On Demand
Evening Music Archive
January 2006
All Things Orpheus
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
During our third hour, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra plays Stravinsky's "Orpheus," ballet music commissioned by George Balanchine and conducted by the composer when the ballet was first presented in 1948.
Speaking of things Orpheus, the Chamber Orchestra will appear at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, February 8th, playing the premiere of a Marc Mellits piece co-commissioned by WNYC.
And speaking of things Stravinsky, in our second hour, you won't want to miss the Russian State Academic Orchestra and Choir, conducted by Igor Markevitch, performing his cooly mysterious "Symphony of Psalms."
Magnolias
Monday, January 30, 2006
The sweet "Magnolia Suite" by R. Nathaniel Dett is performed by pianist Denver Oldham. The movements: 'Magnolias'; 'Deserted Cabin'; 'My Lady Love'; 'Mammy'; 'The Place Where the Rainbow Ends.'
The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra performs Richard Strauss's First Sonatina for Winds in F, subtitled "From an Invalid's Workshop," written during the composer's slow recuperation from influenza. No sneezing!
Schubert's Symphony No. 6 occupies the spotlight in hour two, as the Orchestra of St. Luke's shines under the baton of Julius Rudel. Ending the evening is Villa-Lobos's Guitar Concerto, guitarist Goran Sollscher receiving the enthusiastic support of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
Transfigured Night
Sunday, January 29, 2006
An unnamed contemporary wrote of Schoenberg's "Verklärte Nacht" that "It sounds as though someone had smeared the score of Tristan while it was still wet."
As you listen to our second-hour performance by the Berlin Philharmonic under James Levine, you can make your own judgement about Shoenberg's song cycle, "Transfigured Night," a work composed first for string sextet and later reworked for string orchestra. Inspired by a poem by Richard Dehmel, the music tells the story of a man who forgives his beloved for conceiving a child with someone else; his compassion allows the couple’s world to be transfigured.
In hour one, flutist Emmanuel Pahud and pianist Stephen Kovacevich perform the first five of Debussy's "Epigraphes antiques," in a suite called "Bilitis." Debussy first wrote "Chansons de Bilitis" to accompany narration of poems by Pierre Louys, but did not publish the work, using much of it instead in "Epigraphes." The work is typical Debussy, melodious, mysterious, sensuous.
Celebrating Mozart 250
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Our weeklong Mozart 250 festival, celebrating Mozart’s birth on January 27, 1756, continues this evening. Both Evening Music and Overnight Music are devoted to Mozart throughout the week. Visit our special Mozart 250 webpage for details of the festival.
» Mozart 250 festival on WNYC.
WNYC'S Live Mozart Birthday Broadcast
Friday, January 27, 2006
Our weeklong Mozart 250 festival, celebrating Mozart’s birth this day on January 27, 1756, continues this evening. Both Evening Music and Overnight Music are devoted to Mozart throughout the week. Visit our special Mozart 250 webpage for details of the festival, the highlight of which is tonight's live 8PM broadcast from Carnegie Hall, when you can enjoy pianist Alfred Brendel and the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle. Hosted by WNYC's Margaret Juntwait and John Schaefer.
» Mozart Birthday Broadcast program
» Program notes
» Mozart 250 festival on WNYC
Celebrating Mozart 250
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Our weeklong Mozart 250 festival, celebrating Mozart’s birth on January 27, 1756, continues this evening. Both Evening Music and Overnight Music are devoted to Mozart throughout the week. Visit our special Mozart 250 webpage for details of the festival, the highlight of which is our live 8PM broadcast from Carnegie Hall on Friday, when you can enjoy pianist Alfred Brendel and the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle.
» Mozart 250 festival on WNYC.
Celebrating Mozart 250
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Our weeklong Mozart 250 festival, celebrating Mozart’s birth on January 27, 1756, continues this evening. Both Evening Music and Overnight Music are devoted to Mozart throughout the week. Visit our special Mozart 250 webpage for details of the festival, the highlight of which is our live 8PM broadcast from Carnegie Hall on Friday, when you can enjoy pianist Alfred Brendel and the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle.
» Mozart 250 festival on WNYC.
Celebrating Mozart 250
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Our weeklong Mozart 250 festival, celebrating Mozart’s birth on January 27, 1756, continues this evening. Both Evening Music and Overnight Music are devoted to Mozart throughout the week. Visit our special Mozart 250 webpage for details of the festival, the highlight of which is our live 8PM broadcast from Carnegie Hall on Friday, when you can enjoy pianist Alfred Brendel and the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle.
