Samuel Barber, who would have turned 100 years old yesterday, is probably the most under-appreciated composer America has ever produced. Sure, everyone knows the pained, heartfelt Adagio for Strings and maybe the Violin Concerto (both written when Barber was in his late 20's), but how many have seen his great opera Vanessa, or the criminally panned Antony and Cleopatra, which opened the new Met Opera in 1966? For all his brilliant strokes, Barber was an unfortunate victim of his era, which viewed music as an academic - rather than tonal - exercise: a dark period from which we are only now starting to emerge.

Back in 1993, I interviewed pianist John Browning about the Pulitzer Prize-winning Piano Concerto, which Barber wrote for Browning in 1962, and became convinced that it, too, is a neglected masterpiece. (Browning informed me that the final movement, which Barber completed just prior to the premiere, was inspired by the sound of Browning urinating in Barber's toilet; take a listen to Track 7.) 

Sadly, I'm not aware of any major concerts in our area commemorating the Barber centenary, though EMI has put out a nice compilation (incl. the Berlin Phil playing the Adagio) to mark the occasion. Here's hoping this will mark the beginning of a better 2nd century for Sam.