Domenic Salerni, violinist with the Attacca String Quartet and native of the Lehigh Valley, speaking with us about the ensemble's recent album titled, "Of All Joys" released by Sony Classical, featuring pieces from the Renaissance as well as works from Arvo Part and Philip Glass.
www.attaccaquartet.com/

Domenic Salerni; December 22 2021

JoAnn Falletta is Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic.

She’s also one of the founding board members of the Claudette Sorel Organization. Sorel was a pianist, teacher and music philanthropist who advocated a higher profile for contemporary music – particularly by women composers. Falletta and WRCJ’s Peter Whorf speak about the remarkable life of Claudette Sorel – commemorated in the recent re-release of classic recordings: Claudette Sorel: Rediscovered.

JoAnn Falletta - January 5, 2022

Five Minutes for Earth is a performance and commissioning project that both celebrates our planet and illuminates our challenge to preserve it.

Kondanassis 5 Minutes

Sweethearts (and Badasses) of Americana (and Beyond) 6/5/22 - Sara Shiloh Rae

Violinist Hilary Hahn's latest album release features big, bold pieces of music. Because, as Hahn says in the interview, we can't be timid right now.

Behind the Playlist with Violinist Hilary Hahn

misterG of greenarrowradio chats with Timo Vollbrecht about his signature ensemble FLY MAGIC's new album Givers and Takers out now on BERTHOLD Records.

Timo Vollbrecht

Trumpeter Paul Merkelo was reaching for the heritage of the trumpet concerto with his recording of three concerti from Soviet composers in his latest album. In doing so he found a kinship with the shared Ukrainian heritage of trumpeter Timofei Dokshizer, whose legacy looms over all of the included pieces. And this connection became far more important during the album's release, which is sending its proceeds to UNICEF for the care of Ukrainian children during Russia's continued invasion.

Behind the Playlist With Trumpeter Paul Merkelo

All Classical Portland’s Program Director John Pitman talks to pianist Mao Fujita about his new album, Mozart: The Complete Piano Sonatas, available now from Sony.

Learn more on the Arts Blog: https://www.allclassical.org/mao-fujita-mozart/

John Pitman Review: Mao Fujita Takes On Mozart

All Classical Portland’s Program Director John Pitman talks to British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, whose new album touches on the relationships of Brahms and Robert and Clara Schumann.

Learn more on the Arts Blog: https://www.allclassical.org/pitman-review-grosvenor-brahms/

John Pitman Review: Benjamin Grosvenor Schumann Brahms

October 27, 2023 edition of Lush Life with Scott Penn on WOMR. The program featured an interview with jazz and world music singer Kavita Shah to discuss her new album “Cape Verdean Blues.”

October 27 2023 Broadcast On WOMR Featuring Kavita Shah

Enjoy, Stream, & Download these Interview Clips from Hélène Grimaud discussing her Brahms Piano Concertos CD

HÉLÈNE GRIMAUD'S PERSONAL MOUNT EVEREST:
THE BRAHMS PIANO CONCERTOS

With inimitable passion and spiritual dedication, Hélène Grimaud has climbed the Mount Everest of the romantic piano repertoire, performing The Brahms No. 1 and No. 2 Piano Concertos with Andris Nelsons conducting which will be released as a dual disc by Deutsche Grammophon on September 30, 2013.  Believed to be the first woman pianist of the 21st century to release both the Brahms piano concertos, Grimaud recorded the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, op. 15 live with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra) at Munich's Herkulessaal; and the Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, op. 83 with the Wiener Philharmoniker (Vienna Philharmonic) in Vienna's legendary Musikverein.  It is Grimaud's first recording with the Vienna Philharmonic.

Grimaud is quick to recall her discovery as a child of the Brahms No. 1 in D Minor concerto, as it is the first work of Brahms she ever heard and recorded in 1998. She found it had a sense of intimacy, while at the same time was completely consuming, "leaving no room for anything else at all – a new universe opens up to you and you just dive right in." Of the second movement which was dedicated to Clara Schumann, Grimaud points to one impassioned, "almost prayer-like moment, which has to be played with both intellectual and emotional honesty if the truth of the work is to be felt."

In 2007, Grimaud began with trepidation the No. 2 B flat Concerto. As Grimaud recalls, "I was very wary of it – as if I were observing both the work and myself in relation to it" and is candid about her discomfort with the outcome.  Five years later she felt drawn to revisit the intense composition and to record it. This time she embraced it without reservation, and experienced a calling to revisit the first concerto, knowing that recording one without the other was an impossibility. "It took me as many years to get around to playing the second concerto as it did Brahms to write it," notes Grimaud.

