Beautiful Music

Marie-Emmanuelle Bayon Louis (1746-1825) was a French pianist and composer. She was also music teacher to the daughter of French philosopher Denis Diderot. Marie-Emmanuelle Bayon Louis wrote a small number of compositions. Today’s Beautiful Music is an aria from her 1776  opéra-comique Fleur d’épine (May-Flower) sung by soprano Berit Norbakken. https://symposium.music.org/index.php/30/item/2069-marie-emmanuelle-bayon-later-madame-louis-and-music-in-late-eighteenth-century-france    

JungHae Kim is a talented and versatile musician. The harpsichordist’s teachers have included Gustav Leonhardt, and she has studied at some of the most acclaimed institutions, including PEABODY CONSERVATORY in Baltimore, Maryland, OBERLIN CONSERVATORY in Ohio, the SWEELINCK CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC in Amsterdam, and INDIANA UNIVERSITY in Bloomington. Today’s Beautiful Music features JungHae Kim playing

As we celebrate Johann Sebastian Bach’s birthday this week on Sunday Baroque, today’s Beautiful Music features soprano Natalie Dessay singing the opening aria from Bach’s Cantata BWV 82a ICH HAVE GENUG. She performs with Le Concert d’Astrée conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm. You can also use the links below to learn more about Natalie Dessay and

Happy Spring! Happy Birthday, Johann Sebastian Bach! Today’s Beautiful Music features two outstanding violinists: Alana Youssefian is the soloist with Voices of Music playing Antonio Vivaldi’s SPRING Concerto. And Rachel Barton Pine plays her clever and virtuosic Introduction, Theme and Variations on the Birthday Song!

Maria Antonia Walpurgis (1724-1780) was Princess of Bavaria and Electress of Saxony. She was trained in music as a singer and harpsichordist, and she composed a variety of music. Opera was her area of special interest, and in the 1760s she composed and published her opera TALESTRI, REGINA DELLE AMAZZONI.Today’s Beautiful Music is the overture

Rosario Marciano was a Venezuelan musician who lived from 1944-1998. The prize-winning pianist’s teachers included Paul Badura-Skoda, Alfred Brendel, and Jorg Demus. In addition to playing the major piano repertory, she made many recordings of music by women composers, and she championed music by other Venezuelans.  Today’s Beautiful Music features Rosario Marciano playing a selection

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Today’s Beautiful Music features the marvelous singer Custer LaRue with The Baltimore Consort performing Ancient Music of Ireland. Prepare to be charmed by their delightful music-making!  

Like Johann Sebastian Bach, cellist Dora Kokas was born into a musical family. The prize-winning Hungarian musician graduated from the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. She says she couldn’t imagine life without Bach, so today’s Beautiful Music is Dora Kokas playing the prelude from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Suite BWV1009 for unaccompanied cello. She also

Two years ago, when I began this series of blog posts, sharing some of the Beautiful Music I found available online, the world was facing a difficult time as a result of the global pandemic. As a naturally optimistic person, I longed for the days when we could convene to celebrate outstanding musical performances without

Today’s Beautiful Music is a fusion of new and old. Composer Roger Quilter (1877-1953) set Elizabethan lyrics to music. Soprano Barbara Bonney and pianist Malcolm Martineau perform Quilter’s 7 Elizabethan Lyrics op.12.