Classical Conversations

UMich faculty member and stellar pianist Matthew Bengtson joins us for a preview of the upcoming 2021 American Liszt Society Festival at the University of Michigan (October 15 - 18). With a focus on Franz Liszt’s Hungarian roots and legacies, the festival features performances, dance, and presentations that provide a fully immersive experience with the culture and music surrounding one of the greatest pianist/composers of the 19th century. Visit the festival website: http://www.smtd.umich.edu/liszt2021 NOTE: due to copyright, the music in this feature has been truncated. You can hear all the music through Matthew Bengtson's hand-picked play"liszt" on Spotify

We offer a preview discussion of Toledo Opera's upcoming production of Giuseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore, including how the opera's complicated (and sometimes horrifying) plot echoes the experience of contemporary communities of color. You can watch a much more in-depth discussion of these issues in Toledo Opera's Tuesday Talk, streaming (and later archived) on September 28, 2021 at 6:00 PM via Toledo Opera's Facebook page and YouTube channel. Joining us for this discussion: Dr. Naomi Andre, Professor in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and the Residential College, University of Michigan. Sonia Flunder-McNair, Founder of Urban Wholistics David Ross, Muralist and Creative Placemaking Strategist for The Arts Commission Alyssa Greenberg, Community Engagement Director for Toledo Opera Moderated by WGTE radio host and producer Brad Cresswell Photo: Sonia Flunder-McNair/Toledo Opera

The venerated pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet joins us to talk about his most personal album to date, called Carte Blanche, a collection of encores – each of which have a connection to the people and events that have shaped him as an artist. Released in celebration of Thibaudet's 60th birthday and longtime association with Decca Records, Carte Blanche features beautiful and stunning transcriptions of piano favorites which cross genres, cultures, and centuries, all of them never-before recorded by Thibaudet.

Billboard Chart-topping pianist and NPR Music personality Lara Downes joins us to sample her recent album New Day Begun, which is part of her ongoing recording project Rising Sun. Featuring music by Black composers from over nearly 200 years, Rising Sun Music's recordings are "radically reframing the history of classical music by embracing the true diversity of its origins and expanding the inclusivity of its future."

The young pianist (and singer) Chelsea Guo has racked up some impressive honors as a Young Scholar of the Lang Lang Foundation and a top prizewinner in the 2020 National Chopin Piano Competition. Chelsea joins us for a tour of her wonderful new debut album, Chopin: In My Voice, in which she not only essays the 24 Preludes of Chopin, but sings three Chopin-centric songs as well – while accompanying herself on piano. Learn more about Chelsea and watch her behind-the-scenes trailer for Chopin: In My Voice at her website: https://www.chelseaguopiano.com/

"Do not reach for the music. Do not try to will the music into being. Surrender yourself. Become empty and allow yourself to receive what feels true." Composer Richard Danielpour joins us for an in-depth conversation about his collection of musical portraits, An American Mosaic. Written for the pianist Simone Dinnerstein (who also talks about it here), An American Mosaic paints compelling pictures of the many heroes of the Covid-19 pandemic (as well as a couple villains).

The young cellist John-Henry Crawford (winner of the 2019 International Carlos Prieto Competition) introduces his debut album DIALOGO (Dialogue), recorded with pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion. Built around the idea of musical conversation, DIALOGO brings together the music of Dmitri Shostakovich, György Ligeti, and Johannes Brahms for a masterful program of very different – yet related – works. John-Henry talks about the music on the disc, shares the remarkable story of his cello (smuggled out of Austria by his grandfather in 1938), and the challenges faced by young musicians during the pandemic. We also take a peek at his formidable Instagram account (@cellocrawford) which has over 55,000 followers.

In this intimate conversation, composer, conductor,and host of the Interplay YouTube series Michael Shapiro takes us on a journey through his Peace Variations – a Theme and 18 Variations on the traditional melody of Shalom Aleichem ("peace be upon you"), played by the virtuoso violinist Tim Fain. Shapiro's beautiful and thought-provoking music represents a calm yet persistent voice – a call to action for universal peace, what the composer calls "the ultimate goal of Judaism and civilized living."

Craig Phillips, bass for the Grammy-nominated vocal quartet New York Polyphony provides some of the backstory for the group's latest album And The Sun Darkened. Featuring exquisite performances of ancient and modern works, And The Sun Darkened is organized around texts appropriate for Passiontide, the last two weeks of the Lenten season in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. (photo credit: Jacob Blickenstaff)

Karlos Rodriguez, founding cellist of the Catalyst String Quartet, talks about the first installment in Catalyst's Uncovered Project - an ongoing performance and muti-volume anthology recorded on the Azica label. The album is dedicated to music of the extraordinary (but somewhat neglected) Afro-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, with guest performances from pianist Stewart Goodyear and clarinetist Anthony McGill.