Why Do We Sing the Messiah at Christmas, Anyway?

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Handel premiered his Messiah and its oft-quoted Hallelujah Chorus in April 1742 in Dublin, and in the years following it was a perennial Easter favorite, not a Yuletide staple, as it is today.

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She Plays Piano, Too

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From Mark Swed's review of Yuja Wang's performance at the Hollywood Bowl last Tuesday:  Dressed in a strapless, snug, sparkling gown with a black zipper down her back Tuesday night, Yuja Wang has clearly become the belle of the Bowl. Ever since her Hollywood Bowl debut four years ago wearing a short skirt that became a fashion statement, in classical music circles at any rate, audiences expect that the 28-year-old Chinese pianist will be a dazzling presence the moment she walks on stage. Hi-def Bowl monitors help. F rom his 2011 review of Yuja Wang with the Los Angeles Philharmonic : Her dress Tuesday was so short and tight that had there been any less of it, the Bowl might have been forced to restrict admission to any music lover under 18 not accompanied by an adult. Had her heels been any higher, walking, to say nothing of her sensitive pedaling, would have been unfeasible. The infernal helicopters that brazenly buzz the Bowl seemed, on this night, like long-necked p...
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