A Paul Winter Solstice Concert

Saturday, December 30, 2006

Tonight WNYC continues our celebration of the season as we bring you Paul Winter’s unique exploration of the solstice tradition. The Paul Winter Consort is joined by musicians from all over the world, including singer Renato Braz from Brazil, Russia’s Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble and woodwind player Paul McCandless. John Schaefer hosts this wintry spectacular from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

Also tonight, celebrate the season with a selection of wintry favorites. Anong the works we'll hear tonight are excerpts from "Solstice" by Lou Harrison, "Bla Vinter" ("Blue Winter") by Roland Pontinen, "Winter Waters" by Sir Arnold Bax, and "In the Bleak Midwinter," Gustav Holst's famed adaptation of a poem by Christina Rossetti.

A Bevy of Brits

Friday, December 29, 2006

Ralph Vaughan Williams was strongly influenced by traditional English folk songs and instrumental pieces, but his chamber music output often takes a backseat to his more familiar orchestral and choral works (the "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" in particular). Tonight we'll hear a lovely work that is unfortunately not often heard, Vaughan Williams' "Six Studies in English Folk Song," scored for cello and piano.

Also tonight, we'll hear pieces by more of Britain's favorite composers, including Sir Edward Elgar, Paul Reader, Frederick Delius, and Gustav Holst, as well as the stately "Lord Fitzwilliam Suite" by Renaissance composer William Byrd. We'll round out the evening with selections from J. S. Bach, as well as his son Johann Christoph Frederic Bach.

IPO @ 70

Thursday, December 28, 2006

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra celebrates seventy years of music-making this month with two weeks of gala performances. We'll offer our own salute to this historic ensemble with a stunning 1968 performance of Ernest Bloch's Hebrew Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra, "Schelomo," featuring Janos Starker.

Also, Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" has been arranged and re-arranged for everything from Classical Orchestra (fourteen times) to Classic Rock Ensemble (Emerson, Lake and Palmer). Originally written for piano (over a mere twenty-day period), we'll hear it later on in the popular orchestration by Maurice Ravel.

» visit the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra website

The Cunning Little Composer

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Composer Leoš Janáček based his psychedelic opera "The Cunning Little Vixen" on a comic strip he admired in his native Czech Republic. Turning it into a reflection on the cycle of life and death, Janáček even asked that it be played at his own funeral (it was). We'll hear the orchestral suite from this fascinating work in our first hour, as brought to us by the Prague Symphony Orchestra.

The rest of the evening brings some favorites, including Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme Of Paganini" and dances from another Czech opera, Bedrich Smetana's "The Bartered Bride." Later on, Bruno Walter and the Columbia Symphony give a lively reading of Franz Schubert's love letter to Mozart and Haydn, the Symphony No. 5 in B-flat.

Quiet Evening

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

We have a nice quiet evening of favorites to help you unwind after the holiday, including Debussy's "Petite Suite," Delius's "Village Romeo and Juliet," and "Rustic Scenes" from Finnish composer Uuno Klami.

Later in the evening, Daniel Barenboim puts on his pianist hat for Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23, while the Chicago Symphony sinks it teeth into Manuel De Falla's "Three-Cornered Hat" Suite under Fritz Reiner. In the later hours, we'll mark the anniversary of not one but three Donizetti operas — which all premiered on this date in different years. We'll hear selections from "Anna Bolena," "Lucrezia Borga," and "Lucia di Lammermoor."

Handel's Messiah

Monday, December 25, 2006

Celebrate Christmas Day with WNYC! From the Church of St. Thomas in New York City, join us as we bring you a performance of the Christmas portion of Handel's Messiah. As a result of its popularity, the Messiah concert has become an eagerly anticipated annual event at St. Thomas. The concert's soloists are drawn from the ranks of the Metropolitan Opera, and set New York's standard for Messiah concerts each year. The choir and soloists are joined by the Concert Royal orchestra, which performs on period instruments and has become an integral part of the city's flourishing early music scene.

Also tonight, we'll bring you a performance of "A Chanticleer Christmas" from St. Vincent’s Church in Petaluma, CA. One of the world's finest choral ensembles brings you inspiring sounds of the season, hosted by Fred Child.

Finally, from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, we'll hear the St. Olaf Christmas 2006 Festival, featuring more than 500 student musicians. Hosted by Brian Newhouse, the broadcast includes hymns, choral works and orchestra selections celebrating the nativity.

Bach's Christmas Oratorio from Carnegie Hall

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Join us tonight as we celebrate the season with one of Johann Sebastian Bach's best-loved works. Conductor Robert Bass leads the Collegiate Chorale and the Orchestra of St. Lukes in everyone's Holiday favorite, the "Christmas " Oratorio.

Also featured in this exciting live performance are soloists Lisa Saffer, Gigi Mitchell-Velasco, Paul Austin Kelly, and James Maddelena. Come spend Christmas Eve with the beautiful music of Bach!

Christmas Glee

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Join us tonight as master comedian Jonathan Winters presents a distinctive reading of "A Christmas Carol," using a special performing edition prepared by Dickens for his own presentations. Winters recreates Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, Jacob Marley's spirit and the three Christmas ghosts: Past, Present and Future.

