Matt Haimovitz — Primavera II: The Rabbits (Pentatone)

“Being immersed in this project confirms my belief that we are in a golden age of music,” cellist Matt Haimovitz said. “There's such a range of languages and talent out there. It's really extraordinary.”

Haimovitz has taken a few risks in his career. He’s tried different things to introduce people to classical music. His latest endeavor focuses on future generations of cellists. It’s a large-scale commissioning project, where 81 contemporary composers are invited to share their musical response to two paintings. The second recording in this six-album series, Primavera II: The Rabbits, was recently released.

“It centers on two paintings,” Hamiovitz said referring to the inspiration for the album. “One is Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera, an iconic painting in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. When my partner, Jeffrianne Young, and I encountered this painting, we became obsessed with it. We started reading all about its mysteries, stories, narratives and symbolism.

“Around that time, we also discovered the Hirshhorn Gallery. We walked into a one-woman show by the great artist Charline von Heyl and were blown away by her work. We met with Charlene and talked about the Botticelli and the state of the world. She created Primavera 2020, a response to the Botticelli, for us. For this album, we asked all the composers to respond and engage those two paintings in any way they want.”

Why did you choose to commission 81 works?

“It was supposed to be nine, and it was supposed to be tone poems for cello and orchestra. All my orchestral dates dried up, and I was going nuts not having work. Basically, we changed the idea into a solo cello project. The nine composers that we started with recommend the next nine and so on. It became a viral commissioning project, which got nine layers deep.”

Can you give an example of where we might hear new and interesting sounds from the cello on this album?

“One interesting piece is by Niloufar Nourbakhsh, an Iranian composer. It's called Cyclical Rabbits, and I begin with plucking that sounds like an oud. It sounds like a Persian instrument. She gets that effect by using sticky tack on the string.

“I realize how important it is to advocate for these composers and to bring this music to life. I want to be part of the fabric of making sure that classical music is a vibrant living entity.”

To hear the rest of my conversation, click on the extended interview above, or download the extended podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

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  Matt Haimovitz welcomes back his cherished cello
  
  


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  Matt Haimovitz on residency, Bach and Beethoven
  
  

Matt Haimovitz — Primavera II: The Rabbits (Pentatone store)

Matt Haimovitz — Primavera II: The Rabbits (Amazon music)

Matt Haimovitz (official site)

Angèle Dubeau and La Pietà — Elle (Analekta)

“After 25 years of playing together, we can recognize the sound, color, texture and characterization of La Pietà very well, but I'm looking for that extra sparkle I call energy,” violinist Angèle Dubeau said about the passion each member has brought to this all-female ensemble over the years to include its new release, Elle.

When Dubeau formed La Pietà in 1997, her goal was simply to assemble a dozen musicians for a new Vivaldi recording. When she realized all the musicians were women, she named the ensemble after the orphanage for girls where Vivaldi taught in Venice, La Pietà.

Is there more to the record’s title?

“Yeah, it's ‘she,’ or ‘elle,’ in the singular, because I thought that each woman is unique. That's a little detail, and this album marks the 25th anniversary of La Pietà. I wanted to have an album conceived, played and composed all by women. It makes me proud to be a woman when I listen to this album. 

“All women on the album, except one, are contemporary composers. The exception is Hildegard von Bingen, because I thought if we have wonderful composers of today why not showcase one of the first composers of the 12th century?”

Can you tell me about the commissioned work and who composed it?

“That’s Ana Sokolović. I asked her to write a suite of movements. She decided to do a suite of dances called Girandole des Danses imaginaires. Each movement is a different dance and tells a unique story.

“There's also another work composed for the album from Katia Makdissi-Warren; she’s also from Montreal. It’s called, Mémoire, and it’s from an Inuit tradition that has been handed down from mother to daughter.”

Tell me about Elena Kats-Chernin’s ‘Re-Inventions.’

“It's a piece that she first wrote for recorder and strings. Now it's for violin and strings. It's just a small re-orchestration of the piece. The work is based on a two-part invention by Bach. It's bubbly and really fun.”

What has surprised you the most about what you and this ensemble have achieved?

“What makes me most proud is to know that our music accompanies people while they endure daily life, whether it’s happy or sad, or small or great moments.”

