Violinist and social justice advocate Vijay Gupta, one of the 2018 winners of the MacArthur Fellowship, speaks about his work in under-resourced communities in Los Angeles and what's next.
The celebrated young pianist Daniil Trifonov steals aboard a steam locomotive, chugging through the Rockies to the strains of Rachmaninov's Fourth Concerto.
Two female violinists allege that the Cleveland Orchestra concertmaster — currently suspended from his job due to a previous allegation — acted inappropriately towards them during lessons.
The revered Spanish soprano, who died Saturday, spins out silvery threads of tone in her recordings, the likes of which no one has ever matched.
When the FBI recovered virtuoso violinist Roman Totenberg's stolen Stradivarius after his death, his daughters wanted the instrument to be played everywhere. Ensuring that was not so simple.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic, which begins to mark its centennial this fall, is credited with helping to bring high culture and great composers to L.A.
When the violinist was just 17, a stunning Bach debut album launched her career. Over two decades later, she returns to finish up the set of pieces she started as a teenager.
The 28-year-old polymath from Boston discusses his new award, his precocious youth and how he perceives all human language as a form of musical communication.
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 ...
Invented during the early part of the nineteenth century, the accordion’s popularity soon soared and has been sustained ever since by its adaptability to many styles of music, from folk to heavy metal. Virtuoso performer Hanzhi Wang presents an intriguing compilation of classical works from Denmark, where numerous composers have followed the example of Per Read More ...
Kenneth Fuchs celebrates a 15-year association with conductor JoAnn Falletta and the London Symphony Orchestra upon the release of these world premiere recordings of three concertos (respectively for piano, electric guitar and alto saxophone) and a song cycle for countertenor and orchestra. Variety is the hallmark of the works’ scoring, while an easy-sounding mastery is Read More ...
Born in Hungary in 1894, Eugene Zádor moved to the USA in 1939 and remained there as a naturalised citizen until his death. He left a sizeable catalogue of works that includes more than 120 film scores, 13 operas and a wide variety of concert music. Zádor has been described as a classicist, a romantic Read More ...
Peter Joseph von Lindpaintner (1791–1856) was a much admired figure in his day, referred to glowingly by such distinguished musicians as Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn, who acknowledged respectively his gift for composing operas and his skill as an orchestral conductor. Like the 21 operas he wrote, Lindpaintner himself has since been virtually forgotten, which Read More ...
Raymond Bisha introduces a new release of three American orchestral triumphs in stunning performances by the youthful ranks of the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic under GRAMMY Award-winning conductor David Alan Miller. Carl Ruggles’ Sun-treader, Steven Stucky’s Concerto for Orchestra No. 2 and John Harbison’s Symphony No. 4 constitute the programme’s towering trio of symphonic masterpieces. Read More ...
The composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco moved from Italy to the US during the turmoil of the Second World War. That he should have been immediately befriended by such musical giants as violinist Jascha Heifetz and cellist Gregor Piatigorsky speaks reams about the respect the Italian engendered. His Cello Concerto was commissioned by Piatigorsky, who premiered the Read More ...
Raymond Bisha helps turn the pages of Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto, following the release of Boris Giltburg’s fine performance of the work with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto. Noted for its length and technical difficulty, ‘Rach 3’ (its popular moniker) is reckoned to have more notes than all of Mozart’s Read More ...
Listening Guide With Lew Smoley The Works Jardanyi Vorosmarty Symphony Hazadnak rendületenül Virag es pillango Hova merült el szep szemed vilaga Herci dal A ven cigany Sarkozy Sinfonia Concertante Szollosy Music Per Orchestra Ligeti Le Grande Macabre: Scene 3 Piano Concerto No. 1 Vivace Molto Ritmico E Preciso 4th movement Vivace Cantabile Allegro Risoluito, Molto […]
Listening Guide With Lew Smoley The Works Lehar Hungarian Fantasy Bartok Kossuth Kodaly Psalmus Hungaricus 1st movement 2nd movement 3rd movement 4th movement Kalman Gypsy Princess Waltz Lajtha 3rd String Quartet Andante Allegro Commodo Poco Lento Vivo Weiner Suite of Hungarian Dances Zador Hungarian Capriccio Kadosa Symphony No. 4 Seiber Fantasie Concertante Farkas Old Hungarian […]
Listening Guide With Lew Smoley The Works Medieval Liturgical Music GLoria, Laus Et Honor Folk Music Isten Veled Bogyiszlo Faluja Dance Music: Verbunkos Ungarischer Tanz Ungarischer Tanz Adagio Presto Andante Ungarischer Tanz Zwei Ungarische Taentze Gypsy Music Old Gyspsy Lament, Verbunkos, and Fast Medley: Street of Acacias, The Rosebush Bends Wranicky Grand Symphony in C […]
With Lew Smoley
With Lew Smoley, and Suzanne Bona
With Lew Smoley, and Dennis Rooney
With Lew Smoley, Dennis Rooney, and Sedgwick Clark
A VALIANT EFFORT TO CHANGE THE WAY WE LISTEN TO BEETHOVEN’S NINTH: CRITICAL COMMENTARY ON A NEW RECORDING WITH THE PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA, CHORUS AND SOLOISTS (REBECCA EVANS, PATRICIA BARDON, ROBERT MURRAY AND DEREK WELTON] CONDUCTED BY BENJAMIN ZANDER (3-Brattle Media cds) By Lewis M. Smoley For time in memoriam, musicians, musicologists and music critics have […]
What is the relationship between beauty and justice? Kristina Boerger is the new professor of Choral Leadership and Conducting at Augsburg University. Boerger shares her story and personal playlist with Steve Staruch on this week's Music with Minnesotans.
Composer Seamus Hubbard Flynn is currently studying music at Brown University in Rhode Island, but looks back fondly at his Minnesota roots.
This week on the Choral Featured Album, we present 'Transcendence,' the new release from Irish vocal ensemble Anuna.
Get a free MP3 of Maurice Ravel - Le tombeau de Couperin: Menuet. And don't forget to sign up for the new Daily Download newsletter so you never miss a free MP3!
Violinist Rachel Barton Pine plays a duet with the cutest partner ever: her 7-year-old daughter, Sylvia! Watch now as they perform a work by Gonzaga for Performance Today in our studios.
The Land of 10 Thousand Choirs segment of this month's Voices of Spring feature continues with a performance of the "In Paradisum" from the Requiem by contemporary British composer, Karl Jenkins.
Get a free MP3 of Erik Satie - Gymnopedie No. 1. And don't forget to sign up for the new Daily Download newsletter so you never miss a free MP3!
When life is hectic or you need a break from the news, feel better and live bigger with classical music. This week, classical host Elena See shares music to help give us all some 'Breathing Room.'
Ed Sheeran will be performing Saturday night at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Sheeran is a one-man band, creating his music using only his voice, guitar and loop machines.
In 60 seconds, the commercial showcases a medley of horror film tropes, including a maniacal doll that presumably kills a group of young people whenever they play a catchy pop song.
Last Thanksgiving, Eliana Szabo suffered a brain hemorrhage when an arteriovenous malformation ruptured. Now 11, she has relearned how to walk and talk. Meanwhile, a fellow pianist is trying to raise $10,000 through selling handmade paper cranes.