GoodSoundClub - Classical Music News

Olga Neuwirth's bold gender-bending opera has won the Grawemeyer Award
Neuwirth, an Austrian composer and multimedia artist known for works of elemental power, was honored for her opera 'Orlando,' produced by the Vienna State Opera in 2019. (6 December)

NPR Music's 50 Best Albums of 2021 (10-1)
NPR's annual list of the year's best albums is full of work by musicians who hit career peaks, discovered their voices or willed something new into reality. (3 December)

NPR Music's 50 Best Albums of 2021 (30-21)
NPR's annual list of the year's best albums is full of work by musicians who hit career peaks, discovered their voices or willed something new into reality. (3 December)

NPR Music's 50 Best Albums of 2021 (40-31)
NPR's annual list of the year's best albums is full of work by musicians who hit career peaks, discovered their voices or willed something new into reality. (3 December)

NPR Music's 50 Best Albums Of 2021
NPR's annual list of the year's best albums is full of work by musicians who hit career peaks, discovered their voices or willed something new into reality. (3 December)

NPR Music's 100 Best Songs Of 2021 (40-21)
Think of the best songs of 2021 as a playlist catering to the most basic human urges. Within it, booties were called, muffins were buttered and bloody revenge was contemplated. It was quite a year. (3 December)

NPR Music's 100 Best Songs of 2021 (80-61)
Think of the best songs of 2021 as a playlist catering to the most basic human urges. Within it, booties were called, muffins were buttered and bloody revenge was contemplated. It was quite a year. (3 December)

The 100 Best Songs Of 2021
Think of the best songs of 2021 as a playlist catering to the most basic human urges. Within it, booties were called, muffins were buttered and bloody revenge was contemplated. It was quite a year. (2 December)

The 100 Best Songs of 2021
Think of the best songs of 2021 as a playlist catering to the most basic human urges. Within it, booties were called, muffins were buttered and bloody revenge was contemplated. It was quite a year. (2 December)

These NYC kids have written the history of an overlooked Black female composer
A group of sixth, seventh and eighth grade students realized there was no children's book about the composer Florence Price. So they wrote, illustrated and published their own. (2 December)

Alvin Lucier, inquisitive and innovative composer, has died at 90
Lucier changed the way we think about sound through monumental works like I Am Sitting in a Room and Music on a Long Thin Wire. (2 December)

The 50 Best Albums of 2021
NPR's annual list of the year's best albums is full of work by musicians who hit career peaks, discovered their voices or willed something new into reality. (1 December)

The 50 Best Albums Of 2021
NPR's annual list of the year's best albums is full of work by musicians who hit career peaks, discovered their voices or willed something new into reality. (1 December)

In 'Eurydice,' Matthew Aucoin and Sarah Ruhl recast opera's foundational myth
Composer, conductor and MacArthur "genius" Mathew Aucoin just debuted his opera, 'Eurydice,' at the Met. The new work reinterprets an ancient, archetypal myth from the perspective of its namesake. (23 November)

Four centuries of Black American history are told in new Kronos Quartet performance
Deep in the heart of Texas, the Kronos Quartet reflects on race relations and social unrest with At War with Ourselves – 400 Years of You, by composer Michael Abels and poet Nikky Finney. (18 November)

The fearless musical philosophy of Sofia Gubaidulina
A new album, marking the Russian composer's 90th birthday, is packed with probing works for huge symphonic forces. (18 November)

Wayne Shorter's operatic dream comes true, brought to life with Esperanza Spalding
Iconic jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter has completed a long-held dream, an opera based on the mythic Greek character Iphigenia, with help from singer and bassist Esperanza Spalding. (12 November)

For classical stars Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason, representation matters
Pianist Isata and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason are British sibling classical virtuosos. Still in their twenties, the star soloists have just released their first joint album. (11 November)

Anna Netrebko, 'Akh! istomilas ya gorem'
From her first solo album in five years, soprano Anna Netrebko discovers all the bittersweet beauty in an aria by Tchaikovsky. (5 November)

mastroKristo, 'A Ritual'
If you're one of the bleary-eyed millions who find falling asleep at night challenging, listen up. (2 November)

