Podcast appearances and mentions of jeff spurgeon

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2017 44:57

When Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther was published in 1774, it became an overnight sensation. Men wore yellow waistcoats and leather breeches to look like the novel's lovelorn hero, they carried vials of their own tears to display the depth of their feelings, and they even killed themselves in solidarity with the title character. The story of passionate, unrequited love was equally resonant when Jules Massenet's opera premiered a century later, and the glorious music is still just as heart-rending today. On this week's episode of He Sang/She Sang, Merrin Lazyan and Jeff Spurgeon speak with writer James Kuslan about Massenet's Werther. We also hear from mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard about the magnetic power of love at first sight. Kuslan's first YouTube pick (Tatiana Troyanos, 1982): Kuslan's second YouTube pick (Christa Ludwig and Franco Corelli, 1971): Spurgeon's YouTube pick (Lisette Oropesa and Jonas Kaufmann): This episode features excerpts from the following album: Massenet: Werther (Philips, 1981)— José Carreras, tenor; Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano; Isobel Buchanan, soprano; Orchestra of the Royal Opera House conducted by Sir Colin Davis

music interview men hero opera orchestras classical philips goethe sorrows metropolitan stade royal opera house werther jonas kaufmann lovelorn jules massenet wqxr young werther christa ludwig jos carreras franco corelli lisette oropesa sir colin davis isabel leonard jeff spurgeon

The Madness and Music of 'I Puritani'

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2017 44:37

On this week's episode of He Sang/She Sang, Merrin Lazyan and Jeff Spurgeon speak with director Sarah Meyers about why, despite its utterly implausible plot, some consider Bellini's I Puritani to be among the greatest operatic masterpieces ever written. We also hear from bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni about his role debut as Giorgio, the best singing advice he's ever received, and the joys of traveling with his two dogs, Lenny and Tristan. Sarah's YouTube pick (Anna Netrebko, Eric Cutler, Franco Vassallo, John Reylea): Jeff's YouTube pick (Alexey Markov and Luca Pisaroni): Merrin's YouTube pick (Diana Damrau and Javier Camarena): This episode features excerpts from the following album: Bellini: I Puritani (Decca, 1987)— Joan Sutherland, soprano; Luciano Pavarotti, tenor; Nicolai Ghiaurov, bass; Piero Cappuccilli. baritone; the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Richard Bonynge

music interview madness opera classical lenny metropolitan giorgio bellini london symphony orchestra luciano pavarotti decca anna netrebko wqxr javier camarena diana damrau i puritani nicolai ghiaurov piero cappuccilli jeff spurgeon

Humor and High Jinks in Rossini's 'The Barber of Seville'

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 23, 2017 24:25

Despite its disastrous premiere in 1816 — complete with raucous heckling, a bloody nose and a stray cat scampering across the stage — Rossini’s The Barber of Seville quickly joined the ranks of the best-loved and most-performed operas in the world. Based on the first of a trilogy of plays by the French writer Pierre Beaumarchais (the second of which is The Marriage of Figaro), Barber is full of characters and tunes that have delighted audiences for centuries. In this episode, the He Sang/She Sang team talks with WQXR morning show host Jeff Spurgeon about why Figaro’s memorable aria “Largo al factotum” is a baritone’s “calling card” aria and how Rossini’s music has found its way into movies, TV commercials and everyone’s favorite Saturday morning cartoons. Jeff Spurgeon's YouTube pick: (Note: this podcast was recorded shortly before we learned of the death of soprano Roberta Peters. We mourn her passing and are grateful to remember her artistry in sharing this clip of her in one of her signature roles, Rosina, in Rossini's The Barber of Seville.) Merrin Lazyan's YouTube pick: Mike Shobe's YouTube pick: This episode features excerpts from the following album: Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia (RCA, 1987)— Robert Merrill, baritone; Roberta Peters, soprano; Georgio Tozzi, bass; Metropolitan Opera Orchestra conducted by Erich Leinsdorf

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Romeo And Juliet: All About The Love Duets

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 16, 2017 26:22

This week, the He Sang/She Sang team is joined by WQXR morning show host Jeff Spurgeon to discuss Charles Gounod's Romeo and Juliet. Hear how this opera is really a vehicle for four gorgeous love duets, how opera companies protect their "gazillion dollar voices" from dangers on stage and what makes the brand-spanking-new production at the Metropolitan Opera so great. He Sang/She Sang Bonus Episode: Head Over Heels with Diana Damrau Merrin Lazyan's Pick (Diana Damrau, "Je veux vivre") Jeff Spurgeon's Pick (Franco Corelli & Anna Moffo, "O nuit divine") Mike Shobe's Pick (Anna Netrebko, "Amour, ranime mon courage") This episode features excerpts from the following album: Gounod: Romeo et Juliette (EMI Classics, 1994)— Franco Corelli, tenor; Mirella Freni, soprano; Paris Opera Theater Orchestra conducted by Alain Lombard

