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Bawdy and Baroque: Cavalli's 'La Calisto'
This early opera by Francesco Cavalli revolves around a transgendered tryst involving the king of the gods. Though it's mostly about lust, there's a little true love thrown in, in this production from the Theatre des Champs Elysees in Paris.
(23 July)
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First Listen: Cleveland Orchestra Performs Wagner
The Cleveland Orchestra presents a diverse cross-section of Richard Wagner's operatic music in this live recording. At the heart of the album is an eloquent performance by Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman. Hear the album in its entirety, and download a song, until its release on July 27.
(20 July)
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John McCormack: The Charming Irish Tenor
In the early 1900s, John McCormack sang in packed concert halls, without a microphone, before audiences of more than 7,000 people. He sang from the heart and the head, both spontaneously and cerebrally, and could sing anything from opera to German lieder to Irish folk songs. Although McCormack's music made NPR correspondent Susan Stamberg roll her eyes as a young girl, she now says it transports her to another world.
(19 July)
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$18 Million Violin Looking For A Home
While Stradivarius might be the closest thing to a household name when it comes to valuable violins, an instrument made instead by Guarneri del Gesu may be the most coveted instrument ever. If it sells for its asking price of $18 million, it will be the most expensive instrument on Earth.
(18 July)
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Marc-Andre Hamelin: Sonatas By The Seashore
From the gorgeous new music hall overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, hear the courageous pianist make finger-scorching music by Liszt and Berg sound easy as pie at the Rockport Chamber Music Festival in Massachusetts.
(16 July)
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Betrayal In Brooklyn: 'A View From The Bridge'
William Bolcom's searing opera, based on a play by Arthur Miller, is a sometimes bleak yet always vivid drama set in the Italian-American community of Red Hook, Brooklyn, in the 1950s.
(16 July)
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Charles Mackerras Played My Wedding
After we spoke our handwritten vows, I nodded to my friend Wilson. Clutching a medium-sized boom-box, he punched the play button, and out poured Janacek's gleaming, brass fanfare. The music never sounded so right.
(15 July)
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Conductor Charles Mackerras Dies At 84
Although he never opted for a glittery career, Mackerras was a favorite of fans and critics. His passion for the music of Leos Janacek led him to almost singlehandedly rebuild the composer's reputation as one of the most important opera composers of the 20th century.
(15 July)
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Ramzi's Story: Laying Down Stones, Picking Up Instruments
In 1988, a photographer in the West Bank snapped a photo of Ramzi Hussein Aburedwan, a scrawny 8-year-old with tears in his eyes, hurling a rock at an Israeli tank. The photo symbolized the rage and frustration of the intifada. Now, more than 20 years later, Aburedwan has grown up to become a respected violist and founder of music schools.
(10 July)
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Psychological Slow Burn: 'Pelléas and Mélisande'
Can opera be passionate without shrieking mad scenes and overstuffed choruses? The answer is yes, and Claude Debussy's subtle, dreamy psychological thriller proves it, in a production from German Opera On Rhein.
(9 July)
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Cello In A Box: In This Case, Smaller Is Better
What to do when you want to take your cello with you, but you haven't got the space? Ernest Nussbaum has the answer: Prakticello. His streamlined practice instruments fold up into a surprisingly small, portable box.
(8 July)
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A King's Violin: From Italy To South Dakota
One of the world's leading collections of musical instruments is found not in New York or Los Angeles, but in a small college town on the Great Plains. And now the National Music Museum in Vermillion, S.D., has added a priceless violin, made for French royalty in the 16th century, to its remarkable collection.
(7 July)
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A Musical Message Discovered In Plato's Works
It sounds like something out of a Dan Brown novel, but a scholar in Manchester, England, claims to have found hidden code in the ancient writings of Plato. If true, the secret messages would have made the ancient philosopher and mathematician a heretic in his day.
(6 July)
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America's Orchestra: The Boston Pops At 125
Hundreds of thousands of people gather every year for The Boston Pops' annual 4th of July concert. The orchestra has a long, colorful history. From the start, the idea was to make it feel different, not just in repertoire, but in atmosphere.
