Classical Music in St. Louis Metro Area

There are several opportunities for listeners of classical music in the St. Louis metro area.  The first station is 90.7 FM KWMU HD-3.  You can listen on your computer if you don't have an HD radio.  I've been doing that when I have my computer on.  A play listing can be seen on the KWMU 90.7 FM HD-3 website.

The second opportunity is 107.3 FM courtesy of the Radio Arts Foundation.  Some of the old hands from Classical 99.1 FM are now back on the air.  However, the station range is limited to the immediate St. Louis metro area.  You can find an online broadcast on the Radio Arts Foundation website, too.

90.7 FM HD-3 has Saturday Metropolitan Opera broadcasts on Saturday mornings.  107.3 has Houston Grand Opera, too.  Give both of these stations a whirl.  You'll be glad you did...

Review of Violetta/Anna Netrebko/Rolando Villazon/Thomas Hampson

Artists:  Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazon, and Thomas Hampson.
Album:  Violetta:  Arias and Duets from Verdi's La Traviata.
Recording Company:  Deutsche Grammaphon.
Recording Date:  2005.

Anna Netrebko, Violetta.
Rolando Villazon, Alfredo.
Thomas Hampson, Germount.
Weiner Staatsopernchor, Weiner Philharmoniker, Carlo Rizzi.

This is an issue from the 2005 Salzburg Festival.  It's a production of Verdi's La Traviata by Carlo Rizzi and Weiner Philharmoniker.  Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazon, and Thomas Hampson star in the leads.  The story is simple.  It's about a fallen women who prostitutes herself out for money.  She's forced to chose to between true love and financial gain.  She eventually chooses true love but dies from her consumption (TB).

Verdi's La Traviata is the basis for the movie Moulin Rouge.  The production is excellent.  The singing is first class.  Granted.  Verdi isn't everyone's cup of tea.  But whenever I get in the mood for opera, I'll put this CD on for a spin.  Recommended for Xmas.

Review of Mozart Arias by Cecilia Bartoli

Artist:  Cecilia Bartoli.
Album:  Mozart Arias.
Recording Company:  Erato.
Recording Date:  1992.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Lugio Silla K 135
Le Nozze Di Figaro K 492
Cosi Fan Tutte K 588

I learned to love opera when I listened to Saturday Afternoons at the Met on Classic 99.1 FM here in St. Louis when it was still on the air.  Fortunately, a new classical radio station is back on the air in the form of 107.3 FM. 

But listening to the Met introduced me to the world of opera.  And one who ranks as a rock star is Cecilia Bartoli.  She is one of the few people to upstage a Metropolitan Opera projection by not showing up for it!  However, her voice is an awesome sound to behold.  I have some of her earlier albums.  One of them is her Mozart Arias.  They are three of Mozart's Italian operas, namely Lugio Silla, Le Nozze di Figaro and Cosi Fan Tutte. 

This album shows Bartoli coming into her power as a soprano.  And it's a good way to get introduced to classical Italian opera, too.  Recommended for the holidays.

Review of Joshua Bell's Voice of the Violin

Artist:  Joshua Bell.
Album:  Voice of the Violin.
Recording Company:  Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Recording Date:  2006.

Rachmaninoff  Vocalise
Schubert  Ave Maria
Faure  Apres un reve
Dvorak  Song of the Moon
Mozart  Laudate Dominum
Donizetti  Una furtiva lagrima
Orff  In trutina
Mendelsohn  May Breezes
Debussy  Beau soir
Ponce  Estrellita
De Falla  Nana
Bizet  Je crois entendre encore
R. Strauss  Morgen!

I've heard Joshau Bell in concert before at Powell Hall.  I bought one of his CD's last Xmas, Voice of the Violin, at Barnes & Noble.  I enjoyed the works on this album.  Anna Netrebko is also on the last song, Morgen! by Strauss.  The songs are so idyllic, I could fall asleep listening to them.  Recommended. 

