Classical
Welsh Soprano Superstar Katherine Jenkins OBE Engaged to Long-Time Secret Director Beau Andrew Levitas, Fans Had No Clue!
Emerson String Quartet Performs Shostakovich and Britten at Alice Tully Hall for Lincoln Center's Great Performer Series
Emerson continues their exploration of the late quartets of Shostakovich, who is surely one of the masters of the 20th-century form. Interestingly enough, Emerson's program will pair Shostakovich's 13th and 14th quartets with the third one of Benjamin Britten. The Column: Ralph Vaughn Williams' 'The Lark Ascending Wins' Again, But Why?
Here comes the unaskable question - what is it with The Lark Ascending? The Vaughan Williams work has again topped the Classic FM Hall of Fame poll. It might have been edged out by the Rach 2 for the last few years, but it is a regular at the lofty summit of the list, voted on by more than 100,000 listeners to the UK radio station. It has also previously been voted Brits' favorite-ever melody featured in the popular BBC Radio show Desert Island Discs. Audiences love it, violinists love it (it is largely a violin showpiece), so it feels strangely subversive to ask, "Why?"
