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March 2005

Haydn 1732

Thursday, March 31, 2005

Franz Joseph Haydn, known familiarly as “Papa” Haydn, was born this day in 1732. We hear compositions by him and by others who borrow his themes to work their own magic.


The Unknowable Gurdjieff

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

The “unknowable” Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, self-styled “teacher of temple dances” and seeker of spiritual truths, hummed and improvised music that his amanuensis, Thomas Hartmann, wrote down.


A Little Knight Music

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Sir William Walton was born 103 years ago this day (1902), and received a number of awards during his lifetime, not the least of which was his knighthood in 1951.


The Borodin Quartet

Monday, March 28, 2005

The Borodin Quartet is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year! You can hear them on WNYC this evening, playing the Beethoven String Quartet No. 15. Or you can hear them live...


Easter Hymn

Sunday, March 27, 2005

On this Easter Sunday, we offer the familiar and inspiring Easter Hymn from Mascagni’s famous opera, “Cavalleria rusticana.” Lamberto Gardelli conducts the Royal Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Covent Garden.


A Birthday: Bela Bartok

Friday, March 25, 2005

It’s Bela Bartok’s birthday and time for some bright and bouncy Bagatelles. Pianist Gyorgy Sandor plays all fourteen of his Opus 6 charmers for us this evening.


The Lid from the Pot

Thursday, March 24, 2005

We know about the dish running away with the spoon, but what about the Pot who is lured away from the Lid by a suave and heartless Twirling Stick?


A Birthday: Michael Nyman

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Remember Jane Campion’s 1991 film “The Piano”? Michael Nyman (born this day in 1944—cheers, Michael!) wrote the film score and later developed his Piano Concerto from the movie’s themes.


Steven Sondheim's Birthday

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Steven Sondheim is seventy-five years old today. The glorious soprano Dawn Upshaw, who can sing every genre known to man, sings three of his songs for us this evening.


Bach's Birthday

Monday, March 21, 2005

To honor Johann Sebastian Bach on his birthday (1750), we begin the evening with Leon Fleisher playing Myra Hess’s famous transcription of “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” for solo piano.


First Day of Spring

Sunday, March 20, 2005

It’s the first day of Spring, but it is also the day the Metropolitan Opera National Council presents in concert the finalists from this year’s competition.


Portuguese Fado

Friday, March 18, 2005

Frank Tenaille calls the Portuguese fado “a blend of unfathomable lightness and leaden affliction, of scars and tenderness.” Hear Misia reveal all its visceral contradictions.


Saint Patty's Day!

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Sure and begorrah, it’s Saint Patty’s Day! The wee folk’ll be dancin’ i’ the dell, the harps’ll be plucked and the pipes’ll be blown, and lucky shamrocks found...


John Adams, Composer, Conductor, Educator

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

John Adams is not only a composer but also a conductor and educator, as he proves at Zankel Hall on Monday, March 21st, where he is joined by many fine artists.


Extra Notes?

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Airs weekdays at 7PM on 93.9 FM
According to Johannes Brahms, "It is not hard to compose, but it is wonderfully hard to let the superfluous notes fall under the table." Any extra notes in his First String Sextet?


San Francisco Symphony Coming to Town

Monday, March 14, 2005

The San Francisco Symphony is coming to town and will be playing at Carnegie Hall on March 16th and 17th. But first, hear them here—this evening...


Hugo Wolf

Sunday, March 13, 2005

Hugo Wolf’s name usually brings to mind his great body of Lieder. But this great Austrian composer was skilled at far more than songs, as we discover this evening.


Recordings by the Vienna Philharmonic

Friday, March 11, 2005

Evening Music showcases recordings by the Vienna Philharmonic on either side of our 8PM live broadcast of the orchestra’s performance at Carnegie Hall.


Vienna Philharmonic Highlights

Thursday, March 10, 2005

In anticipation of tomorrow evening’s live-from-Carnegie-Hall broadcast of the Vienna Philharmonic, we’ll highlight the orchestra’s versatility on this evening’s show with several examples from its extraordinary recording career.


Siegfried's Surprise

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

On the morning of 12/25/1870, Richard Wagner’s wife Cosima was awakened by soft music being played by a 15-piece orchestra assembled on the household stairwell...


A Birthday: Alan Hovhaness

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

American composer of Armenian and Scottish descent Alan Hovhaness was born on this date in 1911. We hear a couple of his works in celebration...


A Birthday: Maurice Ravel

Monday, March 07, 2005

Maurice Ravel (who was born this day in 1875) called his (in)famous Bolero an experiment “Consisting wholly of orchestral tissue without music.” No wonder it is so well known!


A Birthday: Lorin Maazel

Sunday, March 06, 2005

Lorin Maazel, Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, was born seventy-five years ago today. We hear from him as both a conductor and a composer this evening...


Viva Vivaldi!

Friday, March 04, 2005

Viva Vivaldi! Born this day in 1678, the Venetian composer now so familiar to us was rescued from virtual oblivion only in the 20th century. Reviled by some, loved by many . . .


Triple Concerto a Tre

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Gian Carlo Menotti says the unusual name for his “Triple concerto a tre” refers to the three movements and three groups of three soloists each: violin, viola, cello; oboe, clarinet, bassoon; and piano, harp, and percussion.


Marc Blitzstein's Hundredth

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

This is one of those really important birth dates—Marc Blitzstein’s hundredth, so we hear Dawn Upshaw sing his “I Wish It So,” as well as the proverbial more . . .


Chopin Celebration

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Because he was born this day in 1810, we’ll hear Chopin this evening. Piano music, yes, but also some arrangements: one for orchestra and one for jazz quartet . . .