Review of Anna Netrebko's Russian Album

Artist:  Anna Netrebko.
Album:  Russian Album.
Recording Studio:  Deutsche Grammophon.
Recording Date:  2006.

Tchaikovsky:
Iolanta Airos No. 1
Romance Op. 38 No. 6
Eugene Onegin Letter Scene from Act I

Rachmaninov:
Song Op. 21 No. 7
Song Op. 4 No. 4
Francesca da Rimini Excerpt from Tableau II

Rimsky-Korsakov:
Tales from the Tsar Saltan from Act IV
The Snow Maiden Scene and Aria from Prologue
The Snow Maiden Finale from Act IV
The Tsar's Bride Scene and Aria from Act IV

Glinka:
A Life for the Tsar Cavitina and Rondo from Act I

Prokofiev:
War and Peace Exerpt from Act I

This was Anna Netrebko's fourth or fifth album for Deutsche Grammophon.  It's entirely in Russian with 19th and early 20th century Russian composers.  The works of the mighty five play prominently in this work.  Much of this I hadn't heard before.  But Russian music has become more mainstream within the classical music repartee. 

But the "miracle from Saint Petersburg" does her magic with this album.  Recommended as a birthday or Xmas present for the discerning opera lover. 

Review of Alison Balsom's Italian Concertos

Artist:  Alison Balsom, trumpet.
Album:  Italian Concertos.
Recording House:  EMI Classics.
Recording Date:  2010.

Antonio Vivaldi, 1678-1741
Violin Concerto in A minor RV356

Benedetto Marcello, 1686-1739
Oboe Concerto in C minor

Tomas Albinoni, 1671-1750
Oboe Concerto in B flat OP. 7 NO. 3

Themes of Domenico Cimarosa, 1749-1801
Oboe Concerto in C minor by Arthur Benjamin, 1893-1960

Antonio Vivaldi, 1678-1741
Violin Concerto in G OP. 3 No. RV310

Giuseppe Tartini, 1692-1770
Concerto in D D53

Tomaso Albinoni, 1671-1739
Violin Sonata Da Chiesa in D minor

Alison Balsom is the type of woman I'd like to marry.  Needless to say, that will never happen.  Her baroque brass work is elegant.  I enjoyed listening to this CD many times.  She is one of the leading classical trumpet players active today.

However, this purchase happened by accident.  I rummaged through a local Borders during their liquidation sale.  I bought the CD on a lark.  I was used to listening to Canadian Brass CD's.  This work is a nice change.  In the future,  I need to be on the lookout for more of Ms. Balsom's work,

Review of The Tallis Scholars' Requiem

Review of The Tallis Scholars' Requiem

Artist:  The Tallis Scholars.
Album:  Requiem.
Recording Label:  Gimmell.
Recording Date:  2005

Tomas Luis De Victoria (1548-1611)
Requiem
Versa est in luctum

Duarte Lobo (1565-1646)
Requiem for six voices

Manuel Cardoso (1566-1650)
Requiem
Non mortui
Sitivit anima mea
Mulier quae erat
Nos autem gloriari

Alonso Lobo (1555-1617)
Versa est in luctum
Credo quod redemptor
Vivo ego, dicit Dominus
Ave Maria

The Tallis Scholars are professional musicians based in the UK who perform Baroque and Renaissance period music.  I discovered them in the middle 1990s at a public library.  That was when my Latin was still fresh from my undergraduate days.  Now, it's rusted away...

However, the works on this CD are from some underrated Spanish and Portuguese composers.  One composed works for the death of a 16th century pope.  All the music is based for the Roman Catholic Requiem liturgy.  It's a two CD work with nearly 2.5 hours of sacred Latin choral music. 

The music itself is uplifting and enjoyable.  Even if you don't understand Latin.  I appreciate it even more from an artistic standpoint because of my 15 years with an Anglican choir singing Tallis and other Baroque masters.  But what The Tallis Scholars do on a regular basis never ceases to amaze me. 
   

Review of Eroica Trio (1997)

Artists:  Eroica Trio.
Album:  Eroica Trio.
Publisher:  EMI Classics.
Release Date: 1997.