(4 July)
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A Composer On The Couch: Mahler Meets Freud
Baltimore Symphony Conductor Marin Alsop's latest musical adventure muses on a famous meeting between the troubled composer Gustav Mahler and the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud.
(3 July)
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Innocence Rewarded: Bellini's 'La Sonnambula'
A young woman's habit of sleepwalking leads to troublesome consequences. But Bellini's light-handed approach is the perfect complement to the inspired purity of his melodic style.
(2 July)
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String Quartet Soulmates: Ravel and Adams
When composer John Adams heard the St. Lawrence Quartet play Beethoven, creative doors started flying open. Inspired by the musicians, and the music of Maurice Ravel, Adams wrote his very first string quartet.
(30 June)
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You Think Ravel Never Wrote For The Vuvuzela? Oh, You're So Wrong.
Please enjoy Brahms and Ravel played on the vuvuzela. No, seriously.
(30 June)
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Jessye Norman: Back To Her 'Roots'
She's best known for singing arias on opera stages the world over, but Norman's new CD finds her in front of a live audience, singing jazz and spirituals. Hear the celebrated soprano talk about her first new solo record in more than 10 years.
(29 June)
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A Deal Undone: Smetana's 'The Bartered Bride'
Hidden identities, secret bargains and dancing bears characterize this Czech comedy, in a production from the Prague National Opera.
(25 June)
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One Opera, Four Stories: Martinu's 'The Plays Of Mary'
After Dvorak, Smetana and Janacek, Bohuslav Martinu continued the long and distinguished line of Czech opera composers. Characters both sacred and profane struggle for supremacy in Martinu's unique stage drama, inspired by the medieval tradition of mystery and miracle Plays.
(23 June)
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Verdi's 'Il Trovatore': Profound Or Preposterous?
Verdi's Il Trovatore remains one of the most popular operas of all time, but it walks a fine line between tragedy and farce. Find out who threw which baby into the fire in this production from the Maggio Musicale in Florence, Italy.
(18 June)
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'The Golden Ticket' Is Finally Unwrapped
The new opera, based on Roald Dahl's ever-popular Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was meant to bring families into the opera house. But the premiere under way now at Opera Theatre of St. Louis did not have a sweet ride from conception to opening night.
(16 June)
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Band Of Gypsies: Haydn And Brahms At Spoleto Festival
Musicians at the 2010 Spoleto Festival U.S.A. bring out the "Gypsy" in Haydn and Brahms. The newly renovated Dock Street Theater in Charleston, S.C., plays host to Gypsy-inspired sounds from Haydn and Brahms at the 2010 Spoleto Festival USA.
(16 June)
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New Name, Same Talent: Yundi At WNYC
Chinese pianist Yundi Li recently shortened his stage name to "Yundi." But it may not have been necessary: The young musician has already achieved superstardom in his homeland. In this session from WNYC, he plays two Chopin nocturnes.
(15 June)
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Soprano Renee Fleming Turns To Rock And Pop With 'Dark Hope'
Monkey See chats about Renee Fleming's pop/rock project with a little help from the classical department at NPR Music.
(9 June)
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Joyce Yang: Inside The Psyche Of Schumann
Robert Schumann suffered through intense, ecstatic highs and frightening, depressive lows. Today, we'd call that bipolar disorder. Hear pianist Joyce Yang explore the many colorful characters who emerge in Schumann's Carnaval.
(8 June)
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Robert Schumann's Routine Of Intensity
Schumann's gangbusters work ethic results in some of the best material for music festivals. Hear his dynamic Piano Quintet in E-flat from the Montreal Chamber Music Festival.
(8 June)
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Murray Perahia Discovers Schumann's Inner Child
Pianist Murray Perahia joins the celebration of Schumann’s 200th with a discussion Kinderszenen, the composer’s imaginative depiction of childhood. With Performance Today’s Fred Child, Perahia offers his own interpretation of the work and plays a few choice selections.
