NOTE: This page is no longer being updated, but is available for reference purposes. To see the new Radio 2 blog program highlights, visit the Radio 2 home page.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-31-08 at 01:02 PM
As I set about to write this, my last post of my week's tenure at the R2 blog and the last post of 2008, I'd like to say I'm thinking back over the year that was. The truth is, I'm casting my mind over what has been a challenging week. Sure, there were the holidays to navigate, but more than that, there was the weather.
Over the past week, the storms that wreaked havoc in much of the country - dumping snow in Vancouver, snarling traffic and postponing flights for holiday travelers at airports across the land - caused their own special brand of trouble for me at the old home-office blogging-post.
My internet connection was literally blown away by high winds several times over the past 7 days - once for a 17-hour stretch, once for 25 hours. I was without electricity at home for hours on Sunday (me and 1/4 million other households in Ontario). In my efforts to stay on top of posts, I wrote blog entries from a variety of novel places: my in-laws' living-room, the local art gallery where I volunteer; a friend's painting studio; and even from my car, tapped into a vacationing friend's wireless service (with permission) via lap-top perched precariously on my knee.
Last summer I suggested to Li that we should have a weekly column that covered some of the technical issues around CBC Radio 2's new offerings. We are working very hard to reposition ourselves in a dramatically changing "broadcast" environment. I thought a column like this might help our audience to move along with us.
Li agreed (thanks Li!) and when we took the idea to our boss Bill he said "yes, do it" (or words to that effect) practically before we could pitch it to him.
And here we are. The point of these posts is not to be geeky for the sake of being geeky but to make it easier for all of us to discover and enjoy Canadian musicians and composers of all genres when, where and how we want.
Since the column began this fall we've covered a lot of topics and I thought it would be a good year-end idea to do a quick review.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-31-08 at 03:00 AM
It's New Year's Eve! To celebrate the end of an often surprising and tumultuous year, Canada Live offers some joyous music this evening - music to lift your spirits as you cast your thoughts back at 2008 and forward to 2009. Before the countdown, before the bubbly, and before the singing of Auld Lang Syne, tune in to hear the incendiary Quebecois folk quartet Le Vent du Nord recorded this summer at the Festival Mémoire et Racines.
Among their many awards and accolades, Le Vent du Nord were awarded CFMAs for Traditional Album of the Year and Ensemble of the Year in 2008. Their disc Dans Les Airs made the top 10 on the recent PopMatters World Music best-of list.
The quartet is built around the magical pairing of Nicolas Boulerice on vielle-a-roue (a far lovelier name than "hurdy-gurdy", don't you think?) and Olivier Demers on fiddle. With accompaniment from guitar, accordion, foot-stomping and glorious, swirling vocal harmonies, this is as virtuosic - and as fun - as folk music gets anywhere in the world.
More details about tonight's Canada Live concerts (yes, there's another great concert, as well) and the rest of today's schedule highlights follow below.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-30-08 at 02:00 PM
There's sad news from the world of jazz. Freddie Hubbard, the virtuoso hard bop jazz trumpeter, has died at age 70. He died Monday morning at Sherman Oaks Hospital near his home in California, following a heart attack in November.
The Grammy Award-winning trumpeter met John Coltrane at a jam session at Count Basie's home in 1958 when he was just 20 years old. It was a meeting that would catapult him into the sphere of jazz luminaries. Soon his playing was heard in concert with - and on albums by - Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, Ornette Coleman, and Sonny Rollins, to name just a few.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-30-08 at 09:25 AM
It's official: Canadians in general - and CBC listeners in particular - are passionate about sharing Canadian music with the world. The suggestions for our 49 Songs from North of the 49th Parallel playlist are already beginning to pour in to the Radio 2 blog.
To see what Canadian celebrities and listeners alike have to say about the songs they'd like President-Elect Barack Obama to hear, visit the official website. The email address and phone line for your entries will go live on January 5th, but you can join the lively conversation that's taking place on this blog at any time.
Here are the addresses you'll need to nominate your favourite song starting on January 5th:
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-30-08 at 03:00 AM
When I program music, I like to play a little game with song titles, imagining the stories that could be told simply by putting one song after another. Here are a few back-to-back song titles that caught my eye from this afternoon's Drive playlist: Hard Line followed by Gone, Gone, Gone; Long Haul Driver followed by Go Places; and Fool In Love followed by Down Upon My Knees. Intrigued? Tune in this afternoon for the whole story.
While we're talking about Drive, I'd like to point your attention to a recent blog post from the folks at Take Off, Eh! praising Rich Terfry and his show. The authors say that Rich "pulls off what in other hands would almost certainly descend into navel gazing hipster cliquedom as its worst, and makes it all sound as commonplace and natural as the prairie dog...what holds all the music together is Terfry himself, who is one the most under-rated poetic talents in Canada..."
Now here's a look at what else you can hear today on Radio 2...
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-29-08 at 02:55 PM
When all of us hosts here at CBC Radio 2 were asked to provide our list of 5 great things from 2008 by your usual blogger, Li Robbins, we were given a lot of leeway (pardon the pun). Li suggested we could make the list all about our favourite music of the year, all about other things in life (which begs the question "are there other things in life?") or some combination thereof.
Stuart McLean of The Vinyl Cafe chose to go with an all music list, and a fine one it is. As I read through, I imagine Stuart reading the list out loud using his best story-telling-on-the-radio voice - you know, the one with the little smile in. The one that announces this year's Arthur Award winner. The one that says "don't get ahead of me" to the audience.
Here's Stuart McLean's 5 Great Things From a Crazy Year. Read the list slowly and be prepared to smile at the end.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-29-08 at 08:57 AM
Today, CBC Radio 2 unveils an exciting new challenge to the nation. We want you to help us choose 49 songs from north of the 49th parallel that you think best represent our country to the world.
Starting on Monday, January 5th, you will be able to nominate your favourite Canadian song (or tune or opus) to be one of 49 songs that CBC Radio 2 will offer as an inauguration day celebration for music-loving President-Elect Barack Obama.
This is your official heads up: you have a week to consider which song you think best represents and defines our country to the incoming president. On January 5th, we'll invite you to start making your suggestions to us online at our special website, by email or by phone (details to come).
On January 12th we'll unveil the top 100 candidates. You'll have 5 days to vote for your favourite entries online (until January 16th), and finally on January 20th - Inauguration Day in the USA - we'll announce the winning songs and play as many of the 49 as we can fit into our daytime shows: Radio 2 Morning, Tempo, Drive and Tonic.
Will it be Anne Murray or R. Murray Schafer? Gordon Lightfoot or Glenn Gould? Oscar Peterson or Tanya Tagaq; Robert Charlebois or K'naan; Broken Social Scene or the Be Good Tanyas ... or maybe all of the above? You tell us, starting on January 5th.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-29-08 at 03:00 AM
Today, CBC Radio 2 is proud to unveil an exciting new challenge - it's your chance to choose 49 songs from north of the 49th parallel - songs that you think would best represent Canada to President-Elect Barack Obama on his inauguration day. The challenge officially begins on January 5th - that gives you a week to start thinking about what Canadian songs you'd like the music-loving president to hear.
More details about the upcoming feature will follow in my next post, but first, here's a look at today's programming highlights.
Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.) Tom offers us music from Pacifika, Holly Cole and Duffy; Bruce Cockburn's Coldest Night of the Year and a track from Molly Johnson's new CD called Lucky, plus Ben Taylor (son of James Taylor and Carly Simon) singing with Viktor Krauss: When She's Dancing.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-28-08 at 05:42 PM
When I listen to The Signal on the weekends, I'm struck with the thought that Pat Carrabré is - like me - someone with omnivorous and curious taste in music, someone willing to follow music wherever it leads. His acute observations about the music he plays on the show often make want to say "yes!" or "spot on!" back to my radio.
Pat's list of 5 Great Things comes as no surprise to me (although he does offer us some surprising anecdotes). As you read on, you'll discover that Pat seems to be curious and observant about not just music, but life in general.
Here are Pat Carrabré's 5 Great Things From a Crazy Year:
Best 35 euros I spent last summer – for two coffees and an ice cream – but it allowed us to sit close to the canal in St. Mark’s Square in Venice.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-28-08 at 01:43 PM
A few key themes have come to the forefront as I've scanned my favourite music blogs over the past week - I'll explore those themes in detail further along in this post.
First, though, I'd like to acknowledge the passing of a true original. Eartha Kitt died on Christmas Day at the age of 81. She passed as radio stations around the world offered us her kitten-ish voice crooning the perennial Christmas favourite, Santa Baby.
Eartha Kitt captivated audiences with her dazzling smile, husky-yet-coquettish voice and comic timing. As a child, I discovered her as the cat-suit clad sexpot on the Batman TV series, where she was listed as an Extra Special Guest Villainess in the credits for her portrayal of Cat-Woman. It was a simple role - she slinked around and rolled her "R"s a lot, but it had an enormous impact... or so all the men in my life who were pre-pubescent boys at the time tell me.
There was another Eartha Kitt, as well. Eartha the civil rights activist was an outspoken critic of the war in Viet Nam and the plight of inner city American youth - so much so that President Lyndon Johnson effectively blacklisted her in the USA. For more about that Eartha Kitt, here's an article from Earl Ofari Hutchinson of the Huffington Post.
There are so many wonderful ways to remember Eartha Kitt. I offer you one of my favourites. Here's Eartha (in a shirt-dress and pigtails, no less!) in concert in 1962.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-28-08 at 03:01 AM
Ah, we’ve come to that day that rests exactly midway between the two big seasonal blowouts of Christmas and New Year’s Eve. One could retreat and relax for a while, I suppose, but that’s not the plan for today on Radio 2 - in fact, today you might just want to polish up your dancing shoes (not to mention your living room floor).
This morning In the Key of Charles celebrates the music of midnight, the perfect time for a moonlit dance. Inside the Music explores Vancouver’s legendary Commodore Ballroom with stories of the greats who have graced the stage and the happy audiences who have danced the nights away on it’s famous horsehair under-pad sprung floor.
