logo
episode-header-image
Feb 2022
17m 26s

Two authors tell stories of the weird an...

NPR
About this episode
Both interviews today will transport you into the exciting world of classical music. No, really! The first is with Brendan Slocumb, whose new book, The Violin Conspiracy, is a mystery surrounding a musician trying to recover his stolen violin. It's also about how hard it is to be a Black classical musician, Slocumb told NPR's Asma Khalid. The second is Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman's conversation with NPR's Scott Simon. Hindman's memoir Sounds Like Titanic follows her experience touring with an orchestra that wasn't really performing for the audience.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
Up next
Today
Justinian Huang’s new novel follows a Taiwanese-American family intent on a male heir
Justinian Huang’s new novel <em>Lucky Seed</em> is about a single, gay son pressured by his Taiwanese-American family to produce a male heir. In an interview with NPR’s All Things Considered, Huang tells NPR’s Ailsa Chang that his own family asked him to have a baby boy – or else ... Show More
8m 58s
Nov 22
Revisiting ‘Gone Girl’
Amy and Nick Dunn have the perfect life and are the perfect couple until they reach a breaking point, revealing their true selves. The book that spawned dozens of imitators but few peers, Gillian Flynn’s <em>Gone Girl</em> is this week’s read on the latest <em>Books We’ve Loved</ ... Show More
35m 31s
Nov 21
'The Ten Year Affair,' 'Sex of the Midwest' look at the role of sex in domestic life
Two new books examine how sex fits into suburban and small-town life, respectively. First, Erin Somers explores marriage and desire in her novel <em>The Ten Year Affair</em>. In today’s episode, she speaks with NPR’s Andrew Limbong about combining a multiverse plot with domestic ... Show More
16m 2s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2024
Violin Concerto No. 2 by George Tsontakis
Synopsis A concerto, according to Webster’s Dictionary, is “a piece for one or more soloists and orchestra with three contrasting movements.” And for most classical music fans, “concerto” means one of big romantic ones by Beethoven or Tchaikovsky, works in which there is a kind o ... Show More
2 m
Jun 2023
Sibelius Violin Concerto
<p><span style= "color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style= "font-size: small;">There's a joke among classical musicians that the only parts of a piece that matter are the beginning, the end, and one place in the middle.  I don't think its something that anyone ... Show More
48m 2s
Jun 2022
Bruch's Violin Concerto
A Violin Concerto in G minor, Opus 26, became the best-known work of the German composer Max Bruch. Originally written in 1866 it went through many revisions before finally being completed in 1867. It was performed extensively but having sold both the publishing and the manuscrip ... Show More
27m 48s
Dec 2021
Ysaye Sonatas for Solo Violin
<p>If you're not a violinist, you might not be familiar with the name Eugene Ysaye. But this violinist and composer was called "The King of the Violin" at the turn of the 20th century. Ysaye's biggest compositional achievement was inspired by a performance by the legendary Joseph ... Show More
1h 16m
May 2021
Beethoven Symphony No. 7
<p>The composer Carl Maria Von Weber called it the work of a madman. Clara Schumann's father, Friedrich Wieck, called it the work of a drunk. Beethoven's 7th has been popular ever since its premiere, but as you can see, not everyone loved it. It is a piece that has defied explana ... Show More
55m 31s
Feb 2012
Rachmaninov, 2nd Piano Concerto
Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto - famously featured in David Lean's film "Brief Encounter" - is one of the world's most popular pieces of classical music. Some of its fans describe the way in which it has touched and shaped their lives. Featuring a pianist from Taiwan whose memo ... Show More
27m 33s
Mar 2010
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto
Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.When Mendelssohn wrote his Violin Concerto in 1844 he could hardly have imagined how famous and well loved it would become. In this programme, people tell how it has played an important part in their lives. Violin ... Show More
27m 57s
Apr 2015
Bach Cello Suite No 1 in G Major
Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suite No I in G major is one of the most frequently performed and recognisable solo compositions ever written for cello. Yet it was virtually unknown for almost 200 years until the Catalan cellist, Pablo Casals discovered an edition in a thrift shop ... Show More
27m 29s
Sep 2023
The Music of World War II and the Holocaust with "Time's Echo" writer Jeremy Eichler (Part 1)
I had the great pleasure and honor this week(and next week) to speak with the author of the new book Time's Echo Jeremy Eichler. The book chronicles four composers and their varied reactions to World War II and the Holocaust, including Schoenberg, Strauss, Shostakovich, and Britt ... Show More
57m 45s