(8 June)
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Robert Schumann's Childhood Dreams
Some of the most profound, beautiful moments in classical music are spoken softly. To mark the 200th anniversary of Robert Schumann's birth, commentator Rob Kapilow takes a look at "Träumerei,"one of Schumann's most quiet, introspective pieces.
(8 June)
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Robert Schumann: A Romantic Hero
Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth, Morning Edition commentator Miles Hoffman takes the measure of Schumann, the man and his music.
(8 June)
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The Life And Music Of Robert Schumann
Schumann's entire being was music, informed by dream and fantasy. He was music's quintessential Romantic, always ardent, always striving for the ideal. Learn about his passionately creative but troubled life, and hear some of his best music.
(7 June)
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First Listen: Eric Whitacre, 'Choral Music'
The young composer's beautiful, otherworldly melodies and chromatic harmonies seem to float in a mysterious musical landscape. Hear Whitacre's new album of choral music in its entirety a week before its June 15 release.
(7 June)
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Zuill Bailey: Extraordinary Resonance
Bailey recorded all of the Bach cello suites on a cello eight years younger than Bach himself. His performance is filled with the rich, luscious bass tones the instrument was built to produce.
(5 June)
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The Iraqi National Symphony Comes Out Of Hiding
Musicians in the covert orchestra used to hide their instruments when traveling to and from practice for fear of Islamic militants who considered music un-Islamic. Now, the orchestra's 90 members can carry their instruments openly. Their most recent performance featured a 13-year-old American piano prodigy and took place in the green zone.
(5 June)
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The Sacred, Profane And Placid: New Classical CDs
From the mercurial twists in CPE Bach's keyboard sonatas to the sprawling, nearly empty canvas of Morton Feldman's Trio, NPR Music's Tom Huizenga and Weekend All Things Considered host Guy Raz spin an extra-wide variety of new classical CDs.
(5 June)
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Zuill Bailey: Tiny Desk Concert
For cellist Zuill Bailey, J.S. Bach's solo cello suites loom as a kind of musical Mount Everest. As Bailey describes it, every trip up the mountain brings a new challenge. Hear the acclaimed musician play Bach on his amazingly resonant cello, built in 1693.
(4 June)
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Gluck's Successful Sequel: 'Iphigenie en Tauride'
Sequels in opera are rare. But in the 1770s, Christoph Willibald Gluck composed a pair of successful dramas that highlighted the hair-raising adventures of the young Iphigenia. She barely escapes death in one opera and nearly commits murder in another.
(4 June)
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Maya Beiser Returns The Cello To The Middle East
The sound of the cello has been firmly entrenched in Western classical music for hundreds of years, but its roots trace back to the Byzantine lyra and the Arab rabab. Provenance, the new record from the Israeli cellist, explores these Middle Eastern roots.
(30 May)
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The Tanglewood Festival Chorus Turns 40
Memorial Day weekend is here, and arts lovers are anticipating summer music, theater and dance festivals. One of the best known is the Tanglewood Festival, at the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.
(29 May)
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Opera Amended: Gluck's 'Iphigenia in Aulis'
Gluck's operatic reforms emphasized simpler, more straightforward musical forms which served to heighten the drama, especially in 'Iphigenia in Aulis.' It's the classic story of a young woman whose father summons her for a wedding, but instead offers her up as a human sacrifice.
(28 May)
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New York Program Helps Young Musicians 'Face The Music'
Face the Music is inspiring teenagers to look more closely at contemporary music. The program trains teens in traditional classical music and allows them to work with living composers such as 29-year-old Nico Muhly. Face the Music will perform at Merkin Concert Hall Thursday night, and at the Bang on a Can Marathon next month.
(27 May)
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Cut Him Some Slack: Dudamel's Hype Turns To Drubbing
Gustavo Dudamel, the charismatic new music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, just capped his first U.S. tour with the orchestra. For the most part, critics have not been as ecstatic as the sold-out crowds.
