On May 1, pianist Richard Goode returns to Carnegie Hall to treat the audience to his critically acclaimed interpretations of Beethoven's monumental late piano sonatas. A native of the East Bronx, Goode—the first American pianist to record all 32 of the Beethoven piano sonatas—is especially sought after for his performances of the great German's piano works.

In a New Yorker profile of the pianist by David Blum, Goode is reported as comparing Beethoven to "a Roman architect, he made the structures profoundly right; his works are less destructible than those of other composers."

By now, superlative descriptions of this eminent American pianist have become commonplace anywhere he plays. Allan Kozinn of The New York Times wrote that, "it is virtually impossible to walk away from one of Richard Goode's recitals without the sense of having gained some new insight, subtle or otherwise, into the works he played or about pianism itself.”

Prepare for the evening of May 1 by listening to Richard Goode's acclaimed recordings of Beethoven's piano sonatas nos. 30, 31, and 32.

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Richard Goode performs Beethoven's piano sonatas nos. 30, 31, and 32.

Related: May 1, Richard Goode

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day and the 50th anniversary of the concert, this installment of Live from Carnegie Hall features the March 17, 1963, recording of Ireland's Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.

Artists: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
Album: The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem In Person at Carnegie Hall: The Complete 1963 Concert
Date Recorded: March 17, 1963
Fun Fact: The original 1963 release of a recording of the concert was edited to just 11 tracks. The full concert recording—47 tracks, including 16 tracks of chat from the stage—was not released until 2009.

The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem had already performed at Carnegie Hall three times—including once as headliners—by the time of the St. Patrick's Day 1963 concert which, itself, came hot on the heels of a performance for President Kennedy at the White House.

The music and the dialogue tracks provide a very clear sense of how much fun was had by the artists and the audience that night. The set list included such rip-roaring favorites as "A Jug of Punch," "The Irish Rover," and "Óró, sé do bheatha abhaile," alongside the more melancholic "The West's Awake" and "The Parting Glass"—there was even a less-than-faithful rendition of the Bing Crosby hit "Galway Bay."

Although they reformed in various combinations over the years, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem broke up as a group in the mid-1970s. Makem was a regular visitor to the Hall in the decades after this concert—performing almost 20 more times—while, between them, The Clancy Brothers racked up an additional 60 appearances through the early 1990s.

Flyer for the March 17, 1963, concert of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem at Carnegie Hall.

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Live from Carnegie Hall Series
Hall History

Carnegie Hall is delighted to salute our longtime colleagues and Midtown neighbors, Steinway & Sons, as the venerable piano-maker celebrates its 160th anniversary.

Founded in Manhattan by German immigrant Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg—later Anglicized to Henry E. Steinway—in 1853, Steinway & Sons developed the modern piano with revolutionary designs and created 127 patented inventions to perfect the piano-making process. By the turn of the century, the company was crafting thousands of pianos in its Astoria, New York and Hamburg, Germany factories, each one created with the finest quality materials and the attention to detail for which the company quickly became known. Today, Steinway & Sons crafts approximately 2,500 pianos a year and is the choice of 97% of piano soloists who perform at major venues, such as Carnegie Hall.

Since Carnegie Hall first opened its doors in 1891, Steinway has been our close ally and is currently recognized as the Hall's Official Piano. Our shared history includes momentous performances by some of the most renowned and unforgettable musicians of our time. Steinway-playing artists over the decades have included Vladimir Horowitz, Duke Ellington, Arthur Rubinstein, Harry Connick Jr., Billy Joel, Lang Lang, Yuja Wang, Maurizio Pollini, Jeremy Denk, Mitsuko Uchida, and many more. Immortal Steinway Artists Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky made their debuts at Carnegie Hall, and in 1953 the Hall hosted dozens of Steinway Artists and thousands of fans for the Steinway Centennial Celebration.

In 1988, Steinway's 500,000th piano was unveiled at Carnegie Hall, and in 2003, Steinway's 150th anniversary was celebrated here with a three-day concert series titled A Celebration of Music, featuring such legendary performers as Randy Newman, Ahmad Jamal, Roger Williams, Nancy Wilson, Art Garfunkel, and Ramsey Lewis, among others. In addition to being in "musical proximity" with Steinway & Sons since Carnegie Hall opened, we have also been in close physical proximity since 1925, the year the renowned Steinway Hall was built, just steps away from our front door.

