After 43 years, the Tokyo Quartet, one of the great chamber ensembles of our time leaves the concert stage at the end of the 2012-2013 concert season.
 

Hear the Tokyo String Quartet's final Boston performance

Presented by Celebrity Series of Boston, the program of the concert includes

Haydn: String Quartet in G, Op. 77, No. 1

Bartók: String Quartet No. 3

Ravel: String Quartet in F


Officially formed in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music, the Tokyo Quartet traces its origins to the Toho School of Music in Tokyo, where the founding members were profoundly influenced by Professor Hideo Saito.

The quartet, including violinists Martin Beaver and Kikuei Ikeda, violist Kazuhide Isomura, and cellist Clive Greensmith, performs on the "Paganini Quartet." This group of renowned Stradivarius instruments named for legendary virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, who acquired and played them during the 19th century. The instruments have been on loan to the quartet from the Nippon Music Foundation since 1995, when they were purchased from the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

The group's final recording, including Dvorák's String Quartet No. 12 in F, Op. 96, the "American," and Smetana's String Quartet No. 1, "From My Life," will be released next month on Harmonia Mundi.

 

Artist of the Day: Pianist Alessio Bax

Free Download

Hear the entire performance on-demand

Public Radio Music Month is a nation-wide celebration of the cultural wealth and diverse musical voices heard every day on public radio stations around the country. Classical New England is joining the celebration, and you can too!

Share a special story, a favorite memory, or an appreciation for music you’ve heard on Classical New England. Maybe it was the first time you joined us at the Esplanade for the annual Pops 4th of July celebration ... or that interesting piece of music that really grabbed you when you were listening to the radio.

Leave a comment below, or join the conversation on Twitter or Facebook, tagging your social media comments with #thankspublicradio, and learn what's going on around the country at the Public Radio Music Month blog.

And be sure to subscribe to the WGBH Music Channel at YouTube to SEE some of the great live music happening in our Fraser Performance Studio and in the community!

Classical New England also celebrates with music on the radio and online from two special events this month. On April 3, the Tokyo String Quartet visited our Fraser Performance Studio to perform in Boston for the final time, presented by the Celebrity Series of Boston.

Did you know...?

• Public radio stations air 5.2 million hours of music each year. As a 24/7 classical radio service, Classical New England broadcasts 8,736 hours of classical music annually. And our partner station WGBH 89.7 brings more than 600 hours annually of jazz and Celtic music to the region!

• More than 40 per cent of nationwide listening to public radio is for music programming, such as the kind that Classical New England provides on a round-the-clock basis on-air and online.

• 183 public radio stations nationwide play music full time, and another 661 public radio stations include music as part of their programming lineup. 85% of classical radio stations in the U.S. are public radio stations. Classical New England, a public radio service, is the only 24/7 broadcaster for classical music in the greater Boston metro area.

• Public radio stations nationally host 7,500+ in-studio music performances, and more than 4,000 community performances each year. In the last year alone, Classical New England and WGBH have presented more than 70 performances in the community, and in our own Fraser Performance Studio.

It was with these incredible facts in mind that Public Radio Music Month was born. While our own listeners know first-hand the critical role that WGBH and Classical New England have played in our local music culture and industry, Public Radio Music Month is a new opportunity to join together in spreading that message to the wider community, in New England and across the nation.

It’s also an opportunity for us to thank YOU for supporting Classical New England! Your generous support enables the work that stations like ours do in preserving America’s musical traditions and fostering and nurturing the development of music talent, every day.

 

Classical New England celebrates the cornerstone composer of Western music with special live broadcasts, Bach Minutes, a free all-day community event, and more.

Listen to The Bach Channel Learn more about Bach, see more video, and hear The Bach Hour on-demand

Bach, Colorized

Chopin's Bach Connection

Zimmermann's Coffee House

Buxtehudemania

Special Broadcasts:

Hear the concert

Watch Bach video

Classical New England, First Lutheran Church of Boston, and Boston Chapter American Guild of Organists thank you for making 
Bach Around the Clock on Saturday, March 16th, a huge success!

Beginning at 6am with the sound of cellos and continuing through the day until 6pm, this celebration of the birthday of J.S. Bach was an experience never to be forgotten. If you attended in person or listened to our live stream, thank you for celebrating with us!