(24 May)
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Composer-Conductor Pierre Boulez At 85
He's been at the forefront of contemporary music and conducting for more than half a century. Marking his 85th birthday this spring, a number of new Boulez CDs and DVDs have been released. Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews three of the latest.
(24 May)
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The Story of 'Don Giovanni'
Is Don Giovanni the greatest opera of them all, as some have suggested? That's hard to say, but Mozart's brilliant combination of stark human tragedy and realistic comedy features music of limitless genius, and a drama that lives up to the score.
(21 May)
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Placido Domingo Conducts 'Don Giovanni'
Is Don Giovanni the greatest opera of them all, as some have suggested? That's hard to say, but Mozart's brilliant combination of stark human tragedy and realistic comedy features music of limitless genius, and a drama that lives up to the score.
(21 May)
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'Moby Dick' The Opera
Composer Jake Heggie is best known for his opera based on Sister Helen Prejean's book, Dead Man Walking. The work, written in 2000, has become one of the most performed contemporary operas, and Heggie has also become a popular composer of songs for the likes of Renee Fleming, Frederica von Stade and Audra McDonald. His latest work sets Herman Melville's words almost verbatim to music. Moby Dick was co-commissioned by the Dallas Opera and four other countries and will tour the world over the next several years.
(17 May)
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Enrico Caruso, And Confessions Of An Operaholic
An NPR Music producer recalls how a single singer from a bygone day, through the haze of 100-year-old recordings, triggered his love of opera. Once he heard the warmth and power of tenor Enrico Caruso's voice, he had to hear more.
(17 May)
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The Story of 'Otello'
The great composer's career hit a dry patch until friends suggested that he try transforming Shakespeare's Othello into an opera.
(14 May)
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Verdi's 'Otello': A Shakespearean Inspiration
Late in his career, Giuseppe Verdi hit a dry patch until friends suggested he try transforming Shakespeare's Othello into an opera. The result, Otello, turned out to be one of the best operas ever written.
(14 May)
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'Amelia': An Opera And A Goodbye
The war in Vietnam left its mark on a generation of Americans, including poet and librettist Gardner McFall. Her opera, Amelia, is her chance to say goodbye to her father, who was killed during the war. Amelia is now onstage at Seattle Opera.
(13 May)
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Pierre-Laurent Aimard's Piano Francais
The French pianist focuses on modern music from his homeland, playing short pieces by Ravel, Boulez and Messiaen at the WGBH studio in Boston.
(13 May)
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A Broken Consort: Landscapes As Music
Under the name A Broken Consort, Richard Skelton sketches ambient abstracts of the British countryside. Like other minimalists who often belie their genre name, Skelton crafts sonically dense compositions. In a flutter of drones, "Mountains Ash" moves like volcanic ash in cinematic slow motion.
(13 May)
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Gustavo Dudamel: Making Classical Cool In L.A.
Meet a young man who's managed to make classical music popular in Los Angeles: Gustavo Dudamel. Now the 29-year-old Venezuelan conductor known as "the Dude" is taking the L.A. Philharmonic on its first national tour under his direction.
(12 May)
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Jordi Savall: Tracing Jerusalem's History In Music
Jerusalem can trace its roots back as far as the 4th millennium B.C. Jordi Savall, the early-music master, has gathered an international cast of musicians to tell the city's rich history via its three main religious traditions -- Jewish, Muslim and Christian.
(11 May)
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An Overshadowed Original: Rossini's 'Otello'
Rossini's tragic retelling of Shakespeare's classic seldom gets its due in today's theaters. Otello may have been eclipsed not just by Verdi's version of the story decades later, but also by two of Rossini's own works which premiered about the same time: The Barber of Seville and La Cenerentola.
(7 May)
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A Teen Trumpeter's Dream Comes True
As a teenager in 2002, Matthew Muckey stunned a From the Top audience with his trumpeting skills. Now, he plays with the New York Philharmonic.
