PROGRAMS
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2007
December 30: Claude Frank, piano
Living Link: Celebrated pianist Claude Frank is a living link to the great Romantics whose music he has enlivened for over half a century. This week he brings us works of two of them—Beethoven and Schumann—along with a beloved sonata of Mozart. Mr. Frank not only conveys a sense of these works' depth and beauty, but their bracing humanity as well. He concludes Beethoven's epic Opus 110 sonata, a signature work for pianist and composer alike. (more)
December 23: Ellen Hargis, soprano; Paul O'Dette, lute and theorbo
Joyeux Noel: With each passing year, the hubbub around the holidays seems to crowd out more of the mystery and beauty of the season. Take an hour off this week as Bill welcomes soprano Ellen Hargis with lutenist Paul O'Dette. We'll journey back to France and Italy for 16th century noels and then slip across the English Channel to hear Christmas pieces from the time of Shakespeare. Enjoy an extra special Christmas gift this week from Saint Paul Sunday. (more)
December 08: Guarneri String Quartet performs Mozart, Ravel, Dvořák
Revelations: On the heels of their 40th anniversary, the Guarneri String Quartet returns to Saint Paul Sunday with music by Mozart, Dvořák and Ravel — works that reveal the heart and soul of this revered ensemble as movingly today as they did when it first performed them. Each composer's distinct voice shines, but refracted through a sound and mastery wholly the Guarneri's own. After more than four decades, both remain undimmed. (more)
December 02: Alexandre da Costa, violin; Margo Garrett, piano
The "ghosts of great violinists hover over your whole program," observes guest host Ara Guzelimian this week as he welcomes two remarkable (and quite corporeal) guests into the studio. The young Canadian violinist Alexandre da Costa joins forces with acclaimed American pianist Margo Garrett for several works by composers who were either great violinists themselves, or who wrote with specific virtuosi in mind, or both. Mr. da Costa plays music of Brahms, Falla, Ysaÿe, and Sarasate with artistry as compelling as it is historically aware. The duo encores with a bravura arrangement of music for a different time and instrument: Jimi Hendrix's "Manic Depression." (more)
November 18: Trio Mediæval
Out of Time: Trio Mediæval are three extraordinary female vocalists from Norway and Sweden who take music from very early sources and sing it side-by-side with powerful contemporary works composed especially for them. The contrasts are awe-inspiring—from Oleh Karkavyy's ravishing Kyrie to 14th century music discovered on the back side of accounting documents for the construction of an English castle. Whether ancient or modern, it's music out of time. The program ends with a set of poignant Nordic folksongs. (more)
November 11: OPUS ONE, Tsontakis, Martinů, Brahms
Camaraderie: When they're not performing with either TASHI, or the Guarneri and Orion string quartets, the accomplished soloists of OPUS ONE join forces out of a warm mutual admiration for each another's artistry. They freely share in the excitement of performing the great music of their particular combination. In their most recent visit to Saint Paul Sunday, violinist Ida Kavafian, violist Steven Tenenbom, cellist Peter Wiley, and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott offer us some of the most spirited piano quartets in the repertoire—works of Mozart, Brahms, and Martinů—side by side with arresting new music of another collaborator, composer George Tsontakis. (more)
November 04: Celin and Pepe Romero, guitars
All My Children: The mastery and spirit of the late Spanish guitarist Celedonio Romero lives on in two generations of guitar virtuosos. This week his sons Celin and Pepe return to the studio and reveal how the Romero legacy comes alive with every performance. They'll bring us music of the illustrious Spanish tradition—guitar solos and duos of Albéniz, Granados, Falla, and Torroba—as well as an enchanting prelude by Brazilian composer Hietor Villa-Lobos. Each of these works carries strong early associations for the brothers, who share their vivid memories and stories as well. (more)
October 28: Anthony McGill, clarinet; Natalie Zhu, piano
Guest host: Brian Newhouse, Host and Senior Producer of the Minnesota Orchestra broadcasts
Another Place: "You know, this music takes you to another place—straight to your soul, straight to your heart," says clarinetist Anthony McGill this week of Johannes Brahms's multi-hued second clarinet sonata. "I started playing music because of that feeling." Mr. McGill's affection for the work dovetails with its initial inspiration, clarinet virtuoso Richard Mühlfeld, whom Brahms met late in life and admired intensely, and whose playing helped the composer break new creative ground. We'll also get to hear two of Anthony McGill's other favorites: Debussy's Première Rhapsodie and Poulenc's sole clarinet sonata.