Be sure to listen to Classical New England on Mar. 21st (Bach's actual birthday), for highlights from this incredible day.
 

Hear performances from Bach Around the Clock below, and
download the entire program, including repertoire [pdf]

Co-sponsored by First Lutheran Church of Boston, the Boston American Guild of Organists and WGBH Classical New England

Symphonies We Love filled the month of February with your choices of brilliant music and beautiful stories

Like a handful of snowflakes, February has already melted away!

When Classical New England launched Symphonies We Love on February 1st we had two goals in mind. First, to fill the midwinter atmosphere with some of the greatest classical music ever written. And in the process, to gain some insight into these symphonies through your stories.

And what wonderful stories you had! We could not have anticipated the hundreds of responses you offered to that simple encouragement to “tell us about a Symphony You Love”. We heard from so many of you in so many different ways: through our own web page, along with phone calls, letters, emails, Facebook messages, chance meetings in public, and even via our #LuvSyms tag on Twitter!

Truly there are Symphonies we Love, for very personal, and touching reasons.

From our listener Mitch, we discovered the connection to his father offered by Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. It was a piece his father introduced him to very early on, and then his father passed away at a young age from multiple sclerosis. Mitch wrote, “now when I listen to some of his favorites, it seems to bring him right back into the room.”

Another listener, Dan, describes himself as “a country boy at heart”, and offers Beethoven’s homage to nature, the Symphony No. 6, the "Pastoral," as one to which he can most relate.

And we learned that your musical tastes are as widely cast as where you listen! In addition to submissions from the six New England states, we had comments from listeners in faraway places, including California, Italy, and Florida. Musically, we found out that right up there with Beethoven and Brahms, Nicolai Myaskovsky’s 27th, Tan Dun’s “1997”, Malcom Arnold’s 3rd, and Samuel Wesley’s A Major also deserve a place among the Symphonies We Love.

Thank you so much for taking some time to get in touch and share your stories, memories, and special connections to this music! Here are the symphonies that generated the most conversation over the last month through your comments, requests and stories. In alphabetical order, they are:

Ludwig Van Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
Ludwig Van Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68, "Pastoral"
Ludwig Van Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92
Ludwig Van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, "Ode to Joy"
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68
Antonín Dvorák: Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88
Antonín Dvorák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, "From the New World"
Gustav Mahler: Symphonies No. 1 in D Major
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection"
Camille Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78, "Organ"
Franz Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D.759, "Unfinished"
Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 43

Read about Symphonies Loved by the Classical New England staff.

]]> Wed, 30 Jan 2013 22:35 PM +0000 http://www.wgbh.org//articles/Symphonies-We-Love-7682 ]]> http://www.wgbh.org//articles/Symphonies-We-Love-7682 Beethoven's Fifth? Mahler's Second? How about Alan Hovhaness's Symphony No. 66? (Ever been to Glacier Peak?)

In February Classical New England featured Symphonies We Love – the symphonies we ALL love, including you! Read our own choices below, and learn more about the Symphonies You Love.

