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Music For a While #10: Pure joy Sep 30, 2019

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That’s what Jay calls a Bach piece arranged for organ by Jean Guillou: pure joy. There is some more pure joy in this episode too—including the final movement of Brahms’s Horn Trio, which Jay plays to honor Myron Bloom, the great French-horn player who died on September 26. He also honors, at the end, Christopher Rouse, the American composer, who died on September 21. Music, said Rouse, in a statement to be issued after his passing, “has given me life and a reason for living.” Jay also plays some Ella Fitzgerald, some Leontyne Price, and more. There is also a tale from opera lore: about Rudolf Bing and George Szell, who were too big for the same town. Tracks played: Bach-Guillou, Sinfonia Beethoven, “Pastoral” Symphony Brahms, Horn Trio Gershwin, “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” Chopin, “Winter Wind” Etude Barber, “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” Rouse, Symphony No. 3

Music for a While #9: Who Cares? Sep 18, 2019

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Jay does, and you will too. “Who Cares?” is a Gershwin song, which Gershwin arranged for piano (alone). Jay has André Watts play this. He later has Ella Fitzgerald sing the song, accompanied by another André, Previn. In between, he talks about Gabriel Fauré, and plays him. He talks about Arcadi Volodos, than whom there is no better pianist in the world, Jay says. We hear Volodos in Bach—Bach arranged by Samuil Feinberg, an earlier Russian pianist. We hear more Bach, played by Feinberg himself. And some Callas. And some Offenbach. A wonderful menu of music, with tasty comments to go with it. Tracks played: Gershwin, “Who Cares?,” arranged for piano by the composer Fauré, Violin and Piano Sonata No. 2, third movement Bach-Feinberg, Largo from Bach’s Trio Sonata No. 5, BWV 529, for organ Bach, Prelude and Fugue in C major, Book II, “The Well-Tempered Clavier” Cherubini, “Dei tuoi figli la madre,” from “Medea” Offenbach, “Galop infernal” (“Can-Can”), from “Orpheus in the Underworld” Gershwin, “Who Cares?,” performed by Ella Fitzgerald, André Previn, and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen

Roger Kimball accepts the Phillips Award Sep 13, 2019

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Roger Kimball, the editor and publisher of The New Criterion, accepts the 2019 Thomas L. Phillips Career Achievement Award from the Fund for American Studies at the twenty-sixth annual TFAS Journalism Awards Dinner on September 12.

Music for a While #8: Festival time Sep 03, 2019

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As Jay tells us at the beginning, he has been reviewing from two summer festivals: the Mostly Mozart Festival (New York) and the Salzburg Festival, in Mozart’s hometown. He discusses and plays a variety of music performed at these festivals: Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Enescu – and Mozart, for sure. Tracks played: Mozart, Overture to “The Magic Flute” Mendelssohn, “Variations sérieuses” Beethoven, Violin Concerto Enescu, Octet Mozart, Piano Concerto No. 27 in B flat, K. 595 Handel, “Tornami a vagheggiar,” from “Alcina” Handel, “Verdi prati,” from “Alcina” Haydn, Symphony No. 88

James Panero on Venice's Last Judgment Aug 22, 2019

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James Panero on the beginning and end of the Most Serene Republic, occasioned by "Venice's last judgment" from the September 2019 issue.

Roger Kimball introduces the September 2019 issue of The New Criterion Aug 21, 2019

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Roger Kimball, the Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion, discusses highlights in this month’s issue and reads from its opening pages.

Music for a While #7: Hello, old friends — and new. Aug 01, 2019

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Jay revisits some old favorites and hails at least one new favorite. Tracks played: Tchaikovsky, Waltz from “The Sleeping Beauty” Mozart, Sonata for Violin and Piano in B flat, K. 454 Steve Reich, “It’s Gonna Rain” McHugh/Koehler, “Spreadin’ Rhythm Around” Arvo Pärt, Symphony No. 4 Arensky, Piano Trio in D minor Scriabin, Prelude in C major, Op. 13, No. 1 Robby Dupree, “Steal Away”

Nightmare at the Museum: a discussion between James Panero and Andrew Shea Jul 30, 2019

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A conversation on cultural politics, occasioned by the resignation of Warren B. Kanders from the board of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Music for a While #6: The best song ever written Jul 17, 2019

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Or rather, three nominees. Plus, Gerard Schwarz, the trumpeter/conductor whom Jay interviewed recently on his “Q&A.” This episode provides beauty, wonder, excitement, controversy, solace – it’s music. Tracks played: Haydn, Trumpet Concerto, final movement, Gerard Schwarz et al. Piston, Symphony No. 4, Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwarz Stölzel, “Bist du bei mir,” Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Gerald Moore Caccini, “Amarilli,” Janet Baker et al. Mahler, “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen,” Christa Ludwig et al.

Music For a While #5: America! Jul 08, 2019

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Music For a While #5: America! by The New Criterion

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