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April 2006

Concerto Antico

Sunday, April 30, 2006

Tonight we'll hear British composer Richard Harvey's delightful "Concerto Antico" (Antique Concerto). Written for guitarist John Williams (who performs it here), "Concerto Antico" is a suite of old dance tunes and songs for guitar and orchestra from different parts of Europe. Paul Daniel conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in this World Premiere recording.

Also, another World Premiere recording on the plate tonight: James Sedares leads the Louisville Orchestra in Ellen Taafe Zwilich's atmospherically moody Symphony No. 3, a work written for the 150th Anniversary of the New York Philharmonic in 1992.


Classical Duke

Saturday, April 29, 2006

It's Duke Ellington's birthday, and we'll celebrate with a couple of his classical compositions: the man himself leads his orchestra in "Isfahan" from "The Far East Suite." Also, a little closer to home, Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Symphony bring us Ellington's "Harlem" Suite with the composer at the piano.

If Duke Ellington was the "Mozart of Jazz," then it's fitting that we hear a little from Mozart as well. Clarinetist Sabine Meyer brings her personal touch to Mozart's Clarinet concerto in A; Hans Vonk conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden.


New York Counterpoint

Friday, April 28, 2006

Pianist Peter Serkin performs Bach, Beethoven — and Eliot Carter — in his "Counterpoint" themed program at Carnegie Hall next week. Tonight, we'll enjoy this versatile pianist in Dvorak's Piano Quintet in A.

We'll also preview a couple of other upcoming New York concerts: pianist Paul Crossley and the London Sinfonietta (under Marcus Stenz) bring us Michael Daugherty's "Le Tombeau de Liberace" (yes, THAT Liberace). If Serkin isn't your thing, then you can always check out more Daugherty (the same night that is) from the Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center.

Also, the ensemble Speculum Musicae performs music by NYU composers at Merkin Concert Hall this Monday; tonight we'll hear them with harpist Victoria Drake in Chou Wen-Chung's Suite for Harp and Wind Quintet.

» Peter Serkin at Carnegie Hall, Friday May 5th.

» Mozart and Michael Daugherty with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

» Speculum Musicae at Merkin Concert Hall, Monday, May 1.


Beckett under Glass

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Tonight, the Kremerata Baltica perform "Company," Philip Glass's suite for string orchestra taken from his 1983 incidental music to a stage adaptation of Samuel Beckett's short novel of the same name.

Also, expect a relaxing second hour with Beethoven's "Pastoral" Symphony; George Szell conducts the Cleveland Orchestra. And lest you be a little too sedate after that, pianist Martha Argerich shakes it up in our third hour with Tchaikovsky's grandiose First Piano Concerto; Claudio Abbado leads the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.


Ravel á la Nash

Monday, April 24, 2006

Maurice Ravel wrote his Basque-influenced Piano Trio in A Minor while serving as a volunteer truck driver during the First World War. We'll hear a lively performance of it tonight from the Nash Ensemble.

Also, two very different but equally enjoyable Symphonies. Gerard Schwarz leads the Seattle Symphony Orchestra in Howard Hanson's lushly descriptive Symphony No. 2 (aptly called the "Romantic" Symphony). And we'll hear the young but brilliant Beethoven forging his own voice in the wake of classicism with his Symphony No. 1 in C; Kurt Masur conducts the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.


Celebrating Sergei

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Today marks the 115th anniversary of maverick Russian composer Sergei Prokofieff's birth. We'll feature some of his best works tonight, including the wonderful Symphony No. 1 in D (called the "Classical" Symphony). Claudio Abbado conducts the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Also on the plate: American composer Morten Lauridsen's "Lux aeterna" (Eternal Light), which he created by drawing together sacred Latin sources, each containing references to light. The result is a serene yet spiritually uplifting musical experience that echoes Brahms's "German Requiem." Written for the Los Angeles Master Chorale in 1997, we'll hear the premiere recording of this deeply expressive work, which also features the Sinfonia Orchestra under Paul Salamunovich.