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Hansel and Gretel: Inside the Gingerbread House

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 19, 2016 33:30

On this week's episode of He Sang/She Sang, hosts Merrin Lazyan and Mike Shobe are joined by WQXR morning host Jeff Spurgeon to discuss Englebert Humperdinck's opera Hansel and Gretel. Hear how the Brothers Grimm's fairy tale became an opera, why it's often performed at Christmastime and which musical moments are truly magical. Also on the show, opera and theater director Mary Birnbaum shares how she first fell in love with Hansel and Gretel. Jeff Spurgeon's YouTube pick (Angelika Kirschlager, Diana Damrau, and Pumeza Matshikiza): Merrin Lazyan's YouTube pick (Alice Coote, Christine Schäfer, and Sasha Cooke): Mike Shobe's YouTube pick (Robert Brubaker): This episode features excerpts from the following album: Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel (Chandos, 2007)— Jennifer Larmore, mezzo-soprano; Rebecca Evans, soprano; Jane Henschel, mezzo-soprano; Rosalind Plowright, mezzo-soprano; Robert Hayward, baritone; Diana Montague, mezzo-soprano; the Philharmonia Orchestra and the New London Children's Choir conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras

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We're a Go for 'Manon Lescaut'

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 28, 2016 45:06

On the premiere episode of the new podcast He Sang/She Sang, hosts Merrin Lazyan and Mike Shobe discuss the plot, characters and music of Puccini's Manon Lescaut with the principle stage director of Regina Opera, Linda Lehr, and WQXR's morning host Jeff Spurgeon. Plus, soprano Anna Netrebko joins us to talk about playing the title character, and the panel discusses their YouTube recommendations to get even more familiar with Manon Lescaut. Jeff Spurgeon's YouTube Pick (Jonas Kaufmann and Kristine Opolais): Linda Lehr's YouTube Pick (Kiri Te Kanawa and Placido Domingo): Merrin Lazyan's YouTube Pick (Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov): Mike Shobe's YouTube Pick (Jonas Kaufmann): This episode features excerpts from the following albums and performances:• Anna Netrebko, soprano; Yusif Eyvazof, tenor; and Brian Zeger, piano, recorded live at The Greene Space at WQXR (September 2016).• Puccini: Manon Lescaut (Decca Records, 1993)— Luciano Pavarotti, tenor; Mirella Freni, soprano• Anna Netrebko: Verismo (Deutsche Grammophon, 2016)— Anna Netrebko, soprano

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'Hamilton' Receives Record 16 Tony Nominations

Around Broadway

Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2016 3:18

The 2016 Tony nominees were announced on Tuesday, and Charles Isherwood, theater critic of The New York Times, joins WQXR morning host, Jeff Spurgeon, to gab about the big news. Most notably, the juggernaut known as Hamilton met lofty expectations with a record 16 nominations. The musical about founding father Alexander Hamilton headlines a diverse list of potential winners, in contrast to the pool of Academy Award nominees that begat the #OscarsSoWhite social-media movement. In addition to trying to predict how many statuettes Hamilton creator Lin Manuel Miranda will take home, Isherwood mentions who was snubbed and which of the year's races are the most competitive. Listen to the discussion in the audio above.

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'Waitress' Serves Up a New Recipe for Movie-to-Musical Adaptations

Around Broadway

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2016 2:17

Broadway is home to another a new musical based on a movie. Waitress springs from the 2007 film of the same name and tells the story of a small-town girl, who dreams of an escape from her small-town existence. It stars Jessie Mueller, who makes an even stronger impression than in her Tony Award-winning portrayal of the songwriter Carole King in Beautiful, the Carole King Musical. Pop artist Sara Bareilles wrote the songs for the show with care toward the characters and attention to language. New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood joins WQXR morning host Jeff Spurgeon to offer more about what this Waitress is serving to theater audiences at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.

