In the late 1980s I was an announcer at WHRB, the Harvard student radio station, hosting a program called Music Since 1900 and organizing "orgies," or comprehensive continuous surveys, of Britten, Nielsen, Shostakovich, Ligeti, Tubin, Mahler, and the Avant-Garde of the Seventies and Eighties. In preparing for the Ligeti event, I corresponded with the great man, who, in a letter I stupidly lost, let me know how to obtain a recording of his Poème Symphonique for 100 Metronomes; I proceeded to play it on the air, causing bafflement. On a more dubious note, I was responsible for an event called Schnorgy (works of Schnebel, Schnabel, and Schnittke) and an Ecstatic Radio Fantasia on Robert Ashley's "She Was a Visitor." I'm ever grateful to WHRB for widening my musical horizons: as I recount in Listen to This, DJs in the station's jazz and rock departments broke down my lifelong resistance to non-classical music. WHRB — and in particular David Elliott, an alumnus and longtime guardian of the station — also led me to my present vocation: I made my debut as a music critic in a 1988 Program Guide, reviewing Robert Simpson's Sixth and Seventh Symphonies on Hyperion. Tomorrow afternoon (Nov. 10, 1-6PM) I'll be hosting Afternoon Concert on WHRB. My rather hectic playlist, ranging from the Eroica to Rothko Chapel, can be found below. Tomorrow evening I'll do a reading at Harvard Book Store.
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat, Op. 55, “Eroica”; Klemperer, Philharmonia Orchestra (EMI)
Schubert: Piano Sonata in A Minor, D. 784; Kempff (DG)
Strauss, R.: Salome, closing scene; Behrens, Böhm, Karajan, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (EMI)
Webern: Six Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6; Levine, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (DG)
Feldman: Rothko Chapel; California EAR Unit, UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus (New Albion)
John Adams: “Batter My Heart,” from Doctor Atomic; Finley, Gardner, London Philharmonic (Chandos)
John Luther Adams: Dark Waves; Van Zweden, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Arañés: “Un sarao de la chacona”; Savall, Hespèrion XXI, La Capella Reial de Catalunya (Alia Vox)
Bach: Ciaccona in D Minor; Kremer (ECM)
Ligeti: Hungarian Rock; Chojnacka (Teldec)
Clemens Non Papa: Ego flos campi; Stile Antico (Harmonia Mundi)
Schoeck: Notturno for Baritone and String Quartet, Op. 47; Gerhaher, Rosamunde Quartet (ECM)
Lieberson: “My love, if I die and you don’t”; L. H. Lieberson, Levine, Boston Symphony (Nonesuch)
Brahms: Intermezzo, Op. 117 No. 1; Radu Lupu (Decca)
