Best Klezmer Podcasts (2024)

1
The Life and Music of Lili Boulanger 47:22

9d ago47:22

47:22

The history of classical music is littered with the stories of great composers who tragically died young. The composer I’ve been talking about for the last two episodes, Franz Schubert, died at 31. Mozart died at 36, Mendelssohn at 38, Bizet at 37, Gershwin at 38, Gideon Klein at 25, Purcell at 36. The composer I will tell you about today is part o…

1
Episode 114: Can We Talk? 2023-24 Season Wrap 27:17

18d ago27:17

27:17

In this episode of Can We Talk?, Jen, Nahanni, and Judith recap the past two seasons of the podcast, in which we entered the uncharted territory of a post-October 7 world. We discuss our approach to creating episodes about Jewish women’s responses to the attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza, while still making space to tell stories about ot…

1
Schubert Sonata in B Flat, D. 960 (Part 2) 54:14

24d ago54:14

54:14

There are a few tropes when it comes to Schubert’s late music. The pieces are very long. They have four movements. The first two movemnts are expansive, magisterial explorations of the human psyche, and the last two movements are much lighter, almost like two different pieces are at play. All of these tropes fit the Schubert B Flat Sonata we starte…

1
Episode 113: Getting Out Of Gaza 29:32

1M ago29:32

29:32

Since Hamas’s brutal attack on Israeli civilians on October 7, Can We Talk? has focused on Israeli women’s responses to the war. In this episode, we turn our attention to Gaza, where Israel’s sustained bombardment has taken a terrible toll—tens of thousands of people have been killed, nearly two million people have been displaced, and the medical s…

1
Schubert Sonata in B Flat, D. 960 (Part 1) 40:07

1M ago40:07

40:07

For a long time I’ve received emails and messages from people asking, and sometimes demanding, that I explore the solo piano repertoire. Other than a look at the Goldberg Variations of Bach, I’ve basically neglected a huge amount music, including some of the greatest works ever written. Why have I been doing this? Well, if I’m totally honest, it’s …

1
Klezmer Podcast 135- Eve Sicular 49:34

1M ago49:34

49:34

Eve Sicular joins me for the third time. Eve and the Isle of Klezbos have released a new album titled Yiddish Silver Screen. After nearly ten years, Eve and I have a lot of catching up to do, and we have a wide ranging discussion about everything from Yiddish film history to our fondness for 78 RPM records. We also get to hear the track Bonia Shur'…

1
Episode 112: Oral History Showcase: Mollie's Fight for Gay Rights 16:57

2M ago16:57

16:57

Dr. Mollie Wallick didn't set out to be a gay rights activist; she stumbled into the role in 1983, when she was a guidance counselor at Louisiana State University’s medical school in New Orleans. In this episode of Can We Talk?, you’ll hear excerpts from Mollie’s 2005 interview for the “Women Who Dared” oral history project. As we kick off Pride Mo…

1
Mozart Piano Concerto in D Minor, K. 466 48:12

2M ago48:12

48:12

H.C. Robbins Landon, the great musicologist, once wrote about Mozart that his music was “an excuse for mankind's existence and a small hope for our ultimate survival." I couldn’t agree more, especially when it comes to a piece like the one we’re going to talk about today, Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D minor, NO. 20, or K. 466. These days, Mozart is …

1
Episode 111: Ladino Makes a Comeback 22:29

2M ago22:29

22:29

Segun el tiempo, se abolta la vela. That’s a Ladino saying that means, “According to the weather, shift your sail.” And it's an apt way of describing Ladino's recent comeback. Ladino—or Judeo-Spanish—the language spoken by Sephardic Jews in Turkey, Greece and North Africa, saw a major decline after the Holocaust destroyed communities of native spea…

1
What is a Mode? 44:37

2M ago44:37

44:37

My first interaction with the musical term modes was Leonard Bernstein’s brilliant Young People’s Concert, also called What is a Mode? In that show, Bernstein showed how modes are an essential part of what makes modern music, meaning pop and rock music, tick. This was central to Bernstein’s point during this amazing show, which is available on Yout…

1
Episode 110: Oral History Showcase: Leni's Ladino Legacy 20:26

2M ago20:26

20:26

Lenora LaMarche, better known as Leni, was born in 1921 in the Sephardic Jewish community in Seattle, Washington, after her parents moved there from Rhodes, looking for better economic opportunities. She grew up speaking Ladino, and for over 30 years, she wrote a Ladino column in her synagogue newspaper called "Bavajadas de Ben Adam"—people’s fooli…

1
Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 1:03:25

3M ago1:03:25

1:03:25

In 1857, Brahms wrote to his friend Joseph Joachim about his first Piano Concerto, saying, “ “I have no judgment about this piece anymore, nor any control over it.” Brahms first began sketching his first piano concerto in 1853, but it would be five full years before Brahms finished the piece, and another year until its first performance. During tha…