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Café Concert: The Demenga Brothers and Luka Juhart

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 6, 2015 25:09

Successful sibling duos in music are rare. The stress of rehearsing and being constantly on the road together can derail the happiest collaboration. The best-known sibling partnership in musical history – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his sister Nannerl – didn't last long. He went off to Paris, Vienna and Prague; Nannerl settled down into marriage. The Swiss cellists Thomas and Patrick Demenga appear to take their collaboration with a more easy-going attitude. Some 35 years since graduating from Juilliard and the Bern Conservatory, respectively, they are still going strong, and performed together in December at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. "We can go on stage and close our eyes and start without even looking at each other," Patrick Demenga told host Jeff Spurgeon. "We are so close in a way musically that we trust – it's one of the most exciting experiences that you can have on stage." The two cellists, who also have active solo careers, came to the WQXR Café to perform as both a duo and as a trio with the Slovenian accordionist Luka Juhart. Their program combined the music of Bach with two modern works. First up was a transcription of Bach's Sonata in G minor for Gamba and Harpsichord (first movement), with Juhart playing the harpsichord part. "Normally if you play with harpsichord and continuo," said Thomas Demenga, "you have a very thin sound and you have to be very careful as a cellist not to overpower the harpsichord. In this combination with accordion you have a really full range because he can sustain the lines so you have the full polyphony." Juhart met the Demenga brothers through a composer friend, which led to some festival dates in Europe. At an appearance in Austria last year, David Finckel, the artistic director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, heard the trio and booked them on his series. Although the accordion is a relative outsider in U.S. chamber music circles, Juhart estimates that there are 30 or 40 college-level training programs in Europe where one can major in the instrument (he teaches at the academy in Ljubljana, Slovenia). Below, Juhart performs Vinko Globokar’s theatrical solo piece, Dialog über Luft.While Juhart has sought to explore the outer boundaries of the modernist accordion sound, he has also taken up Baroque works by Rameau, Handel, Scarlatti and Frescobaldi. The Demenga brothers, meanwhile, have been equally versatile, as seen in the last work on their program, an excerpt from Thomas Demenga's Solo per due, which features all manner of bowed and plucked techniques. "It's a bit jazzy but not really because I don't like classical musicians who try to play jazz," said Thomas Demenga. He notes that one of his classmates and friends at Juilliard was the violinist Nigel Kennedy, known for a freewheeling forays into popular styles. "We played on the streets [of New York] to make money," Demenga recalls. The two musicians also played frisbee in the halls of Juilliard. "People hated us," he said with a laugh. Video: Kim Nowacki; Audio: Chase Culpon; Production & Text: Brian Wise

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Replay: Why People Listen to the Same Music Over and Over

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 18, 2014 12:26

Nostalgia, force of habit, and sometimes sheer laziness play a significant role in the kinds of music, movies and books that people consume, according to a growing body of consumer and academic research. While the latest cutting-edge art and entertainment are now clicks away, audiences instinctively seek out the familiar, and for many reasons. In this week's podcast, Derek Thompson, a senior editor at The Atlantic, talks with guest host Jeff Spurgeon about his recent article outlining some of the main theories. "Even as people like to think we want to be clued in to the hot new music, the hot new movie and the hot new book, frankly, we prefer the old stuff," Thompson says. He cites one study which found that for every hour of music-listening in the typical person's lifetime, 54 minutes are spent with songs they've already heard. There are various factors at play. Repetition breeds affection, whereas seeking new experiences can require mental exertion. And old works often acquire new layers of personal meaning apart from their intrinsic values, something that Thompson calls the "existential therapy of nostalgia." "When we re-read a book we haven't read for 20 years, sometimes re-reading it allows us to see ourselves and see how we've changed," he notes. We ask how this relates to the classical music field, known for its strong emphasis on the past. For example, the results of WQXR's annual Classical Countdown listener survey reliably place Beethoven symphonies at the top of the chart year after year. In part, says Thompson, people are swayed by the reputations of great composers. Being told that Beethoven wrote a piece may be enough to convince some listeners of its greatness. "When something is presented to us as famous, we tend to consider it good," he said. "But when we don't know if something is famous, our opinions can be totally different." Listen to the full segment above and tell us what you think below: Why do you return to the same pieces over and over? And how do you discover the new in classical music?