(7 May)
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The Haiti Philharmonic: Rebuilding After The Quake
The lives of Haitians were upended by a devastating earthquake in January, and musicians were no exception. Conductor David Cesar and Sainte Trinite, the Haiti Philharmonic's chamber group, recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to draw attention to their music school.
(2 May)
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The Stories of the Operas
A pair of contrasting comedies by Rossini and Chabrier take the stage at Ireland's Wexford Festival.
(30 April)
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A Comedic Double Header By Chabrier And Rossini
From frustrated newlyweds who don't know what to do with each other, to an arranged marriage of inconvenience, this double bill from Ireland's Wexford Festival features the little-heard short operas The Marriage contract by Rossini and An Insufficient Education by Chabrier.
(30 April)
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The Emerson Quartet At Le Poisson Rouge
After more than 35 years together, nine Grammy Awards and 30 recordings, the Emerson String Quartet has performed in the finest chamber-music venues the world over. On Monday night, for the first time, the Emersons played a gig at the music club Le Poisson Rouge in New York's Greenwich Village.
(27 April)
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Fiddling With An American Alternative To Suzuki
American violinist Mark O'Connor has been a sideman for country stars and a soloist with symphony orchestras. He has made 36 albums. Now comes his biggest project yet: He wants to change the way young people learn how to play his instrument.
(26 April)
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Bryn Terfel: The 'Bad Boy' Of Opera
The Welsh bass-baritone is a superstar of the opera world, known for playing the vilest of villains. His new record, Bad Boys, features some of the best evil roles in opera and musical theater — from traditional classics to modern masterpieces.
(25 April)
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Vengeance Reversed: Verdi's 'Rigoletto'
Verdi's tightly wound masterpiece swirls heartfelt sentiment together with appalling violence and genuine tragedy, along with some of the most familiar tunes he ever composed.
(23 April)
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James Whitbourn's Celestial Sounds
On his new CD, Luminosity, the English composer James Whitbourn doesn't stitch his disparate styles together in some artificial attempt at multiculturalism. Critic Tom Manoff says the music flows naturally and sounds authentic and honest.
(22 April)
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The 5 Browns: Blending Pop And Classical
Piano-playing siblings from Utah, The 5 Browns' members were once the media darlings of classical music. They received the kind of mainstream press coverage most young classical musicians could only dream of. Now, a few years following the frenzy, the group is still building its career.
(22 April)
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Philadelphia Orchestra: Is Anyone Listening?
This week, the Philadelphia Orchestra begins a tour of Korea, Japan and China. For the orchestra, it may be a welcome vacation from problems at home. Sagging attendance and ballooning deficits have raised the possibility of bankruptcy.
(22 April)
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Jozef van Wissem: Transcendental Lute
Jozef van Wissem would like to open our ears to the gorgeous sonorities of the lute. Simultaneously austere and lush, van Wissem's music draws inspiration from minimalism in an hour-long session from WNYC's Spinning On Air.
(22 April)
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The Restless Guitar Of David Russell
Currently touring his new CD, Sonidos Latinos, Scottish-born guitarist David Russell explores the rich sounds of Latin America in NPR's studio.
(21 April)
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A Musical Survivor: Eschenbach Conducts In L.A.
The dark days of the conductor's troubled childhood brightened, then blossomed, when he was exposed to music. Hear Christoph Eschenbach in concert, leading the L.A. Philharmonic in music by Dvorak and Szymanowski.
(20 April)
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David Russell: Tiny Desk Concert
With rippling notes, intertwining melodies and a warm, lyrical tone, classical guitarist David Russell plays pieces from the baroque, from Latin America and from deep in the soul of Spain.
(19 April)
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Brooklyn, Iceland And Outer Space: New Classical CDs
From the soaring voice of a young soprano on the rise to the turbulent sounds of the Berlin Philharmonic in full cry, NPR Music's Tom Huizenga and Weekend All Things Considered host Guy Raz spin new classical recordings from young musicians and composers.
(18 April)
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'Zelmira': Revealing The Serious Side Of Rossini
Though often pegged as a composer of comic operas only, many of Rossini's finest achievements can be found in his series of nine serious dramas, the last of which was the dark, pioneering opera Zelmira.
