The Sound Post » Beethoven

Juilliard Acquires Beethoven and Mendelssohn Manuscripts

Colin Oettle — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:20:20 +0000

To mark the completion of a $200 million addition, The Juilliard School will host a lecture event tonight at Alice Tully Hall. The school is expected to announce the acquisition of two original manuscripts as gifts from Bruce Kovner, chairman of Juilliard and billionaire trader. Including the two newest articles, Kovner will have donated 140 manuscripts to the Juilliard archive.

The two items include a copy of Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” sonata and Mendelssohn’s “Elijah,” each containing revisions and notes by its respective composer. There will be a concert as part of the event showcasing other works whose manuscripts have been obtained. This includes Beethoven’s “Grosse Fuge” and the last act of Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro.”

Kovner has expressed his intent to make these manuscripts available to scholars, having already begun processing the artifacts for access on juilliardmanuscriptcollection.org Read about the event, the acquisitions, and the archive here (source: NYT).

WQXR Makes Debut Broadcast on 105.9

Colin Oettle — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:09:59 +0000

Fans who tuned into WQXR at its new address, 105.9, at 8:00pm today were greeted by a message recorded over 70 years ago by WQXR co-founder Elliott M. Sanger. The recording expressed WQXR’s commitment to bring classical music to a widespread audience, and to maintain its listeners’ satisfaction. WQXR and its new parent company, WNYC, wished to reaffirm that mission, and have already made good on their promise by broadcasting the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra live from Carnegie Hall.

To recap briefly: WNYC, a member of National Public Radio, bought the rights to WQXR from the New York Times Company, and has transplanted the station to 105.9FM from 96.3FM. The new ownership brings new programming and a new website. The site (which seems to be down currently) has information about WQXR, as well as access to four different internet radio streams. 93.9 (NPR), their AM classical station, 105.9 (now WQXR), and Q2. Q2 is the new internet-only radio stream that will broadcast music geared toward a more niche oriented listener base. This includes contemporary music, and some chamber and vocal music. Read up on the details on our previous articles. Otherwise click ahead for info about tonight’s performance.

The concert, supported by a campaign spearheaded by Emanuel Ax and supplemented by a $5 million matched donation by the Jerome Green Foundation, featured the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra playing Stravinsky’s Concerto in E-flat Major “Dumbarton Oaks,” Webern’s Fuga (Ricercare) a 6 voci from Bach’s Musical Offering, BWV 1079, the New York premier of Kernis’s Concerto with Echoes, and violinist Henning Kraggerud playing Beethoven’s famous violin concerto.

The concert was hosted by WNYC’s David Garland and WQXRs Midge Woolsey—two voices listeners can expect to hear on WQXR in the future. So remember to change your dials to 105.9 in the NYC area, or point your browser to http://www.wqxr.org, which will hopefully be online very shortly.

Ax, Schiff, Others Opine On Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas

Colin Oettle — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:04:54 +0000

Admit They Haven’t Played Them All

Carnegie Hall Sound Insights has collaborated with seven professional pianists to provide an in depth look at Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas. This collection of sonatas is one of Beethoven’s most significant accomplishments, and the artists’ expertise gives listeners of all levels an excellent understanding of the way the sonatas trace different periods in Beethoven’s life. With separate analyses for the early, middle, and late sonatas, the media clips include podcast-like talks as well as excerpts of professional recordings. Click on through for the original article and a list of all the contributing artists.

Emanuel Ax, Leif Ove Andsnes, Mitsuko Uchida, Thomas Adès, Jeremy Denk, András Schiff, and Pierre-Laurent Aimard all have audio tracks with their thoughts on different sonatas, all located here. I recommend a thorough exploration through this very informative issue of Carnegie Hall Sound Insights.