(more)October 21: Joshua Bell, violin; Frederic Chiu, piano
Spring in Winter: Two longtime friends—violinist Joshua Bell and pianist Frederic Chiu—come back to the studio this week for music that gives each artist's celebrated virtuosity free reign. They begin with the joyous "Spring" sonata, one of Beethoven's most beloved and infectiously hopeful works. Next, two shorter works of Tchaikovsky reveal the performers' exquisite sense of line and timing. And the program concludes with Pablo de Sarasate's Introduction et Tarantelle, a dazzling work which in Mr. Bell's hands affirms again why he's a violinist cherished the world over. (more)
October 14: Shai Wosner, piano
Tempest & Fantasy: The acclaimed young pianist Shai Wosner—recent recipient of the Avery Fisher Award—performs two breakthrough works this week. First we'll hear Frédéric Chopin's Opus 49 Fantasy in f minor, a work whose unconventional makeup gave the composer license to break a spell of artistic anxiety and stasis. Its dynamic shifts of mood and color resonate well with the program's concluding work, Beethoven's "Tempest" sonata, of whose Allegro Beethoven said "The piano must break!" The sonata charted fresh territory for the composer, weaving together an astonishing range of techniques new to him, each of which Mr. Wosner navigates with his own special artistry. Between these two masterworks we'll hear a brief haunting "Night Piece" of Robert Schumann. (more)
October 07: St. Lawrence String Quartet performs Haydn, Berger
Eli Eli: As listeners who've heard the Saint Lawrence String Quartet's earlier Saint Paul Sunday programs can attest, its four members enter into each work they play with utter passion and humanity—as though it were the only music on earth. Appropriately enough, this week they perform two movements of Maurice Ravel's sole foray into the form alongside music by the composer most often credited with inventing it: the "Joke" quartet of Franz Joseph Haydn. We'll also hear powerful music by a composer who has collaborated directly with the ensemble: Jonathan Berger's "Doubles" and his "Eli Eli," a deeply affecting tribute to slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. (more)
September 30: Dawn Upshaw, soprano; Gil Kalish, piano
Seekers: Dawn Upshaw joins longtime friend and collaborator pianist Gil Kalish this week for songs that illuminate the expansive range of this cherished American soprano. Few singers of any time combine Ms. Upshaw's rare vocal limpidity and command with such a searching contemporary awareness. The duo brings us music of Schubert, Mahler, Debussy, and Bartok, as well as two American composers—William Bolcom and John Harbison—whose works Ms. Upshaw has long championed. Listen in for a truly special hour. (more)
September 23: Beaux Arts Trio
Gold Standard: Today, as it has for over half a century, the Beaux Arts Trio draws audiences into profound and delightful musical encounters. This week on Saint Paul Sunday, founding pianist Menahem Pressler joins his two celebrated younger colleagues, violinist Daniel Hope and cellist Antonio Meneses, for a program that surveys music of four works that have had special meaning for the trio and its many fans. We'll hear music from Mendelssohn's first and Shostakovich's second trios, as well as two other beloved pinnacles of the form: Beethoven's "Archduke" and Dvořák's "Dumky" trios. Along the way we'll also get personal glimpses of the Beaux Arts Trio past, present, and future. (more)
September 16: Rachel Barton Pine, violin; Matthew Hagle, piano
Gem of Chicago: This week on Saint Paul Sunday, Bill McGlaughlin welcomes a daughter of Chicago—violinist Rachel Barton Pine—whose richly varied offerings, including Ravel's "Blues" sonata, reveal the virtuosity and exuberance that are her trademark. She'll also perform a trio of Baroque solo works, a delightful Scottish Suite, and the world premiere of a breathtaking new work called "Rush" by another Chicagoan, composer Augusta Read Thomas. Don't miss it. (more)
September 09: The Dale Warland Singers
For Cherishing: On March 22, 1981, Saint Paul Sunday aired its first broadcast, an all-Bach program featuring the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and this week's celebrated guests, the Dale Warland Singers. Since that day, Dale and his colleagues have brought several programs to Saint Paul Sunday, each one demonstrating the depth, beauty, and scrupulous craft that are their signature. This Sunday's program, their twelfth, gives the Warland artistry free reign. We'll hear diverse American works, two British memorials that share a special history, and a trio of "Cathedral Classics"—works whose spacious soundworlds offer perhaps the fullest sense of the choir's amplitude. (more)