For the real dance workout, though, today on SAIC Bill Richardson offers us 3 concerts featuring that most elegant of dances, the waltz. The music of Strauss, Lehar, Brahms (and then more Strauss) fills the bill for a pre-New Year's Eve celebration. We’ll hear soprano Marianne Fiset with the VSO, the incendiary Marc-André Hamelin with the OSM and the St. Lawrence Quartet recorded in Calgary.
Details about all these shows and more follow below.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-27-08 at 02:41 PM
First off, I'd like to say that Tom Power is one of my Great Things of 2008. Last autumn I bid a fond farewell to my own 1-hour world/roots-music disc show Roots & Wings after an unexpected and enjoyable 17-year run. FYI, Roots & Wings was created way back in 1991 by producer Li Robbins - your usual R2 blogger.
Long story short: I was thrilled when I discovered that there was going to be a new roots music disc show on CBC R2 and that it would be hosted by the multi-talented and yes - very young - musician and story-teller Tom Power. How young, you ask? Well, Tom and I have become Facebook friends, and I've noticed his status updates often refer to his ongoing studies at MUN. While Tom brings a young man's passion to his show, Deep Roots, he also draws on his knowledge of centuries of east-coast folklore and music. I learn something every time I tune in to the show.
I think Tom's excitement for music old and new shines through this list. Here's Tom Power's 5 Great Things from a Crazy Year:
Best Moment of 2008 (that's right) - Odetta at the 2008 Ottawa Folk Festival. She took oxygen before she went onstage, and when she came offstage. Her performance was easily the most moving musical experience of my live and will stick with my flashbulb memory.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-27-08 at 10:32 AM
The Magic Flute - it is (perhaps along with La Bohème) the perfect gateway opera. What better way for children to discover the art form than with ancient Egypt, a lost Prince, a boastful birdcatcher, an exotic Queen with a quest to free a captured Princess, and - last but certainly not least - an enchanted musical instrument?
Mozart's enduring masterpiece Die Zauberflöte was created with librettist Emanuel Schikaneder in 1791 and was an immediate success, reaching it's hundredth performance in just over a year. The opera was created as a singspiel (a mix of sung and spoken parts) and Mozart cast a selection of his favourite singers and comic actors to bring the story to life. With this in mind, the arias for the singers are complex and challenging, those for the actors are comparatively simple. This balance of elements is just one of the many reasons this opera makes a great place for children to start with the genre.
The original two-act opera The Magic Flute has been given countless productions and dozens of adaptations for film, stage, and the printed page. Surely one of the most popular adaptations is this year's one-act production at The Met. Julie Taymor (see previous post for accolades) has created a spectacular production complete with her trademark giant puppets and gravity-defying set and costume designs.
Following the opera, Bill Richardson will host a discussion about meeting the demand for new operatic works for children. Dean Burry is the composer of works such as "The Hobbitt" (created in 2004 for the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus) and "Pandora's Locker," an opera for high-school audiences inspired by the ancient Greek myth of Pandora's Box. Singer-songwriter Veda Hille is the composer and librettist of "Jack Pine," an environmental opera based on the children's book of the same title by Christopher Patton with illustrations by Cybèle Young (Groundwood Books). It will be presented through the Vancouver Opera in Schools program beginning in February 2009.
Also today, SATO will feature a recent Naxos recording of the first opera written specifically for television - the popular Christmas story "Amahl and the Night Visitors, by Giancarlo Menotti.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-27-08 at 03:00 AM
Papa-papa-papa-papa-geno, Papa-GE-NA, Papa-GE-NO! Without a doubt, it's one of the most recognizable and playful duets in the operatic repertoire. Today on SATO, you'll hear that duet in a special family-friendly holiday production of Mozart's operatic fairy tale The Magic Flute. It's an abridged one-act English-language version produced for The Met by multiple Tony and Emmy Award winning director and Oscar nominee Julie Taymor (she of Broadway's The Lion King and the Beatles-music film extravaganza Across the Universe). Her visually striking and spellbinding production is a smash hit for The Met this holiday season. Following the opera, there will be a discussion about meeting the demand for new operatic works for children with guests Dean Burry and Veda Hille, both of whom have recently created new works for children and teens.
More details about today's opera to come in the next post - for now, let's have a look at some more programming highlights for this last Saturday of the year.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-26-08 at 01:55 PM
What would Boxing Day be without... well, boxes?
Today's Radio 2 Video Fest offerings feature music created on musical boxes. No, not the wind-up kind that Frank Mills memorialized with his piano tune, but box-shaped instruments.
As you'll see here, some are modified with strings and things, some are played "as is".
Learn about the Cigar Box Guitar Extravaganza Festival held in Huntsville, Alabama.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-26-08 at 08:35 AM
Boxing Day at last. Don’t get me wrong: I love the special warmth that one feels on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but Boxing Day is the reward for all the hard work that led us there in the first place.
My perfect Boxing Day is a day spent doing nothing at all. I like to enjoy the entire day clad in a housecoat and slippers, eating leftovers and enjoying the rare treat of not hearing “I’m bored” - even once - from the kids. In my home, Boxing Day is a day for jigsaw puzzles, board games and crosswords; a day for making soup and eating turkey sandwiches; a day for movies and music. It is not a day for getting out in traffic and lining up for sale items at the mall or at the returns counter of the nearest big-box store. If I'm really motivated and the sun is shining I might just get dressed and go outside for a walk - but no more than that.
So, in the spirit of my ideal Boxing Day, I offer you a selection of music-related quizzes, surveys and brain-teasers – fun time wasters all - from the web. These are just a few sites I enjoyed in 2008 - I hope you’ll enjoy them, too.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-26-08 at 03:00 AM
Boxing Day sees the Radio 2 schedule return to normal. For most of us, this is a day to kick back, relax and enjoy the musical company on R2 in leisurely style. For a look at what's coming your way today, please continue reading:
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-25-08 at 03:16 PM
It was 2 years ago today that the world lost a musical great: James Brown. In his memory, I offer you 2 Christmas videos.
The first is a fan video featuring the Godfather of Soul in his prime. The song is Soul Christmas, recorded for the album James Brown's Funky Christmas. The footage of his fancy footwork comes from a concert he gave in Boston in 1968.
Posted by Philly Markowitz on Dec-25-08 at 03:00 AM
Christmas Day is here, and our gift to you is a full day of special programming to celebrate the day and the season. If you, like me, grew up with the sounds of CBC Radio 2 in your home on Christmas Day, you know that there is an exceptional day of music ahead. I’ve already started warming up my voice so I can sing along with Handel’s Messiah later this afternoon. Halleluiah indeed!
Perhaps your home is blessed with young children; children who slept fitfully through sugarplum dreams in the hopes of hearing hooves on the roof last night. If they’ve awoken all too early this morning, you’ll be pleased that CBC Radio 2 is already offering Christmas music for your bleary-eyed first coffee and pad-down-the-hall-to-the-tree. Host Nora Young is presenting 5 hours of seasonal favourites this morning on Yule Night. The show started at 1a.m. / 1:30NL, and continues with a rich selection of music until 6:00 / 6:30 NL. And so it begins!
This will be my last blog post of the year (yikes!) as holidays beckon. (Well, they don't actually raise up a hand and wave, but I am taking some regardless.) The talented Philly Markowitz (see last post!) will be hosting the blog Christmas Day through New Year's Eve. I hope you will welcome her with open virtual arms. I sure do -- thanks, Philly, have fun.
And to all who celebrate any of the end-of-December holidays, be it Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus for the Restofus, International-Eat-Lots-Of-Cookie-Dough-Day, have a lovely time. For those who do not, ignore the whole thing. And for those who are working and wishing you were holidaying, this too shall pass.
Meanwhile, here are the special programmes you can hear tonight as part of CBC Radio 2's Christmas Eve broadcast:
One of the nice things, dare we say "great" things about this little 5 Great Things From A Crazy Year series Radio 2 hosts have participated in, has been the musical reminiscences and recommendations. Today's contribution, from Nightstream host (and some-time Radio 2 Blog host as well) is a case in point. Philly shares a lovely moment from a live concert, and draws attention to some excellent Canadian musicians. But I won't give the specifics away, over to (a splendidly summery!) Philly:
Philly Markowitz's 5 Great Things From A Crazy Year:
Best film that continues to make my cry even when I watch the trailer: Man on Wire.
Best comfort food for a damp fall and early winter: Korean stone bowl anything.
'Twas the morn' before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except a computer keyboard. Wait a minute, that hardly seems sugar plum-ish and snow covered vista-ish. But it is the workday reality, not to mention that around here the beautiful snow is turning to rain, ice, rain, which is just all wrong.
But for those who wish to celebrate a traditional and beautiful snowy Christmas Eve you can do so in the realm of music and imagination at least, via Radio 2's holiday programming. It begins tonight at 6 p.m., and includes Gregory Charles' special Christmas Eve show, A Quebec Christmas featuring many choirs, Alleluia! A Joyful Sound (a bilingual musical celebration from Saskatchewan), and a Newfoundland house party called The Once Upon A Christmas. For more details including what you can hear tomorrow, Christmas Day, see the Holiday Schedule.
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Christmas CoDs might sound like some seasonal form of fish, or maybe message board shorthand, LOL, IMHO, ETC. But no, they are a series of Christmas music Concerts On Demand that have gone up on the Radio 2 website in recent days, featuring a range of styles.
So for Christmas music day or night, night or day, here is a handy guide. Merry listening!
CBC Christmas Sing-In From Montreal 2008: "A kaleidoscope of Christmas music for choir, brass, percussion, organ and an audience of 1500 from The Church of St Andrew and St Paul in Montreal."
Winter Solstice With The Spiritus Chamber Choir: "Some beautiful 20th century a capella works about light, warmth, sleep and birth. For the second half, the choir invited three of the singers from Calgary Opera's Emerging Artist program to join them for a rarely heard Resphigi work which tells the story of the nativity."
