Tuesday Monday Musical Offering

Ok, a day late.  But--here is a radio program that I have found that I like very much:  The Piano Matters, hosted by David Dubal. (Link) Oregon's classical radio station, KWAX, plays it Tuesdays at 5 PM and Saturdays at, I think, 6.  It's on other stations too.  It's an hour of piano lover's delights.

So much of radio programming, not to mention concert programming and CD producing, is geared towards completism and Big Statements:  all the preludes of so and so, the complete scherzi of X, the entire Opus 42 of Y.  This show is mostly miniatures, morceaux de salon, obscurities by one-hit-wonders, or obscurities by big names who just aren't known for little snippets that can be played by talented amateurs.  A space is carved out for one big thing per hour, usually a concerto movement, but the rest is a big box of bijoux that few have heard.

Not only that, but the host is content to play recordings that have sound quality that is...well, the suck.    But if you want to hear Godowski or somebody who studied with Liszt, that's what you're going to get.  And you'll like it.

The host is also worth listening to, because, as is rare these days, he has opinions about what he plays and he freely shares them*.  To be sure, he comes by those opinions honestly, as a piano teacher at Juilliard.  "That was pretty good...Maybe a little lacking in a certain majesty, but stylish in its own way."  "Well played, a charming but negligible piece that is worth hearing, once."  He name-drops, but he's entitled to do so by his own works.  He throws in a few mottoes as spacers, which are sometimes worth thinking over and sometimes merely annoying.  But, all in all, this is one of my absolute favorite shows.  Give it a listen.

*Sean Bianco, of Sacramento's Capitol Public Radio's At the Opera on Saturdays at 8:00 is especially worthy in this regard.