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30 Great Violinists

Janine Jansen and John Clare

This month, KPAC celebrates thirty years in broadcasting. Our hosts are having some fun sharing "30 lists" - artists, music, movies, and recordings you might enjoy and help shape the great sound of your classical oasis.
Kicking things off is Afternoon Host John Clare with 30 Great Violinists! (They are in no particular order, and were chosen keeping in mind the artist was available to be heard on Spotify)
Listen to these violinists on Spotify: http://spoti.fi/VG9KKJ 

1 Janine Jansen
(I remember exactly when and where I was listening to Janine's debut cd, and hearing her live is even better. We did an interview in Washington, DC after a concert. This is her answer about playing Bach.http://classicallyhip.com/sounds/janine/ending.mp3)
2 Itzhak Perlman
(It was a dream to interview the violinist who inspired me to play the violin, Itzhak Perlman - listen to our talk here: http://www.tpr.org/classicalspotlight/2011/03/cs1103172.html)
3 Jascha Heifetz
4 Mischa Elman
5 Leonid Kogan
(I was delighted to see the Faure Piano Quartet on Spotify, an all star group from Russia - while there are LOTS of recordings that might have shown Kogan's talent, to me, this is supreme music making on all parts!) 

Josh Bell and John Clare

6 Joshua Bell
7 Gil Shaham
(Gil is as nice a person as he is a great artist - and now he runs his own recording company!)
8 Midori
9 Sarah Chang
10 Maxim Vengerov
11 Isaac Stern
(A modern masterpiece for the violin, and one I adore hearing Stern play - Penderecki's 1976 Violin Concerto. I also treasure Stern's unique sound.)
12 Anne-Sophie Mutter
(Every chance I get, I try to hear Anne-Sophie Mutter live. She was a large inspiration as a teenager and her playing has only deepened. It was a dream come true when I interviewed her: http://classicallyhip.com/sounds/asm/ASM.mp3)
13 Viktoria Mullova
14 David Oistrakh
15 Gidon Kremer
(If Gidon recorded John Cage's 4'33" I would buy it. Pretty much anything he touches is gold.)
16 Nicola Benedetti
17 Yehudi Menuhin
(There is so much to love about Yehudi and his playing, but I couldn't resist also sharing a portion of on of his unknown commissions, Andrzej Panufnik's Violin Concerto!)

Hilary Hahn and John Clare

18 Hilary Hahn
(Since her Sony debut to her latest DG release of improvisations, Hilary plays perfectly. We also had a great run of yearly interviews as she played at the Las Vegas Music Festival!) 
19 Lisa Batiashvili
20 Nathan Milstein
21 Oscar Shumsky
22 Toscha Seidel
(They say that if Jascha Heifetz was the angel in Leopold Auer's violin class, that Toscha Seidel was the devil - and with an instrument that is often associated with Ol' Nick, it certainly is a compliment to Seidel! I was delighted some of his artistry can be heard on Spotify!!!)
23 Anne Akiko Meyers
(This stunning virtuoso calls Texas home but plays worldwide, and is a great mom, too! How does she do it all? Listen to our interview about Air: http://kpac883.blogspot.com/2012/02/annes-air.html)
24 Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg

John Clare and Mark O'Connor

25 Mark O'Connor
(This amazing fiddler plays it all. Classical, jazz, bluegrass, swing, you name it. Nowadays not only does he share his artistry but has a new spin on technique, one that he teaches in various camps as well as method books!)
26 Rachel Barton Pine
27 Pinchas Zukerman
(Such an outstanding musician, known for his violin and viola playing, plus an international career as a conductor.)
28 Simon Standage
(A period performer, Simon does amazing things with music that you might not have realized you liked, or even heard of, all with a very old violin!) 
29 Lara St. John
(I wondered about some of her album cover choices, but Lara proves you can't judge a recording by the cover! We talked Mozart not long ago: http://www.tpr.org/classicalspotlight/2010/10/cs1010145.html) 
30 Julia Fischer
(Another musician who I would buy their recording if it were the phone book...she is also an amazing pianist - having recorded Grieg's Piano Concerto on DVD! We talked Paganini and more one day: http://www.tpr.org/classicalspotlight/2010/09/cs1009094.html)

There are lots of great violinists - who are some of your favorites? Let us know in the comments below or on facebook!