» Mozart 250 festival on WNYC
Celebrating Mozart 250
Monday, January 23, 2006
Our weeklong Mozart 250 festival, celebrating Mozart’s birth on January 27, 1756, continues this evening. Both Evening Music and Overnight Music are devoted to Mozart throughout the week. Visit our special Mozart 250 webpage for details of the festival, the highlight of which is our live 8PM broadcast from Carnegie Hall on Friday, when you can enjoy pianist Alfred Brendel and the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle.
» Mozart 250 festival on WNYC
Mozart 250 Festival
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Our weeklong Mozart 250 festival, celebrating Mozart’s birth on January 27, 1756, begins this evening. Both Evening Music and Overnight Music are devoted to Mozart throughout the week. Visit our special Mozart 250 webpage for details of the festival, the highlight of which is our live 8:00pm broadcast from Carnegie Hall on Friday, when you can enjoy pianist Alfred Brendel and the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle.
» Mozart 250 festival on WNYC
The Omni Ensemble
Saturday, January 21, 2006
The members of the Omni Ensemble are our Spotlight Guests this evening. We’ll talk and listen. One of their outstanding offerings: Ravel’s “Introduction and Allegro.”
Sir Arnold Bax’s Quintet for Oboe and Strings is featured late in the nine o’clock hour, With Sarah Francis playing oboe, supported by the English String Quartet.
Yuli Turovsky and I Musici de Montral romp through Benjamin Britten’s “Simple Symphony,” a work based on some youthful piano tunes that features these delightfully named movements: ‘Boisterous Bouree’; ‘Playful Pizzicato’; ‘Sentimental Saraband’; and ‘Frolicsome Finale.’ Irresistible!
» The Omni Ensemble website
The Incredible Flutist
Friday, January 20, 2006
Walter Piston’s suite from the ballet music for “The Incredible Flutist” graces our first hour, in a lively performance by the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein.
A Flute Suite in D by Jacques Hotteterre follows, with Barthold Kuijken playing the transverse flute, ably supported by Wieland Kuijken on viola da gamba and Gustav Leonhardt at the harpsichord.
Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic will be at Carnegie Hall from January 25th through the 28th, playing Haydn, Schoenberg, and R. Strauss. Hear them this evening on WNYC as they present the Adagio from Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 10.
Faure’s Requiem is a favorite for almost every listener. We are pleased to present Philippe Herreweghe at the podium, conducing the Ensemble Musique Oblique, La Chapelle Royale, and soloists Agnes Mellon and Peter Kooy.
» Rattle and the Berlin PO at Carnegie
A Night with Blier
Thursday, January 19, 2006
New York Festival of Song’s director Steven Blier will visit with Margaret Juntwait this evening, providing interesting conversation and musical examples.
For a different perspective on Falla’s “Espana,” originally written for solo piano, listen to the London Brass perform the six episodes with gusto in our first hour.
As the evening continues, we offer three extraordinary pianists, playing three extraordinary works: first, Robert Schumann’s “Waldzenen” with Sviatoslav Richter; second, Schubert’s Impromptu in B-flat, D. 935, with Radu Lupu; and third, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, with Claudio Arrau.
» Steven Blier and NY Festival of Song
Haydn's Joke
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Haydn’s joke-filled “Il distratto” started life not as a symphony, but as incidental music for a Regnard comedy, whose title loosely translates as “The Absent-minded Man.” Stay tuned for a late-evening laugh!
It’s hard to stop chortling long enough to appreciate the performance by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra of Haydn’s Symphony No. 60. Its six movements reflect its origins as accompaniment to a play, and the musical jokes and fun-filled quotations are numerous. The first movement’s players get stuck on a chord that dwindles to nothing as they apparently try to remember what comes next. The second movement’s dances are repeatedly interrupted by military fanfares. Irregularities of phrasing and scale patterns abound in movements three and four, while the last movement features a spectacular out-of-tune moment perpetrated by the violins.
In our first hour, the Albert Schweitzer Quintet offers us a sample of Antonin Reicha’s trail-blazing approach to the wind quintet with his opus 88/5 Quintet in B-flat. For our second-hour winner, Pieter Wispelwey is joined by pianist Paul Komen for a period-instruments interpretation of the Brahms Cello Sonata No. 1. Later, we enjoy Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s delightful “Idillio-concertino” in a reading by oboist Humbert Lucarelli and the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra under Donald Spieth.
