hank Archive

Sviatoslav Richter was born in Zhitomir, Russia but grew up in Odessa. Unusually, he was largely self-taught although his organist father provided him with a basic education in music. Even at an early age, Richter …

In my younger years I was a member of several orchestras. As an example, the San Jose (California) symphony; the Minneapolis Civic Orchestra, and more. When you and your fellow musicians work on re-creating the …

I have been listening to Mitsuko Uchida for 40 years, perhaps longer… As a young girl, her family came to Vienna when her father was the Japanese Ambassador to Austria, and Ms. Uchida studied music …

Jean Sibelius’ D-minor Violin Concerto towers as an icy summit in the instrument’s literature. But Sibelius and the violin are connected in other ways, too. He aspired to become a violin virtuoso himself but unfortunately …

Beethoven composed 32 sonatas for solo piano during his lifetime. Each one of them is a jewel in its own right. My personal favorite is the #31, and I repeatedly return to receive amazing plaesure …