Professor Carol's Podcasts » Romantic Music

The Vienna of Mozart and Mahler

Professor Carol — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 22:34:03 +0000

What’s this program about?
Vienna drew musicians from all over Europe, luring them with Imperial support for the arts and a public eager for music. Mozart and Mahler came to work in Vienna more than a century apart, and both experienced success and frustrations in this opera-loving city so rich in architectural and cultural splendors. From the Turkish cultural influence to the passion of the waltz and operetta, Professor Carol surveys the musical history of Vienna and talks about Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5, Marriage of Figaro, and Mahler’s Fifth Symphony.

Works discussed: Mozart Violin Concerto in A Major, K. 219, Overture to Marriage of Figaro; Mahler, Symphony No. 5

The Keys to Russian Music

Professor Carol — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:50:39 +0000

What’s this program about?

Russian music has tremendous audience appeal. Its sources are the very cornerstones of Old Russian Culture: the Orthodox Church, Russian history, Russian fairy tales and folklore, and Russia’s position between West and East. Liturgical chants and bells reverberate in the music of Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, and Rachmaninov. Russian history and literature inspire the operas Prince Igor and Khovanshchina.

Works discussed: Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian Easter Overture; Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, Prelude to Khovanshchina; Borodin, Prince Igor, Polovtsian Dances.

Wagner, the Original Band Geek

Professor Carol — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 23:39:38 +0000

What’s this program about?

Richard Wagner was, and remains, one of the most intense and controversial figures of all time. For those who love Wagner’s music, Wagner becomes an obsession. Wagner understood and glorified the sound of wind instruments, especially brass, and transcriptions of Wagner’s operatic music have made highly effective and enjoyable arrangements for wind band. That’s how Wagner became a band geek.

Works discussed: Wagner’s Rienzi, Lohengrin, Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung

Respighi’s Roman Festivals

Professor Carol — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:34:42 +0000

What’s this program about?
Ottorino Respighi was not at war with tonality or tradition, and his works have consequently been denigrated at times as “crowd pleasers.” Although he wrote successful concertos, operas, and ballets that were widely performed in his day, he is known primarily for his Roman trilogy: Fountains of Rome, Pines of Rome, and Roman Festivals. Professor Carol takes a close look at Roman Festivals and the current revival of interest in Respighi’s works.

Works discussed: Respighi’s Roman Festivals, Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome, Laud of the Nativity

The Respighi Foundation
The Resphigi Society

Further reading: Elsa Respighi. Ottorino Rspighi. His Life-Story Arranged By Elsa Respighi. Translated by Gwyn Morris. London: Ricordi, 1962.

The Musicians’ Perspective on Mahler

Professor Carol — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 01:18:54 +0000

Mahler expanded the orchestra to huge proportions, going beyond the already inflated forces of Wagner. But Mahler simultaneously achieved an striking delicacy and transparency by using solo instruments to create “chamber music” in the midst of a his massive musical canvases. He drew his inspiration from the simple tunes of his childhood, military marches, folk songs, and village dances. But he also used the Viennese traditions of Beethoven, Schubert, and the Imperial Viennese waltz. He treated all of these elements as pieces of a mosaic, and placed them in a sophisticated symphonic frame. His great range of artistic expression and his choice to empower the instrumentalists with wonderful solo passages revolutionized music.

It’s true that musicians get excited about playing Mahler in a way that can’t be compared to other composers. Their Mahler experiences stand out – their first awed encounters with his music and their experiences performing it. Mahler demands constant attention from the musicians and pushes them to their limits of physical endurance. So it makes sense to let the musicians themselves talk about Mahler and explain not only why it’s electrifying to play his music, but why so many listeners identify Mahler as one of their favorite composers.

This podcast features Michael Shih, Concertmaster, Ana Victoria Luperi, Principal Clarinet, Mark Houghton, Principal Horn, Steve Wegel, Principal Trumpet, Ron Wilson, Principal Trombone, Kathryn Perry, Violin, and Brian Perry, Bass.

The Fort Worth Symphony’s Mahler Cycle at Bass Hall opens August 23, 2007, with “The Man Behind the Music,” a spectacular multimedia experience led by Professor Carol Reynolds and featuring selections from Mahler’s vocal works with mezzo-soprano Jill Grove and pianist John Churchwell.