Jane Glover Conducts Mozart
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Jane Glover, whose “Mozart’s Women” has just been published, conducts the London Mozart Players in Wolfgang’s Symphony No. 33. Listen for her during our Mozart 250 festival, starting Sunday, January 22.
Johannes Brahms gave us only one Violin Concerto, but what a masterpiece it is! Fully realizing its beauty and demands is the performance by soloist Itzhak Perlman and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Carlo Maria Giulini.
Guitarist Peter Starobin and four colleagues beguile us with their lively rendition of Boccherini’s Guitar Quintet No. 7 in E Minor. Tchaikovsky’s Fantasy Overture, derived from “Romeo and Juliet,” is played by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Riccardo Muti.
Topping off the evening are two takes on “Libera me,” one by Tomas Luis de Victoria and one from Faure’s Requiem. Glorious music in both cases!
Mozart's Paris
Monday, January 16, 2006
In anticipation of our Mozart 250 festival, we offer Jane Glover’s interpretation of the “Paris” Symphony, Mozart’s Thirty-first in D, as she leads the London Mozart Players to glory.
Spring seems far away, but perhaps the twittering of the birds in Ottorino Respighi’s “Gli uccelli” will make the evening seems as if spring has sprung. Antal Dorati conducts the London Symphony Orchestra.
Ned Rorem’s String Symphony starts off our 9:00pm hour, as Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra bring to life a work commissioned by and for them. Their love for Rorem and his music shines forth in this performance.
Haydn always leaves listeners smiling, and his “Oxford” Symphony No. 92 in G is no exception. Prepare to banish frowns as you listen to Adam Fischer conduct the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, a group ever-so-appropriate to Papa’s music!
A Birthday: Aaron Jay Kernis
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Let us raise a glass to birthday boy Aaron Jay Kernis, who turns forty-six today. Eiji Oue conducts the Minnesota Orchestra in his “Musica celestis.” Are the stars shining for Aaron?
In anticipation of the birthday toast, we bring you Nino Rota’s “Concerto soiree,” appropriately named for an evening of music, don’t you think? Benedetto Lupo’s fleet fingers tickle the ivories, while Josep Pons leads the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada.
The Chester String Quartet will celebrate Kernis at the end of Evening Music, when they play his “100 Greatest Dance Hits.” Prepare to swing those hips and tap those toes!
Meanwhile, violinist Gil Shaham and pianist Andre Previn play the Violin Sonata of another great Aaron, this time one whose last name just happens to be Copland.
George Steel
Saturday, January 14, 2006
George Steel of the Miller Theater at Columbia University will be our Spotlight Guest this evening. He’ll bring lots of music, and lots of good music talk.
While they certainly ain’t no gypsies, pianist Joseph Kalichstein, violinist Jaime Laredo, and cellist Sharon Robinson are undaunted by the “Gypsy Trio” of Franz Joseph Haydn. The whirling, dancing syncopations of the concluding “Rondo in the Gipsies’ style” make this the most familiar of Haydn’s trios. It is truly irresistible. Guitarist Sergio Assad’s “Gypsy Songs” follow; he is joined by his guitar-strumming brother Odair and violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg.
Our Mozart 250 festival doesn’t start officially till tomorrow, but why wait? Let’s enjoy ourselves now, as James Levine and the Vienna Philharmonic present the “Jupiter Symphony.”
Stravinsky's Pulcinella
Friday, January 13, 2006
Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” began life in 1920 as a ballet with sets by Picasso. The 1949 Suite No. 2 enjoys an exuberant performance by the Cambra Theatre Lliure Orchestra under Josep Pons.
Young violinist Hilary Hahn, only nineteen at the time of this recording, delights us with Edgar Meyer’s Violin Concerto, Hugh Wolff conducting the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
You won’t be able to resist the way pianist Angela Hewitt holds forth in Bach’s Fifth “Brandenburg Concerto,” joined by the Australian Chamber Orchestra, with violinist Richard Tognetti conducting and fiddling simultaneously.
Soprano Jayne West and the Piano Circus Band, conducted by Craig Smith, bring us Arias, Interludes, and Interventions from Robert Moran’s poetically named opera “Desert of Roses.” The opera is Moran’s take on “Beauty and the Beast”; we hear two arias in which Beauty pleads to be allowed to go visit her father, and then later mourns over the lifeless body of the Beast, begging him to return to her and to life.
