Classical 101 Podcasts

One of the most satisfying aspects of a good concert can be the visceral impact of seeing other everyday people, some of whom you personally know, perform onstage. It sounds so simple, but the mystique of the performer can often obscure the empathy and sincerity of their performance.

The Columbus Ohio Discovery Ensemble, aka CODE, does a fantastic job of stripping away the affectations that keep listeners at bay while providing very new and exciting musical experiences. In essence, they know how to keep it real.

What do a baby and a new musical work have in common? Flutist and mezzo-soprano Lindsey Goodman can tell you.

 The collaboration between composer Richard Strauss (1865-1949) and librettist Hugo von Hofmansthal (1874-1929) produced the last great run of German language operas,  Der Rosenkavalier , Ariadne auf Naxos and Arabella among them.Work between them began not with comedy, nor with domestic drama or fairy tales. All of that came later. Work between them began with Greek tragedy, Sophocles Electra.

The wonderful Antoine Clark is a Columbus based clarinetist, teacher and conductor. Antoine recently took some time out of a ferociously busy schedule to help me with a series of podcasts on African-American conductors.

The Metropolitan Opera presents Donizetti's Roberto Devereux live in HD, beamed into movie theaters worldwide on Saturday, April 16, 2016. This is the Met's first production of Roberto Devereux, and stars Sondra Radvanovsky as Elizabeth I and Matthew Polenzani as Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex.

During Mozart’s life, many a pet dog and even a pet bird wagged and flapped their way into the composer’s heart – and, it seems, into his music, as well.

If you've followed The Mozart Minute, then you know that Mozart's stay in Paris was pretty much a flop. He had hoped to establish himself as a composer in Europe’s musical capital, but that didn't happen. And in at least one incident, envy and petty rivalry seem to have kept one of Mozart’s new works from being premiered on a major Parisian concert series.

After being sacked by the Archbishop of Salzburg Hieronymous von Colloredo, Mozart held his erstwhile employer in notoriously intense disregard. His disdain was so intense, in fact, that even discussing an improvised performance of some variations (which possibly became the variations K. 359, 360, or 352) at a concert for the Archbishop was enough to set Mozart off.

Here's another in a series of podcasts on the lives and careers of African-American conductors. 

Even as Mozart was establishing himself Vienna as a freelance composer and performer, his new musical compositions were also establishing themselves among the world’s great masterworks. Here’s how Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D minor, K. 466 made its way into the world.

You've heard of scary movies and scary books, but have you ever played a scary game? Until Dawn is one of 2015's most terrifying and immersive horror games - in this episode, we'll talk with composer Jason Graves about his inspiration and love for scoring horror.

  Visit composer Jason Graves online

Music in this episode:

• The Shadow of the Mountain
• You Go, Girl
• Icicle Elegy

It was an open secret in Mozart's day, as in ours – Mozart didn’t like his job at the Salzburg court of the Archbishop Hieronymous von Colloredo. Mozart’s letters are full of colorful rants about the archbishop. Here’s the story about the day it all blew up.

The Metropolitan Opera presents a new production of Puccini's Manon Lescaut live in HD in movie theaters worldwide on Saturday, March 5 at 1:00 p.m. The production moves the story based on the Abbe Prevost's  1731 novel to Nazi occupied France in the 1940s.

As a freelance musician with a growing family, Mozart couldn’t afford to hide his light under a bushel, and in any event he was never one to be bashful in the first place. With musical gifts as phenomenal as Mozart knew his to be, he didn’t hesitate to put his flashiest skills on display, as he did even before the Holy Roman Emperor in one particular performance that he spiced up in a special way.

As a freelance musician more often than not short on cash, Mozart learned early on that, when it comes to making do-re-mi, if you don't succeed, the only thing to do is try and try again.