an account by KEN QUANDT

The saints have shown us many ways to live a perfect life. Yet somehow the lesson we tend to come away with is that the saints are special, rather than their lives. We know they would not have it this way, that they want us to know and to use what they have learned in our own lives rather than idolize them; and we know this because this is what their lives and actions always teach us. Therefore we need to be told their lives over and over again. Saint Francis is a perfect case. As we come to know him, we are stunned by his humility – not because we wish we were less proud, but because his humility, as it is described by the stories of his life, is so credible.
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Osvaldo Golijov: Oración lucimí

Matt Haimovitz vc (Oxingale 800658200728, Goulash!)

Ned Rorem: Cello concerto

Wen-Sinn Yang vc / Royal Scottish National Orchestra / José Serebrier cond (Naxos 8.559315)

Zoltán Kodály: Cello sonata, op. 4

Elemér Lavotha vc / Kerstin Aberg pf (BIS-CD-172)

Bob Dylan: All along the watchtower

Tom Landa and the Paperboys (Red House Records 154, A nod to Bob)

an account by KEN QUANDT

Like the Grail, this is an opera that only feeds the watcher who delights in the good. As such it should be less popular than it is, but the music is so beautiful it will never disappear from the repertoire. Thus, it presents a challenge to music lovers and opera lovers: Find the good.
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Arthur Honegger: Danse de la chevre (Dance of the goat)

Laurel Zucker fl (Cantilena Records, Inflorescence - music for solo flute)

Arthur Honegger: Horace victorieux - symphonie mimeé pour orchestre

Michel Plasson cond / Orchestre du Capitole de Toulose (Deutsche Grammophone D135384)

Alfred Schnittke: String quartet no. 3 (1983)

Kronos Quartet (David Harrington vn, John Sherba vn / Hank Dutt va / Joan Jeanrenaud vc) (Nonesuch 79500-2)

Johann Sebastian Bach: Prelude and fugue no. 5 in D major BWV 874, from The well-tempered clavier, book 2

Angela Hewitt pf (Hyperion CDS4429/4)

Laurel Zucker: Homage to Jimi Hendrix

Laurel Zucker fl (Cantilena Records, Inflorescence - music for solo flute

Maurice Ravel: À la manière de Borodine / In the style of Borodine

Soyeon Lee pf (Concert Artists Guild)

Maurice Ravel: À la manière de Chabrier / In the style of Chabrier

Soyeon Lee pf (Concert Artists Guild)

David Diamond: Elegy in memory of Maurice Ravel

Orchestra of St. Luke’s / John Adams cond (Nonesuch 979249-2)

Somei Satoh: Homa

String Ensemble Endless / Kyoko Sato sop / Toshiyuki Uzuka cond (New Albion 056)

John Zorn: Spillane: (excerpt)

John Zorn asx cl / Albert Collins voc egtr / John Lurie, Ohta Hiromi voc / David Hofstra tba db / Wayne Horvitz pf kbds / Bill Frisell, Robert Quine egtr / Bobby Previte dms perc / Ronald Shannon Jackson dms / Christian Marclay ttbls / The Kronos Quartet (David Harrington, John Sherba vn / Hank Dutt vla / Joan Jeanrenaud vc) (Elektra/Nonesuch
79172)

Somei Satoh: Toward the Night

String Ensemble Endless / Toshiyuki Uzuka cond (New Albion 056)

Claudio Monteverdi: Si dolce è l’tormento / The sweetness and the torment

Janet Baker sop / Raymond Leppard hpd / Joy Hall vc (BBC Music Magazine Vol. IV, No. 7 - 38D)

Maurice Ravel: Piano trio

Trio Fontenay (Wolf Harden pf / Michael Mücke vn / Niklas Schmidt vc) (Teldec D 134411)

Paul Hindemith: Kammermusik no. 2 for piano and orchestra, Op. 36 #1

Sviatoslav Richter pf / Moscow Conservatory Orchestra / Yuri Nikolayevski cond (Yedang Classical Treasures 10040)

Charles Gounod: Sérénade

Janet Baker sop / Raymond Leppard pf (BBC Music Magazine V. IV, No. 7 - 38D)

Bèla Bartòk: Piano concerto no. 2

Sviatoslav Richter pf / USSR State Symphony Orchestra / Evgeny Svetlanov cond (Yedang Classical Treasures CT-10040)

Elvis Costello: Il sogno / The dream (excerpt)

London Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas cond (Deutsche Grammophon B0003284-02)

Elvis Costello: High fidelity

Elvis Costello and the Attractions (Columbia C2K46897, Girls, girls, girls: the songs of Elvis Costello)

an account by KEN QUANDT

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Sorry about the backed-up playlists and podcasts, folks. We’re working on clearing the backlog and hope to be back up to date soon. They don’t call me the Phineas Gage of Bay Area classical radio for nothing.

Meanwhile, for those keeping score at home, it’s the third Monday of the month, meaning it’s Renée’s solo show tonight. Tune in for what is usually the most coherent broadcast of the month . . . .

Claude Debussy: Sonata for cello and piano, L. 135 (1915)

Mstislav Rostropovich vc / Benjamin Britten pf (Polygram 460974)

Benjamin Britten: Sonata in C, op. 65 (1961)

David Starkweather vc / Evgeny Rivkin pf (Oasis 574127)

Benjamin Britten: Peter Grimes: Four sea interludes

Boston Symphony Orchestra / Leonard Bernstein cond (Deutsche Grammophon 431768-2)

Henryk Górecki: Symphony no. 3, op. 36 (1976)

Dawn Upshaw S / London Sinfonietta / David Zinman cond (Elektra Nonesuch 9 79282-2)

– Podcast available after May 7 –