To hear the rest of my conversation, click on the extended interview above, or download the extended podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

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  Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà perform Ludovico Einaudi and Brubeck
  
  


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  Angèle Dubeau offers meditative music from contemporary composers
  
  

Angèle Dubeau and La Pietà — Elle (Archambault store)

Angèle Dubeau and La Pietà — Elle (Amazon music)

Angèle Dubeau (official site)

Jennifer Kloetzel and Robert Koenig — Beethoven: The Conquering Hero (AVIE)

“People don't often think of Beethoven as this stormy, moody composer, but I think there's such sweetness, depth and cleverness in his music,” cellist Jennifer Kloetzel said. “The dialog between instruments fascinates me. Every time I come back to a work of his, I want to learn more about it and dig a little deeper. That is a sign of a great composer.”

Kloetzel has been crazy about Beethoven for as long as she can remember. As a founding member of the Cypress String Quartet, she spent 20 years performing and recording his music. Together, with pianist Robert Koenig, she has recorded the composer’s complete works for cello and piano, on a new three-CD set called, Beethoven: The Conquering Hero.

“At the beginning, there's a lot of piano. It's very piano heavy,” Kloetzel said about the Beethoven sonatas. “The cello is not an accompanying instrument necessarily, but there are moments. So for example, in the first set of variations the cello does not get the main theme until the 10th variation.

“But as we advance through the time period, you see the two instruments become more equal. Sonata No. 3 in A Major is considered the first true partnership of cello and piano. It starts with a long cello solo. I think Beethoven was saying, ‘Here it is! The cello is going to carry this, and the piano will come in later.’”

Why was it bold for your childhood teacher to place Beethoven's Sonata No. 2 on your music stand?

“It is the one sonata that Beethoven wrote for cello and piano that is in a minor key. One of the greatest things about him is how he plays with contrast and context. You have this very dark introduction, which you get released from and it feels like the sun has come out even though it's still in a minor key. There's something about those contrasts and how he creates an experience for the listener that I find just constantly interesting.”

Why is Beethoven the conquering hero in your mind?

“The composer himself conquered a lot of things in his life from losing his hearing to never finding love. There were many struggles for him. Yet, he kept writing music and he kept bringing us his cleverness and beauty.

“Beethoven once said in German, ‘Art demands of us that we shall not stand still.’ I love that idea, and I feel like that's what happens when I'm in the recording studio giving it my all. Then I walk out of there and I need to find fresh ideas so I'm not doing exactly what I've been doing before.“

To hear the rest of my conversation, click on the extended interview above, or download the extended podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Jennifer Kloetzel and Robert Koenig — Beethoven: The Conquering Hero (AVIE Store)

Jennifer Kloetzel and Robert Koenig — Beethoven: The Conquering Hero (Amazon)

Jennifer Kloetzel (official site)

Simone Dinnerstein — Undersong (Orange Mountain Music)

“It was a very funny afternoon because I was lying on my bed with my dog, Daisy, watching it on my phone,” pianist Simone Dinnerstein said about learning her recording American Mosaic received a recent Grammy Nomination for ‘Best Classical Instrumental Solo recording.’ “When they announced my name, I couldn't believe it. I almost fell off the bed. It was a hysterical moment”.

American Mosaic was one of two recordings Dinnerstein released last year. Now she’s releasing her third album composed during the pandemic, the final in an inspired trilogy of recordings titled Undersong.

“Undersong is a beautiful word that I discovered. I was looking around for words that would speak to the idea of a refrain, because every piece of music on this album has a refrain,” said Dinnerstein. “The has an almost rondeau form to it with its returning theme.

“I also thought that under song has also been used as the underlying thread that holds together our world. I think that's why composers and people are drawn to refrains. It connects us to something quite deep. We like to return. We like to go home. We like to revisit things and this music is doing that.”

Can you talk more about the overall cohesion of the album?

“I think a lot about how pieces of music from different time periods can speak to each other, and this particular program is one that I conceived a few years ago. I was touring it before the pandemic started. It has Couperin, Schumann, Glass and Satie on it.

“One part that I find particularly striking is I have performed Schumann's ‘Arabesque’ and then I go into Philip Glass's ‘Mad Rush.’ In this ‘Arabesque',’ that final epilogue is like Schuman stepping out of time and writing something that we could hear composed today. The way it flows into ‘Mad Rush’ feels like it could have been the same person who composed both of those pieces.”

What is the importance of François Couperin’s tracks on the album?

“‘Les Barricades Mysterieuses,’ is a piece that I first discovered in a film that I really love called The Tree of Life. That film is all about family. The music is used loosely as a theme throughout the film and I associated that piece with family.

“The under song for me is my connection with my family, husband, son, parents and my roots here.”