(16 April)
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Jennifer Higdon Wins Music Pulitzer
The Philadelphia-based composer wrote her winning Violin Concerto for soloist Hilary Hahn, who premiered the work with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Pulitzer officials described the concerto as "a deeply engaging piece that combines flowing lyricism with dazzling virtuosity." Hear an excerpt from the piece.
(16 April)
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Missy Mazzoli: The Sound Of Indie-Classical
Heralded as "Brooklyn's Post-Minimal Mozart," Mazzoli is making a name for herself as one of the most talented young composers around. Hear Mazzoli and her group, Victoire, perform in the WNYC studio.
(16 April)
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Oedipus Updated: Enescu's All-Embracing 'Oedipe'
Inspired by Sophocles' Theban Plays, George Enescu was one of the few to narrate the entire life of Oedipus in his Oedipe, an opera that is often hailed as the finest single work ever composed by a Romanian.
(16 April)
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Yale's OHAM: Saving The Voices Of Composers
Forty years ago, a young librarian named Vivian Perlis had an idea: Why not ask composers who are still living what future historians might want to know? That inspiration eventually led to the creation of Yale University's Oral History of American Music, and Perlis is still at the helm.
(12 April)
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A Teenage Prodigy Joins The Seattle Symphony
Alexander Prior raises eyebrows when he lifts his conducting baton. The newest addition to the Seattle Symphony's conducting staff is only 17, and he's just moved halfway around the world to take the new gig.
(10 April)
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German Unemployed Get A Boost Through Music
The economically depressed city of Leipzig has one of the highest unemployment rates in Germany. But a unique musical group, the Bohemian Choir, is restoring a sense of identity and self-worth in long-term jobless residents.
(9 April)
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Time For Three On World Cafe
A self-described jam band which draws heavily on classical and folk influences, Time for Three was formed in 2002 by three students attending Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music. The group is composed of two violinists (Zachary De Pue and Nicolas Kendall) and a double-bassist (Ranaan Meyer), all of whom have a taste for improvisational jazz. Their third studio album is 3 Fervent Travelers.
(7 April)
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Ravi Shankar At 90: The Man And His Music
Shankar, who almost singlehandedly brought Indian music to the West, turns 90 today. Hear Shankar, in conversation, as he reminisces on his life and explains the basics of Indian classical music with help from his daughter Anoushka and radio host Fred Child.
(7 April)
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Passion In Provence: Gounod's 'Mireille'
Back in the mid-19th century, Provence, in southern France, was still a rather exotic locale, with its own language. That's where Gounod set his opera Mireille, the tragic tale of a young woman who falls for a man far below her station.
(2 April)
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Classical Cutups For April Fools' Day
Yes, even within the hallowed halls of classical music, one can find all manner of hoodwinking, horseplay and even a raunchy song or two. Hear Renee Montagne and Miles Hoffman spin some of the more lewd and laughable musical jokes.
(1 April)
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Evan Premo: A Marriage Made In Music
In 2002, 17-year-old musician Evan Premo appeared on From the Top. Little did he know it then, but someone special out there in radio land was listening. Watch the video of how boy meets double bass, then meets girl.
(30 March)
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Lieberson's 'Songs Of Love And Sorrow' And New Life
He's battled lymphoma and the loss of his wife. Now, composer Peter Lieberson returns with the long-awaited follow-up to Neruda Songs. The new song cycle is also based on the works of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.
(30 March)
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Guest DJ Jonsi Of Sigur Ros
What do Iron Maiden, Billie Holiday and castrato singer Alessandro Moreschi have in common? Answer: Sigur Ros frontman Jon ("Jonsi") Thor Birgisson lists them among his favorite artists. On this edition of All Songs Considered, Jonsi talks about his new solo album, Go, and shares some of the songs that have helped shape his own music.
(29 March)
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Murray Perahia: Bonding With Bach And Chopin
Few pianists can match Perahia's lucid clarity and warm, rippling sound. Hear him play Chopin and Bach, and discuss their music with Performance Today host Fred Child in NPR's studio.