George Gershwin - Three Preludes.

Marice Ravel - Piano Trio (1914).

Benjamin Godard - Berceuse.

Paul Schoenfield - Cafe Music.

I have had this CD for a long time.  I discovered the Eroica Trio by accident on a local NPR station when they still played classical music in St. Louis.  I could have heard them live when I lived outside of Ames, IA in early 2003.  However, I just have several of their CDs. 

The Trio has released a ton of albums since their debut CD in 1997.  Bryan Miller of the Post-Dispatch called the Erotic Trio because the three musicians looked like Covergirl models.  Besides the eye candy, their music is excellent.  If you get a chance, do see them in concert.  It's worth it.

Bach: Violin Concertos/Gubaidulina: In tempus praesens

Album:  Bach - Violin Concertos/Gubaidulina - In tempus praesens
Artist:  Anne Sophie Mutter
Recording Company:  Deutsche Grammophon
Release Date:  2008.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Violin Concerto in A minor
Violin Concerto in E major

Sofia Gubaidulina (1931)
In tempus praesens

The Bach recordings are solid pieces.  I enjoyed hearing Mutter and her chamber orchestra record them.  What can I say about Bach?  Other than his works stand the test of time.  Because of his staying power, Bach ranks as one of the immortals of classical music.

In tempus praesens is one of those atonal modern pieces that I don't know how quite to react.  I do like new pieces of music.  Don't get me wrong.  Just because I'm a 19th century romantic at heart, I do appreciate 20th century music.  And new music should be patronized. 

Unfortunately in the words of Bryan Miller, modern classical music became movie soundtracks.  I'm of the opinion new music is meant for live performances and recordings.  But I fear I don't have the proper musical language to describe In tempus praesens.  It's meant to be experience and then judged for what it is.  I think that is what Mutter and the composer, Sofia Gubaidulina, intended.  But if modern music isn't your forte, then you might want to skip this recording.

Review of Hilary Hahn's Bach Concertos

Name:  Bach Violin Concertos
Performers:  Hilary Hahn & Los Angels Chamber Orchestra
Recording Company:  Deutsche Grammophon
Date:  2003

Concerto for Violin, Strings, and Continuo in E major, BWV 1042
Concerto for 2 Violins, Strings, and Continuo in D minor, BWV 1043
Concerto for Violin, Strings, and Continuo in A minor, BWV 1041
Concerto for Oboe, Violin, Strings, and Continuo in C minor, BWV 1060

I bought this CD in October 2010 at a local Borders in St. Louis, MO.  I enjoyed hearing Hilary Hahn's work.  This album is an hour's worth of Bach violin concertos.  I'd hear Hahn when she performed at Powell Symphony Hall back in the late 1990s.  I've always been impressed by her technical performance.  Hearing on disc is as rewarding as hearing her live. 

And there has always been a place in my heart for Bach.  The endurance of his music is a testimony to his genius.  Though violinists tend to fall back on his work when it comes to performances.  I highly recommend this CD for its artistry and flawlessness.

Horn Quintets by Zbigniew Zuk

Years ago, I received a CD from Sarah Bryan Miller at X-mas called Horn Quintets by Zbigniew Zuk.  Zuk was a French horn player from Warsaw, Poland. 

There are four pieces on this CD:

Louis Francis Dauprat: 
Quintette pour cor et quatour a cordes Op. 6/1 en fa majeur

Willhelm Gottlieb Hauff:
1st Concerto (Quintet) for Horn and Strings in E-flat

Louis Francis Dauprat:
Quintette pour cor et quatuor a cordes Op. 6/III en mi flat majeur

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:
Quintet Es-dur fur Horn, Violene, 2 Violen & Cello KV 407

I enjoyed all the pieces on this CD.  Then again, I'm a French horn player.  Recommended for any who enjoys chamber music or Horn pieces.

