All Classical Radio

Soprano Joyce DiDonato's recording projects are seldom conventional.  Her last, "Hopes and Dreams: The Lullaby Project" featured original songs to texts by new mothers, some of whom were experiencing financial insecurity.  Her newest, Songplay, goes back to her roots as a budding singer.  She rediscovered the arias that all young singers are taught, and then set aside.  What makes these new are the jazz greats who join her, including pianist and collaborator Craig Terry.  Joining them are Charlie Porter (trumpet), Chuck Israels (bass), and Jimmy Madison (drums).  The result proves that the music, and the lyrics, lend themselves well to other styles.

Bridging Voices (The Portland GSA Youth Chorus) is a youth chorus for gay, straight and questioning youth, ages 13-21, and strives to be a safe, accessible place for youth to experience empowerment and unity through music. It is Portland’s first Queer/Straight Alliance Youth Chorus and is one of the largest choruses of its kind, in the nation.

British-born Nicholas McGegan has been directing San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra since the 1980s (about the time that this interviewer started in radio), and has had many sweet successes during that time in bringing great Baroque works to audiences around the world.  One of the sweetest for McGegan happened just a few years ago, when he mounted a production of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s opera, Le Temple de la Gloire (The Temple of Glory).  What made this production remarkable, besides the exquisite performance, is that the original manuscript had been in UC Berkeley’s archives during the time that McGegan was busy with the Philharmonia.  The music is dazzling, and full of life, humor and emotion.  Maestro McGegan shares the story with program director John Pitman.

Any time that a pianist undertakes to record a complete set of anything in classical music, it’s bound to be an endeavor taking considerable time and effort.  Take on the 32 piano sonatas of Beethoven, plus all the other solo piano pieces by one of music’s giants, and I imagine that it must be daunting.  Enter Llŷr Williams, who has been lauded for his interpretations of the great man’s music, who took a different approach than the many who have come before:  rather than arrange them in published order, the Welsh-born pianist paired pieces together by their relative character, and how well they sound together.  As a programmer of a radio station, this is something I can relate to (although for me, the work of performing has already been done!). 

Williams shares his experiences recording late into the night with a live audience in London’s Wigmore Hall, and insight into the composer, who as his deafness increased, retreated into his own world.  As a result, we received the gift of some of the most sublime music for piano ever written

The great 20th century cellist, Pablo Casals, was the first in the world to record all six of Bach’s suites for unaccompanied cello.  This was in 1939.  Before this, people only considered the suites as study pieces.  Casals proved them wrong, and now the suites are among the most beloved works for the instrument of all time.

 

Amit Peled, an Israeli-born former basketball player (he’s 6’ 5”), now a Peabody professor who happened upon an opportunity only granted a handful of cellists:  Casals’ widow (Marta Casals Istomin) entrusted Peled with this instrument, for six years.  Peled’s recording is the first, since Casals, performing all six suites on the very instrument that brought this music to the world.

Early in her career, violinist Hilary Hahn took on music that many before her wouldn't approach until they were a little older.  She chose three of the six unaccompanied violin works of J.S. Bach, a set regarded as the pinnacle of solo violin repertoire.  Now, 21 years later, Hahn returns to complete the set.  Naturally, her interpretation may sound different, but one constant remains:  Hilary Hahn is very much at home with these 6 pieces.  She shares more about it with All Classical Portland's program director John Pitman.

Youth Roving Reporter Connor Barrow: Adam LaMotte, Portland Baroque Orchestra by All Classical Radio

A Life, Portland Center Stage - A wickedly irreverent play about the meaning of life. Nate Martin is hopelessly single. When his most recent breakup casts him into a funk, he turns to the only source of wisdom he trusts: the stars. Poring over astrological charts, he obsessively questions his past and his place in the cosmos. The answer he gets is shockingly obvious — and totally unpredictable.

Nina's work as a soloist is now sometimes found in a concert hall, but more likely in bars and cafes around Portland. Though she has trained classically for most of her life and currently plays full time with the Oregon Symphony, her solo repertoire is heavily influenced by bassists whose approach and compositions straddle the worlds of classical, bluegrass, Latin, and Middle Eastern music, including François Rabbath, Edgar Meyer, and Renaud Garcia-Fons. Her choice of venue is inspired by the renowned cellist Matt Haimovitz, who began playing in a variety of nightclubs and restaurants amidst a successful solo career, hoping to bring classical music to more unconventional audiences. Nina's sets combine a variety of styles and pieces, incorporating jazz standards and fiddle tunes amidst the more traditional Bach cello suites.

Oregon Food Bank collects food from farmers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, individuals and government sources. OFB distributes that food through a Statewide Network of 21 Regional Food Banks and approximately 1,200 food assistance sites serving all of Oregon and Clark County, Washington.