To hear the rest of my conversation, click on the extended interview above, or download the extended podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Simone Dinnerstein — Undersong (Simone’s Website)

Simone Dinnerstein — Undersong (Amazon Music)

Simone Dinnerstein (official site)

Steven Beck — George Walker: Five Piano Sonatas (Bridge)

“No one had recorded all of the sonatas on a single disc before,” pianist Steven Beck said about his new album, George Walker: Five Piano Sonatas. “Although Walker recorded the first two himself.”

That’s one reason Beck decided to record the piano sonatas. He lives and performs in New York City with the new music group Da Capo Chamber Players. Contemporary music has been a passion of his, but the music of American composer George Walker has been stirring in his bones.

“My mother is a pianist. She went to Peabody in the ‘70s, when Walker was teaching there. I knew about his music from her,” Beck said. “Then one of my teachers at Juilliard, Seymour Lipkin, had been a classmate of Walker’s at Curtis. Walker was the first black graduate of that school.”

Why do you think it has taken so long for someone to record all of these sonatas on an album?

“It could be that some of them are quite difficult and have not been played, except by the people for whom they were written. Walker studied with the same teacher as Samuel Barber. It was Italian composer Rosario Scalero. There's a family resemblance between Barber and Walker's early music. I especially hear it in the first two sonatas. I hear something that reminds me of the Barber piano sonata sometimes.”

Can you talk about the evolution of Walker's sonatas?

“The first two sonatas were written while he was still a student. He did his doctorate at Eastman. It was a more conscious project in a way. Whereas the latter three, they get more personal. They're different formal solutions to things.

“I really enjoy the Third Sonata. Its second movement, ‘Bell,’ is just one very complicated chord repeated 17 times. The last movement is ‘Chorale & Fughetta.’ It has a very specific texture. The chorale plays long notes with very short chords underneath. The fughetta is a very personal modern take that doesn't sound academic at all. It's very free and organic.”

What makes the shortest sonata, No. 5, so significant?

“I like the Fifth because it's short and has variety. It begins very emphatically. It's actually a very good opening for a concert. When I do them all in one show I like to start with the Fifth.

“These are very worthy pieces, and I hope that this recording will inspire people to learn them. I think they're great.”

To hear the rest of my conversation, click on the extended interview above, or download the extended podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Steven Beck — George Walker: Five Piano Sonatas (Bridge Store)

Steven Beck — George Walker: Five Piano Sonatas (Amazon)

Steven Beck (Steinway & Sons)

Francesca Anderegg and Matthew McCright — Brave New Worlds: Music from the Americas (Proper Canary)

“I had carpal tunnel syndrome, so playing through the piece was really hard. Actually, some pieces we had to record in sections because I just physically couldn't play through it and have pictures of recording it,” said violinist Francesca Anderegg about recording sessions with pianist Matthew McCright. “I had bandages on my wrists. I almost couldn't do it.”

She developed carpal tunnel syndrome due to her pregnancy. Fortunately, her wrists are now back to normal and all of her hard work you’ll hear on her new recording, Brave New Worlds: Music of the Americas. 

Can you talk about the broken social barriers and international connections the composers on this album made?

“Many of these pieces were written when there was great interest in Pan-American, or a collaboration between North and South America.

“Not all these composers were related to each other necessarily. I just had this idea about reaching out beyond a limited sphere and expanding your reach internationally or socially. It was this idea of expansion.”

Can you talk about Alberto Ginastera’s Pampeana No. 1 and how it reflects the style of his homeland?

“Pampeana No. 1 is the first of a set of pieces written for various instruments. It is influenced by the Pampas, the grasslands of western Argentina. It's meant to evoke this idea of spaciousness in the music, and you can hear that in the first phrase. The violin has this soaring free rhapsodic line.”

Why does this arrangement of Aaron Copeland’s Duo for Violin and Piano have a special place in your heart?

“My teacher, Robert Mann, had a sense of humor. When I look at this arrangement and some of the chords, especially the chords in the first movement, there's a series of three chords that sound like the last part of the piece followed by silence. Then, like nothing happened, there's another louder one followed by another even louder chord. Those chords are so true to what I knew of his sense of humor. He enjoyed music that was sometimes abrupt, a little bit funny or had a punchy quality to it. I also enjoy music when it's a little bit unexpected.”

Do you think that Amy Beach’s Violin Sonata would have entered the recital repertoire if it had been composed by a Central European male?