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The Puzzling Revival of the Vinyl LP

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 16, 2014 21:04

Today's Throwback Thursday looks at the continued strength of the vinyl revival. Tune in during the 8 am hour when Jeff Spurgeon plays a special vinyl track. The numbers are striking: CD sales declined nearly 15 percent last year. But vinyl sales moved in the opposite direction: up 32 percent from 2012, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Trendy retailers such as Urban Outfitters and Whole Foods are stocking vinyl records. Sales of turntables are up and artists like conductor Gustavo Dudamel, pianist Valentina Lisitsa and the Brooklyn Rider string quartet are releasing LPs. While the black disc never went away among purist deejays and audiophiles, it has made a broader comeback, especially among hipsters, college students and nostalgic baby boomers. “The whole idea of actually holding a piece of music in your hand has become sort of a quaint concept because you can carry thousands of songs around in your pocket," said Greg Milner, author of Perfecting Sound Forever: The Story Of Recorded Music. However, "if you are going to have a material object, it may as well be something that’s so far removed from digital formats.” Brooklyn Rider violist Nicholas Cords believes that vinyl records put a listener in a physical space, such as a living room or bedroom. For the quartet, "it connects us to a past, a heritage of string quartet playing that we very much admire. It was a symbolic connection to something we really love." When Brooklyn Rider released its 2012 album “Seven Steps” on vinyl (as well as MP3 and CD) the group invoked past greats like the Capet, Rosé, and Busch String Quartets, who first became known to the world through their pioneering 78 rpm releases in the 1930s and '40s. Cords dismisses the suggestion that LPs are a gimmick, noting that their creation can be painstaking and costly given the different mastering processes involved. What's more, a vinyl release is a way to connect with a specific fan base. Detractors argue that vinyl has plenty of drawbacks: it's not portable, it scratches, it warps and player needles wear out. But its advocates point out that, unlike MP3s, the sound of vinyl is not compressed and any surface noise actually adds warmth to the listening experience. “One of the reasons why people like vinyl is it imparts a kind of unreality to the sound,” said Milner. “People think of it as real but it actually gives you this thing that maybe you don’t hear in real life because in real life you’re not hearing things through the veil of hiss and noise.” But despite the love heaped on vinyl and its reported comeback, it barely moved the needle for the music industry in 2013. "Vinyl is only about two percent of total album sales, so when you talk about a revival you have to talk about it in the context of everything everyone is listening to,” said Claire Suddath, a writer for Bloomberg Businessweek. In October, Suddath reported that the number of LPs sold in the U.S. represented only 1.4 percent of all albums sold. While vinyl may not save a troubled industry – one that saw even download sales drop last year – Cords notes that it represents a link with tradition in an age when music formats can seem overly disposable. "I just don’t see vinyl going away," added Milner. “It’s a good format, it’s durable, it will last a long time.” Listen to the full segment above, take our poll and leave a comment: Do you listen to vinyl? If so, why? .chart_div { width: 600px; height: 300px; } loadSurvey( "vinyl-comeback", "survey_vinyl-comeback");

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Symphonies for Snoozing? When it's OK to Be Bored in Concerts

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2013

We've all had moments when our mind has wandered during a Wagner opera, a Bruckner symphony or perhaps a long Mozart recitative. Some of us have even dozed off. But maybe we shouldn’t beat ourselves up when our thoughts drift to a grocery list or an e-mail we forgot to send earlier. Boredom in the concert hall may actually be a good thing, says John Crace, a features writer for the Guardian newspaper. In a recent article he argued that the slow, tedious moments in classical music make the exciting ones that much better. Among the works Crace cited is Wagner's six-hour Parsifal, which puts extremely high demands on modern listeners. "There's an hour-and-a-half of absolutely sublime music, which makes it all worthwhile," he told host Jeff Spurgeon. "And then there are bits, especially in the second act, when my mind starts to wander." It probably was the fault of Wagner – not the listener or the performer. "He expected his audiences to come along for the ride with him," Crace continued. "And I don’t think audiences are always prepared to do that." But other industry-watchers disagree that the blame rests with the composer. "Before I would go attacking the repertoire per se, I would first take a look at the performance," said Ben Finane, editor-in-chief of Listen magazine. "I think it’s incumbent upon the singers to establish good chemistry on stage for those [Mozart] recitatives. It’s incumbent upon the conductor to keep things moving, and when that happens, I’m not dosing off." In 2011, BBC Music Magazine asked 10 leading music critics to name the most boring masterpieces in classical music. Responses included Mahler's Eighth Symphony, Bruckner's Seventh Symphony, Vivaldi's Gloria and several operas: Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Puccini's Madam Butterfly and Rossini's Cenerentola, among others. "There was no common thread, which shows that one man’s meat is another man’s poison," said Jeremy Pound, the magazine's deputy editor. Wagner has frequently come in for criticism, and some critics say it's a rare opera of his that couldn't be improved by taking 20 minutes (or more) off the running time. "That’s the trouble with Wagner is there’s so much good stuff in there but you have to sit through the dreary stuff in between," noted Pound. Crace believes that opera is a challenge because, unlike a play, it's difficult to cut in performance. "No one would dream of performing Hamlet at five hours," he said. "But there is a feeling in opera that somehow there’s an irreverence attached if every note of every bar is not included." Perhaps the media has unfairly hyped epic works and created unreasonable expectations in audiences, said Pound. But just as important to realize is that, with age, a listener's concept of time starts to change. "What was boring to me 20 years ago now I absolutely adore," Pound added. Listen to the segment above and tell us: Are there pieces that sometimes make your mind wander? Leave your comments below.

