The American Baritone - Sherrill Milnes

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Tonight, the American Music Festival continues as legendary baritone Sherrill Milnes joins Margaret to talk about the "American Baritone" — a special (and uniquely American) brand of singer from the age when Broadway singers and Opera singers were often one and the same. He'll also share some of his favorite baritone recordings, in both Classical and Broadway selections — including a rare live recording of himself as Verdi's "Macbeth."

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Tonight's Playlist Includes:

> "Stephen Foster Medley" (Stephen Foster)
   Lawrence Tibbett, baritone
   Frank Sinatra, vocalist
   (Pickwick 300022)
   » Purchase the "Frank Sinatra and Friends" Collection on CD at Amazon.com

> "Barber of Seville": ' Largo al factotum' (Gioacchino Rossini)
   Unknown orchestra
   Nathaniel Shilkret, conductor
   Lawrence Tibbett, baritone
   (Nimbus 7867)
   » Purchase at Amazon.com

> "Andrea Chenier": 'Nemico della patria' (Umberto Giordano)
   John Charles Thomas, baritone
   (Nimbus 7867)
   » Purchase at Amazon.com

> "Take Me Back To My Boots And Saddles" (Walter G. Samuels, Leonard Whitcup and Teddy Powell)
   John Charles Thomas, baritone
   Carroll Hollister, piano
   (Nimbus 7838)
   » Purchase at Amazon.com

> "Rigoletto": 'Cortigiani, vil razza dannata' (Giuseppe Verdi)
   RCA Victor Orchestra
   Frieder Weissmann, conductor
   Leonard Warren, baritone
   (VAI 1/2)
   » Purchase at Amazon.com

> "On the Road to Mandalay" (Oley Speaks)
   RCA Victor Orchestra
   Frank Black, conductor
   Leonard Warren, baritone
   (VAI 1/2)
   » Purchase at Amazon.com

> "La traviata": 'Di provenza il mar' (Giuseppe Verdi)
   NBC Symphony Orchestra
   Arturo Toscanini, conductor
   Robert Merrill, baritone
   (RCA 60303)
   » Purchase at Amazon.com

> "Kiss Me Kate": 'So in Love' (Cole Porter)
   (Uncredited Orchestra)
   Charles Sanford, conductor
   Robert Merrill, baritone
   Roberta Peters, soprano
   (Preiser Records 89592)
   » Purchase at Amazon.com

> "Il Trovatore": 'Il balen del suo sorriso' (Giuseppe Verdi)
   New Orleans Opera Orchestra
   Walter Herbert, conductor
   Robert Weede, baritone
   (Connaisseur 60014)
   » Purchase at Amazon.com

> "Most Happy Fella": 'Mamma, Mamma' (Frank Loesser)
   (Uncredited Orchestra)
   Herbert Greene, conductor
   Robert Weede, baritone
   (CBS/Sony 48010)
   » Purchase more Robert Weede CDs at Amazon.com

> "Luisa Miller": 'Sacra la scelta... A fu giusto' (Giuseppe Verdi)
   RCA Italian Opera Orchestra
   Fausto Cleva, conductor
   Cornell MacNeil, baritone
   (RCA 6646)
   » Purchase at Amazon.com

> "Macbeth": 'Pieta, rispetto, amore' (Giuseppe Verdi)
   Vienna State Opera Orchestra
   Karl Bohm, conductor
   Sherrill Milnes, baritone
   (Legato Classics 143)
   » Purchase at Amazon.com

> "West Side Story": 'Maria' (Leonard Bernstein)
   Sherrill Milnes, baritone
   Jon Spong, pianist
   (VAI 1140)
   » Purchase at Amazon.com

More about WNYC's American Music Festival

Transient Glory

Monday, May 29, 2006

Join us tonight at 8 p.m. for the Young People's Chorus of New York City, as they present "Transient Glory V" — featuring World premieres of works by Mark Adamo, Thea Musgrave, John Corigliano, and Rufus Wainwright (among others).

