The Sound Post » Carnegie Hall

Levine Returns to BSO After Spinal Surgery

Colin Oettle — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:34:30 +0000

James Levine led the Boston Symphony Orchestra last week for the first time since his back surgery in the Fall. While Levine has been in New York for assorted performances at Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera, his leadership at the BSO was absent for most of the season’s Fall performances. He presented his returning program, featuring works by Berlioz, Ravel, and Carter, in both Boston and New York. Perhaps fortuitously, the night before the BSO’s Carnegie Hall performance, Levine and the BSO won a Grammy for their recording of Ravel’s “Daphnis et Chloé.” For a complete review of the performance and a clip of the Grammy winning recording, see the NYT article here.

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.

James Levine Out For 3 Weeks

Colin Oettle — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:19:20 +0000

James Levine, Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera, was set to conduct the opening concert at Carnegie Hall this season. However, he will not be seen on a podium for the next three weeks, as Maestro Levine will soon undergo back surgery to repair a herniated disk.

Although Levine will miss some high profile performances, such as the first performance of Tosca with The Met, the operation comes at a time when Mr. Levine had already canceled performances due to extreme back pain. According to his doctors, having the surgery will prevent further damage and hopefully allow him to return to his assorted posts quickly and with renewed vigor. Source: NY Times Music.

WQXR Moves to 105.9 on October 8

Colin Oettle — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 04:41:30 +0000

With Live Broadcast at 8pm

WQXR, New York’s classical station, announced that its move from 96.3FM to 105.9FM will take place on October 8th, 2009 at 8:00PM EST. This frequency transplant comes as part of an FCC-approved three-way deal between New York Times Co., Univision, and WNYC—the nation’s largest public radio station. After 65 years of ownership, NYT Co. sold WQXR’s rights and namesake to WNYC, and the station’s spot at 96.3FM to Univision.

The new WQXR will launch with a live broadcast from Carnegie Hall on October 8th at 8pm. The performance by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra will feature the world premier of Concerto With Echoes by Aaron Jay Kernis, as well as works by Stravinsky, Webern, and Beethoven’s Violin Concerto played by Janine Jansen. The performance will be simulcast on 93.9FM, another station owned by WNYC.

WQXR will remain a 24/7 classical music station, but is to become fully listener-supported. The initial purchase is being supported by The Campaign to Preserve Classical Music Radio in New York City—a $15 million campaign co-chaired by Emanuel Ax. So far, the campaign has raised $7.2 million.

Click for the official WNYC press release.

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.