Contemporary Midori

Saturday, April 22, 2006

According to violin sensation Midori, "it is very important that we experience the music of our time, music that expresses the thoughts and emotions of today's composers and of composers of the recent past." She performs her program of contemporary music at Zankel Hall on April 25; tonight we'll hear the less contemporary side of Midori in Mozart's Violin and Piano Concerto in D.

Another artist appearing at Carnegie this month is vocalist Audra McDonald; she'll be joined by Ted Sperling and orchestra (featuring pianist Fred Hersch) in a program of classic melodies from a wide variety of musicals. We'll showcase her talents tonight on Evening Music with songs by Harold Arlen, Adam Guettel, and Jeff Blumenkrantz.

» Midori at Zankel Hall, Tuesday, April 25th

» Audra McDonald at Carnegie's Isaac Stern Auditorium, Saturday, April 29th


The Composer Strikes Back

Friday, April 21, 2006

Perhaps we owe Randall Thompson's gorgeous choral anthems to the fact that he was turned down for a position in the Harvard Chorus by its director Archibald Davison (who later became Thompson's mentor). In the composer's words, "My life has been an attempt to strike back." Tonight, Evening Music celebrates the anniversary of Thompson's birth with his most famous work, the "Alleluia."

We'll also hear a couple of Thompson's more substantive works. Leonard Bernstein conducts the New York Philharmonic in the lush Symphony No. 2 in E Minor. Also, combining the best of both worlds (symphonic and choral, that is), Richard Auldon Clark leads the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra and the Manhattan Choral Society in "Frostiana."


Night(mare) Pieces

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Before his marriage to Clara, Robert Schumann produced a fantastic array of works with evocative programs for solo piano, leading some to believe that these were "the poems he never wrote." Tonight, Laurent Cabasso will lead us through the composer's "Night Pieces," a set of nightmarish implications inspired by the tales of E.T.A. Hoffmann.

We'll also tip our hat to English conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner, born on this date in 1943. The Monteverdi Choir (founded by Gardiner) performs John Taverner's "The World is Burning."

Finally, New York's Dicapo Opera Theater is in the midst of its 50th Anniversary production of Carlisle Floyd's "Susannah"; we'll hear one of Floyd's beautiful arias, "Ain't it a Pretty Night," featuring soprano Dawn Upshaw (David Zinman leads the Orchestra of St. Luke's).

» Dicapo Opera Theatre's 50th Anniversary Production of Carlisle Floyd's Susannah


Murray's Big Comeback

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

During a series of operations on his hand (and an extended vacation from the keyboard) in the 1990's, pianist Murray Perahia spent his down time studying the music of J.S. Bach, becoming something of a Bach specialist upon his recovery. Tonight we'll give a birthday nod to this wonderfully interpretive pianist with Bach's "English" Suite No. 6 in D Minor.

Later on, a birthday nod to another important musical figure from New York: we'll hear the Julliard String Quartet in Beethoven's "Serioso" Quartet (No. 11) in honor of Augustus D. Julliard, born on this date in 1836. Also, a preview of stellar vocal ensemble Chanticleer's upcoming concert at the Metropolitan Museum, featuring music by Monteverdi, Hindemith, Palestrina and others.

» "Earthsongs" with Chanticleer at the Met Museum on April 22.


Mozart on Demand

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Ah for the good old days when you could order up a piano concerto from the likes of Mozart (and at a cheap price by today's standards). Tonight we'll hear Mozart's concerto — not for one — but for three pianos, written in 1776 for Countess Antonia Lodron and her two daughters. Karl Engel, Till Engel and Leopold Hager do the honors; Hager conducts the Mozarteum-Orchester Salzburg.

Also tonight, celebrating the 49th birthday of Chinese composer Tan Dun: we'll hear selections from his 2000 score to the hit movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," featuring cellist Yo-Yo Ma.


A Trio of Birthdays

Monday, April 17, 2006

Tonight, Evening Music salutes a trio of birthday celebrants: versatile pianist/conductor Christian Zacharias, Straussian soprano Anja Silja, and Wagnerian tenor Siegfried Jerusalem. Indian-born (but of German heritage) Zacharias is represented — as a pianist — in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C; Hans Vonk conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden. Then we’ll hear the final scenes from two legendary roles with our German singers. Christoph von Dohnanyi and the Vienna Philharmonic help Anja Silja bring the house down with the finale of Strauss’s “Salome.” After that, tenor Siefried Jerusalem essays “Lohengrin’s Farewell” from Wagner’s opera; Gabriel Chmura leads the Munich Radio Orchestra.