“I can certainly see that, but I don't want to elevate Amy Beach by saying, ‘Oh, it's so similar to Brahms.’ Being so familiar with the Brahms violin sonatas, I see a lot of commonalities there. But, Amy Beach’s is technically difficult for the violin. She will just take the whole line and put it two octaves higher.

“At the very end of the third movement there's a section where the whole pitch range of the piece goes higher and higher. It evaporates into a twilight texture. You have a sense that the piece is going on forever. It's a magical phrase that has many striking and deep moments.”

To hear the rest of my conversation, click on the extended interview above, or download the extended podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Francesca Anderegg and Matthew McCright — Brave New Worlds: Music from the Americas (Amazon Digital)

Francesca Anderegg (official site)

Marc-André Hamelin — Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Sonatas & Rondos (Hyperion)

“They shouldn't expect anything quite as exciting as drum and bass. Give it a minute or two, because the riches that some music offers may not be apparent at first,” said pianist Marc-André Hamelin, encouraging you to check out his latest two-CD compilation, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Sonatas & Rondos.

“I can tell you how it all started. My wife, Cathy Fuller, was a classical radio host in Boston in 2008 or 2009. She chose to play a little Sonata in E Minor, which is not even eight minutes for the three movements,” he said. “Suddenly, the composer decides to finish the piece. It just cuts off in the middle of a phrase.

“This was absolutely what Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach wrote, and I thought this was worth exploring. I started sight reading at the keyboard, and I was just fascinated by how daring and delightful it was.”

Can you talk about how this composer was the first one you performed?

“The first time I was on a stage was at a local competition in Montreal when I was 9. I played a group of five pieces, but the first piece was a little work in G Major. The score said it was by J.S. Bach. It has since been determined that it was composed by C.P.E. Bach. So in essence, C.P.E. Bach was the first composer I ever played in public.

“I just strolled to the piano confidently and played my music from the very beginning. From that instant I realized that I just didn't have any kind of stage fright.”

Did you write a piece based on the Solfeggio in C minor?

“Yeah, I've written three pieces specifically for the player piano. It’s like Conlon Nancarrow, who devoted his whole life to the player piano. It was partly inspired by him and the fact that I grew up with a player piano as a medium because my grandparents had one.”

Can you give us examples of the evolving mechanics of the keyboard through C.P.E. Bach’s compositions?

“There was one piece that was written for ‘A’ [his] clavichord where, while the title is very explicit, he is bidding farewell to an instrument that he had owned for decades. He was giving it as a present to somebody. This piece is slow and wistful.

“He said in the letter to the future owner, this piece is absolutely impossible to play on any other instrument. It would be interesting if it had survived, which I don't believe it has. If you played the clavichord, as I have tried to do, it's not easy. You get a sense of what this piece could sound like.”

To hear the rest of my conversation, click on the extended interview above, or download the extended podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Marc-André Hamelin — CPE Bach Sonatas & Rondos (Hyperion Store)

Marc-André Hamelin — CPE Bach Sonatas & Rondos (Amazon)

Marc-André Hamelin (official site)

JoAnn Falletta and the BPO — Light in a Time of Darkness (Beau Fleuve)

“I found that the smaller concerts we did all the time during the 2021 season were fantastic for us in developing new skills,” said JoAnn Falletta, music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. “We learned how to listen and lead each other in repertoire that we never played.

“We made a recording of some of our favorite pieces from that time, because they were meaningful. Every concert is meaningful, but, somehow, when you're playing in the middle of something as dark as what we lived through, it meant ‘life,’’’ she said about their new recording, Light in a Time of Darkness.

“Six pieces made it onto the disc, and I think we'll always treasure, in our memories, the idea of being together and knowing that somehow we would get through this.”

Why did you choose to start the album with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis?

“Time gets suspended in this piece. Vaughan Williams, on his way back to Thomas Tallis, chose one of his hymns to recast for strings. It feels ageless or timeless. That was what the pandemic was like, time standing still.”

How did you discover Ulysses Kay’s Pieta?

“I have to give complete credit to my English hornist, Anna Mattix. She is a sleuth for English horn pieces, and she's fabulous. She rediscovered this piece, and there was no recording when she brought it to me. I thought it was extraordinary.

“Kay was the first Black American to win the Prix de Rome. When he was in Rome, he went to see Michelangelo's Pieta and wrote this piece about it. It is filled with his personal reflection on that work of art.”

What do you love most about George Walker's Lament?

