Ten years ago, Costanzo had surgery that threatened to destroy his singing voice. Now the countertenor is starring as a gender-fluid Egyptian pharaoh in a new production by the Metropolitan Opera.
It's the latest release from his forthcoming score to The Decalogue , the artist's latest collaboration with ballet choreographer Justin Peck.
Joker is a psychological character study of a disturbed man who turns violent. To give the comic book villain human depth, composer Hildur Guðnadóttir had to dig deep and empathize with the character.
One of the most prominent composers of the late 20th century has died. Georgia's Giya Kancheli wrote music full of light, shade and an incandescent longing. He was 84 years old.
The announcement that the opera megastar is stepping down as the company's general director comes in the midst of two formal investigations into accusations of sexual misconduct made by 20 women.
The singer crafted a distinctive career that spanned decades and styles. Though a leading figure in her field, Norman's repertoire, fanbase and achievements stretched far beyond the opera house.
The opera star, who has been accused by 20 women, was scheduled to perform Verdi's Macbeth starting on Wednesday night. In an email, he told Met staffers that he will never perform there again.
The 42-year-old singer was removed from a Royal Opera tour of Japan after alleged sexual misconduct. Grigolo's suspension comes amidst a wider discussion about the subject in the opera world.
The internationally respected artists on this release are well known to Naxos followers: pianist Boris Giltburg (whose recordings of Beethoven, Liszt, Schumann and Rachmaninov have been universally acclaimed); and conductor Vasily Petrenko (whose edition of the complete Shostakovich symphonies has been recognised as a historic recording milestone). They come together now in Beethoven’s first two Read More ...
Raymond Bisha introduces a new recording of music by Austrian composer Hanns Eisler who, in his late years, concentrated increasingly on adapting his film scores for the concert hall. He also began his Leipzig Symphony during this period, but it was left unfinished at the time of his death. Thilo Medek, a young composer at Read More ...
This podcast introduces Vol. 2 in our ground-breaking The Music of Brazil series, a five-year project to record around 100 mostly orchestral works by 19th and 20th-century Brazilian composers, many in world premiere recordings. Released in February, Vol. 1 (8.574067) featured works by Alberto Nepomuceno. Gramophone declared it “urgently recommended”. We follow up with chamber Read More ...
The Creatures of Prometheus was Beethoven’s only full-length ballet score. The work premiered in March 1801 and the composer’s own version for piano solo was published later the same year. The work relates the story from Greek mythology of Prometheus, a lofty spirit who endeavoured to lift human beings from a state of ignorance into Read More ...
Raymond Bisha and composer Derek Bermel discuss the latter’s Migrations, a 3-work programme that observes the universal phenomenon of human transit through an eclectic mix of styles: Migration series depicts the movement of African Americans from the south to the north of the United States in search of a better life during the first half of the 20th Read More ...
As Naxos reaches Vol. 19 of its 23-volume edition of the music of John Philip Sousa, Raymond Bisha talks with the musical director of the project, Keith Brion, a world authority on Sousa’s music, who conducts throughout.
For those unfamiliar with the name of Nikolay Yakovlevich Myaskovsky, Raymond Bisha’s podcast presents the composer’s calling card as the ‘father of the Soviet symphony’. Having lived from 1881 to 1950, Myaskovsky spent all his life under the restrictive influence of Joseph Stalin, yet managed to produce 27 symphonies that preserved his individual voice. This Read More ...
Raymond Bisha talks with Barthold Kuijken about the historical perspective and informed interpretation behind a new release of Baroque flute concertos that feature Kuijken as soloist, accompanied by the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra. View album details of The Grand Mogul – BLAVET, M. / LECLAIR, J.-M. / PERGOLESI, G.B. / TELEMANN, G.P. at naxos.com Catalogue No.: Read More ...
Raphaël Feuillâtre, winner of the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America’s 2018 International Concert Artist Competition, shares his success with the public through this attractively varied programme; a recording contract with Naxos forms part of the winner’s bundle of opportunities each year. Raymond Bisha presents his selection of intimate compositions. View album details of Guitar Recital: Read More ...
There are scintillating sounds aplenty in our new release of orchestral works by Dmitry Kabalevsky (1904-1987). Raymond Bisha introduces a programme of two overtures and a pair of symphonies by the Russian composer who endeavoured to position himself as both a progressive and a conservative during his country’s difficult Soviet era. The performances are by Read More ...
With Lew Smoley
With Lew Smoley, Dennis Rooney, and Sedgwick Clark
Listening Guide With Lew Smoley Speight Concerto For Clarinet and Orchestra: Melodious Birds Sing Madrigals Eiriksdottir Sinfonietta Land Possessed by Poems Someone I Have Seen, Act II Olafsson Three Worlds According To One Thordarson Oh Yellow Wonderworld Thorkelsdottir Greetings Thorvaldsdottir Aequa Scape Aequilibria Fields
Listening Guide With Lew Smoley Runolfsson Suite: On Crossroads East North South West Bjornsson Romanza For Violin and Orchestra Nordal Leidsla Choralis Thorarinsson Styr Notturno Capriccioso Symphony No. 2 Sigurbjornsson Hans Variations Sveinsson Time and Water (excerpts) Time and Water Intermezzo Water Flowing Heaven Rains For Me Intermezzo X Flowing Water (conclusion)
This week on New Classical Tracks, guitarist Sharon Isbin discusses her collaboration with Pacifica Quartet on the new album 'Souvenirs of Spain and Italy.' Enter the giveaway for a chance to win a copy of the CD!
Get a free MP3 of Carl Czerny - Rondino sur un Theme Favori de l'Opera Le Macon d'Auber as we explore new releases in classical music. And don't forget to sign up for the new Daily Download newsletter so you never miss a free classical track!
Get a free MP3 of Max Reger - J.S. Bach's O Mensch, Bewein' Dein' Sunde Gross as we explore new releases in classical music. And don't forget to sign up for the new Daily Download newsletter so you never miss a free classical track!
Looking for something fun to do this weekend in the Twin Cities or elsewhere in the region? Classical MPR host John Birge offers his picks in classical music, theater and more.
Get a free MP3 of Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 2: III. Rondo as we explore new releases in classical music. And don't forget to sign up for the new Daily Download newsletter so you never miss a free classical track!
Listen to clarinetist Julian Bliss' debut at the 2019 Minnesota Beethoven Festival, featuring works by Poulenc, Bernstein, Finzi and more.
Thirty-five marching bands from Minnesota and across the region performed all day and evening Saturday in the Youth in Music Marching Band Championships at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Check out these photos to get a glimpse of their incredible field shows.
School librarian Lauri Nelson loves to tell stories. She loves to see the wide eyes of her grade schoolers and to hear them interact with the printed word. Stories touch the hearts of the incarcerated men with whom she also works. She is Steve Staruch's guest on Music with Minnesotans.