Episodes
Published 01/05/18
Pianist Benjamin Grosvenor and conductor François-Xavier Roth preview a Boston Symphony Orchestra program that includes Méhul's Overture to The Amazons, Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. (photo of Benjamin Grosvenor by Patrick Allen, courtesy of Opera Omnia)
Published 01/05/18
Violinist Leonidas Kavakos previews his Boston Symphony Orchestra performance of Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2 and describes the "Willemotte" Stradivarius violin he plays, and Andris Nelsons talks about Strauss's An Alpine Symphony. Also, Alan McLellan talks with members of A Far Cry, and violinist Isabelle Faust and pianist Alexander Melnikov talk with Cathy Fuller about Beethoven's violin sonatas. (photo of Leonidas Kavakos by Marco Borggreve)
Published 12/01/17
Deborah Boldin, flutist and founding Artistic Director of the Chameleon Arts Ensemble, describes the elements of an All-American program of works by Copland, Beach, and Berger, and pianist Rudolf Buchbinder and conductor Andris Nelsons preview a BSO concert of music by Beethoven and Bruckner. (photo of Deborah Boldin by Matthew Wan; photo of Rudolf Buchbinder by Marco Borggreve)
Published 11/24/17
Pianist Martin Helmchen describes the revolutionary qualities of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3, and BSO Artistic Administrator and Director of Tanglewood Tony Fogg previews the 2018 Tanglewood season, the "Bernstein Centennial Summer." (photo of Martin Helmchen by Giorgia Bertazzi)
Published 11/17/17
Alessandro Quarta, the founder and director of Concerto Romano, talks with Alan McLellan about the group's Boston Early Music Festival performance of Pasquini's Il San Vito, and Gil Rose, the founder and director of Odyssey Opera, talks with Chris Voss about Donizetti's L'Assedio di Calais. (photo of Alessandro Quarta by Luca Marconato, courtesy of the artist)
Published 10/26/17
Boston Symphony Orchestra Associate Conductor Ken-David Masur describes the characteristics of two sets of incidental music for the theater: Beethoven's Egmont and Grieg's Peer Gynt. Also, two members of the Berlin Philharmonic talk about the chamber groups in which they play, including horn player Fergus McWilliam of the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet and Christian Stadelmann of Philharmonia Quartett Berlin. (photo of Ken-David Masur by Beth Ross-Buckley)
Published 10/20/17
Violinist Hilary Hahn describes the unique qualities of Dvorák's Violin Concerto, which she performs with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as the huge range of collaborative projects she's undertaken, and conductor David Stern talks about a new Boston Lyric Opera production of Puccini's Tosca. (photo of Hilary Hahn by Michael Patrick O'Leary)
Published 10/13/17
Violinist Gil Shaham talks with host Brian McCreath about the Violin Concerto by Tchaikovsky, as well as the next chapter in his series of recordings of concertos from the 1930's, and pianist Garrick Ohlsson describes his deep relationship with music by Frederic Chopin. (photo of Gil Shaham courtesy of IMG; photo of Garrick Ohlsson by Kacper Pempel)
Published 10/06/17
Pianist Paul Lewis talks with host Brian McCreath about Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4, and Andris Nelsons reveals two sides of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11, "The Year 1905." Also, Alan McLellan and pianist David Deveau look back on Deveau's 22 years as Artistic Director of the Rockport Chamber Music Festival, and Chris Voss look ahead with Deveau's successor, violist Barry Shiffman. (photo of Paul Lewis by Jack Liebeck)
Published 09/29/17
As the Boston Symphony Orchestra opens its 2017-2018 season, three members of the orchestra recall working with Leonard Bernstein, both as students and as professionals, and Music Director Andris Nelsons describes his discovery of Bernstein following the fall of the Iron Curtain. (photo of Leonard Bernstein by Paul Hueck, courtesy of the Leonard Bernstein Office)
Published 09/21/17
Pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin talks with WCRB's Cathy Fuller about his May 2017 Celebrity Series of Boston concert, with music by Haydn, Feinberg, Beethoven, Scriabin, and much more. (photo of Marc-Andre Hamelin by Sim Canetty-Clarke)
Published 09/09/17
WCRB's Cathy Fuller talks with Richard Stoltzman about his father's definition of success, playing with Woody Herman's Thundering Herd, and how vibrato has been a mixed blessing, and Andrea Avery, the author of Sonata: A Memoir of Pain and Piano, talks with WCRB's Chris Voss about the intersection her life as a musician and rheumatoid arthritis. (photo of Richard Stoltzman by A. Kumamoto)
