Music
The Music column is written by Frank Behrens of Keene, NH. Retired in 1991 from teaching English, Math and Science in the NYC school system, his love has been language and music. Under the auspices of Brandeis University Study Groups, the New Hampshire Humanities Council and Pilgrim Pines Elderhostel (Swanzey, NH), and the CALL program at Keene State College, Behrens lectures on Shakespeare, Gilbert & Sullivan, Opera, British Comedy, Broadway Musical History and Mythology. His publications include: Dante's Infernal Guide to Your School, published by Simon & Schuster, 1971 and numerous articles and columns for a variety of journals and newspapers.
Most
Recent
CD & DVD Reviews (Feb online 2012)
Archives:
Mythical Elements in Works for the Musical Stage: The Outside (Jan/ Feb 2012)
CD Reviews (online December 2011)
Mythic Elements in Works for the Musical Stage (November/ December 2011)
CD Reviews (October 2011)
Mythic Elements in Works for the Musical Stage: The Unknown Prince (Sept/ Oct 2011)
CD Reviews (August 2011 online)
What's in a Name (July/ August 2011)
CD Reviews (June 2011 online)
Play Long Gone and the Music Lingers On (May/ June 2011)
CD and DVD Reviews (April 2011 online)
When Composers are Victims of Their Own Success (March/ April 2011 )
CD and DVD Reviews (February 2011 online)
Carmen's Lunch Break and a Socratic Discourse (Jan/ Feb 2011)
CD and DVD Reviews (December online 2010)
Shakespeare’s Use of Songs – Part 2 (November/ December 2010)
CD and DVD Reviews (October 2010 online)
Shakespeare’s Use of Songs – Part 1 (Sept/ Oct 2010)
CD and DVD Reviews (August 2010 online)
The Critic Criticized or The Books Should Balance (July/ August 2010)
CD and DVD Reviews (June 2010 online)
Effect of Opera on Babies (May/ June 2010)
CD and DVD Reviews (April 2010 online)
Shakespeare's Texts as Opera Libretti (Mar/ Apr 2010)
CD and DVD Reviews (February 2010 online)
Al Jolson (Jan/ Feb 2010)
CD and Opera Reviews (December 2009 online)
Hear the Song, Read the Book 2 (Nov/ Dec 2009)
CD and Opera Reviews (October 2009 online only)
Hear the Song, Read the Book Sept/ Oct 2009)
CD and Opera Reviews (August 2009 online only)
Opera: Caution! Open with Care (July/August 2009)
"Truth" & Other Nonsense in Musical Analysis-2 (June 2009)
"Truth" & Other Nonsense in Musical Analysis -1 (May 2009)
Musical Tales for april fool-la-la (April 2009)
Super Star: Super Trouble (
March 2009)
Words,
Words, Words…and Music (January/February
2009)
If
Only the Muse Loved Me as I Love Music ~ Daniel Abrams (December
2008)
When
the Words Go A-Pitterpatter pt. 2 (November
2008)
When the Words Go A-Pitterpatter pt. 1(October
2008)
Laugh
Along with Haydn! (September
2008)
I
Have a Song to sing, O! (July
August 2008)
A
Few Modest Proposals for Staging Musicals (June
2008)
The
Right Musical at the Right Time (May
2008)
Wagner's
Motifs & Their Consequences (April
2008)
How
Annie Got her Gun (March
2008)
Rooney
and Garland: Great Casts, Weak Plots (January
February 2008)
The
Sweet & Sour Smell of Success (December
2007)
Bluebeard:
the Legend, the Spoof, the Two Operas (November 2007)
Love
Me Tonight: An Appreciation of a Great Almost Forgotten Musical (October
2007)
The Riddle of the 3 Riddles in “Turandot” (September
2007)
A Director's Guide for Ruining an Opera (July/Aug
2007)
Opera
on Video: “Live” or Studio Made? (June
2007)
The
Search for the American Sound — 3 (May 2007)
The
Search for the American Sound — 2 (April 2007)
The
Search for the American Sound — 1 (March
2007)
Songs
(and Dance) That Do Not Move the Plot Along
Songs That Move the Plot Along (Dec 2006)
A Musical Parabola (November 2006)
“It’s the Wrong
Time and the Wrong Place” (October 2006)
Memorable Musical Movie Moments (September
2006)
Musical Movements (July/August 2006)
The Poetics
of Music and the Music of Poetry (May 2006)
I’ve Heard
That Song Before
Shakespeare on Broadway 3 (March 2006)
Shakespeare on Broadway 2 (Jan/Feb
2006)
Shakespeare on Broadway (December 2005)
The Thorny Road to Opera as Film (November
2005)
The Three Bohemes (October 2005)
The Three Barbers of Seville (September
2005)
How Annie Got Her Gun (August 2005)
Cinderella With and Without Magic (July,
2005)
The Stories Behind the Songs (2) (June,
2005)
The Stories Behind the Songs (1) (May, 2005)
A Few Ways to Discourage Watching Opera on
DVDs (2) (April, 2005)
A Few Ways to Discourage Watching Opera on DVDs
(1) (Jan / Feb, 2005)
So You Want to Produce a Musical: The Singer
& the Song (Dec, 2004)
So You Want to Produce a Musical: The Question
of Rehearsals (Music) (Nov, 2004)
So You Want to Produce a Musical: The Role of
the Choreographer (Oct, 2004)
So You Want to Produce a Musical: The Role of
the Music Director (Sept, 2004)
So You Want to Produce a Musical: Finding a Director (Aug, 2004)
So You Want to Produce a Musical: Choosing the
Play (Jul, 2004)
A Plea Against Verbal Pollution in Lyrics (Jun, 2004)
A Mathematical Look at Musical Plagiarism (May, 2004)
The Most Remarkable Unknown Composer of All Times (Apr, 2004)
We Are Advertised by Our Loving Friends (Mar,
2004)
The Question of "Morality" in Musical
Drama (Jan/Feb, 2004)
You Can Tell the Music By Its Cover (Part III) (Dec, 2003)
You Can Tell the Music By Its Cover (Part II) (Nov, 2003)
You Can Tell the Music By Its Cover (Oct, 2003)
Musical Weeds (Sept, 2003)
Sing a Sexy Song for the Well-Dressed Armed Forces (Aug, 2003)
Some of Opera's Little Inside Jokes (Jul, 2003)
A Painless Path to Learning Italian: A Look at
Musical Terms (June, 2003)
The Product as Advertised: The Hollywood Musical
Adaptation (May, 2003)
The Product as Advertised (Again): The Question
of Revivals (Mar, 2003)
"Comic" Characters On the Musical Stage
Are Nothing to Laugh At (Apr, 2003)
Shakespeare's Symphones: "Macbeth"
As Wagnerian Opera (Part II) (January/February, 2003)
Shakespeare's Symphonies: Basics and "Hamlet" (December,
2002)
The Product as Advertised? Glenn Gould and the Goldberg
Variations (November, 2002)
September 11 and the Healing Power of Song (November, 2001)
Confessions of a Compulsive Collector, Part
Two (October, 2002)
Confessions of a Compulsive Collector, Part
One (September, 2002)
Singing in English, or The Impossible Dream (August, 2002)
Teaching Tiny Tots the Joys of Good
Music, Part Two (July, 2002)
Teaching Tiny Tots the Joys of Good Music,
Part One (June, 2002)