Anthony Tommasini — chief classical music critic for the New York Times from 2000 to 2021 — joins the Chuck Toddcast to discuss Voice of a Century: The Life and Artistry of Marian Anderson, out September 8th as part of the Significations series curated by Henry Louis Gates Jr. Tommasini didn't seek the project; he was asked to write it. His argument is that Anderson has been flattened into two civil rights milestones — the 1939 Lincoln Memorial concert before 75,000 people after the DAR barred her from Constitution Hall, and breaking the Met's color line — when the reason she mattered in the first place was the voice. He describes her extraordinary range, her European breakthrough (and the promoters who essentially whitewashed her race to sell her), her decision not to learn Italian because she knew American opera was closed to her, and the fact that had she been born thirty years later she'd have had an opera career.

The human material is remarkable: conscripted into a church choir at six, largely self-taught at piano, denied a hotel room and put up by Albert Einstein, who became a friend and pushed her to speak out more than she wanted to. Anderson's aim was to be a great artist, not an activist. They also get into the state of classical music in 2026 — why symphonies are so expensive to sustain, why live performance can't be replicated, and which American orchestra he'd send you to first.

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Timeline:

00:00 Anthony Tommasini joins the Chuck ToddCast

02:15 The origin of "Voice of a Century"

04:00 Marian Anderson as barrier breaker

06:15 Conscripted into the church choir at age six

09:00 Anderson became popular in Europe first

11:00 Promoters practically whitewashed her race to sell her

12:30 Why she never learned Italian

15:30 If born 30 years later, she'd have sung opera

18:30 Seeing Roland Hayes and the epiphany that followed

19:15 She wanted to be a great artist, not a civil rights activist

20:15 Denied a hotel room, invited to stay with Albert Einstein

22:30 Why she came back to America instead of staying in Europe

26:45 Ending every recital with negro spirituals

30:30 The Lincoln Memorial concert and the nerves behind it

37:00 What Anderson meant as a model for the Black community

38:45 Two Anderson recordings everyone should hear

44:30 The state of classical music in 2026

48:00 Why classical music has to be experienced live

53:45 The premiere symphony to attend in America

57:00 "Voice of a Century" is out September 8th