Classical Spotlight: Rounding out the summer

Nicolas Gilles, with a cello he created
 - photo by John Clare

As the regular concert season closes, a few more concerts and releases entertain South Texas. Round Top International Music Festival has its 40th season and violinist Angele Dubeau has a summer blockbuster, A Time For Us!
Exciting times at Terra Nova Violins as renowned Luthier Nicolas Gilles visited San Antonio with a new violin and cello! Hear about all of these on Classical Spotlight, Thursday afternoon at 1pm on KPAC & KTXI.
- host John Clare

Under the Hood: PRPD 2011

Over 500 public radio program directors, producers, and managers recently convened in Baltimore, Maryland, for the annual Public Radio Program Director’s conference and workshop. Each year, there are lively discussions about best practices for stations, and about public radio’s future.

This year, there was a noticeable push-and-pull between the feeling that public radio needs to push itself into the 21st century, versus a recent study that shows the core audience has never been more loyal to the stations they love.

Jad Abumrad from Radio Lab opened the conference on an upbeat, inquisitive note, exploring the idea of change, asking: Why don’t we change? Maybe we talk about it too much. Psychologists have found that talking about change or talking about actions can create the illusion of progress. Speaking of illusions, maybe things are changing already, and we just don’t realize it. Sometimes you can only recognize change after it’s already happened.

There were breakout sessions on fundraising, offering stations tips on how long or short their on-air breaks should be, and what kind of messages resonate with listeners. A session on music digitization offered more than you could ever want to know about bitrates, and later a gentleman from Colorado Public Radio spoke about classical music and community engagement. One particularly good session on building better on-air breaks was very well written, and presented by Scott Williams of KJZZ/KBAQ in Phoenix. I look forward to sharing it with the KPAC and KSTX staff soon.

Other sessions focused on the tech side of radio, or rather public media. Increasingly, listeners are interacting with their stations in more ways than just on-air. Whether online, or through social media, clearly stations need to be where their audience is. There were presentations on utilizing Facebook and Twitter better to engage the audience, and Skip Pizzi of the National Association of Broadcasters deflated some of the sky-is-falling rhetoric about Internet radio killing the broadcast towers. Even at the clip Internet radio is growing, it will take many, many years for it to catch up to the number of persons that use traditional (terrestrial) radio.

The biggest information dump came during a presentation by Jacobs Media, detailing the findings of their 2011 Programming Survey. Over 40 News/Talk stations took part in the survey, the results of which which Paul Jacobs characterized in one sentence: “In general, the faithful are quite satisfied.” However, the average age of the survey respondents (the overwhelming percentage of which are already station supporters) is 54, and 87% of them are white.

The last session I attended on Friday before I had to head to my connecting train featured Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot of the rock talk show, Sound Opinions. It’s a program I like. Although the talk was mostly about Triple-A stations, they did have some words of wisdom that apply to classical music: If you’re not bringing something special and meaningful to your on-air presentation, listeners would be just as well-off with a stack of their favorite CDs. Wise words.

What do you think? What are your hopes for the future of KPAC and Texas Public Radio? Leave your comments here on the blog, or send me some email. I’d love to hear from you.

--Nathan Cone, Director of Classical Programming

Sharing music

How do you share music or learn about new pieces? Obviously, you can listen to KPAC & KTXI for all the great classical music...but just recently Spotify was released in the US and we see lots of friends sharing playlists. Check out Troy Peter's spotify playlist and its usefulness for YOSA, http://open.spotify.com/user/troypeters
Pandora has been a longtime favorite for many. What do you use and why? What are your favorites?

Placido speaks

From Monday evening:

We'll see you tonight at the AT and T Center for San Antonio Opera's Con Amor a San Antonio!

Placido in San Antonio



Domingo and Clare



Tomorrow the San Antonio Opera presents Placido Domingo, Con amor a San Antonio at the AT and T Center.  The varied program includes arias, mariachi, zarzuela and more with guest soprano Ana Maria Martinez and a full orchestra.

