Classical Conversations

Musical America’s 2018 "Instrumentalist of the Year," Augustin Hadelich is easily one of the premier violinists of our time. In this conversation with WGTE's Brad Cresswell, Hadelich previews his new album Bohemian Tales (Warner Classics), which includes the rousing concerto by Dvorák (a work he performed with the Toledo Symphony in 2017). Also on the disc: works for piano (Charles Owen) and violi...

Celebrated author, commentator, and Metropolitan Opera radio producer William Berger returns to talk about his follow up seminar to The Epic of Opera, entitled Opera and Film. In this new two week, eight part webinar series, Will takes us far beneath the surface to look at how the narrative techniques of some of Europe's greatest storytellers became building blocks for the great modern storyteller...

In this special video interview, composer David Lang and conductor Beth Willer join WGTE's Brad Cresswell via Zoom to talk about the Lorelei Ensemble's recent recording of David's Love Fail. Inspired by the story of Tristan and Isolde, Love Fail sets modern translations of ancient texts alongside contemporary writings. Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/igX2UKFxtPk (Photo credit: Lorelei Ensem...

In 2013 Caroline Shaw became the youngest person ever to win the Pulitzer Prize in music, which established her as one of America's foremost living composers. Now she has a new album release which represents a team-up with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and opera star Anne Sofie von Otter, among others. Caroline joins us to talk about her music on the disc, which has ties not only to the far-f...

World-renowned guitarist Sharon Isbin takes us on a personal tour of her two latest albums: Affinity and Strings for Peace. Affinity is loaded with works written for Isbin, including the title track – a new guitar concerto by Chris Brubeck which contains a musical nod to his late father, legendary jazz musician Dave Brubeck (whose centenary is in 2020). Also on that disc: works that span the globa...

The wonderful and always engaging cellist Inbal Segev joins us to talk about her latest album, which pairs one of the most famous concertos in the cello repertoire (Edward Elgar) with a new work (Dance) by Anna Clyne, inspired by the poet Rumi. Just as the Elgar concerto served as an elegy for the First World War, Anna Clyne's Dance provides inspiration at a time of global conflict due to the covi...

Composer Jacob Cooper joins us to preview his new album from Amsterdam Records, called Terrain. In this three-part song collection (which features vocalists Theo Bleckmann and Jodie Landau, as well as cellist Ashley Bathgate), Jacob sets poems which evoke everything from the madness of Robert Schumann and his parallels to Shakespeare's Ophelia, to the casual killing of animals and the all-too-huma...

Composer, pianist, and conductor Michael Shapiro joins us to talk about the music on his latest disc, including his John Milton-inspired piano concerto entitled Archangel. In this action-packed work, Shapiro lays out the epic Biblical battle between good and evil as a metaphor for the challenges we all face in our daily lives (which includes the current coronavirus pandemic – something Michael rec...

In this special edition of WGTE in Concert, we feature the vocal project Whateverandeveramen, under the direction Dr. Bradley Pierson. Composer David V. Montoya introduces us to Songs of Fatherhood, his setting of poems by William Wallis. Part two of two. (Music posted by permission)

In this special edition of WGTE in Concert, we feature the University of Toledo Chamber Singers under the direction Dr. Bradley Pierson. Composer Joshua Shank introduces us to his Color Madrigals, setting the poetry of English Romantic poet John Keats. Part one of two. (Music posted by permission)

Pianist Shai Wosner has garnered a reputation for digging beneath the surface of his musical subjects to reveal hidden treasures and insightful connections. In his latest recording of Piano Sonatas by Franz Schubert, Shai explores the melancholy nature of the famously elusive composer – and how the music reveals the vast depth of Schubert's artistry found in his keyboard works, especially the fina...

Chicago-based composer, electronics performer, and sound artist Sam Pluta takes us through his new album with the Wet Ink Ensemble, Glossolalia​/​Lines on Black. Written as a "love letter" to the performer/improvisers of the Wet Ink Ensemble, each movement from Lines on Black is tailor-made to the virtuosic talents of each the group's musicians. (Photo credit: Wet Ink Ensemble by Alexander Perrell...

