JPR Classics

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Banjos, Bartók And La Belle Époque: New Classical Albums

By Tom Huizenga

Published December 9, 2013 at 9:34 AM PST

Meet Béla Fleck, the classical composer. He has written himself a concerto for banjo and orchestra called <em>The Impostor</em>. — Meet Béla Fleck, the classical composer. He has written himself a concerto for banjo and orchestra called *The Impostor*.

People ask why I thrive on classical music, and I tell them it's all about discovery. The possibilities for finding incredible music, both old and new, are endless as the oceans. And on this visit to All Things Considered, host Jacki Lyden and I explore new music from the young Caleb Burhans that echoes an older liturgical style and a new concerto for banjo by Béla Fleck, plus a pair of concertos written 30 years apart by a Fleck namesake, Béla Bartók. And we'll slip into the elegant world of the fin-de-siècle Parisian salons via the perfumed music of Reynaldo Hahn.