Host John Clare spoke to Domingo about his lengthy career, new works and returning to San Antonio.  Listen to their conversation here. {mp3 file}

The Real Deal

Mephistopheles disguised as an Abbé was how one wag described Franz Liszt, as if donning a cassock was a fashion statement and not the ultimate expression in a belief in God stretching over his entire life.

During this 200th anniversary of Franz Liszt's birth the Piano explores the religious music of the composer from his ground breaking Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses to works inspired by the writings of Lamartine and ending with a glorious performance of a tribute to Liszt's namesake, St Francis of Assisi.

Hear Liszt's musical assertions of a life of Faith on the Piano this Easter Sunday at 5 pm on KPAC & KTXI.

host, Randy Anderson

Tchaik please!

Over the next few weeks, we'll look at Peter Tchaikovsky as San Antonio prepares for his music with the San Antonio Symphony, Texas Public Radio, Trinity University, Camerata San Antonio and others!

We'll kick off our online coverage with our friend Dick Strawser:

It's often joked that Tchaikovsky wrote three symphonies: No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6. Or, as others put it, he wrote one symphony three times, since they're all Fate-dominated and similar in character and content.

This post is the first in a series about each of these three symphonies: this one, more of a prelude to the set, contains background information about the composer and his historical context at the time he was composing the 4th. You can read about the 5th Symphony here, and about the 6th, here.

*** ***** ******** ***** ***

Neither Tchaikovsky nor his 4th Symphony really need much in the way of “explanation” for a concert-goer to be able to enjoy the music. In these “Up-Close & Personal” posts, I’m usually looking for something behind the music, something that was going on in the composer’s life at the time the music was written or maybe about the times it was written in, whether that impact is direct or seemingly indirect. You can always argue that a work of art stands independently of any of the extraneous and technical details involved in its creation, but you can also argue that a work of art is something you can come to time and time again and each time discover something new, something that may make you listen to it in a different way or appreciate it from a slightly different angle, that the more you know about it the more you can appreciate it.
If you’re not familiar with the events of Tchaikovsky’s life at the time he wrote this symphony – his disastrous marriage and the voluminous correspondence with the rather mysterious Nadezhda von Meck – you can read about that in Part 2 of this post. There are some other ideas I’d like to look at, for now.
Tchaikovsky is a Russian composer which, to an American listener, may seem obvious but actually implies a number of often conflicting ideas. It also implies a debate similar to that around Aaron Copland and the “American Sound” – how much of what we identify as the “Russian Sound” is really what we think of as being Tchaikovsky’s sound? What is it that makes Russian music sound Russian? When I asked a famous Soviet-era sociologist this question back in the ‘70s, she thought for a moment and said, “I don’t know – perhaps the long cold winters?”
Culturally, putting it into a glib nutshell, there are at least two Russias. As a political nation, it has been on the edge of Europe and never really a part of the general European culture. As a geographical entity, it straddles both Europe and Asia and much of its ethnic and social back-history is more Asiatic than European. While there are people who had always lived in the area we think of as Russia, much of its history was crystallized first by Scandinavian migrants who set up ancient kingdoms and converted to Christianity, then by Asians ranging from the Tatars and Mongols who conquered them. A long ingrained xenophobia aside, the lack of trade routes to connect them with Western Europe and the lack of a viable marketplace for European goods created little need for contact between these cultures until the 18th Century when one of these rulers – known to us as Peter the Great but not considered “Great” by the Russians themselves – forcibly turned his backward empire toward the West, imposing on them European attitudes and customs after conquering a miserable stretch of swampland where he built a grand city that, within a few generations, created a seemingly artificial world of wealthy aristocrats living in a mirror image of the royal courts of France and Germany while the greater percentage of Russians lived in a peasant culture of extreme poverty. There was little else, then, in between.
A century after Peter the Great built his new imperial capital St. Petersburg, Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812. At that time, few if any aristocrats spoke Russian. The language of the court was French, the literature and theater they enjoyed was in French. Much of the architecture of Peter the Great’s brand new city was the result of Italian architects trying to encompass something that looked Russian combined with something they were familiar with. Much of the music the aristocrats listened to was written and performed by Italian-born musicians who began teaching Russian-born musicians how to write and play in a European style. Even in Tchaikovsky’s youth a generation after 1812, there were still no Russian music schools: everybody was an amateur who studied privately with musicians imported either from France or Italy.
The “first” Russian composer (or at least the first one to be recognized as one), Mikhail Glinka, generally referred to as the “father” of Russian music, learned the rudiments of music and composition by way of correspondence with a theory teacher in Berlin, not by studying with a composer first-hand or by attending a school. Another important composer with a national awareness, Alexander Dargomyzhsky, learned not directly from Glinka but essentially by borrowing his notes.
In the mid-19th Century, the Russian musician Anton Rubinstein was one of the greatest pianists of his day, usually placing 2nd to Franz Liszt, but as a composer he was too German for the Russians and too Russian for the Germans. He was too much of a Futurist for the Conservatives and, for the Futurists like Liszt and Wagner, too conservative. As a Jew who’d converted as a child to the Russian Orthodox church, he was also regarded as a Christian by Jews and as a Jew by Christians, therefore, as he put it, “neither fish nor fowl – a pitiful individual.”
In 1862, Rubinstein and his brother Nikolai opened the first music school in Russia – first in St. Petersburg and then another in Moscow – making a point that courses would be taught in Russian, not in French (one grand lady retorted “Music in Russian? That’s a novel idea!”).
Tchaikovsky, who had discovered classical music as a child through a music-box reproduction of some Mozart pieces, wanted to become a musician but lacking any chance of good training ended up going into law. After becoming a law clerk, he decided it was too boring and he joined Rubinstein’s newly opened conservatory as one of its first students. He did well enough upon graduation, grounded in solid European-style training but without much practical experience, he was immediately set up as a teacher in the new Moscow school.
This was all happening around the same time young composers gathering around Mily Balakirev began formulating ideas about creating an authentic Russian musical style. They became known as “The Russian Five” or “The Mighty Handful” and their attitude about what Russian music should be was directly opposed to Rubinstein’s.

