Marie Alatalo was raised in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. She graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy and the University of Michigan, and earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music. Marie was the pianist for the Eastman School of Music Musica Nova Ensemble, an

20th-century music, Baroque music, Minimalist music, Romantic music

Why, in the name of all that's decent and civil, would Tchaikovsky have remarked in his diary that Brahms was a "scoundrel" and "a giftless bastard"? What could summon such a fork-tongued comment about the great German composer? For one, Johannes Brahms was extremely voluble in his own blunt opin

Bombast, Classical, Dark, Moody, Pathos, Romantic music

Musicologists usually break up the great Ludwig van Beethoven's career into three periods: early, middle, and late. But to add a touch more flavor, you could call them the "I'm young and getting my feet wet" period, followed by the "Since I'm going deaf, I'm gonna get wacky and break some rules" peri

Dramatic, Manic, Moody, Pathos, Romantic music, Sublime

At age 12, Franz Liszt performed a rendition of Beethoven's "Symphony in C-minor" as the master composer sat in the audience. Legend has it that after the superb performance, the great maestro kissed the juvenile Liszt on the forehead. Liszt's future as the most brilliant of pianists seemed to be sea

Death, Dramatic, Eclectic, Moody, Organic, Religious, Romantic music