September 02: Contrasts Quartet
Chiaroscuro: Drawing upon the rich textural opportunities their unusual makeup affords, the members of Contrasts—clarinetist Ayako Oshima, violinist Monica Bauchwitz, cellist Ariane Lallemand, and pianist Evelyne Luest—traverse new musical landscapes. This week, true to form, Contrasts brings us a varied program: trios of Beethoven and Khatchaturian, and two "Episodes" of an extended quartet composed especially for them by Ned Rorem. (more)
August 26: Borromeo String Quartet
What is it about the string quartet as a form that so captivates the world's greatest composers? We'll find out this week when the celebrated young Borromeo String Quartet surveys its repertoire with all the warmth, virtuosity, and passion it inspires. Beginning with music of Franz Joseph Haydn—the father of the string quartet—the Borromeo gives us the haunting Andante Moderato from Brahms's 2nd quartet, and concludes with Janácek's "Intimate Letters," music that chronicles the 70-year old composer's intense devotion to a much younger woman. (more)
August 19: Paul Coletti, viola; Lydia Artymiw, piano
Viola Voilá!: Violas and violists are now such a familiar presences in classical music that we may surprised to learn how long it took for the greatest composers to channel the instrument's unique spirit into extended solo works. This week, Bill welcomes return visits by violist Paul Coletti and pianist Lydia Artymiw—two remarkable soloists joining forces to explore a trio of the earliest and best works composed for the viola. (more)
August 12: Matt Haimovitz, cello; Jean Marchand, piano
Great classical artists have always been pioneers. This week on Saint Paul Sunday we welcome Matt Haimovitz, a brilliant young performer who combines an acclaimed concert career with intrepid forays into the unlikeliest places for a classical cellist -- jazz clubs and punk bars, just to name a few. This week he steps out solo for music of Bach and Osvaldo Golijov, then joins forces with pianist Jean Marchand for Dmitri Shostakovich's remarkable Cello Sonata in d minor. And no matter where you happen to hear Matt's program this week, you'll be captivated. (more)
August 05: The Seattle Chamber Players and Friends
Emerald City, Baltic Lands: Seattle has long drawn treasure and world travelers into its port and heart. This week, Saint Paul Sunday travels to the Emerald City for a program of Baltic repertoire performed by several of its own musical treasures. The acclaimed Seattle Chamber Players, true to their collaborative spirit, invite guest artists to join them for works from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—music that invites us into new soundworlds as it expands the bounds of our listening. Seattle Pro Musica, another celebrated group that calls its namesake home, joins SCP in the final work of the broadcast, Pēteris Vasks's cosmic "Plainscapes." (more)
July 29: Fretwork and Emma Kirkby, soprano
Musick for a While: The songs of Elizabethan composer William Byrd marry text and music with both superb delicacy and emotional intensity. This week, one of the greatest living interpreters of Byrd's songs, soprano Emma Kirkby, joins forces with the acclaimed viol consort Fretwork for several of them, along with others by Purcell, Gibbons, and Dowland. Listen in for a truly transporting hour. "Sometimes when I hear music from this period," says Bill McGlaughlin, "I think music never really got any better. There's nothing like it." (more)
July 22: Guarneri String Quartet
Four by Forty: Having recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, the Guarneri String Quartet is among the most revered and enduring ensembles of its kind in the world. It makes a warmly awaited return visit this week to perform Zoltán Kodály's songful and incisive second string quartet, two haunting movements of Robert Schumann's third quartet, and some variations by the "Spanish Mozart"—Juan Crisostomo Arriaga—who earned the moniker for the brilliance of his too-brief career. As it has for over four decades, the Guarneri lends a peerless radiance to every note and phrase. In June 2007, the ensemble announced plans to retire in 2009. (more)
July 15: Leif Ove Andsnes performs Schumann, Debussy