Dick's article continues here: http://dickstrawser.blogspot.com/2011/01/tchaikovskys-4th-symphony-up-close.html

Simple gift ideas

Still shopping for that right gift for that person? Didn't find what you wanted on Black Friday or Cyber Monday?
Check out our suggestions from the KPAC staff for your holiday needs: http://www.tpr.org/articles/2010/12/simplegifts.html
There's more to come, as well as the year's best of list and don't forget to check out the KPAC 100: http://www.tpr.org/articles/2009/09/kpac100.html

Stay abreast of holiday concerts this season too on Classical Spotlight, Thursday afternoons at 1pm on KPAC & KTXI.

Top Ten Classical Debut Albums

This last weekend, SLL debuted as the @SASym music director. There was lots of excitement and the soldout crowd loved the music!  We thought as were looking for the KPAC Top 100 Classical hits of San Antonio, that we might share our picks for debut albums.  KPAC host John Clare has some listening selections for you, some classical records that deserve standing ovations!

10. Hilary Hahn Bach [listen here]
9. Helene Grimaud Chopin Shumann Liszt (listen here)
8. Lise de la Salle Bach Liszt (listen here)
7. Alarm Will Sound Acoustica [listen here]
6. Julia Fischer Russian Violin Concertos (listen here)
5. Kronos Quartet Music by Sculthorpe, Sallinen, Glass, Nancarrow, Hendrix (listen here)

4. Palladian Ensemble An Excess of Pleasure (listen here)

3. Joyce DiDonato The Deepest Desire (listen here)

2. Gustavo Dudamel Beethoven 5 & 7 (listen here)

1. Janine Jansen (listen here)

What artists do you get excited about? Tell us in the comments below.
We're also going to countdown the Top 100 in San Antonio in October...be sure to let us know your favorites by visiting TPR dot org!
Check out our Top Ten Classical Makeout and Breakup Songs too!

Top Ten Classical Makeout Songs

It is toward the end of the movie "Ten" that Dudley Moore hears what Bo Derek's character likes to focus on while listening to Ravel's Bolero. Perhaps you have a babysitter, or it's date night...what do you want to listen to with your sweetheart? KPAC host John Clare has some listening selections for you, some classical kisses if you will.