Easter Bach

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Wind down your Easter festivities tonight with J.S. Bach's delightful and heart-warming Easter Oratorio; Ton Koopman leads the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir.

Also on our holiday playlist: Ralph Vaughan Williams's "Five Mystical Songs" with stalwart British baritone Simon Keenlyside and pianist Graham Johnson. We'll conclude the evening with two very different Motets for Easter, one from 18th-century France (Francois Couperin) and the other from 20th-century America (Roy Harris).


Here Comes the Rain

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Evening Music is all wet tonight, as we focus on watery works beginning with Reinhardt Göbel and Music Antiqua Köln in Georg Philip Telemann's "Water Music" Overture.

Also, Toru Takemitsu's "Rain Coming" for chamber orchestra (in this case, the London Sinfonietta), and Robert Kyr's "Unseen Rain" for voices and ensemble, based on quatrains by 13th-century spiritual poet Rumi.

And just in case you forgot what day it is (even though the weekend gives a slight reprieve) we'll hear Ben Yarmolinsky's tongue-in-cheek cantata, "April 15th Blues."


A Very Good Friday

Friday, April 14, 2006

As we head into Easter weekend, Evening Music features some holiday-themed music: tonight, Daniel Barenboim leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Richard Wagner's serenely enchanting "Good Friday Spell" from "Parsifal."

We'll also enjoy Mendelssohn's hymn, "On Good Friday" for chorus and orchestra. Before that, however, Richard Hickox directs the City of London Sinfonia in another work for chorus and orchestra, John Tavener's "Fall and Resurrection" (with the Choir of St. Paul's Cathedral).


'Tis the Season

Thursday, April 13, 2006

As the season comes into full blossom, tonight's music celebrates the themes of spring, flowers, festivals, and travel. Our first part of the evening culminates in Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 23, the "Appassionata," as performed by Van Cliburn.

We'll also hear Max Reger's "Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart," with Leif Segerstam conducting the Norrkoeping Symphony Orchestra. Guido Cantelli takes the helm of the New York Philharmonic as the alternating swells and currents of Debussy's "La mer" (The Sea) lull our spirits to rest and bring our evening to its close.


El Salon Mexico

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

"A Popular Type Dance Hall in Mexico City" is the misleadingly dry subtitle for this vivacious and popular piece by Aaron Copland. Leonard Bernstein loved it so much, he even arranged it for piano (so he could perform it himself, of course). Tonight Bernstein cedes the spotlight (but not the podium) to the New York Philharmonic in Copland's "El Salon Mexico."

We'll pair the Copland with a more intimate piece by Spanish Baroque composer Fernando Sor (the "Father of the Classical Guitar"). Guitarist David Starobin performs Sor's lovely "Fantaisie villageois." And in keeping with the theme, we'll enjoy Pablo Sarasate's wildly popular (not the least among violinists) "Carmen" Suite for violin and orchestra (based on themes from Bizet's opera). Violinist Akiko Suwanai is joined by the Budapest Festival Orchestra; Ivan Fischer conducts.


London Bach

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Even though people remember Johann Sebastian as the greatest of all the Bachs, son Johann Christian was actually much more famous and celebrated during his lifetime. Known as the "London Bach," J.C. was for some twenty years the most popular composer in England, serving as music master to the Queen herself. Tonight we'll hear what the fuss was all about as the English Concert performs J.C. Bach's Flute Quintet in D.

Later in the evening we'll mark the anniversary of the first performance of Brahms's "German" Requiem in 1868. John Eliot Gardiner leads the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique with the Monteverdi Soloists in this profoundly beautiful (and much-loved) work.


Silk Road

Monday, April 10, 2006

For millennia, the "Silk Road" trade routes linked the people and traditions of Asia with those of Europe. Today, cellist Yo-Yo Ma does much the same thing with music via his "Silk Road Project." We'll hear "Blue as the Turquoise Night of Neyshabur" by Iranian composer Kayhan Kalhor, in a performance featuring Mr. Ma on the cello and the composer on the kamancheh (a bowed spike-fiddle with a distinctive nasal sound).