Ólafur Arnalds, 'Partisans'
"Partisans," a newly unearthed track from Icelandic composer-producer Ólafur Arnalds, is a beautiful and haunting song ready to transport you to another world. (28 October)

5 opera scenes to sweep you off your feet
For World Opera Day, watch scenes that will make you fall in love with the art form — from a crazy day at Mozart's diner to a trippy trip to China with Richard Nixon. (27 October)

Remembering Bernard Haitink, the anti-glamour conductor
Boston-based radio producer Brian Bell remembers Bernard Haitink, and the meticulous approach to music that defined one of the finest conductors of the past half-century. (27 October)

5 opera scenes to sweep you off your feet
On World Opera Day, watch scenes that will make you fall in love with the art form — from a crazy day at Mozart's diner to a trippy trip to China with Richard Nixon. (25 October)

Composer Huang Ruo gives voice to the dark history of Angel Island
Chinese-American composer Huang Ruo has teamed up with the Del Sol Quartet and vocal ensemble Volti to explore the struggles of Chinese immigrants detained at Angel Island in the early 1900s. (23 October)

Renowned conductor Bernard Haitink, beloved for his modesty, has died at age 92
The Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink had a six-decade career leading major orchestras across Europe, the U.S. and the U.K. He was hailed as a musician's musician, prizing the art well above glamor. (22 October)

Pianist Lara Downes re-centers the music of the Great Migration
Pianist Lara Downes' latest mini-album traces the story of the Great Migration of Black Americans from the south in the early to mid-20th century, with music by Florence Price and Harry T. Burleigh. (20 October)

For percussionist Bonnie Whiting, any object can be an instrument
Seattle percussionist and composer Bonnie Whiting speaks to the importance of independence and the close bond between voice and percussion. (20 October)

High Low Duo, 'The Enchanted Garden'
Like singing in close harmony, a pair of guitars intertwine, finishing each other's phrases with radiant transparency in Ravel's magic garden. (20 October)

Boston Modern Orchestra Project is honored for championing overlooked American music
The Gramophone Classical Music Awards recognized the group known as BMOP for its extraordinary service to overlooked American composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. (19 October)

A young, all-women ensemble upends the percussion paradigm
The members of Recap, four young women of color from New Jersey, have built a mission of gender equity into their striking debut album. (14 October)

How Seattle shapes electric cellist Gretchen Yanover
Seattle musician Gretchen Yanover shares the experiences that have shaped her music. (13 October)

Tubist Richard Antoine White shares his unlikely path to the stage 'I'm Possible'
White spent his early childhood in poverty in Baltimore, at times sleeping in abandoned houses. He's now principal tubist in the Santa Fe Symphony and the New Mexico Philharmonic. (13 October)

Pianist Simone Dinnerstein illuminates a lifetime in art with a new multimedia concert
The eloquent pianist used a work break imposed by the pandemic to learn something new: stage directing, a skill set she put to use in creating a multimedia recital. (12 October)

Pianist Simone Dinnerstein illuminates a lifetime in art with a new multimedia concert
The eloquent pianist used a work break imposed by pandemic to learn something new: stage directing, a skill set she put to use in creating a multimedia recital. (10 October)

Emily D'Angelo, 'Nausicaa'
Hear the young mezzo-soprano sing contemporary music of rare beauty, offering a voice of creamy muscularity. (8 October)

Afghan orchestra musicians, music students and teachers have escaped the Taliban
After weeks of trying to flee Afghanistan, 101 musicians, students and teachers with the Afghanistan National Institute of Music and Zohra Orchestra finally landed in Doha, Qatar on Sunday. (5 October)

Recap, 'Hedera'
Four young women of color founded the percussion quartet Recap in 2020. Their debut album is anchored by Hedera, a mesmerizing work for drums and voice. (5 October)

Carlisle Floyd, a founding father of American opera, has died at age 95
Known primarily for his southern-flavored operas, Floyd helped create an American opera vernacular. His 1955 hit Susannah won the New York Music Critics Circle Award and helped launch his career. (1 October)

