Nothing like a dame

Is it just me, or does Julie Andrews look better than ever? Here she is with Stephen Colbert talking about writing kids' books (you know he has one coming out, and we have it for pre-order at a whopping discount!). Keep watching for a sweet surprise at the end.

The Colbert Report
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Here is a sample of Colbert's minuscule (and very tongue-in-cheek) opus:

John Zech writes in Composer's Datebook about a score by Stravinsky that debuted on this date. (We have it on a rare disc with the Firebird.)

The ballet "Apollo" premiered at the Library of Congress in 1928. Originally Stravinsky gave this work a French title: "Apollon Musagète" (Apollo and the Muses). Years later, Stravinsky said he preferred the simpler title "Apollo" for this work. This serene and neo-classical score was, in Stravinsky's own words, "my first attempt to compose a large-scale work in which contrasts of volume replace contrasts of instrumental color." "Apollo" was choreographed by George Balanchine, and proved a great success. In fact, it has remained Stravinsky's most popular ballet after "The Firebird," "Petrushka," and "The Rite of Spring" — his trio of colorful early scores for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.