Category Archives: All Classical Radio
Recommended Recordings for Black History Month
All Classical Portland celebrates Black History Month during the month of February, featuring some of the best recordings of composers of African origin (American, and around the world). Here are some recommended recordings of music by black composers, musicians, and conductors. If you purchase any of the music below using the Archivmusic.com links we have …
2017 Solar Eclipse Soundtrack, Body of the Moon
In August 2017, Oregon experienced its first total solar eclipse since 1979, and with it was a first for the station! All Classical Portland commissioned a piece of music to accompany this magnificent moment of totality: The Body of the Moon by composer Desmond Earley. Aptly titled, The Body of the Moon, Earley’s new composition …
A Sibelius Saga in Minnesota
In the 19th century, millions of people from European countries emigrated to the United States. A large number of Finns settled in the upper Midwest, especially in Minnesota and the Great Lakes regions. Here they fished, farmed and established communities which thrive today. So, it was no surprise that many Finnish-descended Minnesotans should turn out …
Joshua Bell plays “For the Love of Brahms”
Joshua Bell’s newest CD is about friendship. Friendship between Mr. Bell and his fellow musicians, who include British cellist Steven Isserlis, and American pianist Jeremy Denk, with whom Bell has performed and recorded many times; and friendship between the composers featured on the disc, Johannes Brahms and Joseph Joachim. Completing the circle of friends are …
Chiara Quartet play Bartok “By Heart”
Chiara in Italian means “clear”, “pure” or “light”. These are apt words to describe the group’s sound, as well as their approach to string quartet repertoire. The four have been together since their Juilliard days (more likely longer than that), and have several recordings under their belts already. By now, you’ve probably wondered what “by …
Piano. Push. Play. transforms Portland with music, art, and a bit of magic
The piano on the sidewalk doesn’t make any attempt to blend in with the bustling city surroundings. Its bright pink exterior bristles with wild fur that surpasses many of the hip and trending hairstyles in both eccentricity and brilliance of color. Above its dense mane bobbles a cluster of orbs resembling eyeballs and from underneath …
A Darwinian Take on Musicology
Evolution. It’s not just about Darwin’s finches and paleontology. Music history can be considered an evolutionary study of sorts: a tracing of where, when, why, and how music was played, written, discussed, or heard, and who was involved in the process. We can study these changes of musical sound over time by examining one branch of …
Pinchas Zukerman: Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon and Philips
Violinist, violist, and conductor Pinchas Zukerman is close to 70 years old, but shows no signs of slowing down. Or wanting to do so. When I chatted with him for this feature, he was set to perform with his longtime musical partner, Itzhak Perlman, and head to the Berkshire Hills and Tanglewood to speak to …
Rachel Barton Pine: Testament (Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin)
Any serious violinist is going to be well-acquainted with the unaccompanied works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Several violinists have taken on these seminal, almost mystical works, in recordings. Rachel Barton Pine brings not only the artistic sensitivity and talent to these six pieces, but also great credentials: She’s the only American Gold Medalist of the …
Hélène Grimaud’s new CD, Water. An elemental expression.
Pianist Hélène Grimaud, known almost equally for her environmental concerns as her tremendous musical talent, brings both areas of interest together in her new CD, Water (Deutsche Grammophon), the result of a collaboration with composer and producer, Nitin Sawney. Ms. Grimaud, who founded the Wolf Conservation Center in New York in 1996, hopes that people …
