The New Criterion

James Panero, the Executive Editor of The New Criterion, reads the essay “New worlds,” his reflections on a discovery of fifteenth-century Venetian glass beads in Alaska, from the September issue.

The opening piece, Jay says is one of the most joyous, most exuberant pieces ever written. It is a movement of a symphony, actually—the finale. Jay closes this program with Victor Borge, the musician-comedian, or comedian-musician—but in a serious vein. There is much to soak in, in this relatively brief program. Maybe the kind to listen to twice. Mozart, Symphony No. 34 in C, K. 338, finale Rorem, “Ferry Me Across the Water” Bach-Loussier, Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 Henriques, Lullaby

Roger Kimball, the Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion, discusses highlights of the April 2021 issue and reads from its opening pages.

It is characteristic of this podcast to contain a variety of music. But this episode is exceptionally diverse, with music by George Walker, Lili Boulanger, and Florence Price, to go with music by Mozart, Shostakovich, and Hindemith. Jay lays it out for you. Interesting and rewarding musical terrain. Walker, “Lyric for Strings” Shostakovich, Concerto No. 1 in C minor for Piano, Trumpet, and Strings, last movement Mozart, Serenade No. 10 in B flat for winds, “Gran Partita” Boulanger, Lili, “D’un vieux jardin,” from “Trois Morceaux” Price, “Ethiopia’s Shadow in America” Hindemith, “Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber,” March

“Care to romp around in some Romantic piano music?” asks Jay. “Virtuosic Romantic piano music? High-quality salon stuff? Well, that’s what we’re going to do.” Jay gives us a program of the talented, witty, dashing Moritz Moszkowski (1854–1925). The final piece is maybe Moszkowski’s best loved: “Étincelles,” or “Sparks.” Music of Moritz Moszkowski Étude de Virtuosité in F, Op. 72, No. 6 “Chanson bohème” “Caprice espagnole” Piano Concerto No. 2 in E, Op. 59 Étude de Virtuosité in A flat, Op. 72, No. 11 “Guitarre,” arr. Sarasate “Étincelles”

Jay has a piece by Bach, and one of his best. He has another piece once attributed to Bach. And he has a third piece that may or not be—by the master, that is. In any case, wonderful music, and a highly interesting program. Bach?-Stokowski, Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 Stölzel (formerly attributed to Bach), “Bist du bei mir” Bach, Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 538

When Jay says “just perfect,” in this episode, he is referring to Marilyn Horne’s singing of “At the River.” This is the piece that ends the podcast. It’s a little Independence Day nod. Elsewhere, Jay discusses and plays a Debussy song, two famous guitar pieces, and a piano piece by Frederic Rzewski, the American composer (also a political radical), recently deceased. A neat, varied, interesting, and enriching program. Debussy, “La mer est plus belle que les cathédrales” Villa-Lobos, Prelude No. 5 Rzewski, “Down by the Riverside” Barrios, “Julia Florida” Lowry, arr. Copland, “At the River”

Roger Kimball, the Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion, discusses highlights of the June 2021 issue and reads from its opening pages.

This episode begins with a poem, first published in The New Criterion, in 2002: Charles Tomlinson’s “If Bach had been a beekeeper.” It speaks of “the honey of C major.” We then duly hear some Bach in C major. We also hear a famous aria—an aria made famous by a movie. And “Estrellita,” in two different versions: the original song, plus what Heifetz did to it, or rather, for it. The podcast includes other appetizing items as well. A fine smorgasbord.

On May 26, 2021, Mene Ukueberuwa addressed a gathering of the Young Friends of The New Criterion in New York. Listen to his remarks on the state of American journalism and what it means to do journalism well. Mene is introduced by Roger Kimball, Editor of The New Criterion, with prefatory remarks by Executive Editor James Panero. Mene works as an editorial writer at The Wall Street Journal, where he covers the economy, taxes and regulation, and other hot topics. He joined the Journal in 2018 after stints at City Journal and The New Criterion, where he was a Hilton Kramer Fellow.