During our regular Evening Music hours, we'll feature music by one of the founders of Bang on a Can, David Lang. Margaret Leng Tan brings her Toy Piano to Lang's "Miracle Ear"; we'll also hear selections from "World to Come," featuring cellist Maya Beyser. New music fans can enjoy the Bang on a Can marathon at the World Financial Center (for free) on June 4th.

» Read Program Notes for YPC's "Transient Glory V"

» Bang on a Can Marathon on June 4th

More about WNYC's American Music Festival

Icons of Modern American Music

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Musical selections by John Cage, Lou Harrison and Steve Reich dominate the evening as we continue our American Music Festival, starting with Reich's hypnotic "Duet" for two solo violins and strings.

"The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs" is John Cage's delightfully alliterative song for baritone and "closed" piano; we'll hear Paul Hillier and Alan Bennett respectively. Another Cage piece that involves an interesting piano is the Suite for Toy Piano, featuring pianist Margaret Leng Tan and the American Composers Orchestra under Dennis Russell Davies.

David Tanenbaum takes up Lou Harrison's Harp Suite, this time on guitar; we'll also hear from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Paul Moravec in his "Ariel Fantasy" for violin and piano.

More about WNYC's American Music Festival

AMF 2006 - Broadway Baby

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Continuing the American Music Festival, we celebrate that most American of composers, Stephen Sondheim. Stellar highlights from last year's "Wall to Wall Sondheim" at Symphony Space will be featured in "Broadway Baby: Stephen Sondheim at 75," hosted by Susan Stamberg at 7p.m. tonight.

After our Sondheim extravaganza, David will focus on two American composers, one legendary and one up-and-coming. The New York Philharmonic brings us Leonard Bernstein's "Symphonic Dances" from "West Side Story" (led by the composer himself, of course). After that, we'll hear from the young composer (not to mention accomplished violist)Kenji Bunch; the Ahn Trio performs a work written especially for them, "Swing Shift."

More about WNYC's American Music Festival

American Music Festival 2006

Friday, May 26, 2006

Tonight marks the beginning of WNYC's American Music Festival with a special preview of upcoming events. Music Director George Preston joins David to talk about the who, what and why of AMF 2006.

We'll also hear music by and/or featuring upcoming AMF guests: Mark O'Connor (via Yo-Yo Ma), William Bolcom, Sherrill Milnes (in Copland's wonderful "Old American Songs") and the Eroica Trio in music by Gershwin.

More about WNYC's American Music Festival

Gearing Up

Thursday, May 25, 2006

As we prepare to launch WNYC's annual American Music Festival tomorrow, we'll fill out our first hour with preview selections by Copland, Barber, Terry Riley, Alan Hovhaness and Ellen Taafe Zwilich.

Later in the evening, relax to the sounds of Claude Debussy's Preludes with pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli; Leonard Slatkin leads the stalwart St. Louis Symphony in Rachmaninoff's "Caprice bohemien," and we'll offer a birthday tribute to the great Beverly Sills with Mozart's "Esultate, jubilate" (Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra).

Giving the Devil his Due

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Giuseppe Tartini's "Devil's Trill" sonata has vexed violinists for over 200 years. Aptly named, this fiendishly difficult work was inspired by a dream wherein Tartini heard the Devil himself playing the violin — which Tartini tried to put to paper as soon as he woke up (although he claimed his version was far inferior to what he heard in his dream). Tonight, virtuoso violinist Andrew Manze takes up the challenge (and succeeds with honors, we might add!).

Speaking of virtuosic pieces, we'll also hear Jorge Bolet in Chopin's 2nd Piano Concerto in F Minor (Charles Dutoit conducts the Montreal Symphony). And later on, soprano Julliane Baird (joined by the Philomel Baroque Orchestra) brings her lovely voice to some exciting vocal fireworks in Handel's "Tra le fiamme."