Published 06/30/17
Richard Stoltzman continues a conversation with WCRB's Cathy Fuller with a look at what's now known as "crossover" recordings, the beginnings of Stoltzman's career, and the importance of jazz to his artistic identity. (photo of Richard Stoltzman by Lisa Marie Mazzucco)
Published 06/23/17
Clarinetist Richard Stoltzman talks with WCRB's Cathy Fuller about the 40-CD retrospective box set released by Sony, his beginnings as a musician, and why performing Brahms with the Cleveland Quartet was a life-changing experience. Also, Donald Greig of the Orlando Consort describes the challenges and rewards of performing and recording the complete chansons of Machaut. (photo of Richard Stoltzman by Lisa Marie Mazzucco)
Published 06/16/17
Violinist Bernhard Forck and oboist Xenia Loeffler of the Academy for Ancient Music Berlin preview their Boston Early Music Festival program, called "Of Frogs and Men," and Andris Nelsons describes the evolution of his relationship to the four symphonies by Brahms. (photo of the Academy for Ancient Music Berlin by Kristof Fischer)
Published 06/09/17
Chameleon Arts Ensemble Artistic Director Deborah Boldin talks about the founding of the group in 1998 and a program of works by Bach and his sons at the Rockport Chamber Music Festival, and pianist Hélène Grimaud describes her changing relationship with the two piano concertos by Brahms, which she performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Andris Nelsons. (photo of Deborah Boldin by Matthew Wan, courtesy of the Chameleon Arts Ensemble)
Published 06/02/17
Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart describes the importance of John Williams as a composer of film music, as well as highlights of the 2017 Pops season, and Charles Dutoit talks with WCRB's Brian McCreath about his October 2016 Boston Symphony Orchestra All-British program. (photo of Keith Lockhart by Marco Borggreve)
Published 05/26/17
WCRB's Chris Voss talks with Odyssey Opera Artistic and General Manager Gil Rose about the company's 2016 performance of Dvorák's rarely heard opera Dimitrij, and Boston Symphony Music Director Andris Nelsons describes the distinctive sound of the BSO string section in works by Mozart and Bruckner. (photo of Gil Rose by Liz Linder)
Published 05/19/17
Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham describes the background of "Frauenliebe und -leben Variations," and pianist Javier Perianes talks about performing Falla's "Nights in the Gardens of Spain" with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. (photo of Susan Graham by B. Ealovega)
Published 05/12/17
Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes describes the unique qualities of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 4, Andris Nelsons talks about Shostakovich's music for King Lear and Mahler's Symphony No. 4, and Marcus Thompson, Peggy Pearson, and Dimitri Murrath of the Boston Chamber Music Society talk with WCRB's Cathy Fuller about works by Bax and Bliss. (photo of Leif Ove Andsnes by Ozgur Albayrak, courtesy of IMG Artists)
Published 05/05/17
Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter draws connections between Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto and Takemitsu's Nostalghia, Boston Symphony Music Director Andris Nelsons previews Shostakovich's Symphony No. 6 with WCRB's Brian McCreath, and Handel and Haydn Society Concertmaster Aisslinn Nosky talks with WCRB's Alan McLellan about leading the ensemble and the challenges of Vivaldi and other Italian Baroque masters. (photo of Anne-Sophie Mutter by Monika Höfler)
Published 04/28/17
Gary Dunning previews the Celebrity Series of Boston 2017-2018 season, and Catherine Manson, First Violinist of the London Haydn Quartet, describes their Boston Early Music Festival program of works by Haydn and Weber. (photos of Canadian Brass, Yuja Wang, Gustavo Dudamel, and Wu Man courtesy of the artists)
Published 04/19/17
Boston Symphony Orchestra Music Director Andris Nelsons talks about two programs that include Mozart's Piano Concertos Nos. 20 and 24, Bruckner's Symphony No. 6, and Mozart's Requiem, and Boston Baroque Music Director Martin Pearlman previews Handel's Agrippina with WCRB's Alan McLellan. (photo of Andris Nelsons by Marco Borggreve)
Published 04/14/17
Emmanuel Music Artistic Director Ryan Turner and Harvard University's Christoph Wolff describe the creation of a performing edition of Bach's lost St. Mark Passion, and Johannes Moser talks about performing Dvorak's Cello Concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. (photo of Ryan Turner courtesy of the artist)
Published 04/07/17