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July 2006

Rodrigo's Fantasy

Monday, July 31, 2006

Joaquin Rodrigo wrote his popular guitar concerto "Fantasia para un Gentilhombre" (Fantasy for a Gentleman) at the request of Andres Segovia (the "Gentleman" of the title), basing it on dances by Baroque guitar master Gaspar Sanz. We'll hear it tonight with another masterful guitarist, John Williams; Louis Frémaux conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Also, music by the alliterative brother/sister duo of Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, and Brahms's Violin Concerto with soloist Ruggiero Ricci. Wrapping it up at the end of the evening is Bryden Thompson and the London Symphony in Ralph Vaughan Williams's lushly romantic "Pastoral" Symphony.


The Composing Conductor

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Belgian composer Daniel Sternefeld was a promising composer, except he had one problem: he was an even more promising (and successful) conductor. It wasn't until his retirement from conducting in 1971 that he picked up his pen in full force; tonight we'll hear his charming orchestral setting of 16th-century motets, "Song and Dance at the Court of Mary of Burgundy."

Guitarist Norbert Kraft enlivens Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's "Homage to Boccherini" Sonata; preceded by Boccherini's own Symphony No. 3 in A (Adrian Shepherd leads the Catilena ensemble). Also, Dvorak's String Quintet in E-flat with the Raphael Ensemble and Mozart's Flute Quartet No. 1, featuring the versatile Carol Wincenc.


Spotlight on: Mostly Mozart

Saturday, July 29, 2006

As the venerated festival opens at Lincoln Center, MMF's Music Director Louis Langrée and Jane Moss, Lincoln Center's vice-president of programming, offer a preview of the season.

The evening will be replete with Mozart, of course, later on we'll hear works by Haydn, Tailleferre and Sancan. Filing out the latter hour is Estonian composer Arvo Pärt's soulful and mysterious "Tabula Rasa" ("Blank Slate"); Gidon Kremer leads the Kremerata Baltica.


Intimate Impressions

Friday, July 28, 2006

Catalan composer and pianist Federico Mompou excelled in chamber works; we'll hear one such mini-masterpiece tonight. Pianist Martin Jones brings his characteristic sensitivity to Mompou's "Intimate Impressions" (1914).

Neeme Järvi and the Gothenburg Symphony dazzle in Borodin's "Polovetsian Dances" (which you might recognize from the musical "Kismet"). Also, a nod to the Mostly Mozart Festival, which kicks off tonight at Lincoln Center. We'll enjoy some popular Mozartiana with the overture to "The Marriage of Figaro" and "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik."

» Browse the Calendar of Events for the Mostly Mozart Festival


Jarrett's Bridge of Light

Thursday, July 27, 2006

In the words of composer 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.

Also tonight: celebrating the birth date (1867) of Spanish composer Enrique Granados as stellar pianist Alicia de Larrocha performs Granados's "Poetic Waltzes." Later in the evening, two contrasting version of the Gloria Mass, one from the Venetian Renaissance and one from 1950's France. The Canadian Brass are featured in Giovanni Gabrielli's Gloria in 12 parts; we'll follow that up with Francis Poulenc's masterfull version with the Cambridge Singers (John Rutter leads the City of London Sinfonia).


Strauss's Horn

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Richard Strauss grew up surrounded by the sound of the horn; his father Franz was one of the greatest horn virtuosos in Europe. It's all the more interesting then that the younger Strauss only wrote two concertos for horn, one at the beginning of his career and one at the end. We'll hear the latter this evening, as soloist Ifor James and the Polish National Radio Symphony perform Strauss's Concerto No. 2 for Horn and Orchestra.

Also tonight: the "Good Friday Spell" from Wagner's Parsifal (which, according to the composer, was the impetus for his entire opera). Sir Thomas Beecham leads the Columbia Symphony Orchestra in Tchaikovsky's sunny "Capriccio Italien"; later in the evening it's Mozart's monumental "Jupiter" Symphony — full of bold, adventurous harmonies that point to what could have been, had the composer only lived longer (Hans Graf conducts the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra).


Jelly Roll Bach

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

"Bach meets Jelly Roll Morton" is how one reviewer described Henry Martin's Preludes and Fugues (1990-92), modelled after J.S. Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavier" — but with a contemporary twist. We'll hear pianist Sarah Davis Buechner in group one of this award-winning work.

