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Marin Alsop on Music In September, 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. Here, she offers commentary on a broad assortment of classical music.
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Special Series

Marin Alsop on Music

The Baltimore Symphony music director offers commentary on a broad assortment of classical music.

Saturday

Marin Alsop's Guide To Mendelssohn's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

Titania awakes clinging rapturously to Bottom, still wearing the donkey's head, in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Mendelssohn wrote music for a production of the play in 1843. Henry Fuseli/Getty Images hide caption

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Henry Fuseli/Getty Images

Deceptive Cadence

Marin Alsop's Guide To Mendelssohn's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

Inspired by Shakespeare, Mendelssohn captures all the magic and frivolity in the music he wrote for the Bard's otherworldy play.

Marin Alsop's Guide To Mendelssohn's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'

Listen · 9:19
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Saturday

A Debut Symphony That Embraced The World

Gustav Mahler wanted each of his symphonies to contain a world of emotions and ideas. Library of Congress hide caption

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Library of Congress

Deceptive Cadence

A Debut Symphony That Embraced The World

An action thriller of a symphony, Mahler's First is piled high with ambition, self-reflection and fear. Conductor Marin Alsop shares her approach to Mahler's multilayered music.

A Debut Symphony That Embraced The World

Listen · 8:34
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Thursday

Consumed By Violence, With Hope For Peace: Britten's 'War Requiem'

Benjamin Britten takes a cup of tea during rehearsals for his War Requiem at Coventry Cathedral, in Coventry, England in May, 1962. Erich Auerbach/Getty Images hide caption

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Erich Auerbach/Getty Images

Deceptive Cadence

Consumed By Violence, With Hope For Peace: Britten's 'War Requiem'

For conductor Marin Alsop, discovering Benjamin Britten through his monumental War Requiem has been both easy and complex — a perfect summation of the man himself.

Consumed By Violence, With Hope For Peace: Britten's 'War Requiem'

Listen · 8:44
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Saturday

Leonard Bernstein's Unconventional 'Anxiety'

Leonard Bernstein's Age of Anxiety symphony is as unconventional as its creator. Courtesy of Library of Congress hide caption

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Courtesy of Library of Congress

Deceptive Cadence

Leonard Bernstein's Unconventional 'Anxiety'

For conductor Marin Alsop, Bernstein's idiosyncratic Second Symphony — inspired by W.H. Auden's poem The Age of Anxiety — is a musical quest to answer life's big questions with time out to throw a hip-swinging party.

Leonard Bernstein's Unconventional 'Anxiety'

Listen · 7:29
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Saturday

Extreme Drama: The Life And Music Of Richard Wagner

Rudolph Cronau's drawing of Wagner's opera house, Bayreuth, flanked by his birthplace (left) and place of death. Wikimedia Commons hide caption

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Wikimedia Commons

Deceptive Cadence

Extreme Drama: The Life And Music Of Richard Wagner

Marking the 200th anniversary of the controversial composer's birth, conductor Marin Alsop and friends rethink Wagner in a series of multimedia concerts.

Extreme Drama: The Life And Music Of Richard Wagner

Listen · 9:39
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Friday

Treasures In The Attic: Finding A Jazz Master's Lost Orchestral Music

Stride piano pioneer James P. Johnson had dreams of becoming a successful symphonic composer. William Gottlieb hide caption

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William Gottlieb

Deceptive Cadence

Treasures In The Attic: Finding A Jazz Master's Lost Orchestral Music

The man who wrote "The Charleston" also had orchestral music played at Carnegie Hall. Baltimore Symphony conductor Marin Alsop retraces her detective work in uncovering lost symphonic works by jazz piano pioneer James P. Johnson.

Treasures In The Attic: Finding A Jazz Master's Lost Orchestral Music

Listen · 9:25
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Saturday

Leonard Bernstein's 'Kaddish' Symphony: A Crisis Of Faith

The traditional Jewish Kaddish prayer gets turned on its head in Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 3. Fethi Belaid/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Fethi Belaid/AFP/Getty Images

Deceptive Cadence

Leonard Bernstein's 'Kaddish' Symphony: A Crisis Of Faith

Conductor Marian Alsop muses on her mentor's most religious symphony, a work that raises more questions than it answers.