Later tonight: Bernard Haitink leads the London Symphony Orchestra through Johannes Brahms' Serenade No. 2 in a live performance from the Barbican. We'll also preview Pomerium's Easter Sunday concert of Renaissance music at the Cloisters with an excerpt from Guillaume Dufay's "Mass for St. Anthony of Padua."

» Passion and Resurrection Motets of the Renaissance at the Cloisters, Sunday April 15 at 1 and 3 p.m.


Bridge of Light

Sunday, April 09, 2006

In the words of Keith Jarrett, "The viola has a big heart and deserves more chances to show it." Patricia McCarty wears her viola on her sleeve tonight in Jarrett's multi-culteral hymn, "Bridge of Light" with the Fairfield Orchestra under Thomas Crawford.

Later on in the evening we'll enjoy Beethoven's Piano Trio in B-flat, known as the "Archduke" — after Beethoven's piano student, friend and (most importantly) patron, the Archduke Rudolph. Pianist Wilhelm Kempff is joined by violinist Henryk Szeryng and cellist Pierre Fournier in this, Beethoven's magnum chamber music opus.


Life Begins at 40

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Or so it seemed with Jean-Philippe Rameau, who rose from obscurity at age 40 to become the leading composer in France during the 18th century. Tonight we'll listen to several orchestral excerpts from Rameau's many operas, all brought to musical life by The Musicians of the Louvre under Marc Minkowski.

Also featured on tonight's playlist: the wonderfully lush and romantic Sonata for Flute and Harp by Canadian composer Marjan Mozetich; Robert Aiken and Erica Goodman performing on the respective instruments. Then it's music for Harp, Lute and Voice as counter-tenor Andreas Scholl sings the traditional songs "Annie Laurie" and "Black is the Color of my True Love's Hair" with harpist Stacey Shames and lutist Edin Karamazov. Scholl fans can get their fill in person as he appears with the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble at Zankel Hall next Tuesday.

» Andreas Scholl at Zankel Hall on Tuesday, April 11th at 7:30 p.m.


Where No Guitar Has Gone Before

Friday, April 07, 2006

The sultry and rhapsodic rhythms of the guitar open our evening tonight, as Guitar Trek leads us through Nigel Westlake's atmospheric "Winter in the Forgotten Valley." Also, a preview of guitarist Eliot Fisk's upcoming duo recital at the MET Museum, featuring Scarlatti's Sonata in D minor.

Guitars aside, we'll enjoy a rarely heard reconstruction of the original version of Claude Debussy's Symphonic Suite "Printemps" (Spring); Emil DeCou conducts the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. And in yet another concert preview, Peter Rundel leads the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie in Heiner Goebbels "Suite for Sampler and Orchestra," which is featured live at BAM later this month.

» Latin Magic with Eliot Fisk and Paco Pena at the Met Museum, Monday, April 10th, 8 pm.

» The Brooklyn Philharmonic performs Heiner Goebbels at BAM, Saturday, April 22nd, 8pm.


Celebrating André

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Tonight, we celebrate the birthday of composer, pianist, and conductor André Previn. From selections for piano to chamber works from his own pen, our evening renders hommage to the radiance of his influence on the classical music landscape.

Also tonight: a cello transcription (with the composer's blessing) of Cesar Franck's monumental Violin Sonata in A; cellist Steven Isserlis is joined by French pianist (and fellow birthday celebrant) Pascal Devoyon. Later on, Josep Pons conducts the Teatre Lliure Chamber Orchestra in Stravinsky's "Pulcinella Suite" — in which one can almost imagine the wondrous original sets designed by Picasso himself.


Happy Birthday Louis Spohr

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Considered by some to be the equal of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, Louis Spohr's long and productive musical career encompassed both Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" and Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde." In birthday tribute, we'll sprinkle the evening with works from this highly regarded (yet underappreciated) composer.