Bach and Brahms at the Met

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

On Thursday, pianist Frederic Chiu gives his only New York recital (this season) for the Met Museum's "Piano Forte: Bach and Brahms" series. We'll preview a little Bach — Chiu-style — with "Wachet Auf!" (a.k.a. "Sleepers Awake").

Looking ahead to our American Music Festival at the end of the month, we'll hear Samuel Barber's "Capricorn Concerto" featuring the San Diego Chamber Orchestra under Donald Barra. Also up to bat: George Gershwin's wonderful Piano Concerto in F with Howard Shelley; Yan Pascal Tortelier leads the Philharmonia Orchestra.

» Frederic Chiu at the Met Museum, Thursday, May 25th at 8p.m.

American Pioneer

Monday, May 22, 2006

According to Virgil Thomson, Ernst Bacon was "one of America's best" composers. Born into the same generation that included Thomson, Copland, Harris and others, Bacon brought his own Scottish-Irish temperament to nineteenth-century rural Americana in his music. Tonight, we'll hear violinist Dorothy Bales with pianist Allan Sly in Bacon's series of uniquely descriptive vignettes, "Tumbleweeds."

The Metropolitan Opera Guild presents "Birgit Nilsson: A Force of Nature" in tribute to the late Wagnerian soprano on May 23rd at Alice Tully Hall. We'll pay tribute ourselves to this glorious voice with excerpts from "Don Giovanni," "Oberon," and of course, "Tristan und Isolde."

» Birgit Nilsson: A Force of Nature at Alice Tully Hall on May 23rd

Rosamunde Quartet

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Franz Schubert certainly knew when he had written a good tune; he re-used melodies from his incidental music to the play "Rosamunde" in multiple works, including the only string quartet he saw published in his lifetime. Tonight we'll hear the Borodin Quartet in Schubert's String Quartet No. 13 in A Minor, the "Rosamunde" Quartet.

The Calefax Reed ensemble transports us to 15th-century Belgium with Johannes Ockeghem's "Fors Seulement" Mass, while Hille Perl brings her viola da gamba skills to bear in Sainte-Colombe's "La Conference." And, for something completely different, saxophonist Stan Getz joins pianist Kenny Barron for Charlie Haden's jazz ballade for his wife, "First Song (for Ruth)."

Spotlight on: Katya Grineva

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Her performances have been described by the New York Times as "Liquid" and "Dreamlike." Tonight, Russian-born pianist Katya Grineva joins David to talk about her upcoming concert at Carnegie Hall on June 1rst, featuring the works of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Liszt.

Also in town this month is the sensational Bassist and composer Edgar Meyer; he'll be joined by a large roster of musicians (including Mandolinist Mike Marshall) for the Edgar Meyer Young Artists Concert on May 21 at Zankel Hall. Tonight we'll listen to Meyer and the Emerson String Quartet in his "Quintet for String Quartet and Bass."

» Katya Grineva at Carnegie Hall, Thursday, June 1rst, 8:00 p.m.

» Edgar Meyer at Zankel Hall, Sunday, May 21rst, 7:30 p.m.

Threepenny Mania

Friday, May 19, 2006

If you haven't been to Studio 54 to catch the latest incarnation of "The Threepenny Opera" on Broadway, you can hear some of it this evening. Kurt Weill's music was such a hit when the show opened in Berlin (in 1928) that several concert adaptations were made, including tonight's "Seven Pieces from the Threepenny Opera" for violin and piano.

An interesting instrumental combination comes our way in the 8:00 hour with Canadian composer Marjan Mozetich's Concerto for Bassoon and Strings with Marimba. Bassoonist Michael Sweeney commissioned this work in 2003; inspired by the Bassoon concertos of Antonio Vivaldi (with the marimba echoing the harpsichord), we'll hear Sweeney with marimbist Graham Hargrove and the Seiler Strings.

