I have been reading Jan Swafford’s marvelous biography of Brahms (available at Amazon), and was delighted to learn that Brahms absolutely loved Bizet’s Carmen, seeing it no less than twenty times.

We love finding these connections, which often reveal themselves long after the concerts have been programmed. Hear Sarasate’s Concert Fantasies on Carmen and Brahms’ f minor Piano Quintet on this coming weekend’s concerts!