Grimaud is keen to point out that she did not intend to reinterpret Concerto No. 1 which she had previously recorded noting, "As you evolve, you filter a familiar piece of music through your new experiences."

Grimaud has a deep admiration of Andris Nelsons; "He has intensity, musical intelligence and a sense of freedom, but there's also something that emanates from him which has to do with instinct and that purity of intent – and it makes you want to give your all."

A Renaissance woman for our times, Grimaud's life is a concerto in itself. Not only is she a deeply passionate and committed musical artist, but she has established herself as a respected and determined wildlife conservationist, a compassionate human rights activist and a writer who  has amassed legions of fans worldwide.

Born in 1969 in Aix-en Provence, Grimaud as a child dreamed of being a public defender to rectify injustices. Hyperactive, her parents exposed her to dance, gymnastics, tennis and judo. But it was a piano lesson that "clicked." She began her piano studies at the Aix conservatory with Jacqueline Courtin and subsequently under Pierre Barbizet in Marseille where she learned music in half the time as students studying twice as long. She was accepted into the Paris Conservatoire at 13, winning first prize in piano performance three years later.  At 15 she recorded her first CD.  She continued to study with György Sándor and Leon Fleisher until 1987, when she made her recital debut in Tokyo; followed by an invitation from conductor Daniel Barenboim to perform with the Orchestre de Paris which marked her arrival in the music world.

Between her debut in 1995 with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Claudio Abbado and her first performance with the New York Philharmonic under Kurt Masur in 1999, (for which she taught herself English in three months by watching TV) Grimaud made a wholly different kind of debut: in South Salem, New York, she established the Wolf Conservation Center. 

Grimaud's interest in wolves was sparked by a transcendent experience prompting her to learn many of its subspecies were near extinction due to hunting. Aware of the widespread cultural condemnation of wolves as written in children's fables including The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Peter and the Wolf, and elsewhere, she formed a plan to open a center to protect them.  She took classes on ethology, adopted a pair of wolves, and bought six acres in 1997 in Westchester County, NY. The center opened in 1999. Today it has hosted more than 30,000 visitors and is highly regarded in the conservation world. (nywolf.org)

Grimaud is also a member of the organization Musicians for Human Rights, a worldwide network of musicians and people working in the field of music to promote a culture of human rights and social change.

Remarkably, Grimaud has also found time to pursue writing. Her first book, Variations Sauvages, was published in French in 2003 and subsequently translated into English, Japanese, Dutch, German, Italian, Polish, Korean and Chinese. Her second book, Leçons particulières, which is part novel and part autobiography, followed in 2005.

Despite her prodigious dedication to these multiple passions, it is through Grimaud's thoughtful and tenderly expressive music-making in performances with the world's major orchestras worldwide and through her recordings that she most deeply touches the emotions of audiences. 

Noted The New Yorker in 2011: "Her albums aren't merely proficient tours through the repertoire; they are highly personal explorations that can stand out among dozens of rival performances." 

An exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist since 2002, her most recent release was Duo, a 2012 collaboration with cellist Sol Gabetta. Previous releases include her 2011 Mozart Piano Concertos No. 19 and No. 23, which also featured a collaboration with singer Mojca Erdmann of Mozart's Ch'io mi scordi di te?. The 2010 solo recital album Resonances featured music by Mozart, Berg, Liszt and Bartók. Other DG recordings include Bach's solo and concerto works where she directed the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen from the piano bench, and a Beethoven disc with Staatskapelle Dresden and Vladimir Jurowski, Reflection and Credo, a Chopin and Rachmaninov Sonatas disc, a Bartók CD with Grimaud playing the Third Piano Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Boulez and a DVD release of Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra under the direction of Claudio Abbado. 

Her recordings have been critically acclaimed and awarded numerous accolades, including the Cannes Classical Recording of the Year, Choc du Monde de la musique, Diapason d'or, Grand Prix du disque, Record Academy Prize (Tokyo), Midem Classic Award and the Echo Award.

Finding The Right Repertoire

Crossover Media Inc., is one of today's premier Music Promotion & Marketing companies and one of the very few that works to a variety of music genres that includes: Classical, Jazz, Roots Music, World, and Standards & Soundtracks. Working with the best names in music as well as developing artists, clients include: Sony, Universal, Warner Music, Concord, ECM, Disney & One. 

On our podcasts we explore our artists and their latest projects. 
Please visit crossovermedia.net for more info.

Finding The Right Repertoire

CrossoverMedia

Related tracks