Transformative Alchemy: Beethoven's Sixth Symphony.

An analysis of the Pastorale Symphony.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

 Beethoven and Nature.
Detail from the painting by N.C. Wyeth.

What is program music? This is a question that musicians and music critics have been wrestling with (and generally losing the match) for 200 years. The debate started in 1808, the year that Ludwig van Beethoven premiered his Symphony No. 6 in F Major, the Pastorale. While it would be Hector Berlioz who created the first detailed program for a symphony 22 years later in his Symphonie-fantastique, Beethoven pointed the way forward by substituting movement titles for the usual tempo markings. 

Concert Review: Bring on the Dancing Hippos

The New York Philharmonic plays Fantasia.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

Hyacinth Hippo and Ben Ali Gator dance a pas de deux in Fantasia.
Image © 1940 The Walt Disney Company.

Outreach is vital for a great orchestra's survival. This weekend, the New York Philharmonic may have won itself a new and younger generation of concert-goers with its presentation on Friday and Saturday of three concerts featuring clips from the Disney films Fantasia and Fantasia 2000, accompanied by the full might if the orchestra under the baton of assistant conductor Joshua Gerstein. Saturday's evening concert, starting at a family-friendly 7pm had an audience including current  New York Philharmonic music director Alan Gilbert.

D'oh-D'oh-D'oh-D'OHHHHH!

The Ten Best Simpsons Classical/Opera Moments
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Scratchy (left) stalks Itchy in a scene from Roger Meyers' cartoon classic Scratchtasia.
Original image from The Simpsons episode Itchy and Scratchy Land © 1994 Fox/Gracie Films

I'm in the middle of two marathons right now. One is the 2014 Superconductor Metropolitan Opera Preview, our annual look at all the opera productions that the Met is mounting next season. As I'm writing, my efforts have been accompanied by The Simpsons Every Episode Marathon. So off the top of my head, here are the greatest "serious music" moments in the show's 552 episodes. Chronological order. (I had to look up the dates--my memory is good, it's not that good.)

Concert Review: His Future's So Bright...

Lionel Bringuier conducts the New York Philharmonic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Conductor Lionel Bringuler. From lionelbringuier.com.

The 21st century has seen the rise of a new breed of conductor. Debonair, talented, and above all, young, these nascent maestros have been given powerful positions within the cutthroat world of classical music, taking over major orchestras before reaching their fourth decade.

Thursday night at the New York Philharmonic featured an even younger conductor, the 26-year-old French sensation Lionel Bringuier. Mr. Bringuier is the net music director of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, a venerable Swiss ensemble that happens to be one of the world's better recording orchestras. For these concerts, Mr. Bringuier offered a four-course meal of 20th century classics.