Terence Blanchard's Met Opera Debut Is A Singular Achievement And A Shared Success
The composer's magnetically powerful Fire Shut Up in My Bones lands with a force of authenticity, a too-rare window into Black life in an operatic setting. (29 September)

This French Pianist Has Been Playing For 102 Years And Just Released A New Album
Colette Maze, now 107, began playing the piano at age 5. She defied the social conventions of her era to embrace music as a profession rather than as a pastime. She has just released her sixth album. (28 September)

Terence Blanchard Makes History At The Metropolitan Opera
Fire Shut Up in My Bones, based on the Charles M. Blow memoir of the same title, is the first work by a Black composer to be staged by the Metropolitan Opera. (27 September)

Watch A Massive Violin Transport Musicians Down Venice's Grand Canal
The wooden vessel is called "Noah's Violin." As it floated through Venice's Grand Canal on Saturday, members of the string quartet on board serenaded viewers with their own (real) instruments. (20 September)

Bach, 'Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, I. Allegro' (Akademie Für Alte Musik Berlin)
Still a crowd-pleaser after 300 years. (17 September)

Igor Levit, 'Fugue No. 7 In A Major, Op. 87' (Dmitri Shostakovich)
For a taste of the pianist's technique, here's a lighter mood from Shostakovich that sparkles with interlocking inner voices that ripple as clear as a mountain stream. (10 September)

Faced With Deadline Drama, LA Opera Stages A Construction Sprint
With sets shipped from Europe stuck on a boat that can't dock because of coronavirus disruption, LA Opera went to work building new sets, cramming months of work into ten days. (3 September)

Víkingur Ólafsson, 'Kleine Gigue in G Major, K. 574'
With bold harmonies, pointillist texture and winding rhythms, Ólafsson's composition offers — in less than two minutes — a distinctly modern sound that looks toward the future. (3 September)

Víkingur Ólafsson Wants To Change Your Mind About Mozart
On his new album, Mozart & Contemporaries, the deep-thinking pianist from Iceland aims to debunk the image of Amadeus as the giggling savant by contrasting his music with that of his peers. (3 September)

Greek Composer And Politician Mikis Theodorakis Has Died At The Age Of 96
Greek composer and politician Mikis Theodorakis has died. He was 96 years old. His music for Zorba the Greek was full of joy — but his own story was much more complicated. (2 September)

Lucas Debargue, 'Nostalgie du pays' (Milosz Magin)
A simple, wistful daydream of a piece that will make you wonder where this undervalued composer has been all your life. (1 September)

Tyshawn Sorey & Alarm Will Sound, 'For George Lewis'
Composer Tyshawn Sorey's symphonic salute to one of his mentors, For George Lewis, evolves gradually in tranquil, multi-textured waves of sound. (31 August)

Spektral Quartet, 'Enigma: III' (Anna Thorvaldsdottir)
Imagine you're suspended in some primordial gas cloud where matter is transforming, regenerating, building toward the birth of a planet. That's what Enigma sounds like. (31 August)

Isolated By Pandemic, Violinist Jennifer Koh Nurtured A New Community Online
Isolated by pandemic last year, violinist Jennifer Koh asked prominent composers to donate tiny pieces, and to nominate fellow up-and-coming composers to receive paid commissions. (30 August)

Your Music Saved My Life: Ledisi Talks With Lara Downes
The versatile and impassioned singer was ready to throw in the towel until she heard a message in a Nina Simone song that told her, "You're going be fine. I understand how you feel. Keep going." (28 August)

A Life Of Irresistible Creation: Marian Anderson In Songs And Pictures
The trailblazing singer, who broke the color barrier at the Metropolitan Opera in 1955, is remembered in a deluxe new release of albums and images. (27 August)

Afghanistan's Music School Falls Silent, Its Future Is Uncertain Under The Taliban
The Afghanistan National Institute of Music was a thriving school in Kabul. But the last time the Taliban was in control of the country, all music related activities were strictly forbidden. (23 August)

