wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

We begin with a latino-inflected hour, with Granados’s “Valses poeticos” played by guitarist David Russell, de Murcia’s “Fandango” played on Rolf Lislevand’s Baroque guitar, Soler’s “Fandango” played by harpsichordist Andreas Staier and friends, and Piazzolla’s “Tango Suite” brought to us by the guitar-strummming Assad brothers, Sergio and Odair. Later, Melvyn Tan is the featured artist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2, Roger Norrington conducting the London Classical Players. Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 is performed by the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Stuttgart under Sergiu Celibidache.

Our last hour brings Ravel’s “Miroirs,” which encompasses these five wonderful works: ‘Noctuelles’ (Owl-moths); ‘Une barque sur l’océan’ (A Boat on the Ocean); ‘Oiseaux tristes’ (Sad Birds); ‘Alborada del gracioso’ (A Jester’s Morning Serenade); and ‘La vallée des cloches’ (Valley of the Bells). Well, the individual works have names that match the music. But the overall title? Why? And why do they sound sooooo much better in French than in English? Never mind; the music always sounds great, especially when played by pianist Angela Hewitt. More mirrors appear as we play Arvo Pärt’s “Spiegel im Spiegel.” At least “Mirror in the Mirror” describes what happens musically in this case, as the part for violin is constructed as a mirror, and is itself mirrored by the piano. Violinist Vladimir Spivakov and pianist Sergei Bezrodny are the musical magicians for this sleight of hand. And the evening heads toward its close with Gilbert Biberian’s “Reflections,” a work for two guitars that the two guitarists (Julian Gray and Ronald Pearl) say has the effect of stones being gently dropped into a pool of water, the concentric circles echoing each first impact.