News & Reviews

From the Washington-Post: "On Facebook and YouTube, it’s bots vs. Bach, as the platforms are blocking or muting some performances." Photo: The Neave Trio/Arthur Moeller

Season Two of Cadenza! - a production of  The Classical Station - begins with four-part mini-series on Ludwig van Beethoven. 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of the great composer's birth. In this episode, reporter Nan Pincus is on the trail of a newly discovered manuscript by Beethoven. Found in a farm house in North Carolina, the timeworn pages are a movement from a previously unknown piano sonata.  Who was the old German man who panicked, ran, and left it there?

James Weaver, former director of the Musical Instruments collection at the Smithsonian Institution and founder of the Smithsonian Chamber Players, has died of the effects of Covid-19.

From the Washington Post: "The covid-19 crisis has forced a sacrifice of so much of what makes opera so powerful — the massive casts, booming orchestras, elaborate staging and singular thrill of being present to experience it all. But it also presents an unlikely opportunity for the form itself to get more intimate and accessible, reach new audiences and evolve in different directions. It’s an art form in survival mode, and it may well come back stronger."

From Gramophone: "Lynn Harrell, who successfully made the leap from orchestral musician to top-flight soloist, has died at the age of 76."

From iNews.co.uk: "Anna Lapwood hopes using social media will bring the organ and choral work to a wider audience but she has been met with some disapproval." Photo: Luke Perrot

From ClassicFM: "The unique collection of 100 classical recordings, complete with learning activities and information on each piece, is being made available for free to all families at home during the coronavirus crisis."

From the Guardian: "The US-born musician, 38, will take up the role at the London Philharmonic in September."   Photo: Mathias Bothor

From the New York Times: "The father of Wynton and Branford Marsalis and a prominent performer and educator, he succumbed to complications of the coronavirus."

From The Guardian: "Polish musician won numerous awards, scored The Exorcist, and was admired by rock stars."

Listen to the music of Heinrich Schütz, a 17th century pathbreaker whose work is largely unknown today. Photo: Wikipedia.org

From The Guardian: "To celebrate International Women’s Day, we asked the UK’s leading conductors to nominate a composer who deserves wider recognition. From Azerbaijan to Israel, and symphonies to songs, here are 10 women whose voices will enrich your life."

From the New York Times: "Learning to perform without live audiences, or sometimes even theaters, as artists adapt to trying circumstances."

Special theme weekends are a regular feature of our programming and have been for many years. We look forward to Cinema Classics Weekend  on March 14 and 15, In the Gardens of Spain on April 4 and 5, Back to the Baroque on April 18 and 19, and Primarily Piano on May 9 and 10. We will observe the solemnity of the religious festivals of Passover and Easter with special music. Don’t forget to request your favorite classical music on our weekly request programs, All Request Friday, and the Saturday Evening Request Program.

Historical graphic novels can be evocative conduits to the past. Comic artist and writer Frantz Duchazeau gives us just this with his wonderful graphic novel Mozart in Paris. Translated to English in 2019, Mozart in Paris tells the story of the six months Mozart spent in the French capital with his mother when he was twenty-two.