The Daily Utah Chronicle

A holiday guide to classical gifts

By By Christie Franke | December 4, 2008

The same gifts are given every year: music, DVDs, books, bath stuff and video games. With this in mind, here are some suggestions for buying Christmas gifts for music lovers:

Feeling like a student zombie? Take a breather, try some yoga

By By Christie Franke and By Christie Franke | August 25, 2008

Yoga has been around for centuries and actually has been proven to help people build muscle tone and relax. The word itself means "union," or "union of mind, body and spirit." It literally brings the entire being into harmony, enabling practitioners to relax as well as exercise.

Grimmsicle

By By Christie Franke | July 30, 2008

Michael Buckley has done something that very few other authors can brag about: he's created a series just as, if not more, compelling than the Harry Potter books. Magic and mayhem abound without relying on teenage wizards to save the day. Instead, the Sisters Grimm series details the adventures of two young sisters, Sabrina and Daphne, who are sent to live with their long-lost grandmother after their parents mysteriously disappear one dark and stormy night.

Deborah Grabien presents murder and music

By By Christie Franke | July 2, 2008

Like rock music? If the answer is yes--and let's face it, most people have wanted to be a rock star at some point or another--then there is a new series that is an absolute must-read. Rock and Roll Never Forgets by Deborah Grabien, which hits shelves July 8, is the first in the Kinkaid Chronicles, a series about murder, music and a classic rock band.

Hellfire and Damnation — The German Way

By By Christie Franke and By Christie Franke | April 23, 2008

Finals are upon us, and who isn't lamenting the stress and the mayhem? Luckily, the Utah Symphony is providing us all with a means of expressing our annoyance. It's loud, ancient and in Latin. "Carmina Burana" is here, ready to ring in the joys of spring and the madness of money with intense monastic screams.

Sexy operetta mixes old, new styles

By By Christie Franke | April 21, 2008

Voltaire wrote his novella Candide more than 200 years ago. Leonard Bernstein wrote his operetta by the same name about 50 years ago, and several versions of it exist because Bernstein is one of those composers who is never satisfied. Voltaire's novella is a small book where no one sings, and Bernstein's piece is "a large operetta in which almost everyone insists upon it.

Opera DVDs are awesome

By By Christie Franke | April 11, 2008

Never underestimate the power of music -- even classical music -- to make you want to get up and dance. Leave that to iTunes. But to watch a live performance while flopped on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, that's the business of the DVD industry. I know, you're probably asking, "What do I watch?" or, perhaps, more importantly, "Why watch at all?" The easy answer is, classical music is best enjoyed live (DVDs are fairly comparable, though), and you've just got to love opera for the great big over-blown, melodramatic, extravagant art form it is.

Utah Symphony hosts American Virtuoso

By By Christie Franke and By Christie Franke | April 3, 2008

The Utah Symphony is doing it again: hosting an awesome violinist for a show, that is. James Ehnes, an American virtuoso, will be performing Felix Mendelssohn's "Violin Concerto and Overture to Ruy Blas" as well as Ralph Vaughan Williams' "The Lark Ascending" and "Symphony No.

World renowned cellist to perform at Libby Gardner Hall

By By Christie Franke and By Christie Franke | March 27, 2008

The Virtuoso Series is here again, this time with professional cellist Colin Carr as its main attraction. Tonight, Carr will take audiences in the Libby Gardner Concert Hall by storm. How, you ask? Well, there was once a composer named Beethoven. He wrote extraordinarily passionate music including a series of works for cello and piano.

Cinderella belts the tunes

By By Christie Franke and By Christie Franke | March 7, 2008

Everyone knows the story of Cinderella. Everyone, regardless of race, creed or culture. Look in any culture and you will inevitably find the fairy tale masquerading under that culture's norms, but Cinderella nonetheless. Cinderella is one of those wacky tales that can be as gory as a horror flick (see www.