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November 3 is the date of Japan’s annual CULTURE DAY celebration. The occasion is intended to promote the arts and academic endeavors, and the festivities include art exhibitions and parades. Today’s Beautiful Music highlights Japanese musician Masaaki Suzuki, who is one of the world’s foremost experts in music by Johann Sebastian Bach. The organist, harpsichordist […]

Antonia Padoana Bembo was a Venetian musician born in the 1640s. She worked mainly in Paris in the court of King Louis XIV. Today’s Beautiful Music is an excerpt from Antonia Bembo’s LAMENTO performed by soprano Julie Dey, baroque cello player Kevin Bourdat, lutenist Parsival Castro, and harpsichordist Cyril Pallaud.

I’m often amazed by all the holidays and observances there are on the calendar. Today — November 1 — is Author’s Day, so I’ve chosen Beautiful Music connected to Johann Joseph Fux. The Austrian composer, music theorist and pedagogue wrote an influential book on counterpoint called GRADUS AD PARNASSUM, and his 1725 treatise has been

Happy Halloween! Don’t be afraid … today’s BOO-tiful music is the (in)famous Toccata and Fugue in d minor by Johann Sebastian Bach. This frightfully good performance is by organist Elena Privalova.

Nobuyuki Tsujii is a pianist who began playing pianist at age 2 when he overhead his mother singing the melody for Jingle Bells, and tapped out the same melody on his toy piano. Nobuyuki Tsujii has won numerous awards, including the joint Gold Medal at the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition He has also

German bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff’s musical interests range from Bach cantatas, to lieder, to jazz. He retired from his international opera singing career in 2012, but has continued to perform jazz with his quartet. Today’s Beautiful Music features the versatile musician Thomas Quasthoff with pianist Daniel Barenboim singing GUTE NACHT from Franz Schubert’s WINTERREISE, as well

Scottish musician Evelyn Glennie has made an extraordinary international full-time career as a solo percussionist. Her repertory spans classical, jazz, and contemporary music. She has made more than 40 CDs, and has won more than 100 awards, including two GRAMMYS. Today’s Beautiful Music features Evelyn Glennie as the vibraphone soloist playing a transcription of the first

Norman Malone is a pianist. He started playing as a 5 year old, and immediately showed an aptitude for music. At age 10, he sustained permanent injuries to his right arm and hand in a brutal attack. He quietly continued his music studies, learning the left-hand repertory for piano, but it was many decades before