Classic Ross Amico

Tag: The Lost Chord

Peter Maxwell Davies Mad Bad Genius at 80

Mad, bad and dangerous to know.

Lady Caroline Lamb coined the phrase to describe Lord Byron, but it might have been just as applicable to Peter Maxwell Davies in his younger days, when he delighted in tweaking both the musical establishment and audience expectations.

It would be easy to claim the intervening decades have mellowed him – he served ten years as Master of the Queen’s Music, and he’s written ten symphonies (so far) built on organic structures in the tradition of Sibelius. Also, he scored one of his biggest hits, “An Orkney Wedding with Sunrise (with a bagpiper standing in for the rising sun), writing for the Boston Pops.

But I say it would be a mistake to turn your back on a man who would offer to serve protected swan terrine to the police. No, at 80 years, Max still hasn’t lost his glint.

Join me for “Mad Max: English music’s angry young man turns 80,” a belated birthday tribute to Sir Peter Maxwell Davies,” on “The Lost Chord,” this Sunday night at 10 ET, with a repeat Friday morning at 3; or listen to it later as a webcast, at http://www.wwfm.org.

October 18, 2014
Leon Fleisher A Legend’s Journey

At 86, Leon Fleisher is a living legend. A former child prodigy, his is a direct line to Beethoven. He studied with Artur Schnabel, who studied with Theodor Leschetizky, who studied with Carl Czerny, who studied with the master himself.

When he performed with the New York Philharmonic under Pierre Monteux at the age of 16, Monteux called him “the pianistic find of the century.” Fleisher landed a recording contract with Columbia Records and began laying down benchmark recordings of Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Grieg and Rachmaninoff with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Then everything changed.

Fleisher was diagnosed with focal dystonia in 1964. He gradually lost control of his right hand, throwing his career as a concert pianist into jeopardy. His struggle with the affliction led to a period of soul-searching, and it forced him to diversify. He realized, as Schnabel had espoused, that music came first, the piano second.

Fleisher began channeling his energy into teaching and conducting. He has been a venerable presence at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

Fortunately, the left-hand piano repertoire is extensive, and Fleisher himself has added considerably to it, through commissioned works from contemporary composers or gifts from friends. His new album, “All the Things You Are,” issued by Bridge Records, documents some of these, alongside his performance of Brahms’ towering arrangement of the Bach Chaconne.

The record has become a surprise hit. This week, according to Nielsen Soundscan data, the album ranked second, in terms of overall sales of classical records, in the United States. Billboard ranked it at number 11. The New Yorker’s Alex Ross lauded it as “one of [Fleisher’s] finest hours on record.”

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” I am honored to have Leon Fleisher as my guest. He will join me to talk a little bit about the album and share some of his reflections on music.

Fleisher is an extraordinary individual. Not only has he fought hard to regain control of his right hand – and done so, thanks to experimental treatments with, of all things, Botox – he is quite possibly the most gracious and generous interview subject I’ve ever encountered. It pains me to have had to edit the conversation. But perhaps there will be a follow-up show, in which I’ll air his thoughts on Paul Wittgenstein, Franz Schmidt, Paul Hindemith, Federico Mompou and Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

In the meantime, I hope you’ll join me for “In Good Hands,” this Sunday night at 10 ET, with a repeat Friday morning at 3. Remember, you can enjoy episodes of “The Lost Chord” later as a webcast, at http://www.wwfm.org.

September 13, 2014
Leopold Stokowski Cartoon Cameo Mystery

Classic movie fans will have to stay sharp (and likely hit the pause button a few times) to catch all the cameos and references in this Warner Brothers Merry Melodies short.

Of particular interest is an appearance by Leopold Stokowski in a hairnet (although he conducts with a baton).

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/82363595/

Stokowski will conduct Aram Khachaturian’s Symphony No. 2, tonight on “The Lost Chord.” The show airs at 10 PM, with a repeat Friday morning at 3. Or you can catch it later as a webcast at http://www.wwfm.org.

September 7, 2014
Khachaturian’s Lost “Bell” Symphony on “The Lost Chord”

I don’t know what got into me – maybe I feel beleaguered? – but this Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” I’ll be presenting Leopold Stokowski’s rarely-heard recording of Aram Khachaturian’s Symphony No. 2, sometimes called “The Bell.”

Khachaturian wrote the work in 1943, the height of World War II, while he was holed up at a Composers Union retreat with Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Miaskovsky and Gliere. He said of the piece, “The Second Symphony is a requiem of wrath, a requiem of protest against war and violence.”

The symphony’s nickname alludes to a kind of alarm that opens and closes the work. Overall, the tone is one of resolution in the face of tragedy.

Stokowski’s recording, long unavailable, was originally issued on United Artists Records in the late 1950s. It reappeared briefly on compact disc, on the EMI label, in 1994, and again in 2009, as part of a 10-disc box set of entrancing Stokowski performances.

The master tapes have not weathered the years well, alas, so there are moments of distortion, but the power of the piece transcends any technical limitations. There is certainly nothing wanting in the performance.

To round out the hour, we’ll hear the Russian-born pianist, Nadia Reisenberg, in a selection from her 1947 Carnegie Hall recital, Khachaturian’s most famous piano work, the “Toccata.” Reisenberg studied at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music under Josef Hoffman.

Join me for these rare Khachaturian performances, “Khach As Khach Can,” tomorrow night at 10 ET, with a repeat Friday morning at 3. Or listen to the webcast later, at your convenience, at http://www.wwfm.org.

In the meantime, here’s an even rarer Khachaturian document of the composer singing about the glories of Armenian wine!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtKHrg7w3_o

PHOTO: Troika! (Right to left) Khachaturian with Shostakovich and Prokofiev

September 6, 2014
Labor Day Road Trip American Music

Labor Day weekend. Summer’s last hurrah.

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” it’s an hour of quintessentially American music about travel by car.

Frederick Shepherd Converse’s “Flivver Ten Million” celebrates the Ford Motor Company’s affordable assembly line automobile, from its creation in a Detroit factory to the manifest destiny of America’s roadways.

John Adams’ “Road Movies” has nothing to do with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, alas; what it is, however, is a violin sonata written firmly within the American tradition, with a special affinity at its core with Copland’s Violin Sonata.

Virgil Thomson’s “Filling Station,” written for Leon Kirstein’s Ballet Caravan, may have the distinction of being the only ballet set at a gas station. The work’s success gave Copland the confidence to follow through on a Caravan commission which resulted in “Billy the Kid.”

Finally, we’ll hear one of Michael Daughtery’s most performed works, the exuberant “Route 66,” inspired by the storied “Main Street of America.”

Join me for “The Last Roads of Summer.” American composers hit the road for Labor Day this week, on “The Lost Chord.” This Sunday night at 10 ET, with a repeat Friday morning at 3. Or catch it later as a webcast, at http://www.wwfm.org.

August 31, 2014

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