Handel's Messiah: "This performance features the National Arts Centre Orchestra, soloists, and two choirs: the Cantata Singers of Ottawa, and Seventeen Voyces, all under the direction of leading Baroque interpreter Trevor Pinnock."
As you may have noticed, if you are a regular Radio 2 Blog reader, we are not a wide blog, we are a rather squished-in-the-middle-of-the-page blog. This is fine since there are many other things of import on the Radio 2 mainpage. But it does not do justice to the fine photos that my colleague Ryan Couldery takes of Rich Terfry and his guests on Drive. For the full scale deal, I recommend having a look at Drive's own blog -- where you will also find full audio from Rich's interviews.
But here, on the Radio 2 Blog, is where you will find this exclusive. (A very succinct exclusive, but an exclusive nonetheless):
It's somehow startling that a year to the day has already gone by since Oscar Peterson passed away, the shock of it still lingers. "I owe him everything, he's irreplaceable," said Herbie Hancock. "Your beautiful character and music will never die," said his young daughter, Celine Peterson.
So many musicians do owe O.P. a massive debt of gratitude, and musicians like Winnipeg pianist and band leader Ron Paley are acknowledging that and keeping his memory and music alive, with concerts like the one you can hear tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.) -- the Ron Paley Trio'sA Tribute To Oscar Peterson.
Paley has assembled a trio consisting of two former members of Oscar Peterson's group: bassist Dave Young and drummer Terry Clarke. He's also joined by soprano Valdine Anderson and the Winnipeg Singers for the concert's finale.
And on a related note, today Katie Malloch remembers Mr. Peterson on Tonic (6 p.m.) as well.
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Tonight in honour of the solstice Laurie plays songs about snow, the solstice itself, and about finding hope in the darkness -- all on The Signal. So it seems the perfect moment to post her shortlist of positive experiences in these much bemoaned difficult times.
Laurie, idiosyncratic host of idiosyncratic show that she is, sent me her list in reverse order, from # 5 to #1. Somehow this seems very solstice-y itself, since it may be the shortest day of the year, but it it also means we're moving towards the return of light.
Laurie Brown's 5 Great Things From A Crazy Year.
5. The thrill on the hill - pre-prorogue - the thought that things could change radically and instantly in Ottawa - a place not traditionally hailed for innovation and movement was exhilarating.
Not to suggest time travelling has to be done with a metronome...but that today there is some very imaginative time travelling of the mind, when Robert Harris joins Tempo (10 a.m. - 3 p.m.) host Julie Nesrallah to take listeners back two hundred years for some Beethoven. A great deal of Beethoven, actually, since on December 22, 1808 Beethoven was even busier than usual, masterminding a marathon of a concert in Vienna's Theater an der Wien.
It included the premiere his C Minor (No.5) and Pastoral (No.6) symphonies as well as his Fantasia for Piano with orchestra and chorus. There are many, many stories associated with the concert. For example, there is the account given by Beethoven's friend, musician and composer Ferdinand Ries (referring to the performance of the Fantasia):
Straw hats and old dirty hankies, moppin' a face like a... whoops, sorry, just some exuberance of a Monday morning, in honour of one of Tom's guests on Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.), none other than Murray McLauchlan, who is also joined by the great guitarist and songwriter, Stephen Fearing.
They dropped by the studio to play some music, and chat with Tom about a project they're taking part in called the Canadian Songbook. You can hear Messrs. McLauchlan and Fearing in the third hour of the programme. (Note: The Blog Question Of The Week is taking a holiday, but will resume in the new year.)
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Earlier in the week the Radio 2 Blog made note of the passing of British folk musician Davy Graham. Naturally there has been some blogging about his passing, at age 68. And almost without fail every blog posted this video.
I'd like to start today's This Week In The Music Blogosphere with it as well because it's a great if poignant introduction to his music. Shot in 1959 for a documentary about the rising popularity of guitar playing in the UK, it features the then unknown nineteen year old, Davy Graham:
And moving on....another subject completely. It being the time of year that it is, there has also been some bloggin' goin' on about Christmas music.
The day is upon us, -- the European Broadcast Union's beloved tradition, Euroradio Christmas Day, also known as Joy To The World. This year's edition of the special broadcast is presented by Radio 2's Peter Togni.
A few quick factoids before getting to the ensembles. The first Euroradio Christmas Day took place on December 21st 1996, and has been enjoyed ever since by folks in twenty-some countries, including Canada. The EBU estimates there will be around 3.1 million listeners! Neat to imagine folks in other parts of the world listening in too.
There are fourteen concerts broadcast in total, from the following places: Reykjavik (Iceland), St-Pölten (Austria), Lisbon (Portugal), Sofia (Bulgaria), Helsinki (Finland), Palo Alto (California, United States), Græsted (Denmark), Prague (Czech Republic), Oslo (Norway), Pécs (Hungary), Stockholm (Sweden), Warsaw (Poland), St-Arnual (Sarrebruck, Germany) and Quebec (Canada).
To get to the nuts and bolts, here are the ensembles participating (with broadcast times) -- Canada's Les Violons Du Roy with La Chapelle de Québec wrapping things up:
The big story today on Radio 2 today is the European Broadcast Union's Joy To The World, a twelve year tradition of Christmas music. This edition of the annual broadcast features fourteen concerts coming from Europe, the U.S. and Canada, starting at 6 a.m. and concluding at 6 p.m.
Canada presents the final concert of the event, with Les Violons Du Roy with La Chapelle de Québec. Early birds, you can see the playlist right here. Later day birds, stay tune to The Radio 2 Blog for more a little later (but not much later!) this morning.
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's (actually it will be the evening's by that time) broadcast highlights:
A highlight of every week in the life of the Radio 2 Blogger is the stories Katherine is covering on In Tune. She leaves no classical music stone unturned, what she turns up is frequently fun -- if not downright wacky.
On today's show, for example, she covers classical advent calendars, online musical relationships, and (drum roll) Turkey Baster Music. Click on the link if you don't believe me.
But right now Katherine shares the following personal reflections as part of the ongoing series which began last Monday on the blog, with Radio 2 hosts recounting a few positive memories of the past year.
Katherine Duncan's 5 Great Things From A Crazy Year
Best Time I Had At Work: Putting together In Tune every week -- it's always a fantastic challenge, and we really get to be playful and slightly irreverent while having the pleasure of searching out a top-quality, varied and beautiful collection of classical music for our listeners.
Jules Massenet's Thaïs had its world premiere at the Paris Opéra in 1895, and it is a pleasure imagining the opera goers walking into that gorgeous building to hear it. But moving from fantasy to reality -- today's production from the Met (broadcast on SATO) ain't half bad either. Not with its stellar cast, featuring Renée Fleming, (pictured here) Michael Schade and Thomas Hampson.
As mentioned in the previous post, obsessive love is the subject matter of this opera, and it is difficult not to think it sprang from real life experience, given Massenet apparently had a reputation as, well, let's just say a man who liked women. (A lot.) One of his love interests (whether or not it was requited or un- is uncertain) was Sibyl Sanderson, a Californian soprano. She "created" the title role of Thaïs.
At its 1894 premiere, she shocked audiences with a 19th century "wardrobe malfunction," inadvertently (perhaps) baring her bosom. Despite ensuing chatter, the opera did not go over so well. Massenet revised it in 1897, but it still met with a bit of "meh." Finally, in 1903, with Lina Cavalieri in the title role in Milan, Massenet hit pay dirt, and had a hit on his hands. Since then, Thaïs has been a favourite of sopranos who want to portray the glamorous title role. (Plus it's quite the virtuoso turn, vocally speaking.)
Please keep reading for full cast and character details, and the plot synopsis. (And don't forget the opera has an early start time today, 12 o'clock in most of the country, 1 Atlantic, 1:30 Newfoundland).
Today's opera broadcast from the Met, heard on Saturday Afternoon At The Opera, has an early start time today, (12:00/1:00 AT, 1:30 NT) pre-empting Inside The Music Saturday Edition. The production is of Jules Massenet's Thaïs, composed in 1895 and last produced at the Met around thirty years ago.
Thaïs has been called one of Massenet's "lesser known gems," and like his better known operas, Manon and Werther, it too is on the happy theme of doomed, obsessive love. (Only it explores this theme in early Christian Egypt, where decadent pagans and austere monks live side by side.)
Starring in today's production is the fabulous soprano Renée Fleming, and the (also fabulous) Canadian tenor Michael Schade, as well as (the ditto) baritone Thomas Hampson. More about the opera coming up on the Radio 2 Blog, for now, here are the rest of the day's broadcast highlights.
The annual Euroradio Christmas broadcast, Joy To The World, is broadcast live on CBC Radio 2 this Sunday, December 21st, beginning at 06:00 with Austria's Domkantori & Solamente Naturali, and ending at 17:00 with Canada's Les Violons du Roy with La Chapelle de Québec.
Although it is not strictly choral music, much of it is, and so with a small nod in that direction, today's Radio 2 Video Fest presents a little choral music too. Although not, it should be noted, in the same tradition as you will hear on Sunday. No, these are more "choral curiosities."
P.S. To understand the title of this post, you'll have to watch the second video...
Choir By Computer:
Choir By CBC:
Car By Choir:
Note: Generally the Radio 2 Blog is not a fan of videos that endorse any products, but in this last case, it's interesting enough that an exception had to be made. Wonder how they mic'd the teeth?
Working with people across the country means that sometimes you get impressions not actually founded in daily life, "how are you today and isn't the weather terrible" reality. Such is the case with my colleague Tim Tamashiro, the Calgary-based weekend host of Tonic. But although our relationship is entirely based on email correspondence, his "5 Greats" came as absolutely no surprise, right in character. Chipper and entertaining, that's Tim Tam.
As for the photo, which also features his producer, Lauren Hancock, they tell me it comes from "Chili Day." (I don't know what all they get up to at CBC Calgary!)
Tim Tamashiro's 5 Great Things From A Crazy Year
Best "I didn't expect that" musical moment - Dave Brubeck at 87 years old taking the stage in Calgary and putting me and the entire audience into a full nelson for ninety minutes.
