PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Did you get a gift card for the holidays?
Are you looking how to spend it by either purchasing CDs or subscribing to a streaming service?
Help and guidance are available.
Few names in the airing of classical music carry more prestige than the famed radio station WQXR in New York City.
To check out the radio station’s choice of the best recordings of 2019 is also to see where the worlds of recording and concertizing are heading.
Such trends include rediscovering neglected composers and championing new music as well as women composers, such as Clara Schumann, and composers of color, such as the American composer Florence Price (below), who has often been featured on Wisconsin Public Radio this past year.
But you will also find noteworthy recordings of such classics as Johann Sebastian Bach – and two of his rarely heard cousins instead of his sons – and well as outstanding recordings of symphonies and piano sonatas (below, the set by Igor Levit) for the upcoming Beethoven Year to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of the composer.
And you will also find names of outstanding performers you may not have heard of — such as the exceptional Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang (below), a Van Cliburn Competition gold medalist whom The Ear would like to see perform here.
Here is a link to 25 picks with commentaries– plus another 75 titles and samples, without commentary, to round out a Top 100.
Happy listening!
https://www.wqxr.org/story/best-classical-recordings-2019/
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By Jacob Stockinger
Take a world-class young pianist who is a global sensation and on his way to being a superstar who specializes in Chopin – Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov (below).
Add in one of the best-known, most popular works by Frederic Chopin – his “Fantaisie-Impromptu.”
Blend in a warehouse loft and a ghostly, pop-like video with a dance-like narrative, all designed to promote Trifonov’s new CD – a budget double-disc set called “Chopin Evocations” (below).
The recording also features both piano concertos with some new orchestral touches by Russian pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev as well as Chopin-influenced solo pieces by Robert Schumann, Edvard Grieg, Samuel Barber, Peter Tchaikovsky and Federico Mompou.
The result may well be the most original, individual and persuasive versions of the famous piece you have ever heard of the almost clichéd piece.
Here is a link to the performance with the video, along with some fine background material from Tom Huizenga who writes the “Deceptive Cadence” blog for NPR (National Public Radio):
http://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2017/10/04/555327012/a-young-lion-tamed-by-chopin-s-fantasy
What do you think of Trifonov’s playing in this and other works?
And what do you think about the video, which The Ear finds a bit over-the-top, both precious and schmaltzy, not at all in keeping with Chopin’s more austere and classical kind of Romanticism.
The Ear wants to hear.
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: Famed radio station WQXR names the best 100 recordings of 2019. Listen to samples of them here
2 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
Did you get a gift card for the holidays?
Are you looking how to spend it by either purchasing CDs or subscribing to a streaming service?
Help and guidance are available.
Few names in the airing of classical music carry more prestige than the famed radio station WQXR in New York City.
To check out the radio station’s choice of the best recordings of 2019 is also to see where the worlds of recording and concertizing are heading.
Such trends include rediscovering neglected composers and championing new music as well as women composers, such as Clara Schumann, and composers of color, such as the American composer Florence Price (below), who has often been featured on Wisconsin Public Radio this past year.
But you will also find noteworthy recordings of such classics as Johann Sebastian Bach – and two of his rarely heard cousins instead of his sons – and well as outstanding recordings of symphonies and piano sonatas (below, the set by Igor Levit) for the upcoming Beethoven Year to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of the composer.
And you will also find names of outstanding performers you may not have heard of — such as the exceptional Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang (below), a Van Cliburn Competition gold medalist whom The Ear would like to see perform here.
Here is a link to 25 picks with commentaries– plus another 75 titles and samples, without commentary, to round out a Top 100.