Identity And Dance: Camille A. Brown Talks With Lara Downes
The groundbreaking choreographer, who is also the first Black director at the Metropolitan Opera, says she found self-expression through dance. (14 August)

Max Richter, 'Flowers Of Herself'
This piece, from a new album of orchestral works by Richter, depicts the opening of Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway by pairing pulsating rhythms with the composer's signature wistful melodies. (10 August)

Pandemic Lessons: Elaine Welteroth And Jonathan Singletary Talk With Lara Downes
The creative couple, who married in 2020, thrive on gratitude, community and the new approaches they've taken in the wake of the pandemic. (31 July)

Back Together And Blown Away: The Boston Symphony Orchestra Returns To Tanglewood
The Boston Symphony Orchestra recently returned to its storied summer home, Tanglewood, after the pandemic canceled last season. With reopening comes normalcy, as well as an opportunity for growth. (19 July)

We Should Tell Stories Of Black Joy: Will Liverman Talks With Lara Downes
The rising young baritone, searching for diversity in the opera house, tries on his composer hat by putting a Black spin on Rossini's The Barber of Seville. (17 July)

Isata Kanneh-Mason, 'Deep River'
The link between the award-winning British pianist and the history of this beloved African-American spiritual is deep indeed. (14 July)

From Haydn To Flying Lotus, Attacca Quartet Embraces Music Non-Stop
Known for its deft handling of canonical classics and contemporary music, the Attacca Quartet breaks new ground on a major-label debut featuring music by Flying Lotus, Squarepusher and other EDM acts. (10 July)

Attacca Quartet, 'Real Life'
The musicians of the versatile, Grammy-winning Attacca Quartet have transformed themselves into an electronica-dance-ambient string quartet for their new album, Real Life. (8 July)

Caroline Shaw And So Percussion, 'To The Sky'
The joint effort between the composer and So Percussion showcases Shaw's flexible voice. (7 July)

70 New Ways To Think About 'America The Beautiful'
Pianist Min Kwon asked 70 artists to examine and interpret the patriotic standard on solo piano. "What they have in common is what they want America to sound like," she says. (6 July)

Caroline Shaw Is Not Here To Save Classical Music
The Pulitzer-winning, Kanye-collaborating composer began her career with a creative blank check, but she's spent much of the past decade moving sideways. Her latest trick: reinventing as a songwriter. (6 July)

Shaking Up The Classical Canon: Randall Goosby Talks With Lara Downes
The rising young violinist discovers his musical roots and questions the traditional borderlines of the repertoire. (3 July)

Louis Andriessen, Influential, Iconoclastic Dutch Composer, Dies At Age 82
Known for his idiosyncratic, wide-ranging style and the radical politics of his early years, Louis Andriessen had a profound impact on modern music as an uncompromising creator and prominent teacher. (1 July)

From The Top: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
If young folks are our future, then classical music looks blazingly bright with these extraordinary performances by teenage musicians from across the country. (30 June)

Caroline Shaw & So Percussion, 'To The Sky'
The joint effort between the composer and So Percussion showcases Shaw's flexible voice. (29 June)

Randall Goosby, 'Adoration'
With his lush, warm tone and exceptional technique, concert violinist Randall Goosby is easily winning over music lovers. (26 June)

Mahani Teave: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
Tiny Desk heads to Easter Island in the South Pacific for sublime performances by pianist Mahani Teave and a heartwarming story. (24 June)

Pekka Kuusisto, 'Shrink'
Look out for hairpin turns and virtuosic cadenzas in this world premier recording. (23 June)

Julius Eastman, A Misunderstood Composer, Returns To The Light
A visionary who died young and alone in 1990, Eastman is making a slow but richly deserved comeback thanks to a curious younger generation. A new interpretation of his 1974 work Femenine is out now. (21 June)

Reflections On Connections: Marin Alsop Bids Farewell To Baltimore
The groundbreaking conductor — the first woman to lead a major American Orchestra — reflects on 14 years as music director of the Baltimore Symphony. (19 June)