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Café Concert: Calmus Ensemble

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 11, 2013

Say Leipzig and classical music listeners may think of old, blue-chip institutions like the St. Thomas Boys Choir, the Gewandhaus Orchestra or the Bach-Archiv, which carries on the legacy of the German city’s most famous composer. Most may not think of a young a capella quintet that covers Irish airs and folk songs, jazz tunes and pop hits by Michael Jackson, Sting and Freddie Mercury. But the Leipzig-based Calmus Ensemble has developed such versatility, with a repertoire that also reaches back to composers from Purcell and Bach to Mendelssohn and Debussy. “The pop songs today have the same role as the madrigals centuries ago,” Ludwig Böhme, the ensemble's baritone told host Jeff Spurgeon (listen to the full interview and performance above). Formed in 1999 by six male graduates of the Thomas Church Choir School, the group's personnel shifted early on and the gleaming soprano voice of Anja Lipfert was added in 2001 (the lineup today also includes countertenor Sebastian Krause, tenor Tobias Pöche and bass Joe Roesler). Calmus's members cite the King's Singers as a formative influence, and some critics have drawn (perhaps more unusual) comparisons to mixed-voice a cappella groups like the Swingle Singers. Calmus stopped by the WQXR Café a day after their debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art to perform a holiday-focused program. They began with "Nova Nova," an ancient song given a modern twist in an arrangement by choral singer and composer Bob Chilcott. The Calmus musicians carry a distinctly German identity and they don't avoid the music of their hometown composers. But baritone Böhme insists that versatility is the group's ultimate calling card. "Our classical background is clear," he said. "When we sing pop arrangements we don't sound like pop singers. Everybody will hear our classical education. We always love the variety. There are many possibilities of where we can sing." The Calmus musicians showed their cheekier side with a performance of "Jingle Bells." In Böhme's arrangement, it is combined with "Suesser die Glocken nie klingen" ("Sweeter the Bells Never Sound"),a German carol from the 1850s. Video: Amy Pearl; Sound: Edward Haber; Production & Text: Brian Wise

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Café Concert: Pacifica Quartet & Anthony McGill

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 25, 2013

VIDEO: The Pacifica Quartet & Anthony McGill Play Mozart When a long-established string quartet brings in a fifth collaborator, questions inevitably arise: how will the four players interact with the newcomer? Who will call the shots in rehearsals, and how does the group dynamic change? When the Pacifica Quartet gave a performance of the Mozart Clarinet Quintet in the WQXR Café, that fifth member was Anthony McGill, the principal clarinetist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He recently recorded the clarinet quintets of Brahms and Mozart with the Pacifica, for an album due out next spring. "It's great to have that influx of new energy and new thoughts," Pacifica violist Masumi Per Rostad told host Jeff Spurgeon. "It changes our rehearsal process. It changes the way we interact with each other when it's just the four of us." McGill joked that the group puts on its polite company face when he enters the room. "What's kind of funny about that, especially with a string quartet, is that most of the time, you’re really welcome, because they spend a lot of time with each other,” said McGill. "Every group has its own specific dynamic and it’s really fascinating to be able to feel that." Along with his job at the Met, McGill is active as a chamber musician and soloist. He encounters a lot of Mozart, be it his chamber music or operas like Cosi fan tutte. "The way he captures the overtones and the sweetest part of the instrument is better than any other composer," McGill said of his clarinet writing. "The part of the instrument that sounds like the human voice – that’s the part that he zeroes in on and uses to the best of his abilities." The Pacifica's Cafe Concert came one day after the quartet appeared at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall to perform with another notable artist, pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin, in the rarely-heard Leo Ornstein Piano Quintet. Next year, the ensemble will mark its 20th anniversary with the premieres of commissioned works by Shulamit Ran and Julia Wolfe, the latter of which will be a string quintet with cellist Johannes Moser. The Pacifica has seen other changes lately too. Last year, the group left the University of Illinois after nearly a decade as the resident quartet to join the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. It is the first quartet-in-residence at a school with a long string pedagogy tradition but much less of a chamber music bent. The quartet now teaches some 35 ensembles. Does the name “Pacifica” – a holdover from the group’s founding in Los Angeles – ever seem strange given their Midwestern orientation now? “It’s a nice name and we’ve been happy with it," said Rostad. "Our students like to joke that they could call us the Cornfield-ica.” Video: Amy Pearl; Sound: Noriko Okabe; Text & Production: Brian Wise