Speaking of Bach, Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert are heard in our first hour with the "Brandenberg" Concerto No. 3; Richard Hickox and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra illuminate Frederick Delius's bucolic "In a Summer Garden." Later on we'll enjoy chamber music for strings with Louis Spohr's Double Quartet in E-flat and Brahm's First Cello Sonata, featuring Ofra Harnoy with pianist William Aide.


Mostly Free Mozart

Monday, July 24, 2006

The Mostly Mozart Festival offers a free preview concert of their season at Avery Fisher Hall this Friday. We'll kick things off tonight with our own little Mozartean grouping, including selections from "Die Zauberflöte" and "Zaide"; also, the beautiful choral piece "Ave verum corpus."

Tchaikovsky, Britten and Beethoven rule the rest of our evening respectively with the Fantasy Overture from "Romeo and Juliet," the Serenade for Tenor and Horn (featuring Ian Bostridge), and the String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat (courtesy the Smetana Quartet). Rounding it all off is Johannes Brahms's Horn Trio in E-flat; we'll hear soloists David Jolley, Mark Kaplan and David Golub.

» Mostly Mozart preview at Avery Fisher Hall, Friday July 28


Scottish Fanfare

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Our evening opens with Scottish fanfare, as we explore a festive medley of traditional tunes from the Scottish highlands (and the legend of Loch Ness), culminating in Benjamin Britten's "Scottish Ballad" for Piano Duo and Orchestra.

We'll head to France for our second hour as Alun Francis leads the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Basel in Darius Milhaud's Symphony No. 2, the first symphony Milhaud composed in the United States after a emigration during World War II. Also, Henri Sauget's La Fontaine fable of "The Cicada and the Ant." Finishing off our French excursion is violinist Cho-Liang Lin and pianist Paul Crossley: we'll hear Maurice Ravel's lively (and lovely) Violin Sonata.


Spotlight on: Tania Eshaghoff

Saturday, July 22, 2006

This evening, David is joined by pianist and composer Tania Eshaghoff to talk about Persian music. A native of Tehran, her music is distinguished by an elegant melting of traditional Persian culture with that of the modern western world.

Also tonight: music from the father and son team of Johann Sebastian and C.P.E. Bach. Eugene Ormandy leads the Philadelphia Orchestra in C.P.E.'s Sinfonia for Double Orchestra; we'll hear Elder Bach's only work for four solo harpsichords and orchestra, the Concerto in A Minor (Trevor Pinnock conducts the English Concert).


Goebbels' Multimedia Whirlwind

Friday, July 21, 2006

Director and composer Heiner Goebbels returns to Lincoln Center on July 27th for his musical/video extravaganza "Eraritjaritjaka" (an Aboriginal expression which means "wishing for something lost"). We'll hear a preview of Goebbels' music tonight with his 2003 Lincoln Center presentation, "Eislermaterial."

More down-to-Earth offerings this evening include "Summer" from Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 with Gidon Kremer, and nonagenarian Gian Carlo Menotti's tuneful "Triple Concerto a tre" (David Amos leads the London Symphony Orchestra).

» Heiner Goebbels' Eraritjaritjaka at the Lincoln Center Festival July 27th


Barbecue Divertimento

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Before there was the eccentric American composer Charles Ives, there was Anthony Philip Heinrich — who took up composing on a lark while convalescing from an illness in 1818. Known as "the Beethoven of America," Heinrich specialized in whimsical, free-form works that were inspired by typical Americana, hence the work we'll hear tonight: his "Barbecue Divertimento."

Speaking of Beethoven, we'll have the real deal later on with the Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat (Emanuel Ax soloing with the Royal Philharmonic under Andre Previn). Music by Mozart, Sibelius and Alban Berg help round out the evening; also: Ralph Vaughan Williams's beautiful "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" from the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Sir Adrian Boult.


Festive Evening

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

We'll get things off to a rousing start with Ernest Chausson's symphonic poem "Festive Evening" (Michel Plasson and the Toulouse Orchestra). In contrast, a young Loren Maazel leads the Vienna Philharmonic in Sibelius's dark and brooding Symphony No. 4; we'll hear the legendary recording from 1968.