Recommended: London Symphony Orchestra, Istvan Kertesz, conductor Purchase from ArkivMusic	A Cherished Memory Antonín Dvorák's Symphony No. 9, "From the New World" When I was a young music student playing with the Denver Youth Symphony Orchestra, I studied privately with the principal horn player of the Denver (now Colorado) Symphony Orchestra. Once a year the principal players in the Youth Symphony joined the professional symphony in playing a large-scale work. My opportunity came in 1984 during the Denver Symphony’s golden anniversary season. The concert’s feature piece was Dvorák’s 9th and I had the immense privilege of playing the majestic four-horn soli in the last movement—with my teacher and two of his colleagues to a full house at Boettcher Concert Hall. There are more recordings of Dvorák’s 9th Symphony in my personal collection now (14 to be exact) than any other single piece. I love every one of them for their own unique qualities. And I will always go out of my way to hear that symphony performed live because of that one spectacular chance I had to play it myself in concert. - Cheryl Willoughby, Music Director
Recommended: Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karjan, conductor Purchase from ArkivMusic	A Rare Disagreement Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 6, "Pastoral" My husband and I have been married for more than 21 years, and truthfully, we rarely disagree on anything of substance: our values, politics, the arts, which in-laws we love most.  So I was shocked when we didn’t agree on our favorite Beethoven symphony! I picked the 6th, the “Pastoral” symphony.  He said… “No. Definitely the 7th.”  Wha??   The 6th depicts a day in the country. For me, there is simple charm in the original titles of the movements, beginning with "Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arrival in the country" to the final "Shepherd's song; cheerful and thankful feelings after the storm." The 6th is the first symphony Beethoven wrote after going completely deaf, and it's telling that this is a symphony of both visuals and feelings. For Beethoven, it wasn’t only an appreciation of the countryside. He shared the belief that by knowing nature, one could know God. There it is.   For my husband, on the other hand, Beethoven’s 7th is a “showcase of the composer’s abilities.”  Hubs, (a professional musician, by the way) asserts that Beethoven's 7th blends the decisive narrative from the composer's 3rd and 5th Symphonies, with the fluidity and lyrical sensibilities of his 4th and 6th.   In other words, a perfect balance from a man at the height of his musical abilities, despite his utter inability to hear.   I shared my "marital spat" story with Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart, who joins me every weekday morning on Classical New England for "Keith's Classical Corner."  But to my dismay Keith sided with my spouse -- and proceeded to repeat practically every word my husband had said earlier.  An informal poll of my male colleagues also showed a preference for the 7th.  But from my female colleagues, it was the 6th.     Still, I love the 6th best of all Beethoven's symphonies. The 7th is great, too, as are all Beethoven's symphonies.  But now I’m wondering: Is it also “a guy thing?” - Laura Carlo, host for weekday mornings and Baroque in Boston
Recommended: Berlin Philharmonic, Simon Rattle, conductor Purchase from ArkivMusic	Larger Than Life Johannes Brahms's Symphony No. 2 The world of Brahms has always overwhelmed me. Even at the end of his life, in his most intimate intermezzos for the piano, he opens up a world that is colorful and rich in a wholly unique way – open-hearted and full of consolation. The second symphony came far easier than the first. Brahms was vacationing and famously wrote that the “the melodies flow so freely here, one must be careful not to trample on them!” But he revels in the shadows as much as he does in the sunshine, and this is one of his hallmarks. Part of the deep sense of fulfillment that comes with hearing Brahms comes from knowing intuitively that it is built, like we are, in a profoundly organic way. Three notes – D, C-sharp, D – open the second symphony and become the DNA for a sonorous world that understands sadness, courage, joy and love. The slow movement unfolds and overlaps in ways that go straight to the heart. And how does he convey that thrilling sense of collective humanity in the finale? Plenty of pieces call upon a triumphant blaze of horns to close things out, but at the end of this miraculously developed piece, it makes us feel larger than life. We are beaming! What more could you ask of a symphony? - Cathy Fuller, afternoon host and co-host for Boston Symphony Orchestra broadcasts
Recommended: Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Neeme Järvi, conductor Purchase from ArkivMusic	Russian Soul Vasily Kalinnikov's Symphony No. 1 Symphonies give us a chance to connect to places and people far away – both in time and geography. The template perfected by Haydn and Mozart has proven to be infinitely malleable, allowing composers to maintain the template while injecting their own thoughts, emotions, and cultural echoes.   Tchaikovsky’s six symphonies channeled a particular Russian voice through the form, but another, far less-known composer was equally successful. Vasily Sergeyevich Kalinnikov was a generation younger than his more famous colleague, and he explored the same kind of highly personal inner landscape in his music. But he also injected perhaps even more of the cultural landscape around him, taking on the character of composers like Rimsky-Korsakov and Mussorgsky.   Unfortunately, Kalinnikov lived in poverty and died too young, never fulfilling his potential role as a bridge between those Russian nationalists and the more western oriented Tchaikovsky. But the Symphony No. 1 in G minor can be seen as a brilliant attempt at creating that bridge. - Brian McCreath, host of The Bach Hour and producer of Boston Symphony Orchestra broadcasts
