MSO’s Baroque program, Grizzly Bear’s Baroque pop
Tom Strini teaches Sahan Jayasuriya about countertenors and Handel arias; Sahan returns the favor with a primer on Grizzly's lush orchestrations, in the first installment of this new podcast series.
Georg Frederich Handel died in 1759, a master of both Italian operas and English oratorios. 250 years later, in 2009, Baroque pop artists Grizzly Bear first cracked the Billboard charts with “Veckatimest.”
Tom Strini writes about music. Sahan Jayasuriya writes about music. And while those two sentences don’t usually refer to the exact same type of music, there’s more than a few occasions throughout the calendar year where those intersect.
That makes the two of them a perfect duo for our inaugural edition of Comparing Notes, a new TCD podcast where we put two of our writers in a room and give them the opportunity to share what they know and talk about upcoming events which might interest the other. In this edition, Tom focuses on the latest MSO concert this Friday and Saturday, a Handel-centric affair that brings in guest conductor Nicholas McGegan, soprano Yulia Van Doren and countertenor Daniel to perform a collection of his arias and duets, along with Avison’s Sixth Sonata and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. In response, Sahan introduces Tom to Grizzly Bear, an indie, baroque pop group coming to the Pabst Theater on tour to support their new album Shields.
Comparing Notes is hosted by Matthew Reddin and engineered by Hannah McCarthy. The series joins two different writers and two upcoming events by a common thread, to offer a unique look at each. For more TCD podcasts, visit our podcast archive.
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra will perform The Glory of Handel at 8 p.m. Friday, March 29, and Saturday, March 30. Tickets range from $25 to $105 and can be purchased at (414) 291-7605 or the MSO box office.
Grizzly Bear, touring in support of their fourth album, Shields, will visit the Pabst Theater Tuesday, April 2 with special guest Owen Pallett. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets are $29.50. To order, call (414) 286-3663 or visit the Pabst box office.
This is a really great idea, and a great finished recording. I may be in an unusual position in that I think I may attend both of these shows, but I am not familiar with Handel as well as I ought to be (though with Grizzly Bear I’ve become somewhat more familiar recently.)
Just having two critics sit down and go into a structured free-form conversation is a real treat, not unlike improvisational collaboration with musicians.
The information about Handel’s life and examples of his music were enlightening. It was also great to hear perspective on the most recent Grizzly Bear album, and especially how these two relate.
Iconoclast!