Violin virtuoso Niv Ashkenazi joins us to talk about Violins of Hope, an artistic and educational project composed of instruments that were owned by Jewish musicians before and during the Holocaust. With his fellow Juilliard graduate, pianist Matthew Graybil, Niv has released the first solo album to be recorded on one of these instruments.

Celebrated author, commentator, and Metropolitan Opera radio producer William Berger is presenting a two week, eight part webinar series on the wonderful wide world of Opera – from its beginnings with the Florentine Camerata in Renaissance Italy to the current scene and beyond. Author of books such as Verdi with a Vengeance, Wagner Without Fear, and Puccini Without Excuses, Berger brings his uniqu...

Emmy® award-winning composer Michael Whalen is a veteran of more than 800 TV and film scores, thousands of commercials and numerous TV themes and video games. In his latest album, he turns his attention to electronic and ambient music with spiritual overtones. Sacred Spaces is a collection of uplifting, deeply layered anthems that was released just as the conronavirus pandemic hit – and as Michael...

Conductor Donald Nally joins us to talk about two new albums from his Grammy-winning chamber choir The Crossing: composer Michael Gordon's Anonymous Man, and composer James Primosch's Carthage. Written for The Crossing, Anonymous Man is a choral reflection on history, home, and homelessness, and a memoir about Gordon's block on Desbrosses Street in Manhattan. Carthage is a collection of works (thr...

WGTE's Haley Taylor checks in with violinist Lara St. John (a "high-powered soloist" according to the New York Times). Lara's new album is Key of A - a collaboration with pianist Matt Herskowitz which pairs Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 9, “Kreutzer,” in A Major with César Franck’s Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano.

Founded in Brooklyn in 2008, the yMusic Ensemble has collaborated with the likes of Paul Simon, Bon Iver, and Ben Folds. They've also commissioned numerous works for their unique combination of trumpet, flute, clarinet, violin, viola, and cello. Two members of the group, violinist Rob Moose and cellist Gabriel Cabezas, take us on a tour of their new album Ecstatic Science - which features compelli...

Norwegian-born, New York-based composer Ola Gjeilo is well-known for his many beautiful choral works. In his new album Night, Ola turns his attention to the piano, with a series of musical vignettes indpired by the twilight hours at home in New York City. Ola joins WGTE's Haley Taylor for a preview of the disc, just released by Decca Classics.

Fresh off her Grammy Award win for Best Classical Compendium, pianist Nadia Shpachenko joins us to showcase the winning album, called The Poetry of Places. Featuring several world premieres, the disc has a fascinating premise: composers writing music inspired by the diverse architectural landmarks that have played a role in their lives. In addition to the piano, there are works that include percus...

The internationally-acclaimed Miró Quartet have finally released their entire cycle of Beethoven String Quartets (all 8 1/2 hours!) on the Pentatone record label. Fifteen years in the making, the new box set contains dynamic and thoughtful interpretations of these remarkable works - which not only trace the musical lifespan of Beethoven, but document the growth and development of the Miró Quartet...

The String Orchestra of Brooklyn has released their debut album, called afterimage. It features two exquisitely soulful works written for the orchestra by Christopher Cerrone and Jacob Cooper, both of which are in response to classic works by Niccolò Paganini and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (also included on the disc). Conductor Eli Spindel and composer Cerrone join us to preview the recording, wh...

Trumpet virtuoso (and principal of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra) Paul Merkelo has a new recording out on Sony Classical, which features stand-out performances of four popular concertos – all composed during The Age of Enlightenment in Europe (as Paul explains in this interview, the trumpet and its music was itself going through some changes during this period). Paul brings three different trump...

The Carr-Petrova Duo (violist Molly Carr and pianist Anna Petrova) discuss their debut album from Melos Records, Novel Voices. Inspired by their Novel Voices Refugee Aid Project, the disc includes a world premiere by composer Fernando Arroyo Lascurain alongside beautifully rendered performances of viola/piano works and arrangements by composers Aram Khachaturian, Mieczysław Weinberg, and Rebecca C...

Star violinist Rachel Barton Pine joins Haley Taylor for a conversation about her Music by Black Composers project, and her new album from Avie Records, which contains the folk music-infused violin concertos of Antonin Dvořák and Aram Khachaturian.