Dubbing him "the most interesting pianist of his generation," The New York Times recently hailed Leif Ove Andsnes for his "gorgeous tone, fleet-fingered technique, rhythmic integrity, and textural clarity." Mr. Andsnes brings each of these prodigious powers to bear on his wide-ranging program for Saint Paul Sunday this week, first touring us through Vienna at Carnival-time with Robert Schumann's mercurial Faschingsschwank aus Wien, and next offering three transporting works by Debussy, including the beloved Isle Joyeuse. (more)
July 08: James Ehnes, violin; Eduard Laurel, piano
Virtuosi Various: Works of four composers who wrote with special brilliance for the violin come to life this week under the touch of the young Canadian violinist James Ehnes, who matches their mastery at every turn. Mr. Ehnes and pianist Eduard Laurel open their program with Maurice Ravel's bewitching (and bluesy) Sonata in G Major and conclude the hour with works of Pablo de Sarasate and Fritz Kreisler. J.S. Bach's beloved third partita for solo violin takes center stage, a pinnacle Ehnes prizes as much for its structure as for its "infinite possibilities." (more)
July 01: Chanticleer
Jalapeno Blues: Chanticleer is returning to Saint Paul Sunday, and this time they'll sing a brand-new work commissioned just for them to commemorate Saint Paul Sunday's 25th anniversary. Gabriela Lena Frank's "Jalapeno Blues" is the centerpiece of this week's show, and the composer will be in the studio with them to talk about her exciting new piece. This "orchestra of voices," as Chanticleer is often described, is in top form in all styles, and you'll not want to miss the moving experience of hearing them sing each and every gem they've brought. (more)
June 24: Hespèrion XXI
Jordi Savall and the famed ensemble Hespèrion XXI—which this week on Saint Paul Sunday includes soprano Monsterrat Figueras, their two children Arianna and Ferran Savall, and percussionist Pedro Estevan—make a warmly anticipated return visit. Though playing instruments with ancient-sounding names like viol da gamba, arpa doppio and tiorba, the emotional immediacy of their performances makes them sound composed in the moment. (They often are.) “There can be no museum for ancient music,” notes Mr. Savall. "Music exists only when you play it." (more)
June 17: eighth blackbird performs Chen Yi
Sparks: The intrepid artists of eighth blackbird—a sextet of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and percussion—are as acclaimed for the brilliance of their playing as they are for sparking inspiration in the composers who write for them. This week we get generous tastes of each. Of the four works they perform, three were created especially for them: David Kellogg's Divinum Mysterium, an ecstatic elaboration on sacred chant; Fireflies, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez's powerful vision of a Central American massacre; and finally "Glacial Exhalations," a vivid opening movement from the larger concerto Split Horizon, whose composer, David Schober, joins eighth blackbird in the studio. We'll also hear a fourth work that puts percussionist Matthew Duvall through his paces: Chen Yi's multi-textured Qui. (more)
June 10: Ensō String Quartet
The Ensō String Quartet—an acclaimed young foursome whose members hail from England, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States—takes its name from the Japanese Zen circle, a symbol representing many contrasting ideas at once. This week on Saint Paul Sunday we'll discover why their chosen title suits them so well as they perform masterpieces of Haydn and Schumann with what one critic calls "just the right quotient of sass." (more)
June 03: Nobilis
Con moto: Pianist Stephen Prutsman, violinist Ruggero Allifranchini, and cellist Suren Bagratuni each have distinguished careers as a solo performers, but when they get together as a trio, something magical happens - they play as one. This week, Bill welcomes this piano trio, Nobilis, with a rich and varied program of Schumann, Schubert, Rachmaninoff, and Arno Babadjanyan. These musicians form fascinating connections between these diverse works, played "con moto:" with motion, spirit, and spontanaeity. (more)
May 27: Imogen Cooper
Traced Overhead: Fresh from a triumphant recital at Carnegie Hall, pianist Imogen Cooper returns to Saint Paul Sunday this week for music of Haydn, Schumann, and the final movement of Thomas Adès's Traced Overhead, a work of otherworldly beauty which she commissioned herself. In quite different ways, each of the works demands awesome technical virtuosity and great emotional agility—powers Ms. Cooper possesses in abundance. Perhaps above all she reveals the music from the inside out, taking us with her as she goes, and leaving no treasure concealed. (more)