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Café Concert: Béla Fleck

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2013

VIDEO: Béla Fleck plays The Imposter in the WQXR Café When Béla Fleck came to the WQXR Café, curious staff members began asking about his repertoire. Would he be playing Scarlatti or Scruggs? A Bach invention or a bluegrass breakdown? Fleck can do all of those things and more. Almost single-handedly, he established the banjo's capacity to move easily across genres stretching from the blues and bluegrass to contemporary jazz and world music. But being at a classical music station, Fleck, 55, wasn't about to miss an opportunity to show off his classical chops, so he focused on excerpts from The Imposter, a new banjo concerto he composed for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. "You’ll just have to imagine the orchestra – we couldn’t afford them today," he joked, before launching into the repeated arpeggiated riffs of its second movement. The Imposter is dedicated to Earl Scruggs, the bluegrass pioneer who brought the banjo back to national prominence during the 1950s and 60s. Scruggs attended Fleck's premiere of the concerto in September 2011, six months before he passed away at age 88. "Earl Scruggs did so many things, from bringing the banjo out of the hills and back into the mainstream—because the banjo was a very popular instrument in the late 1800s and early 1900s," Fleck told host Jeff Spurgeon. "And then it pretty much was dying out in terms of the mainstream." Just as Scruggs covered rock tunes in the 1960s like Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and played in rock and pop venues, Fleck has sought to push the limits of the instrument. In the 1980s Fleck played with the cutting-edge group New Grass Revival, known for its wild, virtuosic style, and by the '90s he was fronting his own band the Flecktones, which remains active today. Fleck edged his way into classical concert halls starting with "Perpetual Motion," a 2001 album of classical pieces for which he won a pair of Grammy awards. A few years later he collaborated with bassist Edgar Meyer and the Indian percussionist Zakir Hussain on a Triple Concerto, premiered with the Detroit Symphony and conductor Leonard Slatkin. Along with the concerto, Fleck's new recording features Night Flight Over Water, an original piece he plays with the string quartet Brooklyn Rider (a joint national tour is planned for the fall and winter). He said that while an orchestra can feel overwhelming in size, "with a string quartet, we’re all sitting very close to each other just as we would be in a bluegrass band." Does Fleck encounter much resistance to the idea of a banjo in classical settings, with requests to play something more "down home?" "That’s a stereotype about the banjo, that it can only be happy,” he said. "I've done some very sad banjo playing. And I’ve heard people play soulful, simple melodies on the banjo that make you want to cry. So it’s really about the musician." Video: Kim Nowacki; Audio: Edward Haber; Text & Production: Brian Wise; Interview: Jeff Spurgeon

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Café Concert: Benjamin Verdery

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2013 14:31

Behold the many sides of Benjamin Verdery. Seated in the WQXR Café with his baritone guitar in hand, Verdery lets introspective pieces by Bach and Randy Newman spill forth with a hushed introspection. But speaking behind a microphone, Verdery becomes garrulous and animated, expounding on squeaky strings, the music of Elvis Presley and teaching in the age of YouTube. Verdery is nothing if not steeped in the world of classical guitar: he travels the globe appearing at specialized guitar festivals, delivering week-long master classes from Maui to Amsterdam, and overseeing the guitar department at Yale University, a post he has held since 1985. His website contains the requisite sections devote to instruments, gear and teaching tips. Verdery has a populist streak too. As artistic director of the guitar series at the 92nd St Y, he curates a series of guitar recitals and performs there himself, as he will on Thursday in a solo concert of works by Albeniz, Bach and Ezra Landerman as well as arrangements of songs by Prince and Presley. Adapting pop songs for the classical guitar, Verdery says, isn’t as straightforward as it may seem. He says that an arrangement like “Kiss” by Prince (listen above), is conceived as a kind of collage. “I generally gravitate towards something that sounds really exciting and cool on the classical guitar,” he told host Jeff Spurgeon. “With the Prince, who doesn’t want to do that?” Verdery will transcribe bits of the tune, then adapt the bass line or the drum part into a thicker accompaniment parts. “There I have to do some composing because I’m not singing. It’s so joyful.” Verdery ends his Café Concert with "In Germany Before The War," a 1977 song by Randy Newman inspired by the Fritz Lang film M, which featured Peter Lorre as serial killer Hans Beckert. Newman has said the brooding song was intended as a metaphor for a nation about to enter a period of horror and transgression. It’s finding unlikely songs like this or working with younger composers that seems to keep Verdery going. "The astounding thing is the instrument still fascinates me,” he said. “As you get older pieces seem to grow with you, especially the great ones. “[Pianist] Dinu Lipatti said, ‘You don’t pick pieces, pieces pick you. As you go through life, even the simplest pieces can mean so much. You’re always humbled – by both the instrument because it still sounds fresh and unusual – and by the music.” Video: Amy Pearl; Sound: Edward Haber; Interview: Jeff Spurgeon; Text & Production: Brian Wise

