Stories

The Curious Stories Behind 10 National Anthems You Might Hear This Olympics

National anthems are some of the most iconic pieces of music from around the world. For this reason, they also contain some of the most interesting backstories.

Angelica Lasala | August 22, 2017

This Breakdance Duet to Chopin’s ‘Fantaisie-Impromptu’ Will Send You Spinning

Angelica Lasala | August 18, 2017

Hear These Uncovered Piano Masterworks from Haiti

Angelica Lasala | August 16, 2017

Hear Astor Piazzolla’s Tango Take on Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’

Meet the Conductor Who’s Resurrecting Maria Callas (in Hologram Form)

Keegan Morris | September 5, 2019

With a laugh, Irish conductor and composer Eímear Noone describes herself: “My background is very traditional classical, and my love of all things shiny and new and technological brought me to this world where the orchestra meets technology.” By her description, she seems like a logical candidate to conduct a cutting-edge orchestral recital featuring a hologram Maria Callas.

‘He groped me’: Singer Says Opera’s Domingo Grabbed Breast

Associated Press | September 5, 2019

The glittering production was a high point of the Washington Opera’s 1999-2000 season: Jules Massenet’s Le Cid, about a legendary Spanish conqueror, starring a tenor legendary in his own right — Plácido Domingo, then the company’s artistic director. The opera, also being filmed for broadcast on public television, was unquestionably a career break for a 28-year-old singer named Angela Turner ...

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Hear the Mass Some Believe Saved Church Music

Angelica Lasala | August 10, 2017

You may not be familiar with his music, but we all benefit from his work. Italian Renaissance composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is often called the "Savior of Church Music."

The Secrets to Heavenly Singing from Peter Phillips, Conductor and Founder of the Tallis Scholars

Stephen Raskauskas | August 10, 2017

"A choir is like any instrument. But because it's people, a choir is an instrument that varies far more than a string orchestra would vary, for example, or an organ."

Help Us Decide if Chopin’s ‘Marche Funèbre’ Played Backwards Is More Morose Than the Original

Angelica Lasala | August 9, 2017

The third movement of Frédéric Chopin’s Sonata No. 2 in B Flat Minor, Op. 35 – better known as his “Marche funèbre,” or funeral march – is one of the most iconic pieces of music ever written about death. Historians believe this somber movement was inspired, at least in part, by the November Uprising, a Polish rebellion against the Russian ...

Midday with Lisa Flynn