The Essential Tchaikovsky

Professor Carol — Mon, 07 May 2007 19:10:41 +0000

What’s this program about?
Tchaikovsky’s music holds a sacred place in Russian culture. Dmitri Shostakovich said, “Without Tchaikovsky we could not endure our sorrows.” Professor Carol examines his Fifth Symphony and considers his life, his personal struggles, and his professional successes.

Works Discussed: Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5, Symphony No. 4, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, The Queen of Spades

Schumann’s Papillons and Fantasy

Professor Carol — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 00:29:34 +0000

What’s this program about?
Professor Carol gives a biography of Schumann’s early years, comparing Schumann’s youthful work Papillons with his later Fantasy in C Major against the backdrop of his courtship of the young pianist Clara Wieck and the emerging Romantic image of the artist.

Works Discussed: Schumann: Papillons, Op. 2; Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17

Where you can find:
Sviatoslav Richter
Wilhelm Kempff
Leon Plantinga, Schumann as Critic

Beethoven the Musical Wordsmith

Professor Carol — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 00:24:35 +0000

What’s this program about?
Beethoven sliced and diced his themes, using musical rhetoric that rebelled against the natural melodic style of Mozart and that charted a path into 19th-century Romanticism. Professor Carol uses the Piano Sonata in E-Flat, Op. 31, to show how he did it.

Works Discussed: Beethoven: Piano Sonata in E-Flat, Op. 31

Where you can find:
Beethoven Piano Sonatas Op. 31

Tales of the Young Brahms

Professor Carol — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 00:24:01 +0000

What’s this program about?
A youthful Brahms finds his signature style early in the Opus 10 Ballades based on the Scottish Ballad “Eduard” by Herder.

Works Discussed: Brahms: Four Ballades, Op. 10

Where you can find:
Brahms Op. 10 Ballades

Slavic, Exotic, Romantic 2

Professor Carol — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 00:21:52 +0000

What’s this program about?
Slavic composers Smetana, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Rachmaninov cared deeply about their national roots and national identity, and each knew how to seduce the ear of listeners with gorgeous melody, ravishing orchestration, and a heart-racing sense of the dramatic.

Works Discussed: Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Smetana’s The Moldau, and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade

Where you can find:
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2
Smetana: The Moldau
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherezade
A History of Russian Music: From Kamarinskaya to Babi Yar

Slavic, Exotic, Romantic 1

Professor Carol — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 00:20:48 +0000

Works Discussed: Smetana’s The Moldau, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade, and Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2

Where you can find:
Smetana: The Moldau
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherezade
A History of Russian Music: From Kamarinskaya to Babi Yar
My Musical Life by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Just a Few Notes 1

Professor Carol — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 00:17:52 +0000

What’s this program about?
The tone poem of the late romantic era painted pictures and portrayed stories with a rich orchestral style that became the model for film music. In Part 1, Professor Carol explains Gustav Holst’s The Planets and some of the techniques that lead to the style of John Williams.

Works Discussed: Gustav Holst, The Planets; John Williams, Olympic Theme and Fanfare

Where you can find:
Holst “The Planets”
Williams on Williams: The Classic Spielberg Scores

Chopin and Liszt in Paris

Professor Carol — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 23:52:11 +0000

What’s this program about?
In post-revolutionary France, the piano had replaced the harpsichord and the driving force behind the arts was moving from the court to the salons of Paris high society. Two composers, Liszt and Chopin, capitalized on these changes in very different ways and between them defined the future of piano music.

Where you can find:
Twelfth International Cliburn Piano Competition
Parisian Worlds – Chopin

The Story Behind the Chopin Ballades

Professor Carol — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 23:47:17 +0000

What’s this program about?
A ballad tells a story, and this popular literary form was appropriated by Romantic composers into songs. Carol explains how the ballad was transformed by Chopin into solo piano works.

Works Discussed: Chopin, Ballade No. 4 in F Minor; Chopin, Impromptu No. 2; Schiller, Der Taucher (The Diver).

Where you can find:
Chopin Nocturnes and Ballades
Chopin Impromptus