Sunday Baroque Conversations

Swiss-French flutist Emmanuel Pahud was just 22 years old when he landed the job as principal flutist with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1993. A few years later, he also launched a solo performing career and has recorded flute music spanning several centuries, from contemporary works he has commissioned to baroque concertos and sonatas, and a little jazz music, too. Emmanuel Pahud sat down to chat with Suzanne about his remarkable career making music, including how it's possible to juggle international solo engagements while playing principal chair in a major orchestra.

When renowned conductor Nicholas McGegan spoke with Suzanne Bona, he shared his thoughts about how and why artificial barriers went up between baroque & early music and other kinds of music, and he offered suggestions for making the concert-going experience more enjoyable and popular. He also shared his fondness for Oregon pinot noirs and advice on growing roses when one is always traveling, and he admitted to a naughty musical passion.

Jose Serebrier began his life long love affair with music as a child in Uruguay. He began composing as a teenager, and was just 17 when his first Symphony was premiered by the legendary Leopold Stokowski in New York. Soon after, Serebrier became Stokowski's assistant, and later learned from mentors and teachers including conductors George Szell and Antal Dorati, and composer Aaron Copland. Jose Serebrier has conducted many of the world's great orchestras, and recently released a recording of Stokowski's Orchestral Transcriptions with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (Naxos 8.572050). Suzanne spoke with him about his music, his new CD, and why he is optimistic about the future of classical music.

There's a wonderful world of baroque music from Latin America. Musicians such as Ignacio de Jerusalem and Manuel de Zumaya were talented, highly trained musicians in the tradition of Bach, Handel, and others. Unfortunately their music not as well known, but Sebastian Zubieta's job is to change that. He's a composer/conductor and Director of Music for the Americas Society, a non-profit organization with a mission that includes increasing public awareness and appreciation of the diverse cultural heritage of the Americas. Sebastian Zubieta recently spoke with Suzanne about some outstanding Latin American music and musicians, past and present, and how he gets the word out about them.

The first use of the term viol d'amore is believed to be in John Evelyn's diary of 1679. He described it by saying of it, "I never heard a sweeter Instrument or more surprising..." Frequently heard in baroque music, viola d'amore resembles a violin, but it has extra resonating strings - sympathetic strings - which give it a rich, sonorous and unusual tone. It's also very hard to play, which explains why the specialized instrument isn't more commonly heard. Suzanne Bona spoke with one of the world's viola d'amore experts, Myron Rosenblum, about the instrument, its history, and why he's such a passionate and enthusiastic advocate.

American pianist Simone Dinnerstein has fast been gaining international attention as a commanding and charismatic artist, and as one of the most compelling women pianists performing today. Suzanne talked with her about her new CD, her career and how motherhood has influenced her art.

Frederic Chiu's intriguing piano-playing and teaching springs from a diverse set of experiences and interests - his Asian/American/European background, his musical training, and an early and ongoing exploration of artificial intelligence and human psychology, especially the body-mind-heart connection. He spoke with Suzanne about his career and his non-traditional techniques.

John Holloway plays "baroque violin" with gut strings and a special bow. He also prefers to use autograph manuscripts of the music he plays so he can learn from the composer's notations and handwriting, and he researches the historic context so they will inform and influence his playing. He's a fan and champion of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Heinrich Biber, and other 17th and 18th century composers, and has made recordings of their music that are both enjoyable and illuminating. John Holloway chatted with Suzanne about his meticulous and scholarly approach.

Rock musician Sting has a fervent love and curiosity for a wide variety of musical genres. He practices his craft playing Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suites and he learned to play the lute when a friend gave him one as a gift. Sting was so haunted by the life and music of 16th century "alienated singer-songwriter" John Dowland that he finally heeded his friends' urging and recorded some of Dowland's lute songs. Suzanne spoke with Sting and lutenist Edin Karamazov about their collaboration on SONGS FROM THE LABYRINTH, which features Dowland's lute solos, songs, and readings from one of the composer's letters.

Tim Barringer, Paul Mellon Professor of the History of Art at Yale University, and Eleanor Hughes, a Post-doctoral Research Associate at the Yale Center for British Art, collaborated on a comprehensive interdisciplinary project called ART & MUSIC IN BRITAIN: FOUR ENCOUNTERS 1730 TO 1900. The exhibition combines music, scores, instruments and paintings from various Yale collections, and is on view until December 31, 2006 at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, CT. They talked with Suzanne about this unique project, and especially about the first of the four "encounters," which deals with George Frideric Handel's London from the 1730s to the 1750s.

Robert Wiemken is co-director of Piffaro Renaissance Band in Philadelphia. He sat down with Suzanne to talk about his group, including explaining where the name "Piffaro" comes from. He also talked about the people and instruments in the ensemble, what it takes to find 500-year-old music to play, and gave a surprising revelation that he's not strictly a "renaissance man" in his personal musical tastes.

Recorder virtuoso Matthias Maute -- who is featured prominently on many recordings you hear regularly on Sunday Baroque -- is also a composer, arranger, conductor and music professor. He spoke with host Suzanne Bona about having to carry around a few dozen different types of recorders for every performance, how he tried (unsuccessfully) to quit playing recorder as a boy, and why being married to a fellow musician is just like running any other family business.

After decades of dealing with a condition that impaired his ability to play piano with his right hand, pianist Leon Fleisher resumed his two-hand performing with a recording called TWO HANDS. Mr. Fleisher spoke with Suzanne about his life in music, his medical condition (dystonia), and why suffering from it may have actually been a blessing in disguise.

Lutenist and music professor Rolf Lislevand talks with Suzanne about how he first became interested in music (including his early days playing electric guitar!) and his brilliant 2006 recording NUOVE MUSICHE, a Baroque music CD with thrilling improvisations that suggest jazz, Celtic and Latin music.