Classical Classroom

The Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto was written by two Chinese composers, Chen Gang and He Zhanhao, in 1959. In honor of Chinese New Year – which begins 1/31 – Houston Public Media's Catherine Lu has come back to the Classroom to teach us all about this gorgeous piece, which was based on possibly the most tragic opera ever.

Audio production by Todd “??” Hulslander with ??????? by Dacia Clay.

Music in this episode:

– Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao – violin by Gil Shaham

– “Leading a Camel” from the The Flowing River Water, by Yang Yi He (erhu example)

...and don’t miss Catherine Lu’s 2-hour Chinese New Year classical music celebration on Classical 91.7 (and on classical917.org) at noon and again at 10pm, Friday (1/31)!

Mendelssohn's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", Suite from Incidental Music! In this episode, Classical 91.7 announcer and producer, and Cheeto the cat's person, Catherine Lu chats with Dacia. Learn about scherzos, nerds, and Dacia's totally plausible theory about Puck's "love potion".

Audio production from Todd Hulslander, with a lot of help this time actually from Dacia Clay.

Music used in this episode includes:

– Mendelssohn: Incidental Music to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Op. 61 (We used CBS/Sony 37760 with Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra, which is not available – we think – for MP3 download, but here is another recording which is perfectly lovely.)

Revisit Classical Classroom’s very first show! Classical music announcer Chris Johnson compares two very different recordings of the same piece. Gut strings, basso continuo, and the Baroque period are discussed.

In this episode, Dacia Clay talks with Chris Johnson about Vivaldi's "Autumn", and rich people having picnics.

Audio production by Todd “Teacup” Hulslander and Chris Johnson.

Music used in this episode includes:

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Concerto, “Autumn” by:

• Itzak Perlman violin solo, London Philharmonic
• Fabio Biondi solo violin, Europa Galante

Today – that is April 18th 2016 – much of our fair city of Houston is underwater. There was a big scary flood, the power’s out, the roads are lakes, and we, the Classical Classroom team, literally can’t get to the station to access the files we need to post our new episode. We tried to cobble together an ark, but it turns out that’s a whole thing. However! Through sheer grit, determination and the power of the human spirit to use computers, we have unearthed this episode with Todd Reynolds, which we think – nay! – we know you will enjoy.

Also, on a serious note, our city is in bad shape and a lot of folks are going to need some help after the floodwaters subside. If you can help, visit the Texas Red Cross Gulf Coast Region website and make a donation. That’s also a good place to go if you are in need of help.

What do we mean when we say “classical music”? Sure, sure: it refers to a period of music, like “Baroque” or “Romantic”. But we largely use the word as a sort of generic brand-name for a specific variety of sound. In this episode of Classical Classroom, genre-ignoring violinist Todd Reynolds attempts to define classical music. Does he succeed? Does he give up and just start talking about Prince instead? Maybe and maybe! Listen to this episode to find out.

Audio production by Todd “Timbalander” Hulslander with at least 3 really good suggestions from Dacia Clay.

Music in this episode:

• Third Construction by John Cage
• Composition for Four Instruments by Milton Babbitt
• “Pulses” from Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich
• Symphony No. 41 (the “Jupiter Symphony”), Molto Allegro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• “Happy” from G I R L by Pharrell Williams
• “Let’s Go Crazy” from Purple Rain by Prince and the Revolution
• “Crossroads” and “Taskforce: Farmlab” from Outerborough by Todd Reynolds
• Fantasia in G Major, BWV 571 by Johann Sebastian Bach

Todd Reynolds was a special guest of the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts.

ABOUT THE MITCHELL CENTER The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts is dedicated to interdisciplinary collaboration across the performing, visual, and literary arts. Based at the University of Houston, the Mitchell Center commissions and produces new works, presents public performances and exhibitions, offers curriculum and scholarships, and hosts residencies with renowned visiting artists from throughout the world. The Center is home to the Mitchell Artist Lecture, an annual event featuring a pioneer in contemporary art-making, as well as CounterCurrent, an annual spring festival of new performance. The Mitchell Center forms an alliance among five departments at UH: the School of Art, Moores School of Music, School of Theatre & Dance, Creative Writing Program, and Blaffer Art Museum. For more information visit www.mitchellcenterforarts.org.

For more about Todd Reynolds check out his blog: www.toddreynolds.wordpress.com

Since the U.S. has been celebrating its beginnings this week, we thought we’d go back to ours. We hope you enjoy this throwback. And! Because we were in the holiday spirit, we added a little present for you at the end of the show. We hope you enjoy it. And that Tchaikovsky doesn’t turn over too hard in his grave when you play it.

P.S., When we recorded this episode, Angela was indeed a “Schmidt.” Now, she is a “Mitchell.” As in, married to Brett Mitchell. As in, Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra. (And Episode 4 of our show.) And in addition to being a professional opera singer, Angela is Assistant Producer at WCLV. They are a classical music power couple, people. And some of our favorite humans. So, when you hear “Schmidt” in this episode, think “Mitchell.” Kthx! ——————————————— In this episode, opera singer and classical music announcer Angela Mitchell talks about bel canto aria and sleepwalking, wrongly-accused hussies.

Angela Mitchell. Photo by Roger Mastroianni. Courtesy of the artist’s website.

Audio production by Todd Hulslander and Angela Mitchell.

Music in this episode: – “La Sonnambula” (“The Sleepwalker”) by Vincenzo Bellini.

For more about Angela Mitchell: www.angelamitchellsoprano.com

Thumbnail image of Angela as Nanetta in Verdi’s Falstaff courtesy of Angela’s website.