May 20: REBEL performs Mozart, Telemann
Pearls: "Baroque" comes from the Portugese word originally used to describe pearls prized for their misshapen and often fantastic forms. These rarities helped inspire a style of architecture that took extravagant license with inherited traditions and eventually also came to refer to musical forces that did the same. This week, the masterful performers of REBEL plunge into Baroque repertoire with all the freedom and zest their name implies. They trace its development from early origins in Mozart and Bach through and beyond Georg Philipp Telemann's thrilling stylistic juxtapositions. We'll also hear lesser known pearls of Francesco Mancini and Johann Joachim Quantz. All the works are brought to life with what REBEL's Matthias Maute calls "the fireworks of passion." (more)
May 13: Marilyn Horne and Friends
The Song Continues: Legendary singer Marilyn Horne's career spanned four decades and permanently changed the world of opera. One of the greatest singers of all time, her devotion to vocal music continues today even though she herself has retired from singing. With a commitment to insuring the future of the art song recital, she founded the Marilyn Horne Foundation in 1993, providing recital opportunities and education for talented young singers. This week on Saint Paul Sunday, "the Star-Spangled Singer," as Marilyn Horne is known, returns to the studio with two representatives from her foundation, soprano Erica Strauss and tenor Will Ferguson. Pianist Thomas Bagwell joins them for a rich and charming program of art song. "Vocal recitals were essential to my development as a singer," Ms. Horne says. "I want young singers in this new millennium to have the same opportunities I've had in bring the art of song to audiences everywhere." (more)
May 06: OPUS ONE
Dream Team: If chamber music had a "dream team," Bill's guests this week, OPUS ONE, would be it. Four players representing the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Tashi, the Beaux Arts Trio and the Orion and Guarneri String Quartets, OPUS ONE is the result of a mutual love of music-making between these extraordinary instrumentalists and friends. That sheer joy in music, not to mention the friendship, shines throughout their performances of piano quartets by Mozart and Dvořák. Don't miss these virtuosos of the rarest kind, OPUS ONE, on Saint Paul Sunday this week. (more)
April 29: Mark O'Connor and the Appalachia Waltz Trio
Vistas: Fiddle virtuoso Mark O'Connor is one of those musicians whose talents and ideas are as limitless as the American landscapes that inspire him. This week on Saint Paul Sunday, along with his new Appalachia Waltz Trio, O'Connor brings a program of original compositions, including a new piece called "Vistas," a work which draws from the views of the land around him as well as the many different personal views of musicians. O'Connor is at home in many styles, from Texas swing to jazz to traditional folk tunes to classical. As he explains, his music is all about the journey. And as in most worthwhile trips, he crosses boundaries of all kinds. (more)
April 22: VocalEssence Ensemble Singers
Sing, My Soul: This week on Saint Paul Sunday we'll explore American verse and song with conductor Philip Brunelle and the Ensemble Singers of Vocalessence, from William Billings' early New England anthems through the musical and poetic voices of our own time. Performing works by Libby Larsen, Eric Whitacre, Ned Rorem and Moses Hogan, Vocalessence has the unique ability to create our American landscape though the human voice. Don't miss one of our most treasured choral institutions, as they give life to American artistry. (more)
April 15: Orion String Quartet
Celestial Spheres: The Orion String Quartet, much like the constellation with the same name, is one of the best known and most brilliantly shining chamber groups of our time. For the past twenty years they've been known for their heavenly playing as well as their diverse programming, and this week on Saint Paul Sunday we'll get to sample both. They'll start us off with a groove, in Chick Corea's "Adventures of Hippocrates." Leon Kirchner's colorful and beautiful String Quartet in F Major follows, and then we'll hear what made Orion famous - Beethoven. Another signature work, the finale from Dvorak's "American" quartet will leave you smiling. Don't miss these shining stars while they are in full view. (more)
April 08: Paul Jacobs, organ
