The opera aria behind the “White Swan” pas de deux
The "white swan" pas de deux from Swan Lake was originally an operatic duet from Tchaikovsky's opera "Undina". Here's a link to a performance of the original composition.
Confessions of an anxious ballet pianist #27: Playing “Siegfried” from Swan Lake Act 3
"Siegfried" from Act 3 of Swan Lake looks like simple music, but it's harder than it looks to make it sound musical.
Music, time and politics in the ballet studio
Just published online, my chapter in the Oxford Handbook of Time in Music, "The politics of musical time in the everyday life of ballet dancers."
A year of ballet playing cards #51 (DQ): A coda medley
What is a coda in ballet? Here are 10 pages of codas, and links to seven famous ballet codas you have to know.
Brahms, Tchaikovsky and the polysemic hairpin
Following on from an earlier post about Tchaikovsky's hairpins, today I learned about the Brahmsian hairpin too.
More background on the party scene song in The Nutcracker
Since writing about Bon Voyage Cher Dumollet nine years ago, I've found out a lot more. Here are some sources.