Leonard Bernstein's 'Kaddish' Symphony: A Crisis Of Faith

Listen · 11:41
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Saturday

A Grand Soviet Symphony, By Way Of Brazil

Sergei Prokofiev (pictured) wrote a Fifth Symphony that has special resonance in Sao Paulo for conductor Marin Alsop. Library of Congress hide caption

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Library of Congress

Deceptive Cadence

A Grand Soviet Symphony, By Way Of Brazil

An American conductor explains why Russian music suits her Sao Paolo orchestra.

A Grand Soviet Symphony, By Way Of Brazil

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Wednesday

Elgar's Belated Symphony: Majestic, Noble And Perfectly British

British composer Edward Elgar, seated at his desk at Severn House in Hampstead. His Symphony No. 1 was hailed as the best British symphony ever when it debuted in 1908. Reginald Haines/Getty Images hide caption

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Reginald Haines/Getty Images

Deceptive Cadence

Elgar's Belated Symphony: Majestic, Noble And Perfectly British

Conductor Marin Alsop muses on the enduring qualities of the English composer's first symphony.

Elgar's Belated Symphony: Majestic, Noble And Perfectly British

Listen · 10:06
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Friday

Alsop Sprach Zarathustra: Decoding Strauss' Tone Poem

Richard Strauss' iconic opening to Also Sprach Zarathustra evokes a sense of vastness and power, Marin Alsop says. Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Valery Hache/AFP/Getty Images

Alsop Sprach Zarathustra: Decoding Strauss' Tone Poem

Conductor Marin Alsop investigates the alluring power behind the grand opening of Also Sprach Zarathustra.

Alsop Sprach Zarathustra: Decoding Strauss' Tone Poem

Listen · 10:40
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Friday

Arthur Honegger's Joan Of Arc For The Ages

Actress Jean Seberg plays Joan of Arc in the 1957 Otto Preminger film Saint Joan. AFP/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Arthur Honegger's Joan Of Arc For The Ages

Conductor Marin Alsop muses on the timelessness of France's national hero and her musical story.

Arthur Honegger's Joan Of Arc For The Ages

Listen · 10:32
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Friday

Verdi's Requiem: An Opera In Disguise

Giuseppe Verdi poured operatic drama into his Requiem, written in 1874 in memory of his friend Alessandro Manzoni. Getty Images hide caption

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Getty Images

Verdi's Requiem: An Opera In Disguise

As an opera composer, Verdi was always conscious of dramatic effect. With off-stage trumpets, a pounding bass drum and four vocal soloists, his Requiem Mass really packs a wallop. Conductor Marin Alsop muses on the human story and vivid drama behind one of the master's greatest works.

Verdi's Requiem: An Opera In Disguise

Listen · 9:29
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Friday

Building A Career On Barber, The Enigmatic American

Samuel Barber in 1944. Wikimedia Commons hide caption

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Wikimedia Commons

Building A Career On Barber, The Enigmatic American

To begin her recording career, conductor Marin Alsop was asked to record all of Samuel Barber's orchestral music. She quickly discovered that there's much more to the composer's music than his famed Adagio for Strings.

Building A Career On Barber, The Enigmatic American

Listen · 9:51
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Friday

A Composer On The Couch: Mahler Meets Freud

A Composer On The Couch: Mahler Meets Freud

Baltimore Symphony Conductor Marin Alsop's latest musical adventure muses on a famous meeting between the troubled composer Gustav Mahler and the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud.

Marin Alsop Discusses Mahler With Scott Simon

Listen · 10:57
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Saturday

Marin Alsop's Shared Musical Roots

Marin Alsop's Shared Musical Roots

The Baltimore Symphony conductor chooses a season of music built on the belief that understanding where we come from, and celebrating diversity, can create a sense of continuity, history and belonging — not to mention some great concerts.

Hear Marin Alsop and Scott Simon Discuss Gershwin On 'Weekend Edition Saturday'

Listen · 9:46
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