The Most Underrated Composer In History? Reconsidering Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

“If your reaction to hearing the name Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov is a shrug, even a smirk, you’re not alone.” Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim visits the Bard Music Festival, dedicated to the man Richard Taruskin calls, yes, “the most underrated composer in history.” Responds CdFW, “I can’t say that’s a judgment I quite came to share … But I left Bard with a newfound appreciation for a quality I had never before considered as a factor in music: shame.”