Happy listening!
https://www.wqxr.org/story/best-classical-recordings-2019/
Share this:
Tags: #AmericanComposer, #AmyBeach, #AndrewNorman, #Anne-SophieMutter, #AntoninDvorak, #AntonioVivaldi, #BarbaraStrozzi, #BaroqueMusic, #BeethovenPianoSonatas, #BeethovenYear, #BelaBartok, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CamilleSaint-Saens, #CarolineShaw, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ClaraSchumann, #ClassicalGuitar, #CompactDisc, #ComposersofColor, #DaniilTrifonov, #DanishStringQuartet, #DerekBermel, #DomenicoScarlatti, #EdvardGrieg, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FannyMendelssohn, #FilmMusic, #FlorencePrice, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FredericChopin, #GabrielFaure, #GeorgeFridricHandel, #GiacomoPuccini, #GiftCard, #GiftGuide, #GuitarMusic, #GustavMahler, #HaochenZhnag, #HectorBerlioz, #HolidayGift, #HolidayGiftGuide, #IgorLevit, #IsaacAlbeniz, #IsataKanneh-Mason, #JeanSibelius, #JenniferHigdon, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnTavener, #JohnWilliams, #JuliaWolfe, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #LuigiBoccherini, #MauriceRavel, #MieczyslawWeinberg, #ModestMussorgsky, #MovieMusic, #NeglectedComposers, #NeglectedMusic, #NewMusic, #NewYorkCity, #OperaMusic, #OrchestralMusic, #OrganMusic, #PeterIlyichTchaikovsky, #PianoConcerto, #PianoSonata, #RichardStrauss, #RobertSchumann, #SergeiProkofiev, #SergeiRachmaninoff, #SergeiRachmaninov, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #VanCliburn, #VanCliburnInternationalPianoCompetition, #ViolinConcerto, #ViolinMusic, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WomenComposer, #WQXRradio, #WyntonMarsalis, 2019, Albeniz, American, American composer, Amy Beach, Andrew Norman, Anne-Sophie Mutter, anniversary, Antonín Dvořák, Antonio Vivaldi, Arts, Bach, Barbara Strozzi, Baroque, Baroque music, Bartok, Béla Bartók, Beethoven, Beethoven piano sonatas, Beethoven Year, Berlioz, best, birth, blog, Boccherini, Brahms, Caroline Shaw, CD, Chamber music, champion, China, Chinese, Chopin, choral music, Clara Schumann, Classical music, classicalmusic, classics, color, commentary, Compact Disc, composer, composers of color, concertizing, concerto, conductor, cousin, Daniil Trifonov, Danish String Quartet, Derek Bermel, discover, Domenico Scarlatti, Dvorak, Early music, Edvard Grieg, Facebook, fame, Fanny Mendelssohn, Faure, film, film music, Florence Price, forward, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, George Frideric Handel, Giacomo Puccini, gift, gift card, gift guide, gold, Gold medal, Grieg, guidance, guitar, Gustav Mahler, Handel, Haochen Zhang, Haydn, Hector Berlioz, help, Holiday, holiday gift guide, Igor Levit, Isata Kanneh-Mason, Jacob Stockinger, Jean Sibelius, Jennifer Higdon, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Tavener, John Williams, Julia Wolfe, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Luigi Boccherini, Mahler, Maurice Ravel, medal, Mieczyslaw Weinberg, Modest Mussorgsky, Mompou, Mozart, Music, Mussorgsky, name, neglected, neglected composer, neglected music, new, New Music, New York City, noteworthy, opera, Orchestra, organ, perform, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Pianist, Piano, Piano concerto, Piano sonata, post, posting, prestige, prize, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, Rachmaninov, Radio, radio station, Ravel, reader, recording, Richard Strauss, Robert Schumann, Saint-Saens, Scarlatti, Sergei Prokofiev, Sergei Rachmaninoff, service, share, Shaw, Sibelius, son, Sonata, Strauss, streaming, String quartet, subscribe, subscription, symphonies, symphony, tag, Taiwan, Taiwanese, Tchaikovsky, The Ear, title, trend, United States, Van Cliburn, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Viola, Violin, Vivaldi, vocal music, winner, wisconsin public radio, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, women, word, world, WQXR, WQXR-FM, Wynton Marsalis, year, Zhang