You Have To Fight For The Vision: Wynton Marsalis Talks With Lara Downes
The musical polymath offers ideas on everything from Russian satellites and hip-hop, to Bach and football, and how they shape the musical education of America. (19 June)

Jazz Elder Statesman Anthony Braxton Continues To Defy Expectations
Maverick jazz composer Anthony Braxton was set to spend his 75th birthday performing at events around the world, but then... well, you know. He has two new boxed sets out this month. (17 June)

Celebrating Juneteenth And Black Music Month With Classical Classics
As part of an ongoing series, NPR's Rachel Martin talks to pianist Lara Downes about classical recordings of "Lift Every Voice" and "A Change Is Gonna Come," to mark Black Music Month and Juneteenth. (17 June)

Tania León Wins Music Pulitzer For 'Stride,' Celebrating Women's Resilience
The revered Cuban composer's winning piece was inspired by the life and struggles of Susan B. Anthony and her own poor mother and grandmother in Cuba. (12 June)

The Alchemy Of Words And Music: Tayari Jones Talks With Lara Downes
The best-selling novelist shares tips for good writing and the stories behind some of the most meaningful music in her life, from Rossini to the O'Jays. (5 June)

Catching Up With Laurie Anderson, An Artist Always Ahead Of Her Time
The versatile, eclectic multimedia artist and musician Laurie Anderson has taken stock of her life's work, pursuing reissues and retrospectives while always forging ahead. (4 June)

Man With A Mission: Miloš Seeks The Next Great Classical Guitar Showpiece
Recovered from a career-threatening injury, Miloš Karadaglic has his sights set on two goals: finding the next great classical guitar concerto, and erasing the taboo of injuries among musicians. (4 June)

Hear Bach's Music Like You've Never Heard It Before: Upside Down
For most artists, 2020 was a year of forced isolation and few opportunities. But Dan Tepfer, a jazz pianist and composer, had a busy year, partly thanks to his technological acumen. (4 June)

One-To-One Concerts Bring Listeners Back To Live Music, One At A Time
A live-music series founded in Europe, which connects one musician with one listener at a time, comes to Brooklyn for two weekends of concerts by Silkroad Ensemble artists. (15 May)

What Is Activism? Carl Hancock Rux Talks With Lara Downes
The poet and playwright wrestles with the idea of being an activist in America today in its various forms, meanings and misunderstandings. (8 May)

Remembering Christa Ludwig, The Master Singer Of Opera And Song
Classical music fans are mourning the loss of the celebrated mezzo-soprano, known for her versatility and the warmth of her voice. She died at her home in Austria on April 24 at age 93. (27 April)

Busting Myths And Building Resiliency: Esperanza Spalding Talks With Lara Downes
The self-described "athletically creative" bassist, vocalist and composer searches for origins and originality while writing an opera with jazz giant Wayne Shorter. (24 April)

CARM: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
The co-founder of yMusic and Bon Iver collaborator performs a quarantine concert from Eau Claire, Wisc. (15 April)

A Melting Pot Of Traditions: Regina Carter Talks With Lara Downes
The genre-disrupting violinist talks about the problem with labeling music and the importance of being a role model for young women. (10 April)

Composer Malek Jandali Considers Syria's Civil War, A Decade On
A simple piece that composer Malek Jandali wrote in 2011 became inextricable from the early protests in Syria. For a decade now, that connection has informed and invigorated his life and work. (28 March)

Words Won't Fail Us: Rita Dove Talks With Lara Downes
The former poet laureate, Pulitzer winner and musician says she's obsessed with telling neglected stories and making poems sing. (27 March)

'Music Is Music': A Rapper And A Conductor Cross Centuries In Louisville
Rapper-turned-politician Jecorey Arthur is teaming up with Teddy Abrams, the head of the Louisville's orchestra, for a musical collaboration tackling racial injustice. (27 March)

From Norway With Horsepower: Soprano Lise Davidsen Is Conquering Opera
The young, late-comer to opera is turning heads in the classical world with a powerful voice that can rocket over huge orchestras or pare down to a silvery thread. (26 March)

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