Recommended: Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi, conductor Purchase from ArkivMusic	A Symphony in Blues William Grant Still's Symphony No. 1, "Afro-American" His life was the American "melting pot" incarnate: Born in Mississippi, with a mixture of African, Spanish, Irish, Scottish, and Native American blood in his veins. He worked with W.C. Handy, "The Father of the Blues," collaborated with Langston Hughes, won a scholarship to study at the New England Conservatory with George Whitefield Chadwick, and later the French avant-gardist Edgard Varese. His career began on Black Broadway, and ended on Hollywood soundstages. In short, William Grant Still (1895-1978) was an American original, the so-called "Dean of African-American Composers." His Afro-American Symphony is justifiably famous for being the first large-scale symphonic work by a black composer to be performed by a major orchestra when it was premiered by the Rochester Philharmonic in 1931. What's less well known is that Still's symphony is also a groundbreaking work in its marriage of symphonic form with the African-American experience. The symphony opens with a 12-bar-blues progression, the first time that had happened in a symphonic work. The second movement (which Still titled "Sorrow" in his drafts) takes on the form of a Spiritual. And in instead of a Minuet or Scherzo for the the third movement, Still opts for a jaunty "Hallelujah," replete with a tenor banjo. Not unlike the sonnets Antonio Vivaldi attached to each of his Four Seasons, Still's Symphony No. 1 has four accompanying epigraphs by the noted African-American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, the last of which is titled "Ode to Ethiopia:" Be proud, my Race, in mind and soul, Thy name is writ on Glory's scroll In characters of fire. High 'mid the clouds of Fame's bright sky, And truth shall lift them higher. They banner's blazoned folds now fly, Demonstrating that music has no natural color line, you are hard pressed to top the snap, fire, blues, and boisterousness of the Estonian-born conductor Neeme Jarvi's recording with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. - Benjamin K. Roe, Managing Director
Recommended: Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Claudio Abbado, conductor Purchase from ArkivMusic	Out of the Old Comes the New Sergei Prokofiev's Symphony No. 1, "Classical" Prokofiev was quite a rabble-rouser as a young man. He loved to shock audiences with his "modern" music. But in the midst of the turmoil of the Russian Revolution, in the summer of 1918, Prokofiev went on a vacation, made sure there was no piano to distract him, and sat down to write a symphony in the style of Haydn. I love the idea that this young man saw himself and his world on the brink of something completely new, and yet turned to older styles and older forms to express himself. And that he then adapted it and stretched it to suit his own style. The Symphony No. 1 may have alienated some of his modernist friends in the process, but it remains as fresh and vibrant today as it was then. - Alan McLellan, mid-day host and producer of Drive Time Live
Recommended: Berlin Philharmonic, Simon Rattle, conductor Purchase from ArkivMusic	"I just gotta be me!" Igor Stravinsky's Symphony in C I openly admit I’m not a big fan of symphonies – they’re too grandiose, there’s too much going on, and I vastly prefer the intimate and precise quality of chamber music. This is why I love Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony in C – a post-classical take on the classic symphony form. Just in the first movement, fluffy flutes, a sinister oboe, and a persistent string section play off of each other, imitating and supporting each other like members of a string quartet. The conversation among characters continues throughout the next three movements. I like to see this symphony as Stravinsky’s way of saying, “yes, I recognize that there’s something you’re expecting, but hey, I’ve gotta be me.” This symphony expertly blends Beethovenian symphony writing with Stravinsky’s knack for perfect discord. - Rani Schloss, production assistant
Recommended: Prague Chamber Orchestra, Charles Mackerras, conductor Purchase from ArkivMusic	Prague's Embrace Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 38, "Prague" In December 1786 Mozart had one of the greatest successes of his life: the opening of his opera Le Nozze di Figaro in the city of Prague. Everyone, from the royalty to the merchants to the musicians themselves, loved Figaro, with that deep love only a true popular hit can inspire. This love, in turn, inspired Mozart's love for a city that finally "got" him, and he expressed that love in a symphony written especially for Prague. This love is evident in the music itself. The first movement, which foreshadows the sound world of Don Giovanni, is an expansive space you can inhabit and explore. The slow middle movement is a personal vehicle for the expression of emotions of profound depth, with an almost frightening sense of intimacy. The last movement, the first to be composed, has a kinetic energy that also invokes Don Giovanni and Beethoven with an undertone of seriousness that darkens its bubbly surface. What I love about this symphony is that you're rarely conscious of its being a symphony - its form is so seamlessly embedded into its content that you're hardly aware of it. You don't think about what movement you're in or what's next - the work sweeps you along on its own terms. The “Prague” symphony is an organic work that feels like a pure journey of real love, not the performance of love one encounters in the big Romantic symphonies, but what real love - with its mutual respect, deep appreciation, and the delights and dangers of being seen clearly for who one is - actually feels like. - James David Jacobs, late night host and producer of Baroque in Boston