Another symphony slated for tonight is Dmitri Shostakovich's "Leningrad" (Symphony No. 7) — which set off a bidding war in America when it came time for the premiere. Due to Hitler's siege on Russia, the score was put on microfilm and smuggled to the States from Moscow (via Teheran and Cairo). It eventually settled in the capable hands of Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra who premiered the work on this date in 1942. We'll hear a somewhat more recent performance, but with a very appropriate ensemble: Mariss Jansons conducts the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra.


Forbidden Symphony

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Edvard Grieg wrote one symphony, when he was twenty years old — which he withdrew just a few years later, forbidding its performance during his lifetime. An impressive work in its own right, although derivative of Mendelssohn and Schumann (which is probably why Grieg was unhappy with it), Grieg did arrange a couple of movements for piano duet. We'll hear the original symphonic version tonight with the Gothenberg Symphony under Neeme Järvi.

At the other end of the spectrum is Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, which portrays Mankind's struggle against Fate (and the composer's own anguish over his homosexuality in the late nineteenth century). Leonard Slatkin leads the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra in this stormy yet ultimately hopeful work.


The Sopranos

Monday, July 17, 2006

No, not the Mafia types (although singing sopranos might be even more formidable than the non-singing ones!). Tonight we're celebrating the birthdays of two wonderful singers: Dawn Upshaw and Eleanor Steber. Upshaw sings Golijov and Canteloube; Steber offers more traditional fare with Mozart and Berlioz.

Also, selections from Handel's "Water Music" — also "born" on this date in 1717 (Trevor Pinnock leads the English Concert). Finnish composer Jean Sibelius wrote lots of beloved music, but chose to forego composition during the last 30 years of his life. We'll hear his first effort in the symphonic genre: Osmo Vanska conducts the Lahti Symphony Orchestra in Sibelius's Symphony No. 1 in E Minor.


When Viols Ruled the Earth

Sunday, July 16, 2006

During the Renaissance, the family of bowed string instruments known as "viols" dominated the world of music — the bass viol in particular made its way into the standard Baroque ensemble. We'll hear some of the earliest music written for the solo bass viol tonight, featuring Spanish viol master Jordi Savall.

We'll also hear some contemporary music that takes its inspiration from earlier times: Czech composer Jan Jirásek mixes chantlike elements with modern harmonic language in his "Missa Propia" for choral ensemble. Estonian composer René Eespere mixes what he calls the "purified" texture of Rock music with Baroque and Estonian Folk elements in "Trivium"; we'll hear a performance from the Camerata Tallinn.


Spotlight on: Banglewood

Saturday, July 15, 2006

The spotlight's on the new music ensemble Bang on a Can and their three-week long summer music festival (and institute) at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. Composers Julia Wolfe and Michael Gordon join David to talk about the festival, also known as "Banglewood."

Later in the evening, we'll listen to music both old and new: The Trio Lyra perform Ben Steinberg's "Three Songs for Flute, Viola and Harp"; conversely, the Instrumental Group of Paris brings us Villa-Lobos's Quintet for Harp, Strings and Flute. Continuing the trend, flutist Robert Aitken is joined by the CBC Vancouver Orchestra for C.P.E. Bach's Flute Concerto in B-flat, led by conductor Mario Bernardi.


Masters of the Cello

Friday, July 14, 2006

Luigi Boccherini was heralded as the greatest cellist of the 18th Century — not to mention a fine composer as well. We'll hear his Trio for Strings No. 4 in C, featuring La Real Cámara. Also, one of Beethoven's spritely (and masterful) cello sonatas with Dutch virtuoso Pieter Wispelwey and pianist Paul Komen.

In almost the same way that Beethoven straddled the musical divide between the Classical and the Romantic, Guillaume Dufay led the way into the Renaissance from the Medieval some 300 years before. David Munrow and the Early Music Consort of London bring us Dufay's "Se la face ay pale" Mass — so named for the popular medieval song its melodies were derived from ("If my face looks pale, it is because of love").


Schoenfield's Vaudeville

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Versatile composer Paul Schoenfield took inspiration for his "Vaudeville" from Schumann's famous "Carnaval." Written as a concerto for the rarely-heard piccolo trumpet, "Vaudeville" colorfully describes such things as a "barnyard ballet" and "vulpine village minstrels." We'll hear the trumpeter it was written for, Wolfgang Basch; John Nelson leads the New World Symphony.

Speaking of Schumann, our series of Schumann symphonies continues tonight with his Symphony No. 2 in C from the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique under John Eliot Gardiner. Also, Vaughan William's dichotomous "Pastorale" Symphony, which — despite its title — is really an elegaic representation of World War I.