All week long and continuing into next week there are many "seasonal" music broadcasts on Radio 2 -- from country to classical. "Seasonal" in quotes because while of course some of it is Christmas related, not all of it is, as befits the population of this country.
One broadcast today that is in the Christmas category can be heard on Tempo (10 a.m. - 3 p.m.): Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony Of Carols. It's a beautiful work which is celebratory and intense (with some nice crunchy intervals as choral singers know well). The story of its creation is an interesting one too -- as you'll see if you click on that last link.
For the special holiday programming on December 24th and 25th, please see the Holiday Schedule. And for the rest of today's highlights, please continue reading.
The Canadian Music Centre has introduced Centrestreams, thousands of archival recordings by Canadian composers which you can listen to online. Bravo, CMC.
And then, a contested news story, first blogged about in Cohen's Hallelujah...Again! As predicted, Alexandra Burke won X Factor, and as a result there are three versions of Leonard Cohen'sHallelujah on the charts in the UK: "This is one of the most unexpected gambles in music betting history. Punters who backed it could be screaming Hallelujah on Sunday."
In the Radio 2 Blog's ongoing holiday, year-end series, today it's Ms. Julie Nesrallah's short list. As one listener who wrote into the Tempo blog said, Julie is a "bright and positive force," and as you will see from her "5 Favourites," she is also a force to be reckoned with. (As the Viennese know!) Over to you, Julie:
Julie Nesrallah's 5 Great Things From A Crazy Year
Best Impromptu Party: I was living in Vienna when I found out I got the Tempo job. I was celebrating solo with a glass of white wine on a patio. I blurted the news out to three Viennese strangers. We traded in the patio party for a wild night of mojitos** on along the Danube River. (With Big Mac chasers.)
Best Gig: Singing Act 4 Carmen with Canadian Tenor superstar Richard Margison.
The blog question of the week has been ""What music puts you in the Holiday spirit (and why)?", as you will know if you have been listening to Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.), or following the conversation (ongoing here and here).
One piece of music that conjures the holiday spirit for some is being played today on Tempo (10 a.m. - 3 p.m.), Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. (Speaking of, did you hear that the top two So You Think You Can Dance Canada contestants were in the National Ballet production of Nutcracker? Very exciting. For some of us. They played cannon dolls, challenging roles which have previously been assumed by Margaret Atwood and Steven Page, among other famed Canadians.)
When Peter Cook sent me a note asking "are you a Squeezebox owner?" for a second I thought he wanted to borrow an accordion to serenade colleagues. Fortunately no, it wasn't that. But today's Tech Q? column is all about how this device may change your life, or at least your ability to listen to the vast world of internet radio, including, of course, Radio 2's music channels. Over to you, Peter:
We have two pieces of good news.
First of all, last Friday the good geeks at Slim Devices (who build the Squeezebox products) fixed a bug number 7814. What that means to you and me is that when we listen to CBC Radio 2's Music Channels on our Squeezeboxes we won't hear the skipping and stuttering we've sometimes heard up until now.
To be clear, this was only an issue for our Music Channels and only when they were played using a Squeezebox.
Many thanks to Andy and Sean at Slim Devices for jumping on this bug and for the patience of Tony, Simon and others out there in "vacuum land" who were waiting for the bug fix.
If you are wondering what a Squeezebox is, Slim Devices calls their products "network music players" and that's a pretty apt description. I mentioned them last month when I posted about Internet Radios.
Radio hosts tend to be people you want to have at your dinner parties -- they're story tellers. Whether verbose or folk of few words (rare, but it happens) that's part of their charm.
Among the greatest of the many great story tellers on Radio 2 is Tom Allen. As you'll see, each of his "5 Great Things From A Crazy Year" tells a story, even within the constraints of a list. Go ahead, read 'em, but don't weep. (Except maybe a tear of laughter over #4. I suppose it is a great thing if you're an astronaut.)
Tom Allen's Five Great Things From A Crazy Year:
1) I like Ian Tyson's new album. I like Ian Tyson. In good times, as we sort of still were back in January of '08, someone like Ian Tyson is a reminder to keep our feet on the ground. He's been through hard times, and hung on. He still gets up and works, every day, hard, and is thankful for it. And, he's more and more himself all the time. We could all ask so much. Yellowhead To Yellowstone And Other Love Stories is one great thing from 2008.
Good morning, website travelers. Radio travelers too, or perhaps you are both. Today's journey on Radio 2 (sappy, sorry, but it did seem to segue easily enough) will include a visit from Lily Frost -- she of the ohrwurm Enchantment, among others. Today you can hear in conversation and in music on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.)
The music part of that is a Christmas song, and some music from a new recording in the works. The talk part? Here's a taste of both -- just click on play.
So that's Lily Frost later today, for now, please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
"She’s an undeniably saucy Canadian singer," says one blogger, and that's a nice succinct summation (a saucy one even) of Lily Frost.
Ms. Frost is on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) on Wednesday, December 17th, singing a Christmas song she wrote with her husband, Jose Contreras, (who you may know from the band By Divine Right), as well as performing a new song from the album she's recording right now.
Lily Frost, who is a talented songwriter (with jazz as well as pop sensibilities) tends to inspire comments like the one that opened this post. In fact, here's a little round up of what you could call "Lilyisms."
From PopMatters: "Lily Frost is a loopy and lovable Canadian gal who crafts exquisite little pop songs."
Properly this post should be accompanied by a photo of Katie belly dancing, but oddly enough she didn't send me one. Not that she's shy -- in fact she tells me doing a belly dance demo for her colleagues at CBC Montreal is an annual holiday tradition. Still, I've no photographic evidence.
However I do have this fun list from Ms. Malloch, who shares some personal and heartfelt notes as part of the ongoing holiday/year end revelations from Radio 2 hosts. So take it away, Katie:
Katie Malloch's Five Great Things From A Crazy Year:
Happiest Domestic Moment: Celebrating 25 years of marriage to sweet Paul.
Most Serene Moment: Sitting on the rocks, taking in the Pelican Rapids on the Slave River in the NWT.
Proudest Achievement: After three and a half years of studying belly-dance, finally mastering the "walking shimmy."
Most Jaw-Dropping Performance Moment: Seeing the nouveau-cirque troupe Les 7 Doigts De La Main at the Governor-General's Performing Arts Awards Gala.
Most Nostalgic Moment: Watching Barack Obama make his acceptance speech, and realizing that I hadn't felt that optimistic about politics since Bobby Kennedy was campaigning, forty years ago.
Thanks, Katie! (Alhough I still want proof of the "walking shimmy!")
Katie Malloch hosts Tonic (6 p.m.), Mondays through Fridays on CBC Radio 2.
Forget ye not that all week Tom Allen (and the Radio 2 Blog) ask "What music puts you in the Holiday spirit (and why)?" For one person, it's Emmylou Harris doing the Coventry Carol, another it's L'Enfance Du Christ by Berlioz, someone else suggested Phil Spector's Christmas Album and more than one of us mentioned The Pogues Fairy Tale Of New York. (OK, I was one of the two, but still.)
To see all suggestions to date, and to contribute your own, just click here and/or here.)
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
The holiday fast approaches, and with it Radio 2 has holiday programming on air, December 24th and 25th. But before getting to that piece of business, there's this piece of business: two special holiday broadcasts coming up soonest -- on Sunday, December 21st, the annual Euroradio Christmas Day broadcast, Joy To The World, presented by the European Broadcasting Union. It will be hosted by Radio 2's Peter Togni, host of Choral Concert. If you click on the "continue reading" thingie at the the end of this post, you will see which choirs are scheduled to sing when.
Also on Tempo (10 a.m. - 3 p.m.) on Dec 22nd, Robert Harris joins host Julie Nesrallah for the "the greatest concert of all time!" Here's the back story:
200 years ago to the day, December 22, 1808, Ludwig van Beethoven, in his triple-threat roles of composer, conductor and performer, produced a concert unlike any before or after in the history of music. On the programme you'll hear four premieres including the 5th and 6th symphonies, the Piano Concerto No.4 and a choral fantasy.
Julie Nesrallah and time-traveling guide Robert Harris feature pianist Robert Levin and conductor Thomas Dausgaard leading The Danish Radio Symphony in concert. You can hear this in part 2 of Tempo, Monday December 22 at noon, 12:30 in Newfoundland.
As to that December 24/25th Radio 2 Holiday Programming, you will find the schedule by clicking the last link. Note that it is still being updated, as is the way with radio. Similarly, if you continue reading for the list of choirs performing on December 21st, do bear in mind the schedule is subject to change.
2008 has been and continues to be pretty cuckoo. Which is why it's not a bad idea to take a deep breath, and, corny as it may sound, count our blessings. Each one of us.
An entertaining list at Global Noize turned my thinking in this positive direction, and made me ponder what our Radio 2 hosts would shortlist. So I put it to them, narrowing it down to 5 Great Things From A Crazy Year (short short lists have a way of focusing the mind).
Bill Richardson took the plunge first, his "5 Greats" all musically related. (As you'll see in the days to come, some of the lists are not, covering everything from belly dancing, to getting engaged, to comfort food.)
Without further ado, here are Bill Richardson's 5 Great Things From A Crazy Year:
1. Getting a voice mail message from Teresa Stratas saying no, in a very nice way, to an interview request for a show we produced in honor of her 70th birthday.
2. Talking to James Levine, for that same program, and somehow malapropping his name to “Leveen.” As in, "Oh Mr. Leveen, so nice of you to take this call." Thank God for editing, that's all I can say.
3. Talking to a really great American, composer John Adams, about his memoir Hallelujah Junction.
4. Attending the Opera Atelier production of Mozart’s Idomeneo, and the subsequent broadcast. A really good performance that made really good radio.
5. Being in Calgary for the Calgary Opera production of Baby Doe, and meeting Leyna Gabriele, the very first Baby Doe, now in her vigorous mid-80’s.
Thanks Bill!
Bill Richardson is the host of Saturday Afternoon At The Opera (Saturday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT) and Sunday Afternoon In Concert (Sunday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT)
"What music puts you in the Holiday spirit (and why)?" -- that's the blog question of the week!(Courtesy of Tom Allen at Radio 2 Morning.)
