This coming Wednesday, a rare performance of the Busoni Piano Concerto will be heard at Carnegie Hall. As WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells us, Busoni was a musician with a fantastic combination of gifts, musical styles and inspiring thoughts about music’s future. Here is the next Fishko Files.

Sometimes artists, seeking inspiration, find it in the very thing that challenges and haunts them most.  WNYC’s Sara Fishko talked with visual artist Frank Stella, about some very productive pain. Here's the next Fishko Files.

The 20^th century was populated by some spectacular Russian classical musicians. WNYC’s Sara Fishko has a quick look at a set of CDs you can live with for a hundred days, at least.

May 2^nd marks 75 years since the first performance of Prokofiev’s children’s piece, Peter and the Wolf.  As WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells us, the millions of children listening over the decades knew only part of the story.  Here is the next Fishko Files.

As we follow the saga of a certain wild-partying entertainer, WNYC’s Sara Fishko considers the case of Anton Arensky. The somewhat disreputable Russian composer wrote music, lived hard – and died young.   Here is the next Fishko Files.

This week pianist Van Cliburn was one of ten artists to receive the National Medal of Arts from President Obama.  Here is an episode of Fishko Files originally produced to mark the 50^th anniversary of Cliburn’s historic victory in Moscow during the Cold War.

Conductor Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) was iconic in his time.  In 2007, when he was being remembered 50 years after his death, WNYC’s Sara Fishko examined his life and legacy.

Every November, fans honor the romantic tenor Mario Lanza, who made his mark in a career that lasted only around 12 years.  As WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells us, he hit notes both high and low.  Here is the next Fishko Files...

Halloween is coming. It’s the season for unsettling images and dark thoughts.  WNYC’s Sara Fishko has a story about a painting from the 1880s - that fits right in! Here is the next Fishko Files...

Is the whole greater than the sum of its parts? Since the 1920s, composers of all kinds have been trying to write music that combines jazz and symphonic elements.

If you happen to see a parade this Memorial Day Weekend, you might be spending some time watching large numbers of people, walking in step.  As WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells us, there’s a particular synergy that comes from many people doing the same thing.   
Here is the next Fishko Files....

This month, the world is celebrating the bicentennial of Frederic Chopin. Locally, we’re celebrating what we hope is the end of a long, long winter. As Sara Fishko tells us, “Chopin” and “winter” came together in 1838 to create a popular musical favorite. Here is the next Fishko Files...

Garrick Ohlsson on Frederic Chopin

With Virgin Megastores about to close, and Tower Records long gone, there are fewer and fewer places in town to browse through CD’s. Sara Fishko has been exploring one small label – with only a few releases – that delivers a whole world. Here is the next Fishko Files...

A new song by the popular Icelandic group Sigur Ros is notable for having no time signature at all; it’s impossible to count. It has WNYC’s Sara Fishko pondering time, music, and especially the number 5. Here is the next Fishko Files.

Listen to Stuart Isacoff play "Castle ...

Even after a couple of weeks, visible in lower Manhattan are remnants of shredded paper and confetti, the last signs of the Giants' ticker tape parade. And that has WNYC's Sara Fishko thinking about a similar event, 50 years ago, that put a classical musician on the international map. Here ...

In the music world, being labeled a virtuoso is the highest compliment... or is it? WNYC's Sara Fishko considers the question, in this edition of the Fishko Files.

More To Do:
Marc-André Hamelin will be performing with renowned violinist Midori at Lincoln Center's Rose Hall ...

Last Tuesday another recording of Maurice Ravel's famous "Pavane" was released. That makes 20 in the past year alone, and each one of them is performed by a different musician with a personal touch. This proliferation of Pavanes has Sara Fishko thinking about classical composers, performance and the nature of ...

Mstislav Rostropovich was a rare combination: powerful conductor; courageous dissident; musical activist; but first he was a cellist. Since his death two weeks ago at age 80, WNYC’s Sara Fishko has been talking to cellists about his contribution for this edition of the Fishko Files.

A playlist ...

A new production of the Prokofiev Ballet Romeo and Juliet opens next week at the New York City Ballet; and another, danced to the same music, continues in repertory at the American Ballet Theater. More are in the works for next season. In this edition of the Fishko Files, WNYC’s ...