The Joy of Classical Music

Last week I said that this weeks episode was going to be all about legendary Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. Then the phone rang. It was Jenni from The Performing Arts Community Trust asking if I would interview pianist Liam Wooding and taonga pūoro specialist Rob Thorne about their upcoming concert series Convergence - Te Pūtahitanga. Of course I would.

Rob Thorne - Whāia Te Māramatanga Pt. 2. Waharoa.

Liam Wooding and Stephanie Acraman perform William Bolcom - Amour.

Karl Steven and Rob Thorne perform Piha Road from Black Coast Vanishings (Music from the Original TV Series).

Liam Wooding performs Janet Jennings - Pictures at the Waikato Museum.

No. 1- Lace (Jacquie Haselden).
No. 2 - Play-Pen (Jenny Doležel).
No. 3 - The Leading Violinist (Garth Tapper).
No. 4 - Landscape with Cathedral (Frances Ellis).
No. 5 - Grandparents at the Door (Michael Smither).

Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.

My favourite style of music, no contest, it’s solo-piano and this weeks episode is a feast of it with new and recent releases from pianists Juliette Journaux, Susan Tomes, Tamara-Anna Cislowska, Alexander Malofeev, Alice Sara Ott, Joanna Kacperek, Henry Wong Doe, and Christina Petrowska Quilico.

Juliette Journaux performs Erich Korngold - Pierrot’s Tanzlied.

Susan Tomes performs Maria Szymanowska - Caprice sur la romance de Joconde.

Tamara-Anna Cislowska performs Frank Hutchens - The River.

Alexander Malofeev performs Mikhail Glinka - A Farewell to Saint Petersburg: The Lark.

Alice Sara Ott performs Jóhann Jóhannsson: Flight from the City

Joanna Kacperek performs Ingeborg Bronsart von Schellendorf - Fantasie in G-Sharp Minor.

Henry Wong Doe performs Poulima Salima - My Testimony.

Christina Petrowska Quilico performs Alice Ping Yee Ho - Hong Kong Nostalgia.

1. Connaught Mansion.
2. Temple of Ten Thousand Buddhas.
3. Night Markets.

Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi is probably best know for the 11 Hayayo Miyazaki films he’s scored. In this episode I’ll be playing a variety of musical selections from 6 of those films as well as a brand new recording of his Symphony Number 3: Metaphysica, a work that explores existence, mortality, spirit, transformation, and the porous boundary between the material and other worlds.

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform Joe Hisaishi - Bygone Days from Porco Rosso (1992)

London Symphony Orchestra performs Joe Hisaishi - One Summers Day from Spirited Away (2001)

WDR Funkhausorchester performs Joe Hisaishi - The Legend of Ashitaka from Princess Mononoke (1997)

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform Joe Hisaishi - Path of the Wind from My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform Joe Hisaishi - My Neighbor Totoro from My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform Joe Hisaishi - Merry-Go-Round of Life Symphonic Variation from Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performs Joe Hisaishi - Symphony No. 3: Metaphysica.

I. Existence
II. Where are we going?
III. Substance

Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.

New Adventures in Music is a series within a series devoted to the thrill of musical discovery and the joy of listening. This week I’m focusing on three works – a brand new album of Liszt works by Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeeva, the Tallis Scholars legendary 1980 recording of Gregorio Allegri’s Have Mercy, and Ukrainian composer Victoria Poleva’s Simurgh-Quintet, a work that was inspired by a 13th-century Sufi poem called The Conference of the Birds.

Yulianna Avdeeva performs Franz Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody No. 17.

Yulianna Avdeeva performs Franz Liszt – St François de Paule: Marchant sur les flots.

The Tallis Scholars perform Gregorio Allegri – Miserere.

Yulianna Avdeeva performs Franz Liszt – Piano Sonata in B Minor.

Victoria Poleva – Simurgh-Quintet.

Released on Nonesuch records in 1966, The Dove Descending is an album of choral works by the Canby Singers. It was greeted with little fanfare and quickly fell into obscurity where it remains to this day. But obscurity does not mean unworthy. The Dove Descending is a masterpiece and well due a rediscovery.

The Canby Singers perform Lennon and McCartney - Chorus: "Last Night I Said" (Please, Please Me) from album The Baroque Beatles.

The Canby Singers - The Dove Descending (Nonesuch)

Johannes Brahms - O Süsser Mai, Op. 93a, No. 3

Paul Hindemith - Frauenklage

Don Carlo Di Gesualdo Di Venosa - O Vos Omnes

Peter Warlock - Corpus Christi

Hans Leo Hassler - Cantate Domino
Hans Leo Hassler - O Aufenthalt Meins Leben

Paul Hindemith - Six Chansons

Claudio Monteverdi - Zefiro Torna
Claudio Monteverdi - Ohimè Se Tanto Amate

Elliot Carter - Heart Not So Heavy As Mine
Elliot Carter - Musicians Wrestle Everywhere

Johannes Brahms - Ach, Arme Welt, Op. 110, No. 2
Johannes Brahms - Das Mädchen, Op. 93a, No. 2
Johannes Brahms - Ich Aber Bin Elend, Op. 110, No. 1

Claudin De Sermisy - Au Joly Boys

Igor Stravinsky - The Dove Descending Breaks The Air.



Exploring classical music in all its glories and complexities. From the sweetest melodic to the cutting edge of the avant-garde... from the deep past to the freshest contemporary. All of it. The joy of classical music.