On the Ides of March, March 15, in 44 B.C. (the 74th day in the Roman calendar) Julius Caesar was assassinated as he was warned by a...

Although I am not an audio maniac, I have more opportunities lately to listen to music and to watch movies at home due to the CORONA...

Today, I went to the "Abeno Harukas" art museum, next to the Kintetsu Department Store in Tennoji, Osaka, to see the "treasures from the...

"It was not an enjoyable experience. First of all the piano was dreadfully out of tune, which did not trouble Beethoven in the least,...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKrxPTePXEQ Samuel Barber (1910-1981) is an American composer. “Adagio” was composed in 1935 as a string...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YVd5efkUnw The performance is by Borodin Quartet recorded in1973. The quartet members at that time were...

This time, I would like to introduce WCPE (https://theclassicalstation.org/), a radio station that provides only classical music 24 hours...

“Alternation of three cold and four warm days（三寒四温)” Here in the western part of Tokyo, the temperature on warm days is higher than usual...

It has been more than ten plus some years since I heard the first “live” Schumann’s piano quartet in E flat major, op 47, with my late...

The "Bach Double" concerto is a pure musical dialogue with "two soloists passing back and forth melodic ideas," said Burton-Hill. Bach...

For the first time, I had a chance to listen to an online concert on live stream. The performance of virtual "Live Time" was done by a...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGDJZgQPK8E Barton-Hill’s selection is “Consolations” by Franz Liszt. It is also called in the original...

OP18 no.1 in F major by Beethoven is the first quartet I played with a group (of older ladies living in Menlo Park, CA.) in the late...

"Year of Wonder" by Clemency Burton-Hill's is frequently referred to in this blog. The book has been highly regarded by many young...

The oboe, which is perhaps the most difficult of the wind instrument, occupies a privileged position in the orchestra. Before the...

On January 16 Burton-Hill selected Scriabin's etude op 2 no. 1. According to Burton-Hill, "Look, sometimes what we must really need in...

The music selection on January 14 by Burton-Hill is "E Lucevan Le Stelle (And the Stars were shining)” sung by Cavaradossi (tenor) in the...

I have been fortunate as I have been able to enjoy a normal life and to stay safe in 2020 although the year has been rather long and...

When my family celebrated my 80th birthday, my daughter arranged for a studio session to take this photo in 2018 In recent years, I’ve lost close friends and acquaintances, and at 87 years old I find myself worrying when I don’t hear from the people I exchange emails with. I’m still playing the saxophone, even if my progress has been slow. In August, I performed “Memory” from Cats at my piano teacher’s Summer Concert — my first time playing in a recital in quite a while,...