Program director John Pitman shares his latest conversation with pianist Simone Dinnerstein, where they discuss her new CD titled Undersong. Dinnerstein chose this word, an archaic term meaning “refrain”, which can be found both in the individual pieces (Schumann’s Arabesque, and Kreisleriana; Couperin’s Les Barricade Mysterieuses), and throughout the entire program.
Hear more of their conversation, including Ms. Dinnerstein’s thoughts on the music and the album below.
On Saturday, May 7, 2022, All Classical Portland presented a live, bi-coastal broadcast of the world premiere of Damien Geter’s An African American Requiem in collaboration with WQXR in New York. The live broadcast will be available for on-demand listening in All Classical Portland’s Audio Archive through May 21, 2022.
This broadcast is generously sponsored by First Republic Bank.
Find the digital concert program as well as resources for processing this important and powerful work on Resonance Ensemble’s website.
Maria Malibran and Pauline Viardot were two of the bel canto era’s greatest mezzo sopranos. Sisters, and daughters of the imposing Spanish pedagogue Manuel García, Malibran and Viardot each left an indelible mark on nineteenth-century opera. Each was also a composer, but their ability to compose was less celebrated during their lifetimes. Malibran, who died tragically young in 1836, was widely lauded for her singing, but her compositions were less noted. Viardot, who lived until 1910, survived long enough for the Western music world to become more accustomed to the notion of a woman composer. Both left exquisite compositions that offer insight into nineteenth century bel canto – and offer fascinating listening for any music lover.
In this two-part series, we’ll explore the careers and music of these two remarkable sisters. We begin with the elder, Maria Malibran. In Part II, we’ll meet the younger sister, Pauline Viardot.
It is part of All Classical Portland’s mission to expand and advance knowledge of and appreciation for classical music. If you’re just starting to discover music outside the traditional classical canon, there’s no better composer to start with than that African American 20th-century composer Florence Price, whose music has been enjoying a recent resurgence in concert performances and recordings.
Dr. Samantha Ege of Oxford University is a leading specialist on Florence Price, whose work she has been studying since 2009. Dr. Ege is a researcher, a writer, and a pianist, and equally brilliant in all these areas of expression. In addition to her virtuosic technique and stylistic sensitivity, she brings a musicologist’s scholarly analysis to her interpretations of Florence Price’s piano music.
I met Dr. Ege last November at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the American Musicological Society, where she presented a lecture-recital and appeared as a panelist. As All Classical’s Music Researcher, I recently had the privilege of chatting with her about her her work on Florence Price and the artistic flowering of Black musical life in midcentury Chicago. Read on to learn about Dr. Ege’s career and research, and about her new album Black Renaissance Woman, coming out in March 2022.
In his newest recording for Deutsche Grammophon (released September, 2021), Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson explores Mozart’s music in the context of composers who came before him and who helped Mozart shape his distinctive and immediately recognizable style. Ólafsson speaks with program director John Pitman about how he made connections between Mozart and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, as well as important composers of Mozart’s time who aren’t so well known today, such as Baldassare Galuppi, whom Ólafsson regards as a very important and forward-thinking composer of the 18th century.
Hear his conversation with All Classical Portland’s Program Director John Pitman below.
All Classical Portland is celebrating Black History Month throughout February by featuring music by Black composers and performing artists. We are proud to share a broad and diverse library of the music we love all year round, and this month we are shining a special spotlight on the extraordinary contributions to classical music made by Black artists.
All Classical Portland is pleased to announce the station’s 2022 Artist in Residence: pianist María García! A celebrated performer and music educator, García is an enthusiastic proponent of classical works by women and composers of color. Together with All Classical Portland, she will use this opportunity to educate and inspire listeners to explore beyond the traditional canon of the genre.
“All Classical Portland has always felt like a friend; a friend to the artist, a friend to the community,” shares García in a new video interview. “One of the wonderful things about the station is that it is so community-centered. The station recognizes that to build community, you have to build from within, tapping the resources of the community to bring people together.”
As part of her residency, García will perform live on March 24, 2022, on All Classical Portland’s Thursdays @ Three! *
This month, we celebrate an important milestone for humankind: almost 170 years of kazooing! January 28th is National Kazoo Day, and you know what that means — it’s time for us to dive into the history, humor, “how,” and “why” of one of the world’s funniest musical inventions. Let’s get to it!
As part of All Classical Portland’s Recording Inclusivity Initiative, five pieces were recorded, including “Taking Names” by Jasmine Barnes. Soprano Karen Slack and pianist Yoko Greeney tackled this moving work for the official recording. Enjoy the conversation below as RII Executive Advisor Mara Miller and Slack speak about the importance of this piece, the inspiration behind it, the changing culture of classical music as new generations advance in the field, and more!
“Muse” is the name of the debut recording by cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, and his sister, pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason. The siblings have recorded together before, in the 2020 release, “Carnival of the Animals”, and have performed live many times. “Muse” includes two major 20th century cello sonatas, by Samuel Barber (1932); and Sergei Rachmaninov (1901), as well as shorter pieces by both composers. Sheku and Isata share the joys of performing as siblings (there is no rivalry, both say), and the challenges that have become all too familiar in these times.
Hear the rest of the story in their conversation with All Classical Portland’s Program Director John Pitman.