Chamber Music for English Horn and Strings

I do have a CD recommendation for this week.  It's the 2004 debut of Chamber Music for English Horn and Strings (running time approximately 54 minutes).  It features members of the St. Louis Symphony with David Halen on violin and Marc Gordon on English horn.  Lenard Slatin was the producer of the record, which is on A&M Recordings. 

The pieces performed are:

Michael Haydn - Quartet in C Major

W.A. Mozart - Adagio K580a

Rossinni - Sonata No. 2

Jean Francaix - Quatuor

I enjoyed all the pieces on it.  Giving it as a present to someone who loves music is a great way to introduce them to members of the St. Louis Symphony.

I'm slow with the times

I'm still in a state of shock.  But no surprised.  Though I'm late in finding out Webster University dissolved its Community Choir and Webster University Symphony last year.  As Sarah Bryan Miller of the Post-Dispatch reported in July 2012, the university got rid of its community-university based choir and orchestra.  That probably had to due with the fact that Katherine Smith-Bower retired from Webster's music department several years ago.  She was the driving force behind the Webster University Community Choir. 

I participated in several productions in the 1990's.  One of which was Carmina Burana by Carl Orff.  I hadn't done which with the community choir since then.  I'd hoped to do something with it.  Now, I'm just disappointed.  I don't know of any local musical outlets I could turn to as easily as the Community Choir.  It just goes to show I'm slow with the times...

My musical odyssey

I discovered Rachmaninov when I was an undergraduate at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN.  At the time, I played 4th Horn on the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 1.  That was when I had time to practice the French horn and devote myself to music.  Now, I have the time but no French horn.  So I did what I could do and became a tenor. 

I sang with a local church choir and the Webster University Choral Society for several years in the 1990's.  But working nights often interfered with it.  I also had season tickets to the St. Louis Symphony the last few years I lived here before moving to Hays, KS.  I learned to appreciate good music and what an outstanding orchestra we had locally.  It's a hidden gem. 

All that was before I sold my French horn when I went to South Africa for a vacation.  Now, I curse my luck.  But I still want a double barreled French horn.  I'm thinking about a professional Yamaha double barreled horn.  Those are expensive.  It would take me a while to come up with the money for one.  My luck being what it is, that won't be for at least another two and a half years.

Right now, I have few musical outlets besides my CD collection.  I'm not singing with anyone.  Though it would be good to have an outlet.  I don't know if the Webster Choir Society still meets on Tuesdays evening.  It might be worthwhile looking into.  The problem is I don't know if my writing group will switch dates from Mondays to Thursdays when they finally chose a new location this summer.  I'll have to see what is going on at Webster University... 

What I've been listening to...

I played the French Horn for about ten years.  When I was 31, I foolishly sold off my double barreled Conn 8D Horn.  I needed money for a trip.  The only way I could come up with it was to pawn off my beloved instrument.  I've regretted it ever since...

What I have been listening to has been Natasha Paremski's latest CD, simply called Natasha Paremski.  She plays sonatas by Brahms, Kahane, and Prokofiev on the disk.  I heard her live at Powell Hall back in 2008 when she played some Rachmaninov.  I admire Paremski's work and artistry.  She's been a regular at the music festival in Innsbrook, MO each June.  I'd like to hear her again in person when time allows.

The second artist I'd recommend is another Russian named Anna Netrebko.  I discovered her when I listened to Met productions when KOFU 99.1 FM was still on the air in St. Louis, MO.  Netrebko has been called the "Miracle from St. Petersburg" for her singing.  She is a mezzo-soprano with a wonderful range.  I've played her "Russian Album" by Deutsche Grammophon to death.  I have a couple other of her CDs.  But I haven't kept up with her latest releases.

The last two artists I'd recommend is Joshua Bell and Anne Sophie Mutter.  Both are excellent violin players.  I just came into possession of Joshua Bells's "Voice of the Violin."  I own a variety of Mutter recordings.  The latest is her release with "In Tempus Praesens" by Gubaidulina and some Bach pieces.  I found anything by Mutter to be good.  It just matters what you're in the mood for...