WFIU: Featured Classical Recordings

"Vivaldiana" is one of our most popular pieces, people really get it!

Pianist Michael Lewin presents a recording of ghouls, ghosts and goblins with plenty of lead time for the Halloween season.

Seraphic Fire distills eleven season of performances for one CD.

The combination of the artistry of a maker, performers and composers, ...that's something special.

"Fauré has a way of exploring all kinds of harmonic possibilities," Sally Pinkas

"There's a way to impact people with the language of music, that we simply cannot do with words!"

All the composers are women, but Herndon doesn’t think there’s a specially ‘womanly touch.’

My favorite pieces on the CD just talk about me and my life’s journey.

Then we added other winds like the sackbuts to create what was the premiere instrumental ensemble of the period in the Renaissance.

"This was a chance for me to put together chamber works that were recently written."

Needless to say the string quartets in the world have certainly not played a whole lot of Chopin .

"The project was really about finding music that we liked and that was different," Christine Howlett.

"Our theme for the CD was "graces" or ornaments and these pieces are all about ornaments."

" I don’t necessarily see the images when I’m playing, but I do react to the feelings." Michele Fiala

There are some excruciatingly angst-like harmonies and there’s also some very playful stuff !

A new CD rooted firmly in the group's early music sounds with some romantic and even twenty-first century sounds.

The Final CD in John Lenahan’s John Ireland Project features a concerto with a love story?

I'm the storyteller with the notes, but the listeners add their own words!

When it comes together, it's an awful lot of fun!

The Norwegian composer talks about a new recording of his music by the Phoenix Chorale, "Northern Lights: Choral Works by Ola Gjeilo."

The group's mission is nothing short of building a standard and expansive repertoire for violin and guitar duos.

You can see the new gold plated instruments, but you have to imagine those Adidas sneakers.

Perhaps not semper dolans, but semper O'Dolan?

Violinist leaves 'sichord' out of harpsichord for recording session.

"Happy Austria" was part of the Latin motto of the marrying rather than martial Austrian Habsburgs

I never think it should be played the same way twice.

Music for the instrument before and after "the explosion" of the 70s.

I would say that Josh and I are interested in the beauty of the sounds that come from our respective instruments....Jeremy Denk

The title does invite 'shuffle' play, but the creators think they've dealt a well sorted hand.

A tour of Latin-flavored music for solo violin that grew out of a cruise.

"Making the world safe for classical music, one note at a time." Lara Downes goal!

Also there were these catalogs of pieces by Weiss, so I had at least a sense of a taste preference.

"I wanted to appeal to the audience that still has affection for the music that Andres Segovia made so much a part of the repertoire."

We didn’t get Doc Seversen, but we had a young man named Vincent DiMartino and he’s gone on to become the famous Vincent DiMartino of the trumpet world.

In some pieces I have to think about organ sounds and effects and of course with the orchestra I’m always reminded of the expressive qualities of bowing

We recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and it sounded so great that it was inspiring.