 | Good morning! For me and most of my colleagues, mornings just aren't mornings without a piping hot cup of coffee. In the old days, we made an event out of it, gathering around the coffee pot in our little office, mugs in hand, waiting for the machine to make the tell-tale gurgle that meant it was ready to pour. Caffeine thus collected, the day could really begin – we'd all head back to our desks and get to work. But "coffee club," as we affectionately called it, wasn't just about coffee. It was also our chance to chat with one another, checking in before we all started in on our separate tasks. By unspoken agreement, nothing important was allowed to happen before the coffee was poured, and so while we could talk about work, why bother? We'd get there eventually. This time was just for us. As I was reminded this weekend, coffee has been a conversation starter for centuries. Sunday morning's episode of The Bach Hour featured Bach's "Coffee" Cantata, which tells the story of a family's power struggle over the buzzy beverage – on one side, a teen girl, whose love for coffee surpasses all else, and on the other, her father, who wishes she would cool it with the caffeine. And while this story has a happy – or at least a humorous – ending, it also got me thinking about the role of coffee, trendy then and always, in our lives today. Coffee club is one of the office rituals I miss the most, working from home. Of course I brew my own every morning, but it isn't the same without my colleagues and their chatter to accompany it, just like grabbing a to-go cup can't compare to sitting a while in a cozy coffee shop, surrounded by strangers. For me, anyway, it's never really been about the coffee itself. It's about people, about sharing a moment or two of your day in good company. So grab a mug and settle in. Here's what we have for you this week on CRB: |
Also, be sure to check out the lineup for the upcoming 2021 Boston Early Music Festival, with 14 newly recorded concerts and two archival presentations of the operas the festival is so well-known for. | While we are pleased to offer episodes of WCRB In Concert on demand, due to rights restrictions we must remove content from time to time. Here are three broadcasts to listen to now, before they expire: | BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA | In an encore broadcast from 2018, Herbert Blomstedt leads the Boston Symphony Orchestra in an all-Mozart concert, featuring three of the composer's greatest symphonies: No. 34, No. 36, the "Linz," and No. 41, the "Jupiter." Hear Alan McLellan in conversation with Blomstedt now, then join us Saturday at 8pm! | This week on The Bach Hour, one of J.S. Bach's frothier creations pits a father against his caffeinated daughter in a family feud over coffee! Hear the "Coffee" Cantata and more, on demand now. Also available on demand: brilliant trumpets and punchy dance rhythms are usually signs that Bach's music is celebrating something. But that's not entirely the case with the Ascension Oratorio. Matthew Halls leads the Retrospect Ensemble in a brilliant expression of the multi-dimensional complexity and beauty of the composer's art. | On demand for this week only, hear violinist Augustin Hadelich live from New York's historic Atterbury House! Hadelich has appeared with every major orchestra in Europe and North America, as well as many in Asia, South America and Australasia. He has won the Indianapolis violin competition, a Grammy, an Avery Fisher career grant and the Warner Music Prize, and was named Musical America's Instrumentalist of the Year in 2018. We've also had the pleasure of working with Hadelich here at CRB, where he recorded his most recent release, Bach's complete solo violin works. So take our word for it – you're going to want to hear this. Hear him play Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Niccolò Paganini, Bach, and more. | - Prog rock and French dance pop reinterpretations of classical favorites are just two of the tracks you'll find in our epic May music favorites! This edition of Instant Replay also features a bit of Broadway flavor, some Miles Davis, the ubiquitous Carly Rae Jepsen, and a whole lot more – listen to the playlist here.
- Our latest roundup includes a calculator virtuoso, insight into the strange daily habits of famous composers, an interview with the guy who runs one of classical music's most popular Twitter accounts, and more! Check it out here.
- We celebrated Mother's Day earlier this month, and in honor of moms everywhere, Laura Carlo rounded up some of her favorite classical pieces about or inspired by the composers' mothers. Read and listen along here.
| A quick announcement before I go: we're updating our website this week! Don't worry, nothing big is changing (for you, anyway – it will be a huge improvement for those of us who run it). We don't expect any outages, but please be patient with us while we adjust to the new system. We're really excited, and we hope you like the result.
Have a great week! I'll talk to you soon.
Kendall | Do you love The Note? Help us spread the word! If you forward this email to a friend, they can subscribe here. | | | | |
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