This release is special in two ways. First, it marks the centenary of Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s birth in 1919. Second, it’s the debut recording of the East-West Chamber Orchestra. The combination is magic — we get phenomenal performances of some phenomenal music. The East-West Chamber Orchestra has been the in-house ensemble for the Yuri Bashmet International […]
contemporary classical music
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Reznicek Symphonic Suites Blend Old and New
Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek was primarily an opera composer. Two of the three suites in the release have their origins on the stage. Nevertheless, they show that Reznicek was quite comfortable writing for the concert hall. The Karneval Suite “in an older style” was extracted from Reznicek’s two-act opera Gondoliere des Dogen. The drama’s set in the […]
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Albert Nepomuceno symphony launches new Brazilian music series
This release launches a new series from Naxos — the Music of Brazil. Working with three Brazilian orchestras, Naxos will record about 100 works by native composers. It should be a phenomenal and revelatory cycle. That’s my impression after hearing this first release of music by Alberto Nepomuceno (1864-1920). It’s a logical place to start. […]
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Raphael Wallfisch continues concerto cycle with Ben-Haim, Korngold, and Bloch
This installment of Raphael Wallfisch’s innovative series features three very different composers. “Cello Concertos by Jewish Composers in Exile” is in its fourth volume. All three composers were Jewish, and all were forced from their homes. But not every work on this album is a concerto (sort of). The outlier is Ernest Bloch, represented by […]
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Karl Weigl Symphonies Nos. 4 & 6 — Before and After
Austrian composer Karl Weigl was certainly steeped in the Viennese Post-Romantic style. He studied privately with Alexander Zemlinsky, and later with Robert Fuchs. Weigl fled the Nazis in 1938, emigrating to the United States. Like many of exiled Viennese composers (such as Korngold), Weigl never quite moved past the boundaries set by Mahler. The two […]
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Margaret Bonds – The Ballad of the Brown King
Margaret Bonds is considered one of America’s most important 20th Century composers of color. And yet, because most of her work remains unpublished, little of it gets recorded. Which is why I was so excited to get this release. Malcolm J. Merriweather, the conductor of the Dessoff Choirs in New York City, has become a […]
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Share the joy of classical music: WTJU Classical Marathon airs Dec 9 – 15
Share the joy of WTJU Classical – December 9 – 15 We need your help to raise $40,000 and keep WTJU going strong! Diverse and wide-ranging as they are, the wonderful classical music pieces you enjoy on WTJU have common themes that echo through each performance. Themes that celebrate excellence and creativity… evoke the deepest emotions… and […]
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Mieczyslaw Weinberg Works for Violin & Piano works for me
Ewelina Nowicka is a composer as well as a violinist. I think it’s that additional talent that makes this recording special. Nowicka and pianist Milena Antoniewicz perform three early postwar works by Mieczyslaw Weinberg. Weinberg was one of the composers endangered by the Zhdanov Doctrine (along with his good friend Dmitri Shostakovich). He managed to […]
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British Cello Works – quality chamber music by women
When I present classical music on the radio, I never identify a composer by race or sex. I think it creates the impression that these are subsets of the main group of composers. There are composers, and there are women composers. Almost as good, but not quite. I don’t think that’s true, and (apparently), neither […]