To me, this is the epitome of a major release. It’s a world premiere recording of a major work with an assemblage of all-stars. Alexander Kastalsky’s Commemoration for Fallen Brothers honors the casualties of the First World Way with a universal message. Kastalsky began work on this massive work in 1914 and completed it in […]
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Jane Rothfield chats about how it takes “More Than One” on Sunset Road, October 16
Multi-instrumentalist Jane Rothfield will chat with Sunset Road host Pete this Friday afternoon, October 16, about the Idumea Quartet’s new album, More Than One.
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Francesco Mancini Recorder Sonatas engage the ear
Francesco Mancini’s collection of XII Solos for a Violin or Flute were first published in London around 1724. They proved so popular that the music went through at least three editions. As the title suggests, Mancini’s music was composed for either violin or flute. “Flute” was a somewhat generic term, and could apply to either […]
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American Gifts presents new music for marimba duos
Full disclosure: I majored in keyboard percussion as an undergrad, specializing in marimba. So of COURSE I was looking forward to auditioning “American Gifts.” And it didn’t disappoint. Jack Van Geem and Nancy Zeitsman are superb players. I was also impressed by the recorded sound. The marimba has warm, resonant tones in its lower register […]
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Classical Interviews – Michael Slon
“The experience of making music together and hearing music together contributes invisibly to the health of our culture. And we’re missing that force in current life right now.” So says UVA professor Michael Slon, about the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic for musicians and audiences. Active as a conductor of choral, orchestral, and operatic repertoire, Michael […]
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Hour 11: Hard Bop Still Cookin’ – Terell Stafford, Jack Kilby and the Front Line, The Cookers, Aaron Diehl, Chano Dominguez, Poncho Sanchez, Bobby Sanabria, Antonio Adolpho
Terell Stafford Since the 1950s, there have consistently been players who found in Hard Bop a comfortable place to return to even as the focus of the music ebbed and flowed. Perhaps this is because so many heroes of modern jazz created the music that defined the term – players like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, […]
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#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalTimeMachine Week 1
For the month of October, the Classics a Day team turned nostalgic. Classical musicians have been making recordings since the 1890s. So we all have over 130 years of documented performance practices. And we can judge first-hand the artistry of legendary performers. The challenge is to post classical recordings made before 1949 (pre-LP era). Here […]
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Hans Gal remembers Vienna in his recorder music
Although “Remembering Vienna” may seem like part of the current Hans Gal recording boom, that’s not quite the case. Recorder player Sabrina Fey and pianist Bernard Parz were friends at university. But her specialty was early music, and his Viennese repertoire. It seemed they would never be able to perform together — until they discovered […]
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Johann Evangelist Brandl Symphony anticipates Beethoven
This release features two works by Johann Evangelist Brandl, a younger contemporary of Mozart. Their lives were hardly parallel, but both had to deal with the business of music — like finding employment. Brandl composed his Symphonie Concertante for just that purpose. He used the work as an audition piece for prospective employers (members of […]