(26 March)
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Respighi Resurrected: 'Marie Victoire'
Set against the frantic backdrop of the French Revolution, Respighi's Marie Victoire was slated for a 1915 premiere, but it never happened. Like his popular Pines of Rome, Respighi uses the orchestra like a jumbo box of crayons to create an explosion of color.
(26 March)
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Rafal Blechacz's Single-Minded Chopin
The young Polish pianist Rafal Blechacz has cultivated a deep connection to Chopin's music. Five years ago, at age 20, he swept all the awards at the International Chopin competition. Host Fred Child finds out how he did it, and asks him to play a Chopin Mazurka or two.
(23 March)
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First Listen: Kronos Quartet's Central Asian 'Rainbow'
The Kronos Quartet's latest cross-cultural exploration finds the band collaborating with master musicians from Afghanistan and Azerbaijan. Hear a myriad of fascinating Central Asian sounds on Rainbow, in its entirety, a week prior to its release.
(22 March)
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Prokofiev's 'Peter And The Wolf' (And Scott Simon)
Prokofiev's symphonic story Peter and the Wolf is a classic for kids. An enterprising little boy named Peter, together with a duck, a cat and a bird, outsmarts a wolf. It has been narrated by some of the world's great vocal actors, including Sir Peter Ustinov and Sir John Gielgud. And now — NPR's Scott Simon.
(20 March)
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Bizet's Pop Culture 'Carmen'
Sex, smuggling, cigarettes and murder. Now we're talking opera. Georges Bizet's popular Carmen is an opera-goer's guilty pleasure, with plenty of great tunes. Mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili, still early in her career, stars in a production from La Scala, in Milan.
(19 March)
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SXSW 2010: Brooklyn Rider, Live In Concert
Drawing from its globe-trotting experience with Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, Brooklyn Rider blends genres and influences seamlessly, carving out its own unique space within the world of chamber music. Hear the string quartet perform a a live set as a part of NPR Music's daytime party at The Parish in Austin, Texas.
(18 March)
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Dante Quartet: Stirring Up Impressionist Energy
The Dante Quartet's performances of the Debussy and Ravel string quartets are etched more than most, as if they'd used fine brush strokes to carve musical shapes, rather than broad strokes that would create more wash of the musical colors.
(17 March)
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Learn An Opera In Two Days? No Problem
One opera singer's illness is another's opportunity. Marlis Petersen jumped in at the last minute to take on a leading role at the Met, in New York, when the star soprano pulled out. The only catch was that she had to learn and rehearse the rarely performed opera in just 48 hours.
(16 March)
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Hilary Hahn: Violin And Voices Entwined In Bach
Bach's cantatas contain some of his greatest music, but their individual sections are seldom performed out of context, least of all by celebrities. Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz says Hilary Hahn's new CD, Bach: Violin & Voice, provides a welcome exception to this rule.
(15 March)
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A Chopin Ballade To Blow You Away
Adam Neiman lets his fingers do the talking, tearing into the dramatic Ballade No. 4 by Chopin. The young American pianist says the music tells a story that's both ferocious and tender. Neiman also plays a piece of his own in NPR's studio.
(15 March)
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New Music Emerges From Elkhart's Instrument Past
Dozens of band instrument makers used to be part of the local economy in Elkhart, Ind. But since the city was battered by the economy, only three major companies remain. One says it will manufacture instruments only in the U.S. — and it will hire new workers to grow the business and regain market share.
(12 March)
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Venice Takes The Lead in Verdi's 'I Due Foscari'
Verdi's opera showcases the city of Venice's complex and lethal political history in a dramatic version of the life of 15th-century doge Francesco Foscari.
(12 March)
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Samuel Barber At 100, Reconsidered
He was once dismissed as a composer for "high middlebrow taste." But Barber, who wrote the famous Adagio for Strings, would not be criticized if he were an emerging composer today, 100 years after his birth.
(9 March)
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