Rodrigo's Concierto

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Miles Davis said of Joaquin Rodrigo's "Concierto de aranjuez" that the melody "is so strong that the softer you play it, the stronger it gets, and the stronger you play it, the weaker it gets." Tonight, guitarist Manuel Barrueco takes on Rodrigo's popular guitar concerto with (conductor) Placido Domingo and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Also, celebrating the birthday of two iconic Americans: lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, and pianist Van Cliburn. Tenor Jose Carreras and baritone Bryn Terfel sing selections from "South Pacific" and "Carousel"; we'll hear a recording of the young Van Cliburn in Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto in A Minor (Fritz Reiner leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra).


Gershwin's Rhapsody

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Remember that famous clarinet glissando riff that opens George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue"? That wasn't Gershwin — it was his clarinetist, goofing around with Gershwin's original notes (Gershwin incorporated the "joke" into his score later). We'll hear Gershwin's Rhapsody, glissando and all, from Leonard Bernstein and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in our first hour.

Also, David Zinman leads the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Robert Schumann's Fourth Symphony, while Norwegian cellist Truls Mork provides the foundation for countryman Edvard Grieg's String Quartet in G minor. Mikhail Pletnev conducts the evening to a close with the Russian National Orchestra in Prokofieff's timely "Summer Night."


Tambourin Men

Monday, July 10, 2006

Bob Dylan notwithstanding, we'll start the evening with some (old French Dance) Tambourin-inspired works. Also, music by Franz and Franz (Schubert and Haydn that is): Herbert Blomstedt leads the San Francisco Symphony in Schubert's "Rosamunde" Overture; Leif-Ove Andsnes essays Haydn's Third Piano Concerto.

String soloists are featured prominently in our later hours, as cellist Janos Starker delivers Robert Schumann's tortured yet brilliant Cello Concerto in A Minor. We'll also hear from Russian composer (and close friend of Prokofieff) Nikolai Medtner with his Violin Sonata No. 2 in G, featuring pianist Geoffrey Tozer and violinist Lydia Mordkovitch.


Respighi Redux

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Italian composer Ottorino Respighi was obsessed (at least musically) with all things Rome. He also took a great interest in early music, composing his "Ancient Airs and Dances" suites in a Neo-Renaissance style. Tonight, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra pays tribute to the composer (born on this date in 1879) with the first of these three popular orchestral suites.

We'll also hear the real thing with some dances by 16th-century Italian composer Giorgio Mainerio, courtesy of the Early Music Consort of London. Returning us to more recent times is French pianist Jean-Bernard Pommier with Claude Debussy's charming musical geographical tour, "Estampes" ("Stamps").


Spotlight on: Montserrat Torras

Saturday, July 08, 2006

The Spotlight's on Montserrat Torras as the young Spanish-born composer joins David to discuss her work. Also, celebrating the birthdays of two "bad boys" of modern classical music.

Percy Aldridge Grainger and George Antheil were both born on this date (on 1882 and 1900, respectively). Both were controversial in their own way: Grainger in his personal life, and Antheil in his musical innovations. We'll hear one such innovation tonight in Antheil's notorious "Ballet mechanique" — which features an airplane propeller as an instrument. As for Grainger, we'll highlight his life-long work collecting and arranging folk music as the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble performs "Handel in the Strand" and "The Immovable Do."


Living Legend

Friday, July 07, 2006

Few people alive have spanned the classical music world like the legendary Italian-born composer Gian Carlo Menotti, who turns 95 years old today. We'll celebrate with selections from his 1951 Christmas classic, "Amahl and the Night Visitors," as well as a non-operatic selection: his Concerto for Violin and Orchestra.

Later this evening: Debussy's musical version of Pierre Louÿs's Sapphic "Chansons de Bilitis" (Songs of Bilitis) with soprano Dawn Upshaw and pianist Gilbert Kalish. Also, Haydn's jovially rumbling Symphony No. 80 in D Minor, brought to vivid life by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.


