Lawrence Today magazine, Fall 2002
A musically inclined reader, noting that Lawrence Today has made an annual custom of publishing suggestions from faculty members for books to read (The professors' picks, Spring 2002), has suggested that there are those among the magazine's readers who would like to see faculty members do the same for music -- recommending works, composers, performers, recordings, or all of the above. Here for those who, while doing their recreational reading, would like to also do some recreational listening, are the suggestions of faculty members from both conservatory and college.
William Chaney
Professor emeritus of history
Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto in B-Flat Major "Con Violino Discordato," for Strings and Basso Continuo, P. 368 (F.I/60); recorded by I Solisti Veneti with Piero Toso, violin.
Antonio Vivaldi: Violin Concerti, vols. 1-10; recorded by Israel Chamber Orchestra with Shlomo Mintz, soloist and conductor.
Antonio Vivaldi: "Avanti L'Opera: Rare Opera Overtures"; recorded by L'Arte Dell' Arco with Christopher Hogwood.
Antonio Salieri: "Il Giorno Onomastico," "Sinfonia Veneziana," 26 variations on "La Folia di Spagna"; recorded by London Symphony Orchestra with Zoltan Pesko, conductor.
Padre Antonio Soler: "Six Concerti for Two Keyboard Instruments"; recorded by Anthony Newman and Joseph Payne, harpsichord and organ.
Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf: "Six Symphonies after Ovid's Metamorphoses"; recorded by Cantilena, Andrian Shepherd, conductor.
Georg Joseph Vogler: "Variations on Air de Marlborough," for piano and orchestra; recorded by the Prague Chamber Orchestra with Felicja Blumental.
Dominique-René de Lerma
Visiting professor of music
Marilyn Horne singing anything by Gioacchino Rossini.
Jelly Roll Morton, "Black Bottom Stomp (Queen of Spades)," 1925.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Concerto no. 20 in d minor for piano, K. 466; recorded with pianist Walter Gieseking.
José Maurício Nunes Garcia, Requiem Mass (in my edition).
With the assistance of the Brazilian government, I was able to acquire a copy of this 1816 Requiem, but the copy was faulty and needed to be reconstructed. I also had to consider our plans to perform and then record this work in Helsinki (1974) for Columbia Records. In the end, this obligated my reorchestration of the work. I am totally pleased with the results. It has since been performed with many major orchestras and choral ensembles.
Derek Katz
Assistant professor of music
"Love Songs." Songs by Antonín Dvorák, Leos Janácek, and Bohuslav Martinu; recorded by Magdalena Kozena, mezzo-soprano and Graham Johnson, piano (Deutsche Grammophon 463472-2).
This is a sort of double recommendation, since it's worth hearing Kozena sing just about anything, and it's worth hearing almost anyone sing these songs. Nearly all of these songs are settings of Czech and Slovak folk poetry. Although the music isn't in a folk style, it is very charming. The Martinu "Songs on one page," in particular, are little gems.
Franz Schubert: "Winterreise"; recorded by Matthais Goerne, baritone, and Graham Johnson, piano (Hyperion CDJ33030).
Goerne sang this cycle at Lawrence last year, in what was one of the most memorable concerts in my experience. Many of the virtues of that performance are shared by this recording. Goerne has often been dubbed a young Fischer-Dieskau, which is probably annoying for him, but it's a comparison that he need not fear. Johnson, in addition to supplying a very sensitive accompaniment, wrote the extensive program notes, which are very nearly worth the price of admission by themselves.
Leos Janácek: "Opera Suites"; recorded by Prague Symphony Orchestra with Jiri Belohlavek (Supraphon SU 3436-2 031).
My own research is on the operas of Leos Janácek, which are also my personal passion. Whole operas may be a bit much to push on the unsuspecting public, but this collection of orchestral music from three of Janácek's operas contains some of his most attractive and colorful music. Dancing insects, marching Hussites, waltzes on the moon...honest.
Howard Niblock
Professor of music
Something old
Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4, Op. 36; recorded by the New York Philharmonic with Dimitri Mitropoulos, conductor; Palladio (PD 4101), recorded 1940.
Not great high fidelity sound, but the most exciting and energized performance of this very familiar piece I've ever heard!
Something new
Richard Strauss: Wind Concertos (includes horn, oboe, and clarinet/bassoon works with CSO principals); recorded by the Chicago Symphony with Daniel Barenboim, conductor; Teldec (3984-23913-2), recorded 2001.
Karen Nordell
Assistant professor of chemistry
Joshua Bell, Leonard Bernstein: West Side Story Suite; recorded by Philharmonia Orchestra with David Zinman, conductor; Sony Classical 2001.
Peter Peregrine
Associate professor of anthropology
I think Richard Thompson is one of the most interesting musicians recording today. He started out as a folk musician with Fairport Convention and went his own way in the early 1970s. Thompson claims he "knows everyone, personally" who bought his first solo album, "Henry the Human Fly," but he must be wrong, because he doesn't know me and it's my favorite album. It is one of the rare examples of a musician actively creating a new form of music. Thompson blends traditional Celtic jigs, straptheys, and pipes with rock in a combination that, tied with Thompson's dark and often witty lyrics, creates music that is unique.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Thompson worked with his wife, Linda, and produced a series of outstanding albums. Their last album together, "Shoot Out the Lights," was named one of the ten best albums of the 1980s by Rolling Stone. Thompson continues to crank out an album a year, and each one contains gems, but for some reason he has never hit the mainstream. In some ways, I hope he never does.