Radio Eclectus #105: Alvin in Wonderland (Apr. 28, 2022)

Gerald Barry does Alice in Wonderland. Alvin Lucier sings pop tunes. Éliane Radigue writes for pipe organ for the first time and Kevin Volans portrays fiery tongues. All this and more in our new podcast.

Join host Michael Schell as Radio Eclectus celebrates the 70th birthday of Gerald Barry and the 75th birthday of Nicola LeFanu with a whirlwind tour of Barry’s newly-recorded Lewis Carroll-centric opera, and a colorful LeFanu orchestral work that’s finally made it onto a record. We also traverse the entire 45 minutes of Radigue’s Occam XXV, and an ambitious new chamber work by Kevin Volans inspired by the Pentecost story. And a pair of landmark compositions by Alvin Lucier and Luciano Berio brought to us by our “50 years ago in the avant-garde” feature lead us to contemplate notions of high and low art, and whether a particular 1970s LP deserved its appellation as “one of the most obnoxious records ever made”.

Annotated playlist and photo credits with Comments.