1
Episode 109: Oral History Showcase: Ronya's Liberation Story 21:27

3M ago21:27

21:27

When Ronya Schwaab was a young girl, the highlight of her year was preparing for Pesach—the snow was melting, and she got to help bake matzos. Ronya was born in 1909 in Belarus. She grew up amidst the violence and antisemitism of World War I and the Russian Revolution, and immigrated to America as a teenager. As an adult, Ronya devoted her life to …

1
Fast, Furious, Fortissimo 46:31

3M ago46:31

46:31

Very often, when I tell people that I’m a classical musician, I am told, “wow, I love classical music! It’s so relaxing!” I think almost all classical musicians have heard that before, and you know what? Sometimes, it’s true! Classical music can be relaxing! But sometimes, and actually pretty often, classical music is NOT relaxing. It is exciting, …

1
Episode 108: Queer Klezmer with Isle of Klezbos 20:38

4M ago20:38

20:38

A lot of people love klezmer music and know that it made a big comeback a few decades ago. But not a lot of people know that the klezmer revival of the '70s and '80s was connected to queer Jewish liberation. In this episode of Can We Talk?, we’ll hear about how queer activism fits into the klezmer revival story from Eve Sicular, the drummer and lea…

1
Bonus Episode: The Nightingale of Iran 33:55

4M ago33:55

33:55

Last time on Can We Talk?, we spoke with Danielle and Galeet Dardashti about their new podcast, The Nightingale of Iran, which tells the story of their Persian family's musical legacy. Now, we're sharing the whole first episode with you. Enjoy!By Jewish Women's Archive

1
Copland Symphony No. 3 1:01:02

4M ago1:01:02

1:01:02

There has always been a debate about “The Great American Symphony.” By the time most prominent American composers got around to writing large scale symphonic works, the symphony had very nearly gone out of fashion. To many musicians and thinkers, the symphony had passed on with the death of Mahler. With the advent of atonality, which essentially de…

1
Episode 107: A Persian Family's Musical Legacy 29:12

4M ago29:12

29:12

Danielle and Galeet Dardashti grew up in a very musical family—they had a family band, their father was a cantor, their mother was a folk singer, and their grandfather was a famous singer in “the golden age” of Iran in the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s, with his own show on Iranian national radio. But growing up, they didn’t know much about the Persian sid…

1
An Exploration of Klezmer Music w/ Abigale Reisman 56:48

4M ago56:48

56:48

Klezmer music has always been very close to my heart, even as a classical violinist. During the pandemic I attempted to learn Klezmer clarinet, and soon I began collaborating with the great Klezmer(and classical!) violinist Abigale Reisman on her work for Klezmer band and orchestra called Gedanken. Abigale taught me so much about Klezmer music, inc…

1
Episode 106: A Pocket of Hope: Israeli Women Building a Shared Future 28:10

4M ago28:10

28:10

“From the deepest crises come the clearest visions…We're fighting for our lives. We're fighting for our future,” says Sally Abed of Standing Together, a grassroots political movement in Israel. In this episode of Can We Talk?, we hear from Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel who are working on shared society initiatives, even in the midst of …

1
Schumann Symphony No. 3, "Rhenish" 54:36

5M ago54:36

54:36

In 1850, Robert Schumann accepted a position as the new Music Director in Dusseldorf. This job had a lot of responsibilities, including conducting the city orchestra. Schumann, along with his wife, the legendary pianist Clara Schumann, and their 7 children moved to Dusseldorf. The city made a huge to do about the Schumann’s arrival, welcoming him w…

1
Beethoven String Quartet, Op. 59, No. 1 58:38

5M ago58:38

58:38

In 1806, the 36 year old Beethoven received a commission from the Russian ambassador in Vienna, Count Andreas Razumovsky. Razumovsky wanted a set of string quartets for what would soon be his house string quartet which included some of the finest players Vienna had to offer. As part of his commission, Razumovsky asked Beethoven to include a Russian…

1
Ethel Smyth Serenade in D 48:09

5M ago48:09

48:09

I’ve mentioned Ethel Smyth a few times in the past on this show. This is partly because of her music, and partly because she remains one of the most interesting people who ever lived. She was a composer of course, but she was also a conductor and an author, as well as a political activist. Specifically, she was a suffragette, fiercely advocating fo…

1
Dvorak Cello Concerto 48:53

6M ago48:53

48:53

When you think of the genre of the concerto, you might be thinking of something like this: virtuoso fireworks, perhaps over romantic gestures designed simply to show the soloist off, and a rather pedestrian orchestral part, giving the soloist all of the spotlight while the conductor and orchestra are mere accompanists. Of course, this is a huge gen…

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