Click to Listen:
NYT 2018 "Best of" List;
Cleveland Digitizes Archives
It’s “This Week in Classical Music”; and update on what’s happening in the classical music world; I’m Randy Kinkel.
The beginning of the new year means “Best Of” lists from the year just passed. Editors at the New York Times have published their top 25 of the year. Here’s a few standouts for KBACH listeners:
“Bach: Solo Piano Works”; Vikingur Olafsson, piano (Deutsche Grammophon)
"There’s a quiet fearlessness to this album, (says editor Joshua barone) which includes off-the-beaten-path selections and offers an array of different ways to consider Bach, Mr. Olafsson is a master of finding unexpected pockets of musicality."
Bach: Violin Sonata No. 1 with Hilary Hahn
"Hahn’s blend of historically informed performance and old-fashioned Romanticism" hits the mark.
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra led by Manfred Honeck
Editors call it “The most interesting and innovative Beethoven recording since the PSO covered the Fifth and Seventh, this intense “Eroica” nods in the direction of tradition but sounds completely new, rethought from the ground up."
These days, if you want to study the Cleveland Orchestra’s history and archives in depth, all you need is a computer. “I want people to be able to see what we have,” said Andria Hoy, the orchestra’s chief archivist. “These are things that people want to see but that previously were just sitting a shelf somewhere.”During National Archives Month, the orchestra announced a partnership with the Cleveland Public Library, through which its entire library of scrapbooks will be digitized and made viewable online for free.So far, Hoy has digitized 32 of those books, a little less than one-tenth of her collection. She hopes to have all 354 books uploaded in four to five years. Already, though, what’s there is a treasure trove, a huge cache of documents from 1921 to 1973, and more is being added on a regular basis.“From my view, the value is starting to become very apparent,” said Hoy, pointing to the hundreds of visitors who’ve used the site so far. “It’s a really big savings for people. Now people can do all their research from their couch.”
For more on these and other items and events, go to the website, KBAch dot org; be listening each week At this time for another update; find us on facebook and twitter; and join Linda Cassidy every weekday at noon for the “Most Wanted Hour” playing your top 100 classical pieces. Member supported 89-five KBACH, K-B-A-Q Phoenix and HD, a service of Rio Salado College, celebrating 40 years, and Arizona State University.