10. Philip Glass Modern Love Waltz [listen here]
9. Ravel Piano Concerto in G, ii Adagio assai (listen here)
8. John Corigliano Red Violin, 11. Coitus Musicalis (listen here)
7. Edgar Meyer If I knew [listen here]

6. Verdi La Traviata, "Wild my dream of ecstasy" "De' miei bollenti spiriti" (listen here)
5. Paul Moravec Vince & Jan 1945 (listen here)
4. Korngold Die Tote Stadt, Marietta's Lied ("Glück das mir verblieb") (listen here)
3. Isaac Albeniz Leyenda (listen here)
2. Tchaikovsky Symphony #5, ii andante cantabile (listen here)
1. Rachmaninoff Symphony #2, iii Adagio (listen here)

What songs do you put on for romance? Tell us in the comments below.

We're also going to countdown the Top 1oo in San Antonio in October...be sure to let us know your favorites by visiting TPR dot org!

Check out our Top Ten Classical Breakup Songs too!

The Wadenpfuhl Legacy: RIP Jay Wadenpfuhl (1950-2010)

It continues to baffle me when I hear the question: "How are we ever going to guide a younger audience to classical music?" The fact is, they are already out there, primed for classical music and, in many cases, for careers in music. For all the grumbling about there being no music in our public schools, band, orchestra and choral programs are alive and mostly well. We should all wake up to the fantastic job so many of our music educators are doing and say "thank you."

"Oh, those band kids are all just geeks who don't fit in elsewhere." That's one statement I heard recently. Many will also cast aspersions upon the music these youngsters are learning, especially those "geeky" band kids. Truth is, there is a lot of great music they are learning to play, much of it as closely related to "classical music" as the looney tunes and movie music we often cite as gateways to classical music. Not all of these kids will stick with their music educations, and most won't pursue anything in music beyond high school; however, these band, chorus and orchestra geeks will come away with an appreciation for great music. They will also pick up problem solving skills and discipline which will serve them well in their later lives as doctors, lawyers, teachers, public servants and the myriad other careers they will follow throughout their adult lives. Some of these kids will even become supporters of public radio.

Texas is blessed with some of the greatest music educators in the country. But the Wadenpfuhl Family is exceptional even by Texas standards. Karl Wadenpfuhl was born in Louisiana and educated at LSU, where he played trumpet in the ROTC Cadet Band. He would later switch to French horn when he joined the U.S. Army Air Force Field Band. Karl's early career as a music educator took him through several posts before arriving in Kirbyville, Texas in 1949. There he put down roots, started a family, and began to produce a long string of award-winning bands. He and his wife, Lottie, also began producing a family of musicians; all four of their children became musicians and music educators. In 1997, Karl Wadenpfuhl was inducted into the Texas Bandmasters Hall of Fame.

While in high school, I had the good fortune of advancing in my senior year to All-State Band. On the first morning of the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) convention, 16 of the best high school French horn players in the state sat in a semi-circle within a huge conference room at the Rice Hotel in Houston. The final audition which would determine our overall ranking began. I knew I was somewhat out of my league when some of those kids began to play. In particular, there was a spectacular player from Beaumont who won the cherished first horn position. His name was Jay Wadenpfuhl, son of Karl and Lottie Wadenpfuhl. As the years rolled by and my music education took me to the University of Texas at Austin, I continued to see the name Wadenpfuhl at the All-State level. This was becoming a horn player dynasty.

In fact, both Jay and his brother Ken Wadenpfuhl went on to highly successful careers as orchestral players. Jay landed his "plum" job in 1981 when he won a position in the Boston Symphony. A recent inventory of the Wadenpfuhl family legacy reveals 10 horn players in just 3 generations. In addition, the family has produced 4 celebrated band directors.

My reasons for writing of the remarkable Wadenpfuhl Family are twofold. One is to demonstrate that there are indeed generations of music lovers flowing through our public schools, many touched by extraordinary teachers such as Karl Wadenpfuhl or, in my case, the Victoria High School band director Fred Junkin. These young people may not transition directly into San Antonio Symphony ticket holders, or members of KPAC, but many will eventually get there, thanks to their positive public school experience.

