simonlife — by Alex Chao

I bought my tickets for last night’s concert with the San Francisco Symphony last fall when I was under the spell of an almost child-like excitement over this season’s programming of popular masterworks.  In particular, the 2009-2010 season has seen the symphonies of Tchaikovsky, Mahler, and Rachmaninoff, as well as a few other big names from the middle Romantic era. read more…

This last Saturday marked the 100^th anniversary of Rachmaninoff’s third piano concerto.  I don’t know if there were any performances anywhere to commemorate the piece, but then again, we don’t often commemorate pieces.  Usually, it’s the life of the composer we celebrate. read more…