Yesterday, I wrote about giving someone the gift of experiencing music LIVE. Today, I want to go one step further and mention an offshoot of going to a live concert...hearing new music.
There is no lack of opportunities in Columbus to hear performances of music written by living, breathing composers. Yes, I want to hear Bach's Brandenburgs, Beethoven's piano concertos and symphonies, and Dvorak's Slavonic Dances, but I also want to hear what has been written recently by Nico Muhly, John Adams, Josh Roman, and - now - .
In yesterday's blog, I mentioned my experience with Vadim Gluzman and Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Also on the program were works by Mozart and Schubert. Then I was introduced to a composer with whom I was mostly unfamiliar, Giya Kancheli. Kancheli's is a visceral experience...one which motivated me to listen to more of his music. When I saw his name mentioned in a year-end look at great recordings by NPR's and , I rushed to check it out. Wow!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHDcd623TWU
After hearing excerpts from Kancheli's Chiaroscuro, I will be looking for the entire work. Amazingly, there were so many great new recordings, they felt they had to leave that one off the list, though it got a mention.
Here is a sampling, then, of the through the eyes of NPR's Tom Huizenga and Anastasia Tsioulcas. Happy hunting!
is at the top of the list, according to Tom Huizinga and Anastasia Tsioulcas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1oTy7lpT-M