You always get more out of a great piece of music if you learn a little something about it first. Verdi’s rip-snortin’ Requiem looms large (Monday), and Mahler’s “heavenly” Symphony No. 4 (plus Strauss & Dukas) will be upon us the next day. Other blogging priorities keep me from spending much time on telling you what to expect — but hey, I’ve already done the detail work in printed previews of both items.
If you don’t have the first two City Paper festival issues handy, just click on the above links, and you shall be whisked through cyberspace to my meaty musings as to how this music was made, and what to listen for. If you want to get the most out of these very special events, it’ll be time well-spent.