Maybe it's Erran Baron Cohen's version of The Dreidel Song, on perpetual loop. Maybe it's The Vandals Oi To The World, or The Pogues Fairytale Of New York . (A personal favourite of mine, as well as whoever it is that chooses the music for Christmas scenes in Coronation Street.) Or maybe it's the bliss of not hearing music related to any holiday at all.
But regardless of whether or not you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus for the Restofus, International-Eat-Lots-Of-Cookie-Dough-Day, Tom wants to know: "What music puts you in the Holiday spirit?"
He'll be reading your responses all week on Radio 2 Morning, so send 'em in, via commenting on the blog. (Note, if you discover you have to sign in to comment, fear not -- it takes literally under a minute!)
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Despite the ongoing trauma, and I don't think that's overstating it, of the state of the world economy, people continue to play, listen to, and write about music. In tough times, the tough get music. Sometimes even get a little weird about music.
The blogosphere reeled at the news that there will be a new stage adaptation/musical based on Star Wars -- The Guardian's theatre blog saying, (Skywalker: The Musical!): "The mind truly boggles with the possibilities: could we really see a Close Every Door-style ballad as Luke hits his lowest ebb after the revelation that Vader is his father? Or an ailing Padme Amidala lamenting Don't Cry for Me, Naboo before dying in childbirth?"
Well, who doesn't. Why there is even a Canonical List of Banjo Jokes, "the result of the tireless efforts of an International network of operatives who combed the earth (and beyond) checking and cross-checking sources to make sure that this time we had the real thing: the definitive list of banjo jokes."
Even Phillip, Jurgen Gothe's producer, couldn't resist sending me this quote from Daniel Roth in Fortune magazine who once wrote: "Nothing says 'dropping out of society' like learning the banjo."
Despite this, Jurgen is fearlessly forging ahead today with a show devoted the instrument. And I'll just come out of the closet right now -- I love the banjo -- in the right hands, that is. Some of the hands it will be in on Farrago With Jurgen Gothe (Sunday 5:00 p.m. 5:30 NT) include Craig Korth's, Bela Fleck's, Alison Brown's and Pete Seeger's.
And here are some more right hands, two right hands literally speaking, since this video features two superb banjo players -- Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn, with one of Washburn's idiosyncratic and rather haunting songs, A Fuller Wine.
Admittedly that was as much a feature for Washburn's vocals as for banjo playing, so for those who are craving more of a banjo foci, here is: Bela Fleck, Tony Trischka, and Steve Martin. Yes, you read that right:
Before we get to the particulars of what is on today's edition of Sunday Afternoon In Concert (Sunday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT), first let's get to the silly stuff. This week, it's the Christmas edition of the show's contest. To enter the draw, you merely have to identify any of the tunes in the video in the previous blog post. To enter, simply click on that link, listen, then email saic@cbc.ca
Now next Sunday, December 21,Sunday Afternoon in Concert will be pre-empted by the annual broadcast of Joy To The World, from the European Broadcasting Union. So this week Bill and accomplices (accompli?) bring out a few early Christmas presents:
From Ottawa, violinist Pinchas Zukerman, cellist Amanda Forsyth and the Tokyo String Quartet get together to share the gift of music; The Gryphon Trio unwraps a brand new work by Heather Schmidt; and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra invites pianist Stewart Goodyear and conductor Mathias Bamert into its home to perform some Mozart and Rossini.
Host Bill Richardson also features double bass player Zdzislaw Prochownik -- need a bass bow made? He's been a double bass bow maker since 1983.
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Actually, it's the Name-As-Many-As-You-Can-Tunes contest, courtesy of Sunday Afternoon In Concert (Sunday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT), the Christmas version. To qualify, you just need to identify as many tunes as you can, then send your entry into saic@cbc.ca, to be entered into a draw. In other words -- you needn't name all nine, just some of them. (None of them will not do though.)
So go ahead, press play, pen (or computer keyboard) in hand:
Ouch, nice ending. And Nine Tunes In One Minute And Three Seconds, there's some kind of record! Also, don't you just love that dissolve from tree to wreath? Breathtaking.
Bill will no doubt play all nine during this Sunday's show, just in case you are on dial up and have trouble with the video. And speaking of Sundays and Christmas and radio, some of you will be pleased to know that next Sunday, December 21st, the annual Euroradio Christmas "Joy To The World" programme will be broadcast. Stay tuned to the Radio 2 Blog -- more details as we get closer to the date.
An early start to Saturday Afternoon At The Opera today, 12 o'clock in most of the country, 1 AT, 1:30 Nfld., for Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades, starring the mighty Ben Heppner from The Metropolitan Opera.
The opera is based on a novella by Alexander Pushkin, and basically it's about a man who loses his fortune (and his mind) to gambling. Apparently Tchaikovsky was not keen on his brother Modest’s libretto at first, he said the subject didn't move him. It seems he changed his mind though, if later letters to his brother are to be believed: "Either I am horribly mistaken, Modya, or the opera is a masterpiece."
Please continue reading for cast & character details, as well as the plot synopsis.
Today on SATO, from the Metropolitan Opera, Canada's Ben Heppner stars in Tchaikovsky's opera The Queen Of Spades, in the role of Ghermann.
He's a handsome but poor young officer in the time honoured tradition of handsome but poor young officers. Unhappy with his standing in life he does what so many in that position have done and continue to do, he gambles. (Only in those days they didn't have VLTs, so it was the gaming tables.) Anyway, the rest of the gist of the story is of course romance -- he also hopes to win the heart of a secret love, Lisa.
Lisa's grandmother, The Countess, knows a secret that will make his pitch of woo a success, for in her youth she was known as the Queen of Spades (aka "Pique Dame"). So the question (for those who don't know how it turns out) is this:
Can Ghermann gain the secret, and convince Lisa to walk away from her fiancé Prince Yeletsky? Tune in today to find out -- and do note the early start time, pre-empting Inside The Music: 12pm in most of the country, 1 AT, 1:30 NT.
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Presumably the secret is not whatever words he was speaking into that microphone though. Perhaps he once had a secret love? Or maybe, in his secret life, Gregory just likes mystery in music, I don't know. Whatever the reason, "Secrets" is the theme of this week's In The Key Of Charles (Sunday 10:00 a.m., 10:30 NT), which you can read more about this weekend on The Blog Of Charles.
Maybe it isn't so much songs of mysteries, as much as mysteries perceived in songs? There are many misconceptions about songs, often over what the song really means. (Famous case in point: Springsteen's Born In The USA being construed as nationalistic. It is not.) For a rundown of some song secrets, you may want to look at Top 25 Songs With A Secret.
Of course there is more to secrets and music than misunderstanding lyrics or songs about secret love, there's also the business of trying to unlock the secrets of music itself. (Which leads to such things as "band in a box" a.k.a. the Casio.)
After yesterday's post about the 100 Greatest Singers Of All Time it seemed appropriate to devote this week's edition of the Radio 2 Video Fest to The Voice. To be more specific, odd things people are doing with the voice. Or without, as is the case of the first video.
The Jazz Argument:
A Capella Tribute To John Williams:
(Brilliant, if slightly irritating.)
Meredith Monk..."Scaring An Owl":
(An absurd mashup. Frankly, the owl doesn't even look frightened.)
For lovers of choral music 'tis the season, more choirs singing in community halls and churches and markets than you can shake a stick at. Though why you would want to shake a stick at a choir is another question. Mind you, if ever you've heard a really bad choir singing Handel's Messiah you might have the answer.
But today on Tempo (10 a.m. - 3 p.m.) this is not the case. No, a really good version of the work will be excerpted, performed by Scotland's Dunedin Consort. They're a young ensemble who have recorded a Messiah the Tempo team calls "fresh, virtuosic, and joyful."
And in another note, before getting to the rest of today's highlights, if you are a fan of Lily Frost's, do mark your calendars, she will be appearing next Wednesday Dec. 17th on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.), not Monday as advertised elsewhere. (Insert note of chagrin here.)
And do keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
He's won two Pulitzer prizes, he's the first composer to be honoured with a United States National Arts Medal, he's a Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France, and today he's 100 years old. And tonight American composer Elliott Carter will be celebrated on The Signal (10 p.m.)
One of the most amazing (and rather well documented of late) things about Carter is how his creativity has continued into his old age -- he composed nine new pieces in 2007, just as an example. Today, his actual 100th birthday, there are concerts around the world of this music -- the Carter100 website is an excellent source of information on that front.
If you're not familiar with his music, and are wondering why you should be, the intro to the Guardian piece gets to the heart of it:
"One hundred is not so old. Not when you're writing music of pristine freshness and energy, and have found a language that you can live in as easily as air, and mold like a sculptor. That's what counts: not your astonishing creative lifespan, but the music you've written." ("Pristine freshness and energy," an apt description of Carter's music as I know it.)
If you are curious as to what Carter has to say on his one hundreth, just watch the following. It features reminiscences about music (and radio), not to mention that wonderful smile of his...quite charming.
Recently Rolling Stone mag published a 100 Greatest Singers Of All Time list. What makes the list interesting is that they got musicians, famous musicians naturally, to write about why these singers are the greatest.
So the number one pick, Aretha Franklin, is written about by Mary J. Blige, for example, who says of Aretha: "You know a force from heaven. You know something that God made. And Aretha is a gift from God. When it comes to expressing yourself through song, there is no one who can touch her. She is the reason why women want to sing."
This may be true, just as it may be true that Nico is the reason why boys want to dance.
If you look at the list though (here's the condensed version) you will see that it represents a pretty small slice of music styles. And that bugs me. (It also bugs some of the people who commented -- for example a reader named "Null" who said: "Two words: Billie Holliday. For god's sake.") After all, if you're going to call something "greatest singers of all time," you might want to broaden it out to include, say, jazz, classical, and "world music."
