On her bustling third album, the former Carolina Chocolate Drops member maps her vision of the Afro-Caribbean diaspora while gently taking Anglocentricism (and capitalism) down a notch.
Baltimore Symphony music director Marin Alsop traces her discovery of the rollicking 75-minute symphony and the man behind the music.
Carolina Eyck, the first artist to bring a theremin to the Tiny Desk, plays the air with the kind of lyrical phrasing and "fingered" articulation that takes a special kind of virtuosity.
Founded by composer Giuseppe Verdi and funded by royalties from his popular operas, Casa Verdi in Milan opened a century ago as a home for opera musicians in their golden years.
Superstar Andrea Bocelli has sung with just about everyone, from Celine Dion to Ariana Grande. On his latest album, Sì, Bocelli tries something new — singing with his son.
Composers of color have long had to compete with dead white men for space on the concert stage. A new project, spearheaded by Rachel Barton Pine, seeks to correct that for the next generation.
The music on our list takes you to Tsarist Russia, the New Mexico desert, 18th century Spain, the austere landscapes of Iceland and Vienna, at the dawn of the 20th century. Happy travelling.
Renowned Iraqi conductor and cellist Karim Wasfi tells NPR's Scott Simon about his music, the challenges of his work and his commitment to his country.
Born in 1887, Florence Beatrice Price went on to become one of the first prominent African-American composers. Following a move to Chicago in 1927, her career as a composer took off, not least following the award of several prizes intended to support black composers. This success brought her to the attention of the director of Read More ...
Franz Liszt was one of music history’s first superstars, whose stunning technique and charismatic stage presence facilitated his development of the solo piano concert format. This release puts his 12 Transcendental Studies centre stage, where they share the spotlight with award-winning pianist Boris Giltburg, an emerging superstar in his own right whose pianism clothes Liszt’s Read More ...
Romuald Twardowski was born in Lithuania in 1930. He pursued post-graduate studies in Poland before becoming a student of Nadia Boulanger in Paris. The works on this new release, for violin and orchestra, cover a fascinating spectrum of styles. From his Spanish Fantasy, to music written for young performers (not that you’d guess it from the Read More ...
Guitar Gala Night comprises performances by the Amadeus Guitar Duo and the Duo Gruber & Maklar in a programme that’s a veritable variety show, combining original compositions with arrangements for one, two and four guitars. Ranging from the abstract to the descriptive, the earliest piece (1612) represents dance music by Michael Praetorius, while the most Read More ...
Raymond Bisha introduces us to the flip-side of Rossini the opera composer, who spent the last 40 years of his life in operatic retirement, instead composing some 200 vocal and solo piano pieces (his Sins of Old Age) whilst also indulging in the pleasantries of life as a gourmand and amateur chef. The final release Read More ...
The three newly published pieces on this recording were written in the decade following Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s flight to the United States in 1939 in the wake of the proclamation of anti-Jewish laws by Italy’s fascist regime. The programme includes his Concerto No. 3 for Violin and Piano (1939–40), written for no less a figure than Read More ...
Raymond Bisha introduces a programme of orchestral music by Alfred Bruneau (1857-1934), a composition student of Jules Massenet and one of the most important yet overlooked figures in turn-of-the-century French musical life. Bruneau’s desire for theatrical realism in his operas mirrored the literary aspirations of his friend Émile Zola. Conductor Darrell Ang and the Barcelona Read More ...
The last decade in the life of Austrian composer Frank Schreker (1878-1934) proved a tragic conclusion to his hitherto highly successful career as a teacher, conductor, administrator and composer. In the mid-1920s critics were bearing down on him for failing to step in line with developing compositional styles; by the 1930s his work had come Read More ...
Raymond Bisha introduces composer-pianist-academic Tanya Ekanayaka through a new release of music for solo piano, composed and performed by herself. The twelve ‘prisms’ derive their stylistic inspiration from a variety of sources that include classical, contemporary, pop, rock, world and film music. The fusion of styles in each movement is rooted in the folk and Read More ...
Raymond Bisha introduces a new release of music by three Baroque titans: Lully, Telemann and Rameau. The latter two were hugely influenced by the music of Lully, who was powerfully positioned as the chief musician of King Louis XIV of France. Lully left a rich legacy of dramatic music scored for orchestra. It left an Read More ...
