Marin Alsop
In 2007, Marin Alsop became music director of the Baltimore Symphony, making her the first woman to head a major American orchestra. She was named a 2005 MacArthur Fellow, the first conductor ever to receive the award. Between performances, she appears as an occasional guest on Weekend Edition Saturday and as a commentator for NPR.org's Marin Alsop on Music column.
-
Marin Alsop, meet Robert Schumann. The Baltimore Symphony conductor reconnects with the composer's symphonies, probing for a deeper meaning within this widely performed but still misunderstood music. The Symphony No. 2, Alsop says, traces Schumann's emotional frailty. -
Armed with a team of forensic specialists and a full orchestra, Baltimore Symphony conductor Marin Alsop investigates the deafness and demise of one of the greatest composers of all time, in concerts called "CSI Beethoven."
-
Every young composer searches for a unique voice. Conductor Marin Alsop says Bela Bartok found his in the hills and villages of rural Hungary. The songs he collected from peasants infused the spirit of his music.
-
Conductor Marin Alsop recognizes the challenging aspects of Bela Bartok's music. But after presiding over a Bartok festival this spring, she came to a deeper understanding of the Hungarian composer's music, which she describes as a major influence on her own career. -
Johannes Brahms was stymied by the shadow of Beethoven. It took him over 20 years to write his first symphony, but conductor Marin Alsop says it was worth the wait. Her personal connection to Brahms led her to record all four of his symphonies with the London Philharmonic.
-
Storytellers of the Middle East have been retelling the tales of Sinbad and Aladdin. But according to legend, the first was a young bride named Scheherazade. Rimsky-Korsakov spins the tale in music. -
For centuries, storytellers of the Middle East have been retelling the tales of Sinbad and Aladdin. But the first teller of those tales, according to legend, was a young bride named Scheherazade. Rimsky-Korsakov spins the tale in music. Marin Alsop conducts.
-
The alien harmonies and jagged rhythms of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring signalled the birth of modern music in 1913. Conductor Marin Alsop says the rambunctious score still sounds fresh today.
-
Igor Stravinsky's exotic, propulsive ballet The Rite of Spring captured conductor Marin Alsop's imagination at an early age. She says the music's "swing and sheer abandon" got her hooked, and the orchestra became her passion. -
The music itself toggles between huge forces and a single voice, juxtaposing majesty and intimacy with ease. At its largest, Carmina Burana employs a chorus of 200 or more voices, an orchestra of 100 players and a children's choir of 50 or more, plus three soloists: soprano, tenor and baritone.