Another respondent said "There is no greatest singer," and of course that is true. But if you're listing 100 voices surely you could have a wider cross section of genres? (Aside: what's with the gravitating to 100/1000 lists, anyway, 1000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die, 1001 Wines You Must Taste Before You Die...what's next, 1002 Thoughts To Think Before You Die?)
Now, there is no way I would attempt a 100, let alone a 1000 list, but here are NINE SINGERS WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON THE LIST, in no particular order.
Youssou N'Dour
Cecilia Bartoli
Emmylou Harris
Sarah Vaughan
Milton Nascimento
Carmen McCrae
Maria Callas
Johnny Cash
Odetta
On December 3rd of this year the world lost one of the most influential folk singers ever -- Odetta. (If you missed the original post about Odetta on the blog, you can read it here.) Tonight Canada Live (8 p.m.) presents the last recorded performance Odetta ever did, recorded by Radio 2 at this summer’s Ottawa Folk Festival.
There's been some interesting writing about Odetta since she passed away, including this feature in the Baltimore Sun, Odetta's Voice Rumbled Deep In Our Souls, and The Nation, Listening To Odetta. As for the music, if you can't make a date with your radio, you can also hear Odetta's concert online, at Concerts On Demand.
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Jazz being the premiere music of improvisation (at least in western terms), you'd think that idiosyncratic, ground breaking jazz singers would be a dime a dozen. But no, they're more expensive than that. For some reason jazz singing is one of the, IM (not so humble) O, more conservative areas of jazz. Singing standards became the standard. Original lyrics, unusual voices, not so much.
Of course there are exceptions, and Sheila Jordan is one of them. An odd, almost wispy voice, a propensity (don't you just love that word, propensity) for singing original lyrics. And like the others of her unusual ilk (Mose Allison for example, written about recently on The Radio 2 Blog -- see Your Mind Is On Vacation) she's famous for it. She was also the first singer Blue Note ever signed. So there you go, bucking the trends has a certain advantage -- when you can pull it off.
Of course, she is a little older now than in her heyday, in fact, this year she went on an 80th birthday tour, and given her august stature she may have mellowed a little. But she sure can sing, and swing, as you'll hear in the concert Radio 2 recorded, broadcast tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.)
For now though, something from a little ways back, guesstimate is the late 1980s. One of things Jordan is famous for is acknowledging the performers who went before her, notably Charlie Parker, and Billie Holiday. And this ballad is in fact a Billie Holiday tribute:
Do you have a sense of mild superiority, when it comes to your choice of computer, and of that superiority being under-recognized and not catered to? If you answered yes to that question, you are probably a Mac user.
It's a hard row to hoe or road to toe, sometimes. There you are on this brilliant computer, and some silly Windows thing screws it all up. Or so it seems. As Peter Cook, Radio 2's Resident Geek says in this week's edition of Tech Q?, t'aint necessarily so. Over to you, Peter:
Occasionally we get notes from irate mildly annoyed Mac users. These notes are usually along the lines of "I can't play Windows Media on my Mac. Please help." OK, usually there are more exclamation points and they don't always say "please", but you get the idea.
I'm here to tell Mac users, you can play Windows Media files on your Mac. I know 'cause I'm a Mac user and I do it all the time. I confess that the user experience does not match that which our Windows brethren get but with a bit of patience you'll be listening to Concerts on Demand and the Listen Live streams just like everyone else.
People across the country are addicted to Great Big Sea. Don't believe me? Just start reading the forum on their website. Mothers leave the kids at home with Dad and drive from city to city to hear the band. Grandparents exclaim about how great it is their grandkids were given guitar picks at the show. People take their seven-year-old kids to the show, their seven-year-old kids come home wanting to play in a band.
Today you can get a hint as to why, when two of the band members join Rich Terfry on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) But if the fandom isn't enough endorsement for you -- here's a clip to whet your appetite.
For a little more about the band (and a video) click here -- and please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
"How long how long, rivers of tears are crying...Time to bring about change for children...set yourself free, you can heal your heart and soul, help bring about change for children..."
Change For Children Association (CFCA) is an Edmonton based NGO, trying to do just what their name implies, making things better for children living in poverty.
Of course they are not the only organization with this in mind. But for some time they've been associated with a music project called Instruments Of Change, spearheaded by Edmonton violinist Frank Bessai. He lived in Nicaragua for a while, doing music and theatre with street kids, and that led him to working with various NGO's like CFCA.
What they've done is collect donated instruments in Edmonton, and sent some of them to Nicaragua. Another Canadian musician, Bill Bourne, was so impressed by this that he wrote a song called Change For Children, lyrics excerpted at the top of this post. You can hear it by clicking on that link. (And for that matter you can also hear Bill Bourne in another musical guise on the R2 website as well, at Concerts On Demand: Tri-Continental.)
Bourne supports the idea that improvement of life circumstances for children is linked not just to the essentials of daily survival, but to culture:
Alan Doyle and Sean McCann from Newfoundland's (mostly Celtic) rock band Great Big Sea are on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) tomorrow, Wednesday, so this is your heads up to hear them playing live in studio, and chatting with host Rich Terfry.
They released Fortune’s Favour back in June, and have been doing tons of touring since then, from pubs to massive concert venues -- Doyle estimates on one stint they played for more than 50, 000 people in just three days. (And had their names in lights in Times Square!)
How'd they do on that tour? Here's how:
"Great Big Sea, the answer to the musical question 'who wants some fun?" -- Saskatoon Star Phoenix
"They're a crack live band who can turn even the poshest venue into a downhome Newfoundland kitchen party." -- Sun Media
"WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!!! What a fabulous evening!! In addition to jumping, screaming, singing, clapping, stomping, what really made an impression on us was the diversity of the crowd. My husband and I are 45 (ish?), in addition to our 16 year old daughter, we were sitting beside a large group of 16 - 20 year olds, behind was a family with 3 young kids (under 10) and in front were 3 older couples (75ish)!!" -- A Fan (You expected otherwise?)
If you'd like to hear a clip of music/interview with GBS, just go to the end of the post. Also, as a bonus, here's a video of them doing a great song first popularized by Oysterband, if memory serves: When I'm Up I Can't Get Down:
Today it is Tuesday, in case there was any confusion over that. And in Radio 2 land that means the weekly release of the Canada Live Podcast. (After clicking on that link, just scroll down.) This week you can hear two concerts that feature two very different takes on country-influenced music.
First, Montreal's Ladies of the Canyon, who describe their music as "polymorphic, true and passionate..." (And of course the name should give you a hint as to one influence.)
And second in the pod is Vancouver's Steve Dawson, a pedal steel player whose latest recording, Telescope, is an all-instrumental recording created to showcase that instrument, which he plays in some pretty a-traditional ways.
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
But more interestingly, they've got Fleet Foxes as #1. (A favourite of Tom Power's, incidentally, host of Deep Roots.)
FF's music is difficult to resist -- in a slightly throwback way. There's a sound, an aesthetic to their approach to music that seems to have great appeal these days. (Kind of like the look of the old radio in the photo accompanying this post -- could the timing of this be somehow connected to "New Depression Chic?").
As the review for their #1 spot on the Timesonline 100 list puts it:
"Usually, when an album’s reviews has references to the Beach Boys or CSN&Y, it simply means that more than one person in the band sings at the same time. But in the case of this uplifting, timeless yet fresh debut, comparisons with the peak of West Coast pop are entirely justified."
Maybe in a way it's part of the same trend (even though the music is obviously totally different) towards revivalism of traditional R&B, soul and funk. There was a great article (Soul Reviver) over the weekend about the phenom of Gabriel Roth's Daptone Records that touches on this.
You know how on SYTYCD they do that goofy thing with the fingers to show what number you need to phone to vote for the contestants? (If you don't know, you probably are of sounder mind than those of us who are addicted to the show, and will now be forced to watch reruns.)
The number to call for Tempo (10 a.m. - 3 p.m.) does not require mugging for the camera though, merely an announcement here and by Julie on the show -- the brand new Tempohotline is 1-877-222-8166.
To get that hotline warmed up, you can call Julie to say which piece of classical music you would take into space. It doesn't matter if you're not planning to go into space, you can still call (or go to the Tempo blog) to say which piece of classical music you would take were you donning a little Star Trek type outfit and strapping in.
Why space? The new year is fast upon us, and 2009 has been named the International Year of Astronomy. Tempo is light years ahead of the rest of us in celebrating though, and more specifically Julie is asking listeners the following: "Imagine a space flight between the Earth and Mars...it's a long trip, and you'll be doing a lot of stargazing. What's the one piece of classical music you'd pack in your suitcase on a space odyssey? "
Speaking of, the music that astronauts really do decide to take with them into space is an interesting subject in and of itself.
"What would you choose to PROROGUE?" -- that's the blog question of the week! (Courtesy of Tom Allen at Radio 2 Morning.)
Not so long ago some of us would have been scratching our heads at that word, thinking: "Um, positive-towards-men-who-behave-badly?" Or "Pro-logue? Storytelling on the hill?" "Or even: "P(r)erogies?" (With or without sour cream? No, wait, that's another blog question.)
But prorogue, a word that now trips off all our tongues, can also be used in a non-parliamentary context. In fact I'm doing it right now, I'm PROROGUE-ING by not getting to the point. But here it is:
What you would put off today that you could do tomorrow? Cleaning beneath the car seats? Alphabetizing your CDs? Talking to your boss about that issue, you know, the one you haven't had the nerve to bring up for the past three years?
What would you prorogue? Tom will be sifting through all the many things people would rather put off than do, and sharing them on air all week on Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.).
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Reader, it was a tough week. On the micro, week-in-the-life-of-a-blogger level, technology was intermittently uncooperative, too much time was spent in meetings (always the sign of a bad week in anyone's life, I should think), and who had time to buy groceries. No one in the house I live in, apparently. And on the macro, well, there was the proroguing and all that which led up to it.
So no wonder the following diversions provided by the blogosphere are so welcome this week. Think of them as little tastes of alternate universes. You might not want to dwell in all of them, but worth the virtual visit.