Rachmaninoff a lá Cliburn

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Van Cliburn joined the ranks of immortal pianists when he won the First International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in 1958, playing Rachmaninoff (and Tchaikovsky, of course). Tonight we'll hear a recording of Rachmaninoff's fiery Second Piano Concerto — made a few years later with a twenty-seven year old Cliburn; Fritz Reiner conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Later in the evening, Yoel Levi and the Atlanta Symphony entice with Brahm's Serenade No. 1 in D; also, Gabriel Faure's beautiful Requiem in a stellar recording featuring soprano Arlene Auger and baritone Benjamin Luxon (Philip Ledger leads the English Chamber Orchestra).


Clarinets, Violins and Cellos, Oh My!

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Well, they may not be as intimidating as Lions, Tigers and Bears (depending on the music, that is). Tonight we'll feature major works for the aforementioned instruments, including not one, but two cello concertos (by Milhaud and Haydn) featuring Hungarian-American cellist (and birthday celebrant) Janos Starker.

Later on, we'll hear Robert Schumann's "Rhenish" Symphony as John Eliot Gardiner leads the colorfully-named "Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantic" (Revolutionary and Romantic Orchestra). Also, a couple of Gypsy-themed gems: violinist Midori brings Ravel's "Tzigane" to vivid life, followed by pianist Mirian Conti in Joaquin Turina's rhapsodic "Gypsy Dances."


Musical Fireworks

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

We'll have plenty of musical fireworks to accompany the holiday evening, including works by Charles Ives, Aaron Copland, William Billings and Louis Moreau Gottschalk. We'll even feature fireworks Baroque-style, with Handel's "Music for the Royal Fireworks" (Roger Norrington and the London Classical Players).

Antonin Dvorak wrote some of his most popular music while visiting in America; we'll hear a piece he wrote right here in Manhattan, his Cello Concerto in B Minor (featuring Yo-yo Ma). Also, a musical tribute to Stephen Foster, serendipitously born on this date in 1826.


Children's Carnival

Monday, July 03, 2006

Just as Heitor Villa-Lobos modeled his "Bachianas Brazilieras" after the music of J.S. Bach, he found inspiration for his "Carnaval das Criancas" (Children's Carnival) in Robert Schumann's famous piano work, "Carnaval." Pianist Deborah Halasz performs this charming set of pieces, joined by the extra two hands of Roland Pontinen for the final rollicking movement.

Music by modern composers is featured later in the evening, including Philip Glass's Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra with the Rascher Saxophone Quartet (Dennis Russell Davies conducts the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra); Gerard Schwarz leads the Seattle Symphony in Anton Webern's soulful "Slow Movement for Strings" (Langsamer Satz). Also, Leos Janacek, who although having been born halfway through the 19th century (on this day, in fact) still sounds modern to our ears. We'll hear his exotic "March of the Blue Boys"; later on Michael Helmrath and the Munich Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra bring us his "Idyla" for orchestra.


Music For Awhile

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Music by English Baroque master Henry Purcell dominates the evening, beginning with the wonderful countertenor David Daniels in Purcell's "Music for Awhile," accompanied by guitarist Craig Ogden. We'll also hear excerpts from Purcell's inspired musical theatre work, "King Arthur" (a natural subject for England's greatest native-born composer!).

Francesco Geminiani was born just a few years before Purcell died, eventually gaining fame as a violinist and composer in London alongside Handel. Europa Galante performs Geminiani's Sonata in A Minor, paired with pianist extraordinaire Richard Goode in Mozart's Rondo in A Minor. Finally, we'll fast-forward to the 20th century with Czech composer Borislav Martinu's "Promenades" featuring fellow countrymen Jiri Valek, Josef Suk and Josef Hala on the flute, violin and harpsichord, respectively.


Spotlight on: David Randolph

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Conductor, author, teacher and radio host David Randolph joins us tonight to talk about his distinguished career and to celebrate the 60th anniversary of his debut on the WNYC airwaves. The founding conductor of the Masterworks Chorus and Orchestra (and conductor of the St. Cecilia Chorus and Orchestra since 1965), Randolph created a New York Holiday tradition with his record-breaking yearly performances of Handel's "Messiah" in Carnegie Hall.

Also, music from 17th-century Spain via Baroque specialist Jordi Savall and his ensemble Hesperion XX, offset by pianist Martin Jones with modern master Joaquin Turina's "Mujeres espanolas" (Spanish Women). Music by Felix Mendelssohn, Henry Cowell, and Aaron Copland round out the playlist as we bring the evening to a close with an arrangement for flute and harp of J.S. Bach's "Arioso" from his Cantata No. 156.