Explore new recordings with top performers and host Julie Amacher
This week, the new Harry Potter movie is making its way to the screen--the last film in this enormously popular series. What role does music play in creating that cinematic experience? Composer Alexandre Desplat, the man behind the screen, explains.
For a small country, Finland has produced an inordinate number of conductors with international careers: Salonen, Vanska, Saraste, and now Pietari Inkinen. His latest disc is part of his ongoing Sibelius cycle, and features the sweeping Symphony No. 2.
The Spaniard Pablo de Sarasate was one of history's great violinists -- and a composer as well. On her new disc, Tianwa Yang takes on the challenge of his music, which can be both charming, and spectacularly difficult.
As a composer, Frenchman Gabriel Pierne was overshadowed by some brilliant contemporaries, such as Ravel and Poulenc. A new disc of his works reveals music rich in charm and orchestral color.
The pianist Mitsuko Uchida has been involved with Mozart's music since childhood. Her new CD revisits two of his concertos--one stormy, the other light-hearted and whimsical.
German violinist Julia Fischer's latest release is a distinct contrast from her Grammy-nominated recording of the Paganini Caprices from last summer. "Poeme" is a collection of impressionistic and poetic works for solo violin and Orchestra. Each piece is associated with a particular violinist, and they all come from the early 20th century.
In the generation after Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Glazunov carried on their tradition of warm melody and rich orchestral writing. This new CD set includes all of his concertos -- for piano, violin, cello, and saxophone.
"That Eternal Day" by Cantus explores American sacred music, from Colonial times through today.
The four pieces on Helene Grimaud's new disc, by Mozart, Liszt, Berg, and Bartok, might not seem to have a lot in common. But Grimaud says that there are common threads of history and expressivity that connect them--and shed new light on a program that has special significance for her.
When people think of the term 'Romantic,' they're often thinking 'wild,' 'passionate,' says Daniel Hope. "From all we know about Joseph Joachim's playing, it was anything but that. It was elusive. It was touching, and it inspired people."
Host Julie Amacher provides an in-depth exploration of a new classical music release each week.
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Julie Amacher's desire to introduce others to great music is what led her to radio. She began her professional broadcast career at a station in Sun Prairie, Wis. She went from rock 'n' roll to the Rocky Mountains, where she found her niche in public radio at KUNC in Greeley, Colo. Julie spent 13 years at KUNC, where she managed the announcers and their eclectic music format. During that time, she earned four national awards for best announcer. She joined Minnesota Public Radio in 1997 as an on-air host and also produces New Classical Tracks, a weekly podcast critiquing a new release each week. It airs locally at 7:15 a.m. Wednesdays and 5:15 p.m. Fridays.