Rare Fruits
Thursday, January 12, 2006
The Rare Fruits Council illuminates Bach’s Trio Sonata, BWV 530, illustrating a principal used when picking their name: “to turn into something different an already known and attractive object.”
In an evening with loads of chamber music, an outstanding offering is the Cleveland Quartet’s performance of Dvorak’s op, 96 “American” Quartet in F. Another chamber work, this time for a pair of keyboard artists, is Stravinsky’s Concerto for Two Pianos, in which the composer is joined by his son Soulima.
Mahler’s “Tragic” Symphony No. 6 takes center stage during our last hour, as Eliahu Inbal leads the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra in a work that displays, according to the New Grove, “a cumulatively depressive and even suicidal manner.”
The extraordinary Finnish soprano Soile Isokoski brings her luminous talent to bear on Richard Strauss’s “Four Last Songs,” fittingly positioned at this evening end.
A Grieg Piano Concerto
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
It’s time for a good Grieg Piano Concerto fix! Hour II features Artur Rubinstein’s unforgettable take on this work, with Eugene Ormandy wresting the best from the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Our first hour feature spotlights clarinetist David Shifrin and pianist Carol Rosenberger in Johannes Brahms’ Sonata in F Minor. Shifrin comments that the clarinet in this work seems like the pianist’s third hand, extending and coloring the music in a truly collaborative way, providing a texture that is like one instrument.
Delius, who lived most of his life in France, never forgot the moors and dales of Yorkshire, land of his boyhood. “North Country Sketches” evokes the wintry winds of this bleak landscape, tempering that bleakness with a final portrayal of spring’s arrival, sap rising in response to a March sun. Richard Hickox conducts the Bournemouth Symphony.
A final offering is “Mysterious Mountain,” Alan Hovhaness’ Symphony No. 2, performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic under Gerard Schwarz.
Souvenir de Florence
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Our tour guide this evening is Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, as we travel to Italy via his "Souvenir de Florence."
Our first hour is steered by Franz Schubert, however, as Richard Hickox and the London Sinfonietta take us through Schubert's Symphony No. 3 in D; then it's off to Florence with Tchaikovsky's sunny and delightful chamber work for strings, "Souvenir de Florence" (Souvenir of Florence); we'll hear an all-star ensemble led by violinist Nadia Salerno-Sonnenberg.
Later on, a couple of notables: Camille Saint-Seans' Symphony in A with the Tapiola Sinfonietta, and Aaron Copland's marvelously descriptive "Old American Songs" (Set 1) with stalwart Baritone Sherrill Milnes and the Cincinnatti Pops conducted by Erich Kunzel.
We'll also enjoy another piece that deals in Americana (more specifically, right here). The New York Philharmonic joins forces with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (under conductors Kurt Masur and Wynton Marsalis) to bring us Duke Ellington's orchestral essay with a Jazz bent, "A Tone Parallel to Harlem."
Ravel's Ravishing Music
Monday, January 09, 2006
It's been called the most difficult piece in the piano repertoire. Tonight, Martha Argerich shows off her formidable piano chops in Maurice Ravel's "Gaspard de la nuit."
Ravel's "Gaspard de la nuit" (Gaspard of the Night) is essentially a study in contrasts, something which Martha Argerich excells at. Written in three movements, the suite is based on Aloysius Bertrand's fantastical poem of water sprites, hanged men, and scary goblins - all brought to life by Ravel's ravishing music.
We'll continue in the French vein during our second hour, as the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Stuttgart under Sergiu Celibidache deliver a lugubrious account of Debussy's wonderful "La mer" (The Sea). And later on, it's music just for music's sake with Bartok's Second String Quartet and the Chilingirian Quartet.
In our final hour, we'll hear a symphonic treat, American-style. John Knowles Paine, who founded the music department at Harvard University in 1862, was not only our country's first music professor, but was also the first American composer to receive serious acclaim for his symphonic music. Tonight we'll hear Paine's first effort in that genre, his Symphony No. 1 in C Minor; Zubin Mehta leads the New York Philharmonic.
Hard to Categorize
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Some composers write music that’s just hard to categorize, others cross over to different genres intentionally. Tonight we’ll hear samples of both.
We’ll start with a composer who crossed the aisle between popular and classical with ease, William Grant Still. Phillip Brunelle leads the Plymouth Music Festival Orchestra in Still’s raucous ballet “Miss Sally’s Party” (1940), which portrays a hilarious combination of cake walk, young boys and a frog-down-the-blouse (you get the idea).