music radio public kiss amsterdam concerts npr behold cafe adapting newman yale university maui bach ludwig van beethoven mozart elvis presley classical seated randy newman fritz lang peter lorre wqxr sty albeniz hans beckert jeff spurgeon

Café Concert: Jennifer Koh

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 23, 2013 12:45

VIDEO: Jennifer Koh performs in the WQXR Café Somewhere along the way in her 20-some year career, Jennifer Koh jumped off the violin soloist treadmill in favor of less familiar paths and creative channels. She fashioned an ongoing recital series called “Bach and Beyond” that involves juxtapositions of Bach’s solo sonatas and partitas with contemporary works by composers like Phil Kline, Missy Mazzoli and Kaija Saariaho. She gives her New York Philharmonic subscription debut this week not with a beloved warhorse like the Tchaikovsky or Brahms Concerto but Lutoslawski’s Chain 2, a dark, knotty work composed for Anne-Sophie Mutter in 1984. And she has struck up a working relationship with the veteran theater and opera director Robert Wilson, which will expand this November in a staged version of Bach’s solo violin music in Paris. Koh came to know Wilson when she appeared in the title role in a new touring production of Einstein on the Beach, Philip Glass’s landmark opera that came to the Brooklyn Academy of Music in October. “I was quite scared going into the rehearsal process because I’ve never acted or done anything in that way,” Koh, 36, told Jeff Spurgeon. “I’ve never played a character. In fact, for me, performing and being a musician is about being more myself there than anywhere else in a sense and being more purely human. “I didn’t even know where stage right was. They were like, 'walk on to stage right' and I was like, 'which direction is this?’” In the five-hour opera, Koh doesn’t just perform Glass's churning "Knee Plays" but dons the full Einstein costume, complete with silver wig and mustache. Wilson's acting coaching made a strong impression on Koh. “In a way, I’ve been searching for a long time for this idea, [whether] doing 'Bach and Beyond,' or creating these projects," she said. "In the end it’s ‘how do you create an experience, and really create a journey for your audience?’ What Bob does with Einstein, with time, it changes your conception of that.” Koh’s career got off to a start more typical of a child prodigy: she made her debut with the Chicago Symphony at age 11, studied at Oberlin College in her teens, and took home a silver medal at the 1994 Tchaikovsky Competition, the latter while wearing a poofy green dress. But in recent years she's shown an increasingly adventurous streak, as the choice of the Lutoslawski for her Philharmonic debut suggests. "I believe it’s a great piece and it deserves to be heard more,” she said. “And more than that, the reason I’m happy to do it in New York is that so many of my composer colleagues and friends are in the city and there’s something about his music that is such an important voice that does need to be heard.” In the WQXR Café, Koh performs selections the final two movements of Ysaÿe's Sonata No. 2, a piece that she performed last year at an event for South Korea's First Lady Kim Yoon-ok, hosted by US First Lady Michelle Obama. “I remembered that I was so excited when I met her at the receiving line that I almost knocked over the first lady of Korea,” Koh recalled. "I just hopped towards Michelle Obama to give her a hug. Then I had to give my apologies to the first lady of Korea. She was very lovely.” Video: Amy Pearl; Sound: Ed Haber; Text & Production: Brian Wise; Interview Jeff Spurgeon

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Café Concert: Chilly Gonzales

