the brain child of mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne. The series started on stages in 1995 and shortly after that, on the radio. But this series is coming to a halt. Or rather, a change. After this season, it will be folded into The Song Continues, a series at Carnegie Hall.

Who was the most ‘green’ composer? Verdi? OK, a good suggestion, but not where I’m going. My vote would be Vivaldi. It has been said that Vivaldi didn’t write a thousand pieces...he wrote the same piece a thousand times. As Earth Day approaches, our minds are turning to those who were great at RECYCLING. You might call it stealing, borrowing, appropriating, arranging, an accident or (you who are more generous) might call it the use of homage, but we like recycling.

This Saturday, April 17, Hungarian-born singer Marta Eggerth will celebrate her 98th birthday. Knowing Marta, as I’m fortunate to, she will surely have a lively celebration with humor and music.

The article in The New York Times about people who don't like cilantro, and/or manage to acquire a taste for it, reminded me, in a strange way, of Maria Callas.

I’m looking forward to seeing Madama Butterfly at New York City Opera this Friday night with a special group of WQXR Opera Lovers. Naturally, I’ve been thinking about what to wear.

I spent a few hours this weekend in renewed admiration and affection of George Jellinek. We’re planning to re-broadcast some of The Vocal Scene this summer. What are some of your favo...

On my coffee table (more like empty glasses/laptop table) are small stacks of CDs that include Garrick Ohlsson‘s recording of Chopin's Nocturnes and Glenn Gould’s “The Young Maverick” set.

Multi-faceted musician Bobby McFerrin is well known for his style of vocalizing that addresses many musical genres. Perhaps less known is Bobby's father, baritone Robert McFerrin who made history when he sang with New York City Opera in 1949. He also made history when he won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air in 1953, which led to a historic appearance at the Metropolitan Opera in 1955.

In January, the innovative string-band Ethel recorded works by eleven student composers of the Chickasaw Nation. The album will be released on Thunderbird Records in June, and is the first of its kind. Q2 brings you exclusive interviews with Chickasaw Nation composers Courtney Parchcorn and Cruise Berry by Ethel violinists Cornelius Dufallo and Mary Rowell, along with excerpts from their compositions.