Music for Easter day: This Easter day, Saint Paul Sunday ventures to a noted sacred landmark in New York City—Park Avenue's resplendent St. Ignatius Loyola Church—whose organ is one of the outstanding instruments of its kind in the world. From its loft, Bill McGlaughlin welcomes Paul Jacobs, who at just 30 is among the organ's youngest and most accomplished champions, for triumphant Easter selections by Vierne, Bach, Reger, and Messiaen. Mr. Jacobs's performances have stirred a renaissance of appreciation for organ music among critics and audiences not typically engaged by the instrument. His program explores Easter joy in a variety of moods and styles—from the solemn ecstasy of Olivier Messiaen's "Serene Alleluias of a Soul Longing for Heaven" to Max Reger's exultant fantasia on the chorale Wachet Auf! J.S. Bach’s famed "9/8" prelude and fugue also helps us celebrate the day. (more)
April 01: Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio
Old Friends: This week Bill reunites with some long-time friends of Saint Paul Sunday: the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. Joseph Kalichstein, Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson have been playing together for almost thirty years and have made 18 recordings to date. When Bill asks them about their longevity, pianist Joseph Kalichstein jokes, "We're just trying to get it right." But you'll hear for yourself, they've gotten it right from the beginning. Two masterworks of Brahms and a touchingly beautiful movement from Beethoven will illustrate the point, and Andy Stein's arrangement of Gershwin's "Summertime" is just plain fun. You're invited to the reunion, and it promises to be a great time. (more)
March 18: eighth blackbird performs Rzewski
Infinities Contained: Great music always inspires new directions and interpretations—a freedom the six adventurers of eighth blackbird delight in every chance they get. This week eighth blackbird brings us two works that take us a few steps further. Frederic Rzewski's Les Moutons des Panurge uses hopscotch-like addition and repetition to spark ever changing patterns of sound and line: each performance of it generates an entirely new composition. And in his Fantasy Etudes, Fred Lerdahl elaborates simple themes into variations of increasing color and richness, showing us in the process how eighth blackbird's assorted textures can interact in countless different ways. The blackbirds animate both with characteristic brilliance and verve, as they do the two works that complete their program Derek Bermel's Tied Shifts and Ashley Fure's Inescapable. (more)
March 11: Divertimento
Three of a Kind: Three string instruments playing together is a combination you don't hear often. Yet there is something delicate and satisfyingly spare about a violin, viola and cello moving intricately around one another in a continuous and constant whirl of sound. The string trio Divertimento joins Bill this week on Saint Paul Sunday. Violinist Soovin Kim, violist Michael Tree and cellist Margo Tatgenhorst Drakos play little-known trios of Beethoven and Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů, and they'll show us exactly how just three of a kind is sometimes... just enough. (more)
March 04: Anne-Sophie Mutter, Lambert Orkis
Kindred Spirits: For three decades now, Anne-Sophie Mutter has been known simply as one of the greatest violinists alive. As part of her ambitious Mozart Project, a survey of the composer's major works for solo violin, she'll be celebrating his 250th birthday with a program of Mozart violin sonatas. In her playing and in her words, there's no mistaking that Anne-Sophie Mutter feels a true kinship with Mozart. She understands this music and its creator like few people today do. Join Bill McGlaughlin when he welcomes one of the world's greatest violinists, Anne-Sophie Mutter, with pianist Lambert Orkis, in a tribute to Mozart. (more)
February 25: The Sixteen perform Tavener, Tallis
Music for Passiontide: This Sunday Harry Christophers will lead the Sixteen in a program of polyphonic Renaissance music for which the British ensemble is beloved the world over: haunting choral works of Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Antonio Lotti, and Tomas Luis de Victoria. All are rooted in Passiontide and anchored by one of the most beloved of all Renaissance choral works—Gregorio Allegri's soaring Miserere. A young Mozart first transcribed the Miserere by ear after hearing it sung inside the Vatican, which at the time closely guarded the music as its sole property and, with Mozart, knew it to be a timeless musical treasure. (more)
February 18: The Amelia Piano Trio