We'll also sprinkle the evening with chamber music by Rameau, Mahler, and Beethoven. Later on, tenor Ian Bostridge brings his characteristic vocal aplomb to Ralph Vaughan Williams's haunting song cycle "On Wenlock Edge" (Bernard Haitink conducts the London Philharmonic).


Swept Away

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Tonight, we'll be swept away by the currents of Czech-born Bedrich Smetana's "The Moldau"; George Szell conducts the Cleveland Orchestra. Also on the plate: J.S. Bach's Triple Concerto in A minor with Andrew Parrot and the Boston Early Music Festival.

Sailing on through the periphery of the classical repertoire, guitarist John Williams and the Philharmonia Orchestra serve up Joaquin Rodrigo's "Fantasy for a Gentleman"; followed by a viruoso work for a different set of strings, Ernest Chausson's "Poeme" for violin and orchestra. We'll hear the legendary recording with Jacques Thibaud and the Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux under Eugene Bigot.

We'll wrap up the evening with two monuments to German Romanticism as Leif Segerstam and the Norrkoeping Symphony Orchestra bring characteristic aplomb to Max Reger's "Symphonic Prologue for a Tragedy." Also, the young Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor with pianist Murray Perahia; Sir Neville Marriner leads the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.


Minor Mozart

Monday, April 03, 2006

Mozart's piano concertos have come to represent one of the most imposing bodies of work in the classical repertoire, and yet only two were composed in a minor key. Of these two, we hear the second tonight, the Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, with Melvyn Tan at the piano; Roger Norrington leads the London Classical Players.

Surrounding this haunting piece, we hear Rossini's Fantasy for Clarinet and Piano with pianist Riccardo Caramella and clarinetist Sergio Del Mastro; Howard Hanson's "Maypole Dances" with Keith Lockhart leading a vivacious Boston Pops Orchestra; and selections from Mozart's "Don Giovanni" and Gabriel Faure's paradisal Requiem mass.

As our evening concludes, we explore one of the greatest job applications of all time: J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor, the Kyrie and Gloria of which were submitted to the Elector of Saxony as a "modest example" of what the composer had acquired in music. While Bach received the appointment three years later, we can enjoy the toil of his labor tonight as we hear Part IV of this great mass with Martin Pearlman leading Boston Baroque. Terry Riley's "Salome Dances for Peace" help round our evening in a performance by the Kronos Quartet.


East meets West

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Tonight, music from Henry Purcell and William Lawes; also, Yo-yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble bring us some Turkmen Folk Melodies as re-imagined by Kayhan Kalhor.

We'll open with a composition by contemporary English composer John Duarte deftly entitled "English Suite." Viola da gambist Sarah Cunningham transports us back in time with the music of William Lawes, while the Chatham Baroque takes on some theater music written by the Patriarch of English Composers, Henry Purcell. We'll hear a Purcell work from 1690, "The Princess of Persia."

Speaking of Persia, we'll hear Henry Cowell's "Persian Set" with Richard Auldon Clark leading the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra. And in keeping with the theme, we'll go out with music based on Turkmen folk melodies by composer Kayhan Kalhor. Yo-Yo Ma joins the Silk Road Ensemble (named for the wide band from Turkey to China that brought wealth and knowledge in both directions) with a piece called "Gallop of a Thousand Horses."


Musical Mental Feats

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Wunderkind Mozart may have entered legend-status after transcribing Allegri's famously secret "Miserere" from memory after one hearing, but the prodigiously gifted Shostakovich had his own set of musical mental feats; we'll hear one tonight.

Once, after sounding a note of displeasure about the fashionable musical "No, No, Nannette" by Vincent Youmans, Shostakovich was challenged to transcribe and reorchestrate to his liking one its numbers from memory — and in under an hour. The composer took up the gauntlet and forty-five minutes later the result was the delightful "Tahiti Trot"; our performance tonight is by the Moscow Chamber Orchestra under Constantine Orbelian.

Later on, we'll immerse ourselves in Rachmaninoff's imposing Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor. Dedicated to a Dr. Dahl (who treated Rachmaninoff through therapeutic autosuggestion), this difficult and dense work comes to viruosic life under the commanding fingers of pianist Van Cliburn.