Symphonic Evening

Thursday, May 18, 2006

It's a symphonic evening with the peripatetic Second Symphony of Charles Ives; Michael Tilson Thomas conducts the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra. Also, A young (and very pre-Carmen) Georges Bizet's Symphony No. 1 with the City of London Sinfonia under Richard Hickox.

We'll bookend the show with two masterpieces of the twentieth-century repertoire. Pianist Boaz Sharon gives us the keyboard version of Debussy's "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" in our first hour; we'll wrap things up later with Benjamin Britten's "Nocturne" for Tenor, Horn and Strings. Benjamin Butterfield sings with French Hornist James Sommerville; Simon Streatfeild leads the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.

A Composer By Any Other Name

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

French composer and pianist Erik Satie was "avant-garde" before there was such a thing. Refusing labels, he even insisted that he be called a "phonometrician" instead of a musician (definition: someone who measures and writes down sounds). We'll give a nod to this wry artist's 140th birthday with a few of his works, including the well-known "Gymnopedie" No. 1.

We'll also hear music by another French composer, Léo Delibes (who wrote the lushly romantic opera "Lakme"). Opera aside, conductor Anatole Fistoulari leads the London Symphony Orchestra in selections from Delibes' equally lush ballet, "Sylvia." And in yet another birthday salute (1923), we'll hear the Symphony No. 8 of Peter Mennin, the American composer and distinguished educator who led both the Peabody Conservatory and the Juilliard School.

String Serenade

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Serenades for String Orchestra by Sir Edward Elgar and Antonin Dvorak are featured tonight; also, the Brandeis Quartet keep the strings humming along with Beethoven's String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor.

Nicholas Kraemer leads the Raglan Baroque players in Vivaldi's Violin Concerto No. 12, featuring English violinist — and Baroque specialist — Monica Huggett (who celebrates her 53rd birthday today). And later, more Vivaldi: we'll enjoy the ever-popular Gloria in D; Philip Pickett conducts the New London Consort.

Romance is in the Air

Monday, May 15, 2006

And in the music, as we hear Romances by Rachmaninoff, Milhaud, and Beethoven. We'll also enjoy some romance Scandinavian-style, with Edvard Grieg's "Old Norwegian Romance with Variations"; Sir Thomas Beecham leads the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Speaking of romance, Felix Mendelssohn tended to focus most of his romantic energy in his chamber works; he even re-wrote the piano part of his Piano Trio No. 1 to reflect a more "Schumannesque" style — that is, more lyrical and romantic — on the advice of a friend. We'll hear it tonight with Renaud and Gaultier Capucon on the Violin and Cello respectively; Martha Argerich joins them on the piano.

Leo and Lou

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Born on this date (seventeen years apart) were composers Leo Smit and Lou Harrison; Harrison's works are well known, but most of Smit's would have been lost forever had he not secured them before perishing in the Holocaust. Tonight we'll listen to some chamber music from both men, including Smit's "Twelve Pieces for Four Hands" and Harrison's "Serenade for Guitar and Percussion."

Later on, Jordi Savall leads his early music ensemble Hesperion XXI in Diego Ortiz's "Passamezzo moderno." We'll also hear an oboe concerto of C.P.E. Bach's, and Baroque Lutist Eugen M. Dombois brings us works by two rarely-heard composers from that era with David Kellner's Fantasia and Johann Gottfried Conradi's Suite.

Spotlight on: Michael Christie

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Tonight, the recently-appointed music director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Michael Christie, joins George Preston to talk about what's in store for the orchestra. Still in his early thirties, conductor Christie has taken the orchestral (and opera) world by storm; in addition to his local assignment, he also currently serves as music director of the Phoenix Symphony and the Colorado Music Festival.

Then of course, we'll have some delightful (and interesting) music to round out the program. Pianist Ursula Oppens performs "Phrygian Gates," an early John Adams work; we'll also hear music by Nadia Boulanger and Lukas Foss. And as a preview to violinist Maxim Vengerov's upcoming recital at Carnegie Hall a week from tonight, we'll hear him in Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 2; Mstislav Rostropovich conducts the London Symphony Orchestra.