Also, the music of composer Alec Wilder has always been hard to pin down. Is it on the serious side of Jazz? The lighter side of Classical? Decide for yourself as the Alec Wilder Octet serves up a “Wilder” sampler, including “Her Old Man was Suspicious,” “Pieces of Eight,” and “It’s Silk, Feel it!”
Igor Stravinsky brings neo-classical jazz into the mix with his “Ebony” concerto (Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony); we’ll hear African-Cuban elements in Leo Brouwer’s “Concerto de Toronto”, which he wrote for guitarist John Williams. Steven Mercurio leads the London Sinfonietta with soloist Williams in this astonishingly virtuosic (and delightful) work.
Tonight's Spotlight: Francisco Núñez
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Tonight the spotlight’s on composer and conductor Francisco Nunez, as he joins David Garland to talk about his music and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, which he founded.
And later in the evening, we’ll enjoy a nice sampling of vocal music through the centuries. Ester Lamandier (who also accompanies herself on the harp) sings French renaissance ballades by Guillaume de Machaut, while countertenor Andreas Scholl sings with the harp and lute in the traditional songs “She Moved Tho’ the Fair” and “Wild Mountain Thyme.” Representing a more modern age, soprano Patrice Michaels Bedi and violinist Elliott Golub perform Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Along the Field”; then the harp and lute come back into play with tenor Paul Rendall and the “Orkney Wedding Song.”
Trumpet in the Evening
Friday, January 06, 2006
Trumpet in the evening with us as we enjoy works for brass in our opening hour.
First up, Wynton Marsalis annunciates Purcell’s Trumpet Sonata in D, followed by a Vivaldi double-horn concerto with the ensemble Zefiro. Then it’s back to the trumpet again as the London Mozart Players and soloist Urban Agnas take on Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto in E. Filling out our brassy first hour is Chris Gekker with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra under Richard Auldon Clark, performing Alan Hovhaness’ hopeful “Return and Rebuild the Desolate Places” for trumpet and orchestra.
We’ll also hear from violinist Joshua Bell, who plays the music of John Corigliano this month with the New York Philharmonic (www.nyphilharmonic.org). Tonight, Bell performs music from Corigliano’s Oscar-winning score to “The Red Violin,” as well as Tchaikovsky’s “Meditation.”
And one more preview in store: Steven Kovacevich performs his only New York recital for the year on January 19th at the Met Museum; we’ll hear one of his selection for this concert, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 28 in A. You can find more information about this concert at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s website.
Piano Wrestling
Thursday, January 05, 2006
It’s the battle of the piano concertos as Mozartian Daniel Barenboim squares off against Beethovenian Alfred Brendel.
Who will be the champion? Tune in and decide for yourself – Barenboim takes on Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor as both conductor and soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in our first hour. Then, in our second hour, it’s Beethoven’s 1rst Piano Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under James Levine, Alfred Brendel soloing. And just to mix it up a bit, Barenboim performs cadenzas in the Mozart concerto that were written for the piece by none other than Beethoven!
On January 9th, the Metropolitan Opera Guild presents “Risë Stevens: An American Beauty” honoring the legendary mezzo-soprano, hosted by Van Cliburn and Jennifer Larmore. Tonight we’ll enjoy Ms. Stevens in two operatic favorites: “Voi che sapete” from Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro” and the glorious “Mir ist die Ehre” duet from Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier.” We’ll also hear her lighter side, in Jerome Kern’s “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.”
Oh, and just in case you’re ready for more piano wrestling by the end of the evening, we’ll oblige with Maurice Ravel’s Concerto in D for the Left Hand; Leon Fleischer performs with the Baltimore Symphony under Sergiu Comissiona.
» Met Opera Guild’s Rise Stevens Tribute
All in the Family
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
It’s “all in the family” night as we enjoy Dvorak’s Violin Concerto in A Minor, performed by Dvorak’s own great-grandson.
Our first hour is off to a blazing start with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Georges Bizet’s Symphony No. 1 in C; we’ll also enjoy a trio of lively little “Humoresques” – one each by Francis Poulenc, Rodion Shchedrin, and Josef Suk. And speaking of Josef Suk, today marks the anniversary of his birth back in 1874. A close friend and favorite pupil of Antonin Dvorak’s, Suk ended up marrying Dvorak’s daughter in 1898, thus becoming his son-in-law.