The Making of a Steinway: A Steinway & Sons Factory Tour, featuring the decades-old audio from a narrated factory tour by the late John H. Steinway (1917–1989).

To celebrate its 160th anniversary, Steinway will hold celebrations over the course of the next month at dealer locations throughout the United States as well as other special events throughout the year. One of the major highlights planned as part of the 2013 celebration is the opportunity to take part in events at the only Steinway & Sons factories in the world—in Astoria, New York and in Hamburg, Germany. A unique Steinway New York factory open house with in-depth, interactive tours by the foremen and craftsmen that build the world's best piano will take place on Saturday, June 22 at the famed Astoria factory. Separate VIP tours will be offered for both the press and the general public. Find out more or pre-register for the tour by visiting steinway.com/160.

From Carnegie Hall to Steinway & Sons, zum wohl!

On March 23 in Zankel Hall, violinist Jenny Scheinman, along with all-star bandmates guitarist Bill Frisell and drummer Brian Blade, presents the concert-hall world debut of their versatile and melodic trio. Here, Jeff Tamarkin reveals the violinist's surprising background.

When Jenny Scheinman performs at Zankel Hall on March 23, the violinist and vocalist will be both on familiar ground and stepping into relatively unknown territory. One of her collaborators, renowned guitarist Bill Frisell, has been a regular musical partner for more than a decade—the two have shared many stages together and contributed often to one another's recordings. But drummer Brian Blade—although one of the most in-demand and prolific in jazz—had worked with Frisell but never with Scheinman until a year ago, when this particular trio made its debut at a downtown club. Since then, the three have recorded an album together, to be released this year, and performed a handful of further dates, but Scheinman is still feeling out exactly what they are capable of as a unit—and marveling at what she's discovering.

"I love the way they play together," she says about Blade and Frisell. "Bill really lights fire with an aggressive drummer and you can anticipate what sort of chemistry it'll be with the three of us together. Whenever there's fewer players, there's more vulnerability, more exposure, more intimacy, more flexibility. I like the possibilities—the way Bill's guitar hugs me and the way I'm getting to know Brian. It's sort of like being at a small dinner party, so to speak."

Scheinman has never been afraid to step into new and often disparate worlds. Her music bridges the free-spiritedness of jazz with the back-porch homey casualness of folk and country, a seemingly odd hybrid that makes perfect sense when her back story is revealed: Scheinman grew up in rural Northern California in a family where music was plentiful but "there wasn't much else to do." She left at age 16 and ultimately came of age professionally amidst New York City's bustling, competitive jazz scene. Now she's recognized for both her virtuoso violin work and as a song stylist, having supplemented her instrumental music with songs drawn from the folk idiom to which she was exposed during her childhood.

"Those American country-folk type songs are where I come from," says Scheinman, who is now residing back in California with her own family, "and with Brian and Bill the differences between the two sides of my music are bridged. That was a real revelation to me in the studio, to be able to go between instrumental music and these songs that I thought of as country songs. But the fun was that we approached them the same way."

Jeff Tamarkin is the associate editor of JazzTimes magazine.

Related: March 23, Jenny Scheinman Trio Featuring Bill Frisell and Brian Blade  

If you missed our live broadcast of Osvaldo Golijov's La Pasión según San Marcos yesterday, you can now stream the program in its entirety. This concert is part of our Carnegie Hall Live series, a partnership with WQXR and American Public Media. 

Follow along with the transcript of our live chat below, read the program notes, and follow the texts and translations.

 


 

Don't miss our next live broadcast event on March 20, featuring the San Francisco Symphony with pianist Yuja Wang.

If you missed our live broadcast of Osvaldo Golijov's La Pasión según San Marcos yesterday, you can now stream the program in its entirety. This concert is part of our Carnegie Hall Live series, a partnership with WQXR and American Public Media. 

Follow along with the transcript of our live chat below, read the program notes, and follow the texts and translations.

 


 

Don't miss our next live broadcast event on March 20, featuring the San Francisco Symphony with pianist Yuja Wang.

In 1998, soprano Renée Fleming originated the role of Blanche DuBois in a searing performance at the premiere of André Previn's beautiful opera based on the Tennessee Williams classic A Streetcar Named Desire.

Here, in advance of her return to this signature role in its first complete New York (semi-staged) performance on March 14 at Carnegie Hall, Ms. Fleming discusses the work with the composer.

