“We finally did it, by sheer dint, rehearsal all afternoon the day of the concert, after which I rushed around Genoa looking for a set of chimes, of all things…. And then there was the concert, and the report is that never before has Genoa seen such a success. Imagine, with my funny modern music!…" - Leonard Bernstein, September 1954 So wrote Leonard Bernstein to his wife Felicia in 1955, … [Read more...]
Video Of The Week: Finding the Softness In the Human Heart in Bernstein’s Serenade
The fourth movement of [Bernstein's] concerto, dedicated to Agathon, contains some of the most beautiful music of any 20th-century score." - Leonard Bernstein biographer Humphrey Burton Our Video Of The Week celebrates both a great moment from our recent Heifetz history, and looks ahead to a couple of milestones we'll mark this summer of 2020. First, the world will observe the 100th … [Read more...]
Video Of The Week: Kaplan & Kaler Play Prokofiev
Really great works for two violins can be counted on the fingers of one toe." - Mark Kaplan Our Video of the Week is a birthday tribute to Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, (born on April 23, 1891), played by two of our faculty masters at the Heifetz Institute: Violinists Ilya Kaler and Mark Kaplan, who in his introduction before a full house in Francis Auditorium describes what Prokofiev does … [Read more...]
Video of the Week: Schumann’s Pioneering Piano Quintet
Franz Liszt called it "too Germanic," but everyone else who heard Robert Schumann's Piano Quintet recognized an instant masterpiece. Schumann's 1842 composition was the first to combine piano with a string quartet, and to this day remains an iconic classic of the form. Particularly when it's in the hands of such brilliant artists as graced the stage at this highlight of our 2017 … [Read more...]
Video Of The Week: Bernstein @ 99: From Harvard Yard to West Side Story
To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time. -Leonard Bernstein Get ready for the big Bernstein Centennial! Aug. 25 marked the 99th anniversary of the birth in Lawrence, Mass. of the legendary pianist, composer, conductor and force of nature who was famously described early in his career as "hopelessly fated for success.'' "His fast-burning energies, his … [Read more...]