Which leads us to our next subject (and second hour) when we hear from Suk’s grandson (also named Josef). Karel Ancerl and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra accompany Suk the younger in his thrilling rendition of Dvorak’s Violin Concerto in A Minor (now, you know you have to be good when it’s your great-grandfather’s concerto!).
Later in the evening, we’ll enjoy chamber works by Bach and Telemann; also, Sir Edward Elgar’s “Severn Suite” in its orchestral version, and dances by Spanish composer Joaquin Turina. And as a special treat: sensational pianist Richard Goode performs Brahm’s “Eight Piano Pieces,” in anniversary tribute to its premiere on this date in 1880.
Glenn Gould's Goldberg Variations
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
It was exactly Fifty years ago today that Glenn Gould’s legendary 1955 recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations was released, and we’ll hear it tonight.
Before we get to that sublime Gould, however, we’ll enjoy a birthday salute to Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, born on this date in 1710. Violinist Bettina Mussumeli takes on Pergolesi’s Violin Concerto in B-flat in our first hour, with Claudio Scimone leading I Solisti Veneti in tow. And later in the program, soloists Barbara Bonney and Andreas Scholl join forces with Les Talens Lyriques for Pergolesi’s famous Stabat Mater (which, incidentally, was so popular that it sold more printed copies than any other work in all of the Eighteenth century!).
“We know of no pianist anything like him of any age.” That’s how critic Paul Hume described Glenn Gould in his Washington Post review of Gould’s American debut recital in 1955. The program was Bach’s Goldberg Variations, and on the basis of that one performance the twenty-two year-old pianist was signed to an exclusive recording contract with Columbia Masterworks (now Sony Classical). Tonight, let yourself to be swept up by the jazzy and intricate delicacy of Gould’s Bach – just as an entire generation was, those fifty years ago.
A Little Night Music
Monday, January 02, 2006
It’s time for a “Little Night Music” as Christopher Warren-Green leads the London Chamber Orchestra in this magical Mozart masterpiece in our first hour.
Also on the plate: nobody had as much fun composing as Joseph Haydn, especially when it came to little musical jokes (think of the “Surprise Symphony, for instance). We’ll hear a real “musical joke” tonight, Haydn’s String Quartet in E-flat – also known as “The Joke.” What’s the joke, you ask? Tune in and find out!
Works by Schubert and Bizet round out our second hour, as well as Aaron Copland’s wonderful “Old American Songs;” we’ll enjoy an historical recording conducted by the composer himself and featuring Baritone William Warfield. Later on, Deborah Richards illuminates Charles Koechlin’s suite for piano, “The Old Country House,” a musical remembrance of the composer’s youth as viewed from old age.
And what better way to fill out our last hour than where we began, with Mozart. Pianist Walter Gieseking and the Philharmonia Wind Quartet serve up a lively and engaging account of Mozart’s Piano Quintet in E-flat.
The Perfect Blend to Welcome the New Year
Sunday, January 01, 2006
We’ve got the perfect mix of Bach, Dvorak and Grieg to ease our way into 2006 (and help take the edge off those after-party blues!)
We’ll start as all new years should, with Bach. Christopher Hogwood leads the Academy of Ancient Music in J.S.B.’s Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C; afterwards, we’ll enjoy a selection from Dvorak’s lovely “Romantic Pieces” for violin and piano, featuring the brother and sister duo of Gil and Orli Shaham.
In our second hour, a rarity and a favorite: Craig Smith conducts the Piano Circus Band (great name, eh?) in “Arias, Interludes and Inventions” from Robert Moran’s opera “Desert of Roses,” featuring soprano Jayne West. Also, countertenor Daniel Taylor performs one of the hit tunes of the late 16th century, John Dowland’s “Lachrimae antiquae” pavan (a piece so popular in its time that Dowland re-arranged and re-published it several times!).
Finally, we’ll get a sneak preview of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra’s upcoming concert at Carnegie Hall (January 18), with Two Melodies by Edvard Grieg; NCO Artistic Director Terje Tønnesen conducts.
» Carnegie Hall website
Music Playlists
View WNYC's music playlists dating back to 2001 (full playlists are generally posted the day after broadcast). For playlist inquiries, please contact Listener Services via email or at 646-829-4000.
More
Festivals and Specials
Listen on demand to our online archive of music festivals and specials, where you'll find a treasure-trove of stimulating conversations, opinions, reflections, and of course, great music!
More
Ear to Ear
Ear to Ear takes innovative musicians off the New York stages and into the studio for relaxed, insightful conversation, as they share their personal recordings with host David Garland.
More
