Sticky Notes: The Classical Music Podcast

This week we're diving into one of the great movements ever written in Western Music with the slow movement of Beethoven's Op. 132 quartet. This is a movement that explores Beethoven's contradictory religious beliefs, his core optimism despite all that happened to him during his life, and his fascination with religious music. We'll then look at how Beethoven concludes this epic piece, using sketches of music that started out as being part of his 9th symphony, but not in the way you might expect. Enjoy!

I’ve long hesitated to write a show about any of Beethoven’s late string quartets.  These are pieces that quartets spend the better part of their careers grappling with, struggling with, failing with, and much more rarely, succeeding with.  They are some of the most extraordinary pieces of art ever conceived of.  5 quartets, Opus 127, Opus 130, Opus 131, Opus 132, and Opus 135 - all written near or at the end of Beethoven’s life, these pieces represent the pinnacle of everything Beethoven achieved, yes, even far beyond his symphonies in this conductors opinion.  They explore not only every conceivable emotion, but they dig down into the core of those emotions, defiantly refusing to skim the surface and daring to ask and THEN ANSWER the fundamental questions of life and death.  Everyone has a favorite Late Beethoven Quartet, but mine has always been Opus 132, and so this week I’m taking the opportunity of getting a Patreon sponsor request from Maria for a piece of chamber music to take the leap myself into Late Beethoven.  We’ll discuss Beethoven’s situation as he recovered from a life-threatening illness which he was sure was going to be his end, the unusual 5 movement structure of the piece, and this week, the first two movements of the quartet, the first of which, to me, defines everything that Sonata Form can do to express emotion and a narrative in a piece of absolute music.

I was thrilled to be joined by Joshua Roman, cellist, composer, and curator. The core of our discussion centers on building an orchestra from the ground up. That is, not taking over an existing orchestra, but starting one completely from scratch. How would this look in 2019? Joshua has been thinking about this for years so it was fascinating to hear him discuss this and many other topics. Thanks again for all of our support and here's to another 100 episodes!

Of all the interviews I've done this year on Sticky Notes, this might be my favorite.  I sat down a few weeks ago with Deborah Borda, the new CEO and President of the New York Philharmonic, to talk about the future of not only the New York Philharmonic, but also classical music in general.  We also talked about the connections between the artistic and social imperative of a classical music organization, Gustavo Dudamel, and the importance of listening to our communities.  This was a truly inspiring conversation, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!  

This week on Sticky Notes, I'm really happy to welcome Glenn Dicterow, the former concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, to the show.  Glenn was a concertmaster for an incredible 42 years, giving him thousands of great stories, memories, insights, and thoughts about leading, conductors, violin-playing, and orchestral life.  Thanks so much for listening, and I hope you enjoy it!  

Part 2 of The Week of the Voice is here with the incredible bass-baritone Eric Owens!  We talk about the joy of getting to play bad guys in opera, his professional-level oboe playing(!!), conducting, the future of classical music, and the art of getting into character.  If you've never heard Eric Owens sing before, you're missing out, but it's also a treat to hear him speak on any topic.  Thanks for listening!  

Welcome to the Week of the Voice!  Join conductor and host Joshua Weilerstein, back from a brief illness-inspired hiatus(!), as he welcomes in the amazing Mezzo-Soprano Sasha Cooke for a chat about Mahler, about singing opera versus recitals, preparation, text, traveling, contemporary music, and improv comedy!  This is the first of TWO interviews this week, so please stay tuned for an interview with the incredible bass-baritone Eric Owens, coming out on Thursday!  Thanks for listening!  

Join conductor and host Joshua Weilerstein as he welcomes the legendary cellist and humanitarian Yo-Yo Ma for a full-length interview!  In the interview, we discuss what it means to be a musical citizen, how to create change through music, why Yo-Yo went down this path, how he discovered so many different styles of music, and much much more.  I really hope you enjoy this interview of such an amazing artist - thanks for listening!  

Join conductor and host Joshua Weilerstein for a conversation with the world-renowned pianist Emanuel Ax!  We cover crossword puzzles, growing up in the Soviet Union, moving to Canada, and then to New York, selling baloney sandwiches, his first big break, the value and the drawbacks of competitions, his reputation as the nicest guy in classical music, the evolution of conductors, his timpani debut(!), and a lightning round!  I hope you enjoy it!  

Concluding a week-long focus on Composers of Color, join host Joshua Weilerstein as he welcomes Eun Lee, the founder of The Dream Unfinished, an activist orchestra using classical music as a platform to address issues of racial and social justice.  We talk about how that works, and how and why the project started.   Their concert is this Sunday, June 11th at Cooper Union University, and it's an event you shouldn't miss!