“I'm so glad we did this piece. I think this is an American classic. We talk about Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, but this is a similar piece. It's a piece of mourning and in Walker's case, it is more intimate. It has a lot of inner feeling of mourning, but it's unforgettable.”

To hear the rest of my conversation, click on the extended interview above, or download the extended podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

JoAnn Falletta and the BPO — Light in a Time of Darkness (BPO Store)

JoAnn Falletta (official site)

The Singers — Come to the Woods (Arsis Audio)

“We are all loud or pensive about things,” said Matthew Culloton, artistic director of the Singers, talking about the ensemble’s 10th recording. “At times, we may be lonely, but also reflective and hopeful. Naming the album Come to the Woods, after Jake Runestad's piece and John Muir’s words, was a great launching point.”

Can you tell us why it took so long to release this recording?

“I actually edited and produced the CD on my own computer software years ago. We finally had time to get back to our engineer, David Trimble, and really work with it. Even though I had already assembled and listened to it, it was also a start over with fresh ears. The pandemic gave us time.”

Is there a section in the piece Come to the Woods that you look forward to?

“There's a section later in the piece where Runestad pays a small musical tribute to Dominick Argento, one of his favorite composers. He does this by quoting a very special cadence point in the poetry. That's a spot where I find myself taking more time over the years with each new performance of the work.

“The choir sings, ’The setting sun filled them with amber light and seemed to say. And when he sets and seemed to say.’ That’s the final sung cadence of Walden Pond, and I get goose bumps thinking about it. I remember the first time I heard it. I ran to the piano with my score just to make sure I heard it right.”

Can you tell us about Dominique Argento's Seasons?

“I thought it was important to put Dominic’s last work in this collection. I get choked up a little bit thinking about the final movement, ‘Summer,’ and it being his last work. I don't know if he wrote them in that order poetically, but I love the idea that he wrote ‘Summer’ last. His last words were, ‘Soon, the goddess of summer sees that all is proceeding as planned, though reluctant to leave, she nods and sadly bestows her loving benediction.’”

Why did you chose Moira Smiley's Stand in That River?

“She is such a breath of fresh air in her approach to writing, sharing and recognizing global traditions in her music. This piece definitely comes back to American folk music.

“On this recording, the departure for us wasn't so much the piece itself, but that we included a bass, guitar, guiro, cajon and mandolin. Those five instruments are all played by one of our baritones, Paul Winchester. The end result was infectious, which is not the best word to use these days, but I think it’s very likable.”

To hear the rest of my conversation, click on the extended interview above, or download the extended podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Singers — Come to the Woods (The Singers Store)

Matthew Culloton (official site)

The Singers (official site)

Daniel Hope — Hope (DG)

“Music doesn't let me go. I always knew that it was the focus of my life, but it became a lifeline,” violinist Daniel Hope said about the pandemic. “It became a lifeline to the outside world. It was the luxury of time and connections to so many musicians that were willing to experiment and improvise that helped me find hope.”

That resulted in his most creative project to date, his new recording with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Hope.

“I've been music director of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra since 2016,” he said. “I've known them since I was a little boy. I heard them when I was 3, and it was the first orchestra that I experienced a violin concerto and symphony. An explosive and emotional orchestral sound came from the ensemble. I never dreamed that 40-odd-years later, I would be the music director, and we've grown enormously together since.”

How did the idea for this album emerge?

“Throughout the lockdown, we started an online series concerts, Hope at Home. Our message was to rediscover hope through music. The connection between these ideas of positive feelings, energy and music was so strong that we decided to make an album which tries to tap into them. I did feel there was a tremendous connection to the people, and that meant a lot to me during the lockdown. That's really how this album came together.”

Why did you focus on songs and the human voice on this new recording?

“It was very hard for musicians not to be able to perform and travel during the pandemic. But for vocalists, in particular, the idea of singing was banned, more or less. You were just not allowed to sing. The images of people singing from their balconies and connecting via Zoom was so powerful and moving. I thought, let's put the idea of the human voice at the center of this album.” 

Can you talk about the evolution of the opening work by Argentine composer Ariel Ramirez?

“I heard this piece as a child. I became obsessed with this gorgeous recording of it by Jose Carreras. I said to myself one day I want to play this on the violin. I actually wanted to sing it, but I realized my voice wasn't good enough to do that. I thought, why not create a version with violin? I had this idea for decades.”

To hear the rest of my conversation, click on the extended interview above, or download the extended podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Daniel Hope — Hope (Amazon)

Daniel Hope — Hope (DG Store)

Daniel Hope (official site)