Music History Monday

April 26, 1891 – 126 years ago this coming Wednesday – the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) arrived in New York City…Tchaikovsky’s American tour was a smash for everyone involved. He was received and reviewed like a visiting God. […]

After performing in Baltimore, Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City, the company crossed the Great Divide and arrived in San Francisco, there to perform Georges Bizet’s Carmen on the evening of April 17, 1907: 110 years ago today. […]

On April 11, 1770 – 247 years ago tomorrow – a choral performance took place in Rome that was the source of one of the most famous stories in the entire history of Western music. Here’s the story. […]

Elmer WHO? Oh, you might not know his name, but you almost certainly know at least some his music. Between 1951 and 2002, he composed the music for over 200 films and for hundreds more TV shows. […]

The last great moment of Haydn’s life occurred 209 years ago today, when a performance of The Creation was held in honor of his 76th birthday. […]

I’ve reached the most satisfying conclusion that our art is more important, more lasting, more real and substantial and certainly more inspirational than our politics. […]

The Paris production of Tannhäuser remains one of the greatest operatic flops of all time: a scheduled ten-performance run that was reduced to three disastrous performances before the opera was withdrawn. […]