]]> Tue, 11 Dec 2012 09:43 AM +0000 http://www.wgbh.org//articles/2012-Holiday-Specials-from-Classical-New-England-7457 Messiah to Boston Baroque's First Day concert.

On-demand at Classical New England
]]> http://www.wgbh.org//articles/2012-Holiday-Specials-from-Classical-New-England-7457 Mon, 03 Dec 2012 09:38 AM +0000 http://www.wgbh.org//articles/A-Month-of-Beethoven-7469 ]]> http://www.wgbh.org//articles/A-Month-of-Beethoven-7469

In the midst of traditional holiday celebrations, join us for a celebration of the composer who changed everything.

• Members of the Boston Chamber Music Society play a rarely-heard orchestration of the Piano Concerto No. 4
• The Borromeo String Quartet plays String Quartet No. 10, "Harp"

• Raphael Fruhbeck de Burgos conducts; violinist Gil Shaham is the soloist in the Violin Concerto (August 19, 2012)
• Itzhak Perlman serves as soloist and conductor for the all-Beethoven season opening concert (September 22, 2012)

• Last year's Beethoven Celebration: New Discoveries and Fond Farewells, Part I and Part II, along with videos of tenor William Hite, a performance of a little-known trombone quartet, and a similarly little-known Sonatina played on the mandolin
• Discovery Ensemble plays Beethoven's 6th Symphony

Hear the Classical New England Holiday Music Channel

Classical New England brings you the sounds of the season, from celebratory concerts to traditional favorites.

	Hear Holiday Specials On-demand
	New Year's Day from Vienna, with the Vienna Philharmonic and conductor Franz Welser-Möst Hear the concert
	Holiday Pops 2012!, with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Hear the concert The Copley Singers Holiday Sing on Drive Time Live Hear the program on-demand  See a video from this program Boston Children's Chorus: All Choir Holiday Concert Hear the program on-demand
	Boston Baroque, conducted by Martin Pearlman Handel's Messiah, in concert at Jordan Hall in Boston Hear the concert >> Download program notes Gala First Day Concert, in concert at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, Mass. Hear the concert
	Eternal Echoes for Hanukkah, with violinist Itzhak Perlman and Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot Hear the program A Journey Through The Nutcracker, with James David Jacobs and Boston Ballet Hear the program The Tallis Scholars in Concert: Love is Better than Wine Hear the program
	Christmas Around New England Hear the program on-demand Boston Camerata's An American Christmas Hear the program Carols for Dancing Hear the program on-demand
	Handel's Messiah with the Handel and Haydn Society Hear the concert >>  Download program notes More on the Messiah phenomenon
	A Choral Christmas with Stile Antico Hear the program on-demand Boston Camerata's A Medieval Christmas Hear the program on-demand
	The Bach Hour - Christmas Oratorio Hear Part 1 on-demand Hear Part 2 on-demand Hear Part 3 on-demand Hear Part 4 on-demand Hear Part 5 on-demand Hear Part 6 on-demand

Thanksgiving cooking tools, from the traditional to the high-tech (images via Wikimedia Commons)

No matter what your holiday preparations and traditions are, let Classical New England take care of the music while you worry about the rest.

Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, in a concert featuring Latin American composers at Carnegie Hall in New York.

Join us at 8pm tonight, with hosts Fred Child of APM's Performance Today and Jeff Spurgeon of WQXR.

Forget about childhood fears like the thing in the closet and the seemingly endless expanse of darkness beneath the bed, “scary” can take on a whole different dimension with the perspective of an adult.

Watch some of the latest videos below, and for the complete archive, visit the WGBH Music channel at YouTube.

New Broadcast Era Begins with New BSO Season

Classical New England's Cathy Fuller and Ron Della Chiesa team up as co-hosts