In the Wings

The complex ambiguities and the disturbing moral and psychological interpretations that lie below the surface in the story of Lucretia have long fascinated writers, painters, composers, and philosophers.

Schoenberg seriously considered a career as a painter. This aspect of a protean talent (he was also a renowned teacher, critic, and an important writer on music theory) opens new and revelatory insights into the complexities of this iconic creator.

John Conklin curates a range of videos demonstrating Bernstein's versatility and expressiveness as a conductor.

From the Korean War to 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,' John Conklin explores events that occurred in 1952, the same year that Trouble in Tahiti premiered.

The Threepenny Opera had its first performance in Berlin on the 31st of August 1928—let’s explore what else occurred that year.

We have looked at and listened to some relatively straightforward renditions of the insidiously persuasive strains of “Mackie Messer,” or “Mack the Knife.” Here are some others--from the bizarre to the campy!

Although a last-minute addition to the original production in 1928, “Die Moritat von Mackie Messer” has gone on to become its biggest hit.

Brecht hated opera—a bit simplistic and overstated, granted, but perhaps not entirely inappropriate for dealing with the highly opinionated beliefs of this protean playwright, poet, composer, director, actor, and theoretician. But upon further examination, the situation becomes more ambiguous.

Of the Beaumarchais Figaro trilogy of plays, The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro live on both in their own right and through the operas that mark cornerstones of the repertory, while the third play, The Guilty Mother, has provided the foundation for a fascinating, challenging 20th-century work. The enduring character of the wily Figaro, and the other personalities drawn into his orbit by Beaumarchais, have appealed to numerous composers beyond the untouchable Rossini and Mozart.

Neoclassicism in music was an important and striking 20th-century trend…and Stravinsky has often been portrayed as its most eloquent proponent and The Rake’s Progress as its culmination.