Renée Fleming in Conversation with André Previn: A Streetcar Named Desire

Related:
March 14, A Streetcar Named Desire
Renée Fleming Perspectives

If you missed our live broadcast of Ensemble Matheus's concert here on Wednesday, you can now stream the program in its entirety. This concert is part of our Carnegie Hall Live series, a partnership with WQXR and American Public Media. 

Follow along with the transcript of our live chat below, read the program notes, and follow the texts and translations.

 


 

Don't miss our next live broadcast event on March 10, featuring Osvaldo Golijov's La Pasión según San Marcos.

Today, we're pleased to announce the names of the 120 exceptional young musicians from across America, specially selected to come together this summer as part of the first-ever National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America. Click here to see the full roster.

Hailing from 42 US states—from Eagle River, Alaska to Miami, Florida; from Seattle, Washington to Sioux Falls, South Dakota; from Honolulu, Hawaii to Kalamazoo, Michigan, from Los Angeles, California to Marietta, Georgia and beyond—these young orchestral players, ages 16–19, have been recognized by Carnegie Hall as being among the finest in the country following a comprehensive audition process.

The musicians of the first National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America will travel to New York in late June 2013 for a rigorous two-week training residency on the campus of Purchase College, State University of New York, working with some of the country’s best professional orchestral players. The young musicians will then have the opportunity to represent their country as the NYO-USA undertakes its inaugural international tour with stops at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center, followed by dates in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and London.

“We have been thrilled at the response to our creation of the NYO-USA program,” said Clive Gillinson, Executive and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall. “We are very excited, but not surprised, that there is such a depth of world-class talent among young musicians across the United States, and we know this first roster will be wonderfully strong. With the energy and skill demonstrated by these young players, we fully expect that the music-making of this orchestra will be completely inspirational for participants and audiences alike.”

Visit the NYO-USA homepage for more information about the members of the 2013 orchestra, as well as the tour, guest artists and faculty, and more.

Legendary classical guitarist John Williams and jazz-fusion guitarist John Etheridge have collaborated for more than a decade. On March 18 in Zankel Hall, they perform an eclectic mix of music for duo guitar, illuminating their distinctive skills and showcasing a wealth of musical experience across musical genres.

Music industry veteran Bob Golden points to the pair as evidence that "the widely held perception that the guitar is a limited, even primitive instrument" is a mistaken one.

Guitarists—by temperament and historical inclination—are instinctive collaborators and accompanists, as well as, inevitably, duo partners. Among such presently numerous pairings, perhaps the most luminous is the first-tier guitar tandem of John Williams and John Etheridge, respectively the instrument's premier classical virtuoso and the equally esteemed and recorded multi-genre guitar legend. Between them, the Williams-Etheridge Duo combine five centuries of classical, jazz, world, rock, folk, and new-age inspirations to create a peerless musical experience applauded by awed critics and mesmerized capacity audiences the world over.

Even today, it is still a widely held perception that the guitar is a limited, even primitive instrument despite the achievements of Segovia and other innovative predecessors. With Williams unquestionably among the most recorded solo guitarists of the past half-century, and more than 200 Williams and Etheridge individual album releases to date, these resourcefully versatile musical masters have, perhaps even more than any of their contemporaries, notably expanded the publically perceived musical boundaries of the guitar. Both partners are famously, fiercely, and most visibly major proponents of their chosen instrument in all its possibilities, and over the years have found their association to be a most ideal platform to educate an increasingly growing international public to the limitless potentials of guitar music.

Their critically applauded bestselling 2006 Places Between album typically features works by the two guitar masters and a widely disparate range of genres and international composers that span the previous two centuries. Williams has said, "In every contemporary activity in music, whether it is commercial music, film music, popular music, jazz, and all these influences that are now called world music or ethnic music, the guitar is a crucial part of it—not just an extra thing you have to adapt, a little imitation of something to play on guitar, but it actually is an integral part of what all these cultures are doing and using, so in that way the guitar is unlimited." And, as Etheridge once remarked in a 2007 interview about his partnership with Williams, "There is no limit to what we can do together."

—Bob Golden is a veteran of the music industry who is currently vice president of marketing at Carlin America, a major multinational music publishing corporation.

John Williams and John Etheridge perform part two of Paul Hart's Ludwig's Horse. They will perform the piece during their March 18 concert.

Related: March 18, John Williams | John Etheridge