Musings on ballet, classical music, the violin, and life
The Classical Girl Ten years ago it was African music and not classical, that had me so infatuated. It was African dance and not ballet. I know, right? Doesn’t make much sense in light of my current music and dance obsession. But I’d started writing my first novel, loosely set on some of my own experiences as a … Read more
The news is splashed all over the Internet this morning. Stolen 1696 Stradivarius worth $1.8 million, recovered by UK police in central England. The crime, three years earlier: Euston Station, London. Violinist Min-Jin Kym had stopped at a sandwich shop while inside the railway station. While in there, she was momentarily distracted by two teens. … Read more
Interested in my ballet fiction? Check out Off Balance and the award-winning Outside the Limelight, as well as my newest, A Dancer’s Guide to Africa. Just click on their titles! The dare, of course, was to me, thrown out by me. And once the thought had been floated out there, I sensed I had to do it. … Read more
John Cage’s organ composition “As Slow As Possible” is, at the risk of sounding obvious, intended to be played slowly. Its 1987 premier lasted twenty-nine minutes. A subsequent performance lasted seventy-one minutes. Some musicians have made it last for over eight hours. But a few years after Cage’s death in 1992, a group of musicologists, … Read more
In my blog, “A Royal Exodus,” (https://www.theclassicalgirl.com/?p=487), I elaborated on some of the changes taking place at the Royal Ballet over the past twelve months. Prima ballerina Tamara Rojo off to serve as artistic director (and principal dancer) for the English National Ballet. Longtime principals retiring. Last month, Alina Cojocaru and Johann Kobborg’s shocking, unexpected … Read more