If you just concluded the subject heading by singing, "and your mouth is working overtime" you must be a Mose Allison (or maybe a Van Morrison or Elvis Costello) fan. Or at least a fan of that song (a personal favourite) which also has the gem of a line "if talk was criminal, you'd lead a life of crime." (Boy, don't we all know people we could could apply that to. But then, maybe they look at us and think, "If grumpy silence was criminal...")
Today on Farrago With Jurgen Gothe (Sunday 5:00 p.m. 5:30 NT) Jurgen presents the (Mostly) Mose Allison Songbook.
"Mostly," because it'll be songs written by or made famous by Mose Allison, but also some versions by other singers of songs Allison did, and even music from his daughter, Amy Allison, who sounds not one jot like her famous Dad. (Though she also sounds not a jot like anyone else, as you'll hear if you click on the last link.)
Before we go any farther, can we hear (and see) some Mose, live? Yes, we can:
Some energy, huh?
Allison, with his piano style, those deathlessly funny lyrics, and even just the way he sings has always struck me as a total anomaly in the world of jazz, but that doesn't make him any less significant. (If anything, perhaps it makes him more.) And here's a nice summation of that -- and of another aspect of his appeal:
One of the highlights is that Sunday Afternoon In Concert (Sunday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT) devotes its entire show to Messiaen, with French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard performing Eight Preludes, under the aegis of the Vancouver Recital Society. Then Messiaen's Quartet For The End Of Time, which was premiered by the composer and his fellow inmates at a POW camp, is heard in a concert from the Banff Centre.
From Ottawa, pianist Louise Bessette and friends perform keyboard pieces, including four unpublished works for the unusual combination of piano and ondes martenot (that marvellous electronic instrument which also figures prominently in Messiaen's massive Turangalila Symphony -- heard in a performance by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from its New Creations festival). To see and hear the ondes martenot, scroll down to the second video of this related post.
Also, host Bill Richardson chats with British pianist Peter Hill, a former student of Messiaen and the author of an extensive biography of the composer.
As you may know, particularly if you read a previous post, Radio 2 Celebrates Olivier Messiaen, this is the weekend leading up to what would have been the composer Olivier Messiaen's 100th birthday on December the tenth.
There is much Messiaen on the airwaves this weekend, and in fact every night this week as well, on The Signal (10 p.m.) But I wanted to make special note of a new documentary airing Sunday about Messiaen, by one of CBC's veteran broadcasters, Robert Harris.
You can hear Messiaen: The Colours of a Soul, tomorrow, December 7th on Inside The Music (Sunday Edition 12:00 p.m., 12:30 NT).
It's an hour-long examination of the meaning of the music and life of Messiaen, who was by all accounts a fascinating man. He had a unique approach to music and composition -- perhaps the most obvious example of this is that he believed birds were among the greatest musicians. (As opposed to the camp that think they are not musical at all, merely responding biologically to certain conditions. Pish tosh, we say to that camp.)
Today Daniel Barenboim conducts Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde, "Live from the Met," broadcast on Saturday Afternoon At The Opera. (Again, with an early start time, you can hear the show from 11-5PM, 1-7 AT, 1:30- 7:30 NT.)
This is what one of my esteemed SATO colleagues sent me as a kind of teaser for anyone unfamiliar with the opera, and it pretty much says it all:
"A strapping Knight, a Princess who is spirited away, love Potions to DIE for - what more could you want in a 5 hour opera!"
But just in case, here's a little more 'all' anyway: Wagner's opera is based on an epic 13th-century poem by Gottfried von Strassburg, and on his own personal experience. Big themes are love and death. Wagner began writing the opera around 1853, in exile in Switzerland. It wasn't all bad, a wealthy silk merchant, Otto von Wesendonck, offered him financial support and a comfortable cottage in which to compose. Not to mention that Otto's wife, Mathilde "became friendly" with Wagner, as it is sometimes coyly put (a.k.a. a torrid and passionate affair ensued). You may, should you choose to interpret it this way, hear their infatuation and emotional upheaval in the music.
Please keep reading for cast & character details, as well as the synopsis.
Before Romeo and Juliet, before Lancelot and Guinevere, there was...Tristan and Isolde. And after the Vinyl Cafe, there is Saturday Afternoon At The Opera. Usually Deep Roots and Inside The Music come first, but Wagner didn't mess around when he wrote Tristan Und Isolde, it's five hours long, thus the early start.
It is indeed one of the greatest love stories of all times, and today's production is live from the Met, Daniel Barenboim conducting, and starring soprano Katarina Dalayman and Peter Seiffert in the title roles.
And as to the unusual start time, here are the specifics: You can hear SATO from 11:00 - 5:00 PM (1:00 - 7:00 AT, 1:30 - 7:30 NT).
Stay tuned to the Radio 2 Blog for more about the opera a little later this morning, and please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Yes he does. Not that way, but on In The Key Of Charles (Sunday 10:00 a.m., 10:30 NT) this weekend when he explores music connected to weddings, proving there is far more to wedding music than a Chicken Dance/Macarena/YMCA medley.
Not that there's anything wrong with a little Chicken Dance from time to time, no faster way to bring a group of disparate people to some fundamental albeit absurd common ground. Don't believe me? Watch this instructional video from The Lawrence Welk show.
Just like weddings, wedding music is an industry -- but also considered by some to be a genre with sub-genres. Garter Toss Songs, anyone? (You Can Leave Your Hat On seems an obvious one, but I'm surprised they suggest the Joe Cocker version, who wouldn't want to toss a garter to Randy Newman? Now that's classy.)
You can win two discs of Messiaen's music -- all you have to do is press play, below, listen to the birdies sing, identify as many as you can and email Sunday Afternoon In Concert , subject heading CONTEST, for a draw. (Yes, it's a wee tad silly, we know that. But fun. And the birdsong is oddly restful, btw, emanating from one's computer.) Note: Click on the last link for the email...or just email saic@cbc.ca
Did I mention that the above video is part of the weekly Radio 2 Video Fest? It is. And the second video is as well. It too is connected to the composer Olivier Messiaen -- an interesting look at the unique electronic instrument "popularized" by Messiaen, the Ondes Martenot, invented in 1928:
One of the highlights today is Canada Live's (8 p.m.), broadcast of a concert by City And Colour, a solo project by Dallas Green of the band Alexisonfire. (If you think about his name for a second -- Dallas Green -- you will get the "city and colour" handle. Nice that it has the good old fashioned Canadiaun spelling.)
Anyway, the concert comes from Massy Hall, featuring tunes from his second recording, Bring Me Your Love. That album met with much attention and still seems to be receiving it -- just this week it came out as a "special edition," which has a bunch of demo tracks as well as the original recording.
Reminds me of those old Charlie Parker albums where you'd get three or four takes of the same tune. (Not in terms of the music, of course, just the listening experience of having different versions to compare. Probably City And Colour alt takes are not at Parker tempos though.) But enough digression, please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
While many south of the border hold their breath hoping that President- elect Obama will somehow reverse the economic tide of woe, others are banking on him to do something about the arts. Others as in Quincy Jones. (Pictured here, with a gymnast flying over his head. I wonder if he knows?)
Yes, the mighty Q has said he plans to ask Obama to create a position called Secretary Of The Arts. Naturally, this led to an online petition. At time of bloggin' there were a couple thousand signatures -- don't think that's quite going to swing it. (btw Obama does have a platform on the arts, which you can read about here, and it will take you to a PDF from the Obama campaign of that platform in full.)
But another twist in the Obama arts/music story is this. Some in the world music industry, and world music performers themselves, believe that Obama is going to improve the ongoing trauma of obtaining visas to perform in the U.S., something that has been considerably more difficult for musicians (including some from Canada) since September 11th. You can read more about the hopes of world music types in the Boston Globe -- Sound Off.
French composer Olivier Messiaen is not known the way, say, his contemporaries Benjamin Britten or Aaron Copland are. But to musicians and composers and close listeners of 20th century music his impact and influence is astounding. And the excitement over celebrations connected to his 100th birthday are too -- just google Messiaen centenary to get an idea. Or better still, listen to Radio 2 on Sunday, when much of the programming is devoted to his music.
Messiaen had what the folks at the Messiaen 2008 website describe as "an original and unique style which included innovations in harmony and melody." Very true. But for many of us, one of the most delightful aspects of the music was his interest in birdsong, which he transcribed and incorporated into his own music. Stay tuned to the Radio 2 Blog for more on a Messiaen Birdsong Contest -- coming up tomorrow. But for now, here's the array of Messiaen music/documentary/conversation you can hear this weekend:
Dreamsploitation may sound like some kind of therapists' convention, or in musical terms may conjure up a lush electronic orchestra. It's neither though -- in fact it's the work of one man from Nova Scotia, who when he's not going by the Dreamsploitation moniker, is called Chuck Blazevic.
The sound is very lush though, created by many many tiny samples from recordings and acoustic sources, all manipulated and, as Mr. Blazevic himself puts it: "...transposed and re-contextualized into an ultra-melodic tapestry of soft-psychedelia, b-movie orchestral back drops, dusty drums, and loud quiet sounds."
To hear more, tune in to The Signal (10 p.m.) Thursday night as Laurie features the music...and for the rest of the day's programming highlights, please continue reading.
The first time someone told me about Podcasts I think my response was something swift and sophisticated, like "huh? Say what?" Ah, how quickly new technology changes our lives, and in the case of Podcasts, I'd say definitely for the better.
But then Radio 2's Resident Geek, Peter Cook, started talking about "Enhanced Podcasts," and again, first reaction was pretty much as above. I mean, how enhanced can they be, have they figured out a way to send you a packed lunch along with that podcast? Not exactly (sadly, since who has time to pack a lunch), but there are any number of niceties that come along with Enhanced Podcasts, as Peter explains. But first -- a suggestion. Make sure to click on Continue Reading, because it gets really fun once he gets into the pictures, towards the second half of the post. Take it away, Peter:
"A standard audio podcast is usually an mp3 file. You click play and listen. Great.
But do you know about "enhanced" podcasts? Most people don't (hi Li!) so I'm going to talk about them today. All of the podcasts CBC Radio 2 produces are available in standard and enhanced versions.