» Maxim Vengerov with pianist Lilya Zilberstein at Carnegie Hall, Saturday, May 20th.

Master of the Mélodie

Friday, May 12, 2006

Gabriel Fauré is rightly known as the master of the French art song; his characteristic intertwining of melody and harmony influenced many a composer, including his student Maurice Ravel. We'll mark the 161rst anniversary of his birth with several works, both vocal and instrumental.

Also up tonight: music by Amy Beach featuring pianist Joanne Polk, and Franz Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 43, also known as the "Mercury" symphony (Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert). And for a fitting introduction to the Haydn, James Levine leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in "Mercury, the Winged Messenger" from Gustav Holst's "The Planets."

Carnival of Miracles

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Tonight, we'll hear the longest piece ever commissioned by WNYC, Richard Einhorn's "Carnival of Miracles." Written for four female voices and two cellos, Einhorn's work is in six parts, each dealing with a specific kind of freedom (religious, scientific, artistic, etc.) The group Anonymous 4 is joined by cellists Christine Gummere and Julie Green in this World premiere performance from 1999.

Dmitri Shostakovich wrote over 30 film scores, but they're rarely heard (or even known) in this country. Towards the end of our evening, Jose Serebrier leads the Belgian Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Concert Suite from the most popular of Shostakovich's cinematic works, "The Gadfly."

Teutonic Strings

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Featured tonight, three works for strings: Mendelssohn's String Symphony No. 7 (William Boughton and the English String Orchestra), Richard Strauss's Violin Concerto (featuring Sarah Chang), and Beethoven's String Quartet No. 5 (with the Amadeus Ensemble).

We'll also set a moody tone (and add a few instruments) with Claude Debussy's "Images for Orchestra"; Pierre Boulez leads the Cleveland Orchestra. And to brighten things up a bit, violinist Chee-Yun is joined by pianist Akira Eguchi for a chamber version of Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story" Suite.

The Simple Symphonist

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Anton Bruckner was as famous for his modesty as he was for his large-scale, tempestuous symphonies. Once, after a rehearsal of his Symphony No. 4, Bruckner was so excited that he tipped the conductor (with a coin, that is — the conductor kept that coin on his watch-chain thereafter). Tonight we'll hear that symphony, also called the "Romantic"; Marek Janowski conducts the Radio Symphony Orchestra of France.

Before that, however, there's a nice orchestral treat in store: James Levine leads the Orchestra of St. Luke's in a lively performance of Benjamin Britten's "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra." Pop star Cher lends her narrative talents as well to this fun and favorite (not to mention adult-pleasing)work.

Stravinsky Breaks Through

Monday, May 08, 2006

"Mark him well, he is a man on the eve of celebrity." That's what ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev had to say about the 28 year old Igor Stravinsky during their first collaberation in 1910, the "Firebird." Tonight we'll hear this breakthrough work in the form of the "Firebird" Suite No. 2; David Zinman conducts the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Also, Mariss Jansons leads the Oslo Philharmonic through one of Bela Bartók's most popular works, the Concerto for Orchestra. Written in 1943 on commission from the Koussevitzky Foundation, Bartók called his piece a "concerto" — as opposed to a "symphony" — because of the highly virtuosic and soloistic way he treats the instruments of the orchestra.

Brahms and Tchaikovsky

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Tonight we celebrate the (shared) birthdays of two titans of nineteenth-century music, Johannes Brahms and Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Starting with the elder (by seven years), violinist Viktoria Mullova sails through Brahms's Violin Sonata No. 1 with pianist Piotr Anderszewski. We'll also hear one of that other Piotr's most beloved musical snippets, the Grand pas de deux from "The Nutcracker Suite."

And there's one more birthday to note tonight (although not quite as famous). Pianist Frederic Rzewski takes up "political" (hence, controversial) composer Cornelius Cardew's "Thälmann Variations" — which was inspired by "the millions of owrking people of all nationalities who gave their lives in the fight against fascism in the Second World War.