Listening Guide With Lew Smoley The Works Symphony No. 8 Andante, Allegro Allegro Andante Allegro Energico Symphony No. 10 Dialogo, Allegro Moderato Tocatto Basso Ostinato, Allegro Ma Non Troppo Intermezzo, Andante Con Dolore Finale: Allegro Moderato Symphony No. 12 Moderato, Allegro Energico Sostenuto Con Vigore Andante Non Troppo Allegro Symphony No. 15 Movements 1, 2, […]
Listening Guide With Lew Smoley The Works Symphony No. 2 Adagio, Allegro Molto Andante Andante (Maestoso), Allegro Moderato Symphony No. 4: Atlantis Ira Dei, Legenda Posseidonia, Papylon Aedes Sacra Finis Symphony No. 6 Movements 1 and 2 Movements 3 and 4 Symphony No. 7 Movements 1 and 2 Movements 3 and 4
Listening Guide With Lew Smoley Bantock Omar Khayyam Part 1: Prelude Wake! For The Sun, Who Scattered Into Flight Before The Phantom of False Morning Died And As The Cock Crew, Those Who Stood Before Now The New Year Reviving Old Desires Iram Indeed Is Gone With All His Rose Whether At Naishapur Or Babylon […]
With Lew Smoley, and Jeeyoon Kim
Listening Guide With Lew Smoley Koechlin Persian Hours Sieste, Avant Le Depart La Caravane (Reve, Pendant La Sieste) L’Escalade Obscure Matin Frais, Dans La Haute Vallee En Vue De La Ville A Travers Les Rues Chant Du Soir Clair De Lune Sur Les Terrasses Aubade Roses Au Soleil De Midi A L’Ombre, Pres De La […]
Listening Guide With Lew Smoley Felicien David Le Desert Part 1 Entry Into The Desert Song Of The Desert Appearance Of The Caravan Progress Of The Caravan A Storm In The Desert Calm Returns, and The Caravan Resumes Its Progress Part 2 The Star Of Venus Hymn To The Night Arabian Fantasy Dance Of The […]
Listening Guide With Lew Smoley, and Stephen Brown The Works Das Susse Lied Verhallt Flagstadd, Melchior Volker, Muller Konya, Grummer Windgassen, Nilsson Frage Scene: Höchstes Vertrau’n Flagstadd, Melchior Volker, Muller Habt Dank Heinrich Frick Manowarda Talvela, Ludwig In Fernem Land Wittrisch Volker King Bjoerling Aureliano Pertile (In Italian) Del Monaco (In Italian) Ticho Parly Mein […]
Listening Guide With Lew Smoley, and Stephen Brown The Works Erhebe Dich Schorr Berry, Ludwig Weisst Du, Wer Dieser Held Schorr, Lawrence Du Wilde Seherin! Sved, Thorborg Weisst Du, Wer Dieser Held (French) Singher, Lawrence Euch Luften, Die Mein Klagen Lehmann Tebaldi Grummer, Ludwig, Fischer Dieskau Bjoner, Varnay, Neidlinger Entweihte Gotter, Helft Jetzt Meiner Rache! […]
Get a free MP3 of Emile Waldteufel - The Skaters. And don't forget to sign up for the new Daily Download newsletter so you never miss a free MP3!
The Schubert Club's first featured artist, Nicola Benedetti, returns to St. Paul this weekend for a concert with pianist Alexei Grynyuk, including the world premiere of Wynton Marsalis' 'Fiddle Dance Suite.' Listen live at 3 p.m. Sunday on Classical MPR.
Get a free MP3 of Ralph Vaughan Williams - Symphony No. 7 "Sinfonia antartica": I. Prelude. And don't forget to sign up for the new Daily Download newsletter so you never miss a free MP3!
This week on New Classical Tracks, composer Morten Lauridsen shares insights into his latest album, 'Light Eternal,' which features two world premieres alongside a number of his most popular works. Enter the giveaway for a chance to win the new release!
Get a free MP3 of Franz Schubert - Winterreise: Der Lindenbaum. And don't forget to sign up for the new Daily Download newsletter so you never miss a free MP3!
Meet Madeline Peterson and Severin Lier, two music students at St. Olaf College who have joined Classical MPR as board operators. These young talents are learning what it takes to bring you the classical music you love.
As the nation celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and legacy, Classical MPR shares a performance of 'We Shall Overcome,' from its recent Bring the Sing community singing event in Northfield, Minn.
Get a free MP3 of Peter Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 1 "Winter Daydreams": I. Allegro tranquillo. And don't forget to sign up for the new Daily Download newsletter so you never miss a free MP3!
Murphy was part of the Minnesota music scene for decades, and fronted the band Willie and the Bees. "One of my main crusades (is) to get people to dance," Murphy told MPR News in 2009.
Anything can happen in live theater, and audience members seeing "Beautiful," the life story of Carole King, got a surprise when King appeared in the role of herself to celebrate the show's fifth anniversary on Broadway.
In 2017, the Fyre Music Festival was billed as an exclusive event in the Bahamas. The reality was very different. Director Chris Smith tells the behind-the-scenes story in a new Netflix documentary.
He'll be playing a record release show Friday night at Icehouse in Minneapolis.
The uber-viral children's song "Baby Shark" landed in the top 40 of the Billboard charts this week, years after it debuted on YouTube.