Dispatches Intently Followed: Though formed just six years ago, the Amelia Piano Trio has already won significant acclaim, not least for its adventurous collaboration with living composers. This week it brings one of the most beloved works in chamber music—Felix Mendelssohn's wondrous D minor piano trio, a work Robert Schumann hailed as "the master trio of the age"—and pairs it with a movement from a new work written especially with the Amelias in mind: "Short Stories" by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison. The threesome leads off with a vivid Schubert scherzo. (more)
February 11: Musicians from Marlboro
Common Ground: Vermont's famous and long-running Marlboro Festival, founded in 1951 by Rudolf Serkin and Adolf Busch, is a very unique environment for a chamber musician to spend the summer. This is a place where a young professional can collaborate side-by-side with an experienced master artist on a level playing field. The result? First-quality music-making, and a family environment unlike any other in the classical music world. Listen in this week as Bill McGlaughlin welcomes a part of this musical family into the studio. Musicians from Marlboro will play a wide variety of music from Mozart to Carter, with a little Ravel and Poulenc too, for good measure. Find out what makes the Marlboro Festival so special, and get to know these musicians through their playing and their words. (more)
February 04: Jonathan Biss
Dual Personality: Twenty-six year-old pianist and rising star Jonathan Biss brings his artistry and his insight to the studio this week. On the program are sonatas by Beethoven and Mozart, along with selections from Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertäunze. In this work the composer brings to life the two opposing personalities that often appear in his music. Schumann even gave them names: the fiery and passionate Florestan, and Eusebius, the dreamy and instrospective character. Jonathan Biss gets in touch with both sides of Schumann's musical personality, and we get to hear firsthand why he's one of the most sought-after pianists performing today. (more)
January 28: Endellion String Quartet
Discovery: "How extraordinary that we can arrive to rehearse a quartet that we have performed more than a hundred times and experience again the passion, wonder, and sense of discovery of the very first rehearsal....How miraculous that we have as our raw materials the infinite subtlety and good humor of Haydn (and) Beethoven's electrifying synthesis of humanity and spirituality..." These thoughts of Andrew Watkins, cellist of the Endellion String Quartet, describe the engagement that makes the ensemble one of the best in the world. In addition to music of Haydn and movements of Beethoven's "Dear Quartet," we'll hear the forceful Allegro from Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" quartet. The program offers a vivid spectrum of the Endellions' repertoire. (more)
January 21: Anonymous 4 with Darol Anger & Scott Nygaard
American Angels: The 4 singers of Anonymous 4 depart from their a capella tradition and invite a few friends into the studio with them as they bring an all-American program of ballads, shape-note tunes, and folk hymns. Darol Anger accompanies on violin and mandolin, along with guitarist Scott Nygaard. Your spirit will dance along. (more)
January 14: Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Friends Old and New: The first guests whom Saint Paul Sunday (then known as Saint Paul Sunday Morning) welcomed into its studio are the same performers you'll hear this week: the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. On that inaugural broadcast, which aired in March of 1981, the SPCO joined forces with the Dale Warland Singers for an all-Bach program. The auspicious beginning turned into a long and happy affair, delighting listeners with some twenty seven more programs. This week, discover again why this "orchestra of soloists" is an American musical treasure. They'll bring us music from a vibrant trio of composers-a Haydn symphony, a Schubert rondo, and two of Astor Piazzolla's vivid Porteno. (more)
January 07: Steven Isserlis, cello; Ana Maria Vera, piano
British cellist Steven Isserlis has performed with the world's greatest orchestras and recently he's become a writer of children's books as well. Listen in as the author of Why Beethoven Threw the Stew plays a program of little-known works by Felix Mendelsson, Joseph Suk and Bohuslav Martinu. Pianist Ana-Maria Vera joins Isserlis for some lively music and conversation with Saint Paul Sunday host Bill McGlaughlin. (more)