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 14, 2013 15:40

VIDEO: Chilly Gonzales performs in the WQXR Café If Franz Liszt were alive today, he may find a certain kinship with Chilly Gonzales. The German-based Canadian pianist and composer is the current holder of the world record for longest solo concert, at 27 hours, 3 minutes and 44 seconds. He has crowd-surfed at a BBC Symphony concert in London, challenged the rocker Andrew W.K. to a piano battle (and won), and has pioneered his own brand of “orchestral rap.” A self-proclaimed "musical genius," Gonzales has made a two-decade career out of straddling musical styles and genres. His ridiculously prolific resume includes producing albums by big-name pop artists like Feist, Drake and Daft Punk; getting his music on the first iPad commercial; and writing solo piano pieces that evoke the melancholic grace of Satie or Franck. Gonzales’s Café Concert stressed the classical side of his creative output, featuring his original songs (watch a mash-up of his "Otello" and "Minor Fantasy" below). And while many pianists would shutter at playing on a (slightly creaky) upright, Gonzales embraced the task. “I luckily have a lot of experience playing pianos,” he told Jeff Spurgeon. “Once in a while you can’t figure certain women out; you can’t figure certain pianos out either. You do your best. In this case, I managed to flirt a little bit and make a few jokes and had her laughing pretty quickly.” Gonzales was in New York to perform his Piano Concerto No. 1, backed by an 11-piece chamber orchestra at Lincoln Center’s David Rubinstein Atrium. Despite the concerto's formal title, he insists that his compositions are “songs,” not “pieces,” even as he acknowledges the influence of French and Russian romantic composers. “We’re not in the 19th century anymore. We’re in the 21st," said Gonzales, who was born Jason Charles Beck. “For me, for example, the obsession with structure was a huge thing for classical composers, but that’s not really an issue for me. I grew up watching MTV. There’s nothing wrong with verse-chorus-verse-chorus. That’s the currency of our generation these days.” Gonzales studied classical music at McGill University in his hometown of Montreal, graduating in the same class as the songwriter Rufus Wainwright. He says he never quite fit the formal conservatory mold. “I was traumatized by the institutions but fell in love with the meaning of the music,” he said, noting his love of Liszt and Tchaikovsky. “My favorite composers tend to be ones who were conscious of the audience. And for better or for worse, they had personalities that meant that they needed some sort of approval of the audience, but on their own terms.” He continued: “I’ve always focused on the noble profession of being a showman. To me, being an entertainer – which is what I prefer to call myself rather than artist – is a way of saying entertainment doesn’t have to mean pandering to the lowest common denominator.” Gonzales admits that his Guinness World Record performance, set in Paris in 2009, was an attempt at “selling the idea of me as a musical genius and what I’m capable of doing.” He said that the hardest part of the event was not staying awake but maintaining the quality of his performance. He got through it by “letting the adrenaline flow to not only keep me awake but communicating with the audience at all times.” With his many creative channels (he's also a filmmaker), is Chilly Gonzales a bit desperate for attention? And what do his audiences think? "I have an oppositional personality that likes to surprise people," he said. "I find I generally need to have an approval of an audience – but on my own terms. It's not enough for me to play into traditional expectations for how to please people. So I always need to be shaping and redefining that relationship." Video: Amy Pearl; Sound: Chase Culpon; Interview: Jeff Spurgeon; Text & Production: Brian Wise

Avery Fisher Hall's Extreme Makeover

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2012 25:16

When the news emerged last week that Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center is to finally go under the knife in 2017, reaction was swift and vocal. "Tear the place down!" wrote more than one commenter on a recent WQXR.org blog post. "The dimensions are all wrong," said another. Some familiar complaints about hall were heard — concerning its acoustics, uncomfortable seats, dated restrooms and even the lack of a pipe organ. Others argued that a facelift should respect the integrity of the 1962 building while using the latest technology or acoustic principals. A concert hall renovation is an exceedingly long, complex and costly project involving numerous constituents — patrons, musicians, staff, boards — and Avery Fisher is home not only to the New York Philharmonic but many other presenters. So just what does Avery Fisher Hall need? How can it become more welcoming to new audiences? And what risks confront Lincoln Center and the New York Philharmonic as they embark on the process? (Over 80 percent of concert hall renovations experience significant cost overruns.) In this podcast, guest host Jeff Spurgeon puts these and other questions to three experts: Justin Davidson, classical music & architecture critic at New York magazine Carroll Joynes, a senior research fellow at the Cultural Policy Center of the University of Chicago Pete Matthews, editor, of the blog Feast of Music Please share your own thoughts on Avery Fisher Hall's planned renovation below.

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Café Concert: Maya Beiser