Musings on ballet, classical music, the violin, and life
The Classical GirlMark your calendars. Something thrilling is going to happen in St. Burchardi’s church in Halberstadt, Germany on August 5, 2026… Since my original essay on John Cage’s famous — and famously long — composition was written in July 2013, when I’d been blogging for less than six months, odds are high only a few … Read more
Violinist Elina Vähälä made international headlines back in April following a performance of Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with Finland’s Sinfonia Lahti. The headlines, however, weren’t because of what she was playing and how beautifully she was playing it. Actually, I take that back. Because what she was playing on was a 1780 Giovanni Battista … Read more
It was love at first sight—or hearing—for me with Josef Suk’s Scherzo fantastique, a lively 15-minute composition that bears a stylistic resemblance to my other faves, Khachaturian’s Masquerade waltz and Saint Saëns’ Danse Macabre, not to mention elements from Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which I blogged about HERE. But only when I started delving deeper … Read more
Am I allowed to say that back in 2024, I didn’t love the buzzy world premiere of Aszure Barton’s Mere Mortals? I’m still not sure if I’m brave enough to say “I hated it” because it brought such wide acclaim from critics and audience members alike with only a minority of naysayers. It seemed very clear … Read more
I hate deaths. At the risk of stating the obvious, they hurt. They leave a giant gap. You walk around with an ache that can’t be assuaged. Those are precisely the reasons I love “celebration of life” events for the recently deceased. Sure, you’re still going to grieve. Cry. Feel that emptiness. But the word … Read more