Jay provides a program of songs and arias about spring: a variety of composers and languages. And performers. Maria Callas and Ella Fitzgerald are among them. This is a wonderful category of music: rhapsodic, hopeful, giddy, appreciative. Spring it up. Argento, “Spring,” from “Six Elizabethan Songs” Hahn, “Le printemps” Strauss, “Der Lenz” Wagner, “Du bist der Lenz,” from “Die Walküre” Rachmaninoff, “Spring Waters” Saint-Säens, “Printemps qui commence,” from “Samson et Dalila” Hoiby, “Always It’s Spring” Rodgers & Hammerstein, “It Might As Well Be Spring”

James Panero, the Executive Editor of The New Criterion, reads the essay “The right angle,” his reflections on Isaak Walton’s “The Compleat Angler” from the June issue of The New Criterion.

In this episode, Jay begins with some playing by Maxim Lando, a teenage pianist. There is also a solo-violin piece by John Corigliano: “Stomp.” At the end, Jay pays tribute to Christa Ludwig, one of the greatest singers of all time, who has passed away at 93. In a life of interviewing, he has been starstruck very few times, he says. He was by Christa Ludwig. Sibelius, Piano Sonata in F, Op. 12 Led Zeppelin / Maxim Lando, “Stairway to Heaven” Glazunov, finale, Symphony No. 5, “Heroic” Corigliano, “Stomp” Mancini, Theme to “Peter Gunn” Brahms, “Wie Melodien zieht es mir”

James Panero, the Executive Editor of The New Criterion, reads the essay “Man & beast,” his reflections on the zoo from the May issue of The New Criterion.

This episode ends with “Embraceable You,” the Gershwin song—but in a piano arrangement by Earl Wild. An extraordinary thing. The episode begins with some Bach—the same piece, more or less, two different ways. Jay also has some music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, known by some as “the African Mahler.” There is a story, too, about French horn playing. Does your pulse race when you have a big solo? You bet it does. Much to savor here. Bach, Prelude in E minor from Book I of “The Well-Tempered Clavier” Bach-Siloti, Prelude in B minor Coleridge-Taylor, Clarinet Quintet in F-sharp minor, Op. 10, first movement Dove, “Departure,” from “Airport Scenes” Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 5, slow movement Gershwin-Wild, “Embraceable You”

Roger Kimball, the Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion, discusses highlights of the April 2021 issue and reads from its opening pages.

“Like many adult pleasures, poetry is an acquired taste. We don’t grow up surrounded by it, the way we do pop music and movies, whose conventions become second nature. Rather, poetry is to our usual ways of reading and writing as classical music is to pop, or as ballet is to dancing at parties.” That’s from “On ‘getting’ poetry,” a feature essay in the April 2021 issue by our poetry editor, Adam Kirsch. Adam joins James Panero to discuss the state of poetry and the special April poetry section, for which he served as lead editor.

James Panero, the Executive Editor of The New Criterion, reads his essay from the April issue of The New Criterion on the rehanging of The Frick Collection in the former home of the Whitney Museum.

Roger Kimball, the Editor and Publisher of The New Criterion, discusses highlights of the March 2021 issue and reads from its opening pages.

Jay begins with a toast from “La rondine,” Puccini’s opera; he ends with “The Lord’s Prayer,” sung by Leontyne Price on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Lots in between, of course: including tributes to the jazz pianist and composer Claude Bolling; the jazz guitarist Pat Metheny; and the organist John Weaver. A delicious program. Puccini, “Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso,” from “La rondine” Fauré, “Reflets dans l’eau” Bolling, “Baroque and Blue,” from Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Prokofiev, Piano Sonata No. 7 Metheny, “Have You Heard” Weaver, Variation on “Sine Nomine” Malotte, “The Lord’s Prayer”