by Steven Blier | Nov 29, 2016 | Song of the Day
One tiny step for mankind: I finally finished the program for NYFOS’s Tchaikovsky concert next January. It had been about 82% done for several months, and I kept swearing I just needed a weekend to polish it off. But the longer I looked at the playlist, and the more I...
by Steven Blier | Nov 28, 2016 | Song of the Day
At the Thursday performance of Rodgers, Rodgers, and Guettel I met a man I had only heard about: pianist, composer, and thererminist Rob Schwimmer. Rob is a close musical associate of Adam Guettel’s, and a friend of Michael Barrett’s. He was very warm to me after the...
by Laurence Maslon | Nov 14, 2016 | Song of the Day
I grew up on Long Island, forty-five minutes from Broadway (actually forty-nine) and my father commuted to the city and back on the Long Island Rail Road, five days a week, for 38 years. One night, he trudged wearily through the front door, tossed his briefcase...
by Steven Blier | Oct 30, 2016 | Program Notes
Notes on the Program by Steven Blier for Rodgers, Rodgers & Guettel November 1 & 3, 2016 at Merkin Concert Hall There are two histories of the Rodgers family that run parallel to one another. The first celebrates the dazzling musical gifts that propelled three...
by Steven Blier | Sep 23, 2016 | Song of the Day
Richard Strauss has written some of the most satisfying, sensual music I know, as well as some of the most irritating. He has two entries on my “Operas I Won’t Ever Go To Again” list—no, I am not saying which ones—but how could anyone live without the “Four Last...
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