The second reason for introducing you to the Wadenpfuhls is somber. Although I never really knew Jay Wadenpfuhl beyond his bigger than life reputation (he called himself Tex on Facebook), I was nevertheless deeply saddened to learn of his passing this week, after an extended illness. He touched many with his gifts as a player, teacher and composer. May he Rest in Peace.

Frank Epstein, a longtime BSO colleague and chair of Brass and Percussion at the New England Conservatory, said this about Wadenpfuhl: “Jay, was a one of a kind personality, emotionally charged yet highly committed to all things musical. An unusual talent, he was a composer of brass music and loved to conduct pieces in the brass repertoire. His playing was elegant, stylistically fluent and secure, his tone beautifully centered at all times, while his playing was always musical with an extraordinary sense of good taste. He was also a committed teacher.”

Sadly, I must also report that within the past 6 months, both Karl and Lottie Wadenpfuhl also passed away. One is tempted to sum this up as the end of an era, except there are more Wadenpfuhl musicians just emerging from major music schools across the country. The spirit and the name live on.

Submitted by James Baker

Artist Interview: Leif Ove Andsnes

The latest release by Leif Ove Andsnes is music by Dalbavie, Lutoslawski, Kurtag and Sorenson. The disc includes two concerti and solo piano music. Host John Clare spoke with Andsnes about the music and upcoming projects.
Listen to the interview here (mp3 file).

Andsnes presents a new project with Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition this fall.

Five Browns in Kerrville

The Five Browns performed Monday and Tuesday in Kerrville. They spoke with John Clare, and also gave an outreach concert Tuesday morning, see some of it below!

You can hear their Tuesday night concert on KPAC & KTXI on Sunday, May 17th at 12 noon!

Composer Interview: Jake Heggie

Composer Jake Heggie was in residence last week at TLU in Seguin. Host John Clare sat down with Heggie in between rehearsals and learned more about the composer, including his start in composition, the new opera for Dallas Opera and coaching young singers & composers.

Listen for more insights with musicians on Classical Spotlight, every Thursday afternoon at 2pm on KPAC & KTXI.

Tenor-itis

Mexican tenor Villazon needs larynx surgery
Rolando Villazon's (seen left) concert organizer in Germany says the Mexican tenor needs surgery to remove a cyst on his larynx and has canceled two performances in the country.
Deutsche Entertainment AG said in Wednesday's statement that Villazon should be well enough to return to the stage by the end of the year.
Villazon apologized to his fans for canceling a concert slated to take place in Berlin on Thursday and another in Hamburg on May 8. They are to be rescheduled for 2010.
Earlier this month Villazon was forced to cancel a series of performances at New York's Metropolitan Opera due to acute laryngitis.

Tune in this Sunday for the artistry of Juan Diego Florez (seen right) on Itinerarios with James Baker. Sunday night at 7pm, we'll have his latest cd and an interview with the Peruvian tenor! The reigning “King of the high C” tells what it’s like to sing an encore at the Met and of his love for the sentimental Latin song. Only on KPAC & KTXI, your classical oasis!

Classical Spotlight: St. Mark's Trio

St. Mark's Episcopal Church presents a recital of Mendelssohn's music this Sunday. Last Monday morning host John Clare heard musicians prepare including choral music, an organ sonata and this d minor piano trio:

Listen to Classical Spotlight for more, every Thursday afternoon at 2pm on KPAC & KTXI.

Classical Spotlight: TX Mysterium

Live at the TPR Studios...
Here is the first work, Call up the storm:

And the other, rain music:


Hear the interview at here. Mysterium of Modern Music from Texas State University at San Marcos plays in San Antonio Saturday night at 7pm.

Classical Spotlight: Angela Malek

Recently soprano Angela Malek and pianist Kristin Roach came by the TPR Studios to talk about their performance of French songs, Sunday March 22nd at St. Mark's Episcopal Church. They also sang some Jacques Leguerney!



Tune in for the full interview on Classical Spotlight, Thursday afternoon at 2pm on KPAC and KTXI.