So what's an enhanced podcast?
The main difference is that enhanced podcasts have "chapters". With chapters:
you can jump to specific points in the podcast
each chapter has an image associated with it
each chapter includes a link to a web site.
All of this makes for a richer, more interactive experience.
For example, in the Canada Live podcast you can navigate to the exact song you want to hear, see photos of the artists and follow links to the full concert at Concerts on Demand or to the artist's web site. Sometimes host Nora Young will speak about a specific instrument (for instance Luke Doucet's beautiful guitar), and in the enhanced podcast you can see a photo of it.
We used chapters in the Brahms podcasts and Beethoven podcasts to clarify where Pinchas Zukerman or Bramwell Tovey spoke about or illustrated on the violin or piano a specific movement in the symphony, to show photos of the maestros in conversation with Bill Richardson, and to provide links to the actual concerts with the symphonies at .
"Goodness gracious, how many times I don't know, people have come and thanked me for healing. But it's the music that does that, I don't do that. It's the music." --Odetta
Yes it was the music, but it was also the woman who sang that music. She told me that she viewed herself as a "medium" for the music (the above quote is from an interview I did with her a few years back), which was so characteristic of her modesty and graciousness throughout that interview.
"Those of us who are still interested in the area of folk music and still do the folk music, I think of us as bookmarks," she said. "We keep doing it. If people hadn't kept doing it, I, or the others around at the beginning at the folk music boom wouldn't have heard the stuff. You know what I mean? And the music in my end is the history of us as regular people."
One voice for the history of regular people, Odetta's incredible voice, has been stilled. She passed away yesterday at the age of 77. (You can read more about her life in this Washington Post obituary called Odetta, Sang The Soundtrack For The Civil Rights Movement.)
Figgy Duff is a pudding, as you may know. Never had it, but it's a Newfoundland specialty involving lots of butter and sugar so it can't be bad. Figgy Duff the band was formed in 1975 in St John's, and went on to become one of the province's best known folk rock bands.
Last summer one the band's founding members, Pamela Morgan, led the group in a 25th anniversary party at the Writer's Festival at Woody Point in Bonne Bay Newfoundland, the former Orange Lodge -- the building itself had just turned 100.
Band alumni Kelly Russell, Dave Panting, Phil Dinn, Frank Maher and George Morgan were there, and the concert also served as a Duff tribute featuring an all star guest list including Daniel Payne, Sylvia Tyson, Ron Hynes and Ellen Power.
You can hear the music that was played that night this night, Wednesday evening, on Canada Live (8 p.m.).
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Of course it was only a matter of time. What with the 21st mania for contests (and musicians like Yo Yo Ma holding remix contests as a result) plus the general reliance on all things Tube of You, there just had to be something on this scale: Google, the London Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Lang Lang have joined forces for an initiative entitled the YouTube Symphony Orchestra.
It's actually two contests. One, you learn some new music by Tan Dun, (pictured here) submit a video of your performance, and then if you are selected your performance will become part of a giant mashup.
Two, you submit a video of yourself playing some designated standard repertoire pieces, and then musicians picked from this audition will perform in the YouTube Symphony at Carnegie Hall in April 2009.
It all sounds pretty wacky and gimmicky and potentially a lot of fun. And bound to get a loads of attention given the considerable "star power" involved. (Here's a video explanation of the contest featuring Tan Dun and various musicians.)
The deadline for submissions is January 28, 2009, so you'd best get cracking if you're thinking of auditioning. Particularly if you want to make it to Carnegie Hall. (You know the old joke, How Do You Get To Carnegie Hall? They ask it, on the YouTube Symphony Orchestra website. Their answer? "Practice and upload.")
A reminder, or for some, perhaps brand new news -- you can hear many of the interviews that Rich Terfry has done on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) on the website. Not only that, but some of the music documentaries broadcast on Inside The Music.
The Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) interviews happen almost every week, and many have been archived. Currently you can hear Rich's full interviews with Beck, Martha Wainwright, David Myles, Colin Linden & Paul Reddick, Justin Rutledge, Zaki Ibrahim, Roxanne Potvin, Shad, Jill Barber and Tanya Tagaq & Apostle of Hustle on the Drive webpage.
As for the Inside The Music Documentaries, currently you can hear all five parts of RPM, Indispensable Canadian Albums, which focuses on the following five seminal recordings: The Band's Music From Big Pink; Joni Mitchell's Blue, Bruce Cockburn's Inner City Front, Daniel Lanois Acadie, and Broken Social Scene's You Forgot It In People.
Music of note today includes Alex Cuba dropping by both Radio 2 Morning and Drive. (On the latter he'll play his Spanish language version of a Blue Rodeo hit, more about that here.)
But there's also a concert tonight you may want to hear if you are a jazz vocals fan: jazz vocalist/pianist/composer Denzal Sinclaire on Canada Live (8 p.m.). The concert comes from the 2008 Festijazz International de Rimouski, and features the St-Germain String Quartet as well as more expected jazz backing. (Bass/drums/sax, and french horn. OK, so not entirely expected.)
Nothing to do with the concert, but there's a funny pseudo FAQ on Sinclaire's website, which includes questions like: "Oh! Like Denzel Washington?" and "Do you know who you sound like?" (every singer's favourite question). He would rather be asked: Would you prefer the Yamaha, the Steinway, or the Bosendorfer? So would we all, so would we all.
Please continue reading for the rest of the day's show highlights:
All this week Tim Tamashiro is sitting in for Katie Malloch on Tonic (6 p.m.). If you are a weekend Tonic listener, you already know Tim, since he's the weekend host of the show (as well as being a musician and special events host, he's a busy guy).
And maybe it's down to that cliché ("want to get something done, ask a busy person") but he's also the man behind an interesting project called The Ten Million Songs Challenge, subtitled "Can 100 Artists (You've Probably Never Heard Of) Sell 10 Million Songs On iTunes?")
It's just as the subtitle says, a way of getting less obvious/commercial/known music into a very commercial venture -- iTunes. Why's he doing this? I'll let the man put it in his own words:
Alex Cuba has been called "the man with the best sideburns in Canada," and "the man with the biggest hair in Smithers B.C." and both claims are probably true. (Though the sideburns were rather restrained at the time this photo was shot.) It's also true he's an excellent musician who is creating his own style of Cuban-based pop music.
As for the Radio 2 Exclusive bit, here's the story: Alex Cuba (a.ka. Alexis Puentes) learned to speak English by listening to Blue Rodeo. Oh no doubt there were a few other lessons in there too, but back in 1996, before he spoke English, his new Canadian in-laws introduced him to Canadian music by playing him Blue Rodeo’s recording Five Days In July. He fell in love with the song Bad Timing, and set about learning it.
It's one thing to learn English through learning music though, another to meet and befriend the man who created the song that so moved you -- in this case, Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo. And then to go on, years later, and record a new version of that song with that man.
This week the new version of the song has its premiere on Radio 2 with Cuba singing it in Spanish -- on Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.). Tomorrow, December 2nd, he'll drop by both the Radio 2 Morning and Drive studios to talk about the long and winding road that has brought him to this happy moment. (And as I say, on Drive he'll also perform the song live.)
Happy December! And this December Monday morning begins with a bonus version of Tom Allen's Blog Question O' The Week, on Radio 2 Morning : Where do the best songs in this country come from, east or west?
Because last week's responses were so interesting and filled with such pith and vinegar, Tom's decided to continue asking the question this week, with a few refinements. One of them is the starting point. Here's how Tom explains it:
"Tell us what you think the absolute best Canadian songs are – new, old, sad, patriotic, angry, happy, ambivalent, dumb, impenetrable, maudlin (there’s room for everything if it’s really good)…and then tell us where you think that song comes from, and why. No holds barred on the 'where' part. If you think you can convincingly argue that Four Strong Winds is an eastern song (and good luck with that), then fill your boots."
You can respond right here on the Radio 2 Blog -- Tom reads 'em all, or here or here.
And now to the rest of today's programme highlights:
Boxing Day at last. Don’t get me wrong: I love the special warmth that one feels on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but Boxing Day is the reward for all the hard work that led us there in the first place.
This will be my last blog post of the year (yikes!) as holidays beckon. (Well, they don't actually raise up a hand and wave, but I am taking some regardless.) The talented Philly Markowitz (see last post!) will be hosting the blog Christmas Day through New Year's Eve. I hope you will welcome her with open virtual arms. I sure do -- thanks, Philly, have fun. 
'Twas the morn' before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except a computer keyboard. Wait a minute, that hardly seems sugar plum-ish and snow covered vista-ish. But it is the workday reality, not to mention that around here the beautiful snow is turning to rain, ice, rain, which is just all wrong. 
Not to suggest time travelling has to be done with a metronome...but that today there is some very imaginative time travelling of the mind, when Robert Harris joins Tempo (10 a.m. - 3 p.m.) host Julie Nesrallah to take listeners back two hundred years for some Beethoven. A great deal of Beethoven, actually, since on December 22, 1808 Beethoven was even busier than usual, masterminding a marathon of a concert in Vienna's 
Earlier in the week the Radio 2 Blog made note of the passing of British folk musician 
What with general December frenzy, a number of significant music-related events and stories have unfolded lately that have not been mentioned on the Radio 2 Blog. No more though, here's a bit of a catch up, starting with a good news story. 
He's won two Pulitzer prizes, he's the first composer to be honoured with a United States National Arts Medal, he's a Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France, and today he's 100 years old. And tonight American composer 
Recently Rolling Stone mag published a 
"How long how long, rivers of tears are crying...Time to bring about change for children...set yourself free, you can heal your heart and soul, help bring about change for children..."
You know how on 
"What would you choose to PROROGUE?" -- that's the blog question of the week! (Courtesy of Tom Allen at 
While many south of the border hold their breath hoping that President- elect Obama will somehow reverse the economic tide of woe, others are banking on him to do something about the arts. Others as in 
Of course it was only a matter of time. What with the 21st mania for contests (and musicians like 
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