A Life in Music

Saturday, May 06, 2006

George Perle has spent most of his long and fruitful life in music, not only as a reknowned author and music theorist but also as a highly esteemed (and performed) composer. We'll celebrate this American musical icon's 91rst birthday a performance of his Piano Concerto No. 1; Michael Boriskin takes the keyboard with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra under Gerard Schwarz.

We'll also offer up something completely different: David Monroe leads the Early Music Consort of London in music by Guillaume Dufay as we enjoy 3 songs from the 15th-century Court of Burgundy, while the Chatham Baroque bring us a sonata from Baroque English composer Henry Purcell.

Appalachian Spring

Friday, May 05, 2006

Tonight, we'll warm things up as Leonard Bernstein and the Los Angeles Philharmonic perform Aaron Copland's ever-popular ballet "Appalachian Spring." Also, some dancing of a different sort will be heard in Claude Debussy's "Sacred and Profane Dances," featuring harpist Vanessa McKeand and the Allegri String Quartet.

Later this month, Mozart specialist Mitsuko Uchida performs an all-Amadeus program at Carnegie Hall; we'll hear a preview tonight with Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 18 in D.

» Mitsuko Uchida plays Mozart at Carnegie Hall on May 11th

Faure's Intimate Requiem

Thursday, May 04, 2006

At a time when most composers were writing sacred music that included everything but the kitchen sink, Gabriel Faure chose to set his Requiem Mass in a lean, almost chamber style, helping to set the stage for the impressionism of Debussy and Ravel. Tonight we'll hear this gloriously intimate work with the English Chamber Orchestra under Stephen Cleobury; soloists Olaf Bar, Ann Murray and Richard Eteson join the Choir of King's College, Cambridge.

And later in the evening, we'll mark the anniversary of the first performance of Joseph Haydn's famous "London Symphony." Roy Goodman leads the Hannover Band in a rousing performance of this symphonic gem, which premiered on this date (in London, of course) back in 1795.

Bernstein, Berlioz, and Bass

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Tonight, Collegiate Chorale conductor Robert Bass joins Margaret to talk about the Chorale's upcoming concert at Carnegie Hall on May 12, which features the music of Leonard Bernstein and Hector Berlioz. We'll hear some musical excerpts, including Berlioz's Te Deum (Sir Colin Davis leading the London Symphony Orchestra) and Bernstein's Mass (conducted by the composer).

Also, Gunther Schuller knocks at the door of fate via Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, leading a hand-picked ensemble from the ranks of the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Orpheus Chamber Ensemble.

» More about the Collegiate Chorale

A Latin Evening

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Cellist Antonio Meneses performs Heitor Villa-Lobos's Fantasia for Cello; also, Jesus Arrambari leads the Madrid Concert Orchestra in Manuel De Falla's ever-popular "Three-Cornered Hat."

Towards the end of our evening, we'll go fishing with Schubert's "Trout" quintet as brought to us by the ensemble L'Archibudelli. And not to put too fine a point on it, baritone Bryn Terfel sings the song that was the melodic launching point for Schubert's quintet, "Die Forelle" (with Malcom Martineau at the piano).

Poulenc Sacred and Secular

Monday, May 01, 2006

Tonight, conductor and pianist Thomas Muraco joins Margaret to talk about the sacred and secular sides of composer Francis Poulenc. We'll also hear plenty of musical examples, including excerpts from Poulenc's "Gloria" with soprano Renee Fleming.

Also featured tonight is Richard Strauss's "Burleske" for piano and orchestra (Sergei Edelmann with the Stockholm Philharmonic). And later in the evening we'll hear a couple of rarities: the Iceland State Symphony Orchestra serves up Swedish composer Hugo Alfven's "Upsala Rhapsody," while guitarist Julian Bream performs fellow Brit Sir Malcom Arnold's Guitar Concerto; Sir Simon Rattle conducts the City of Birmingham Orchestra.