Also tonight, the choirs of two of the most prestigious historically black institutions in the nation join together to present a festive concert program. In a Christmas celebration of the schools' tradition of singing excellence, the Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs perform spirituals, carols and sacred texts from the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.

A Pastoral Evening

Friday, December 22, 2006

Beethoven wrote his "Pastoral" Symphony at the same time he wrote his famous Fifth Symphony. A mirror opposite of the fiery Fifth, the "Pastoral" depicts a serene country existence - something Beethoven (the nature lover) pursued as often as possible in his own life. We'll hear it tonight from the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique under John Eliot Gardiner.

We'll also hear some Fantasias on Christmas Carols by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and music for the lute by Johann Sebastian Bach. Barthold Kuijken and company serve up one of Georg Philip Telemann's "Parisian" Quartets; later in the evening it's the hauntingly melismatic "Missa Lumen de Lumine" by Korean composer Sungji Hong (performed by Trio Mediaeval).

A Corelli Christmas

Thursday, December 21, 2006

When Baroque composer Archangelo Corelli wrote his Concerto grosso in G Minor, Opus 6, Number 8, he inscribed it with the phrase "made for Christmas night" — much to the relief of publishers everywhere (who simply called it the "Christmas Concerto"). We'll set a seasonal mood tonight with this lovely pastorale work, in a performance from the Camerata Bariloche.

Music by Weber, Respighi, and Mozart also light up the hours, and if you're interested in Tan Dun's new opera "The First Emperor" which premieres tonight at the Met, you'll definitely want to hang around: George Preston calls in live during intermission to give us a scoop review of Dun's opera, which stars Plácido Domingo in the title role.

The First Emperor: A Sneak Peek

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

This ambitious new work stars Plácido Domingo in the title role and features the Met debut of acclaimed film director Zhang Yimou ("House of Flying Daggers" and "Hero").

Paving the way beforehand is other music by Tan Dun, including selections from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Hero," and the Concerto for Water Percussion and Orchestra. In the later hours, we'll feature percussion classical-style, in Franz Joseph Haydn's "Drum Roll" Symphony; putting the finishing touch on our evening is Franz Schubert's ever-popular "Trout" Quintet.

Tchaikovsky's Tempest

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

One good turn deserves another: when the young Tchaikovsky saw success with his "Romeo and Juliet" Fantasy Overture, he followed it up with another Shakespearean work, the "Tempest" Fantasy. This wasn't just a knockoff, however — Tchaikovsky used the opportunity to expand his musical language and get his feet wet in the murky waters of impressionism. We'll hear a suitably stormy performance tonight from the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under Neeme Järvi.

Now, you may have heard of "Opera Without Words"; we'll hear some non-opera (also without words) by the composer of some of opera's greatest hits, as Riccardo Muti leads the La Scala Philharmonic in Giacomo Puccini's "Capriccio Sinfonico." Music by Sir Arnold Bax, George Frideric Handel and Carl Stamitz is also heard tonight, and we'll bring it all to a close with a salute to cellist Steven Isserlis on his forty-eighth birthday, as Isserlis performs Rachmaninoff's Cello Sonata in G Minor.

Evening Music

Monday, December 18, 2006

Winter Evening, Wondrous Evening, Evening Prayer — you name it, we've got it. We'll offer up some real "Evening Music" to set the mood tonight, including Franz Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 8, "Le Soir" ("The Evening" — as if you didn't know...)

John Rutter's "Gloria" is heard in the later hours, as well as Corelli's "Christmas Concerto." Native New Orleansian (and Ragtime pioneer) Louis Moreau Gottshchalk gave his works catchy titles like "Five Pieces for Four Hands"; we'll hear that one from Cary Lewis and Brady Millican. Also, the Philharmonia Virtuosi perform Virgil Thomson's Coplandesque suite from his documentary score for "The Plough That Broke The Plains."

A Ceremony of Carols

Sunday, December 17, 2006

As the Holidays quickly approach, we'll get in the mood with Benjamin Britten's mesmerizing "A Ceremony of Carols." Don't expect the usual suspects, however — these carols use Middle-English texts, made all the more medieval sounding by Britten's sparse (yet novel) choral writing.

Before that, the saxophone starts off the evening in Debussy's Rhapsody for Saxophone and Orchestra with Kenneth Radnofsky and the New York Phil; we'll also hear from saxman Gary Louie and the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra in Alec Wilder's Suite No. 2 for Sax and Strings. Emanuel Ax takes us through the later hours with Haydn's Piano Sonata No. 31, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra essays Respighi's colorful "Botticelli Triptych."

Spotlight on: Arlene Sierra

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Join us tonight at WNYC as we chat with composer Arlene Sierra. An American currently living in the UK, having recently been appointed Lecturer in Composition at Cardiff University, Sierra explores the interplay between structure and atmosphere in her works. She has been commissioned by the Tanglewood Music Festival, among many others, and her works have been performed by some of the world's foremost orchestras, chamber ensembles and soloists. Sierra's ongoing collaboration with the Anita Cheng Dance Company of New York has also led to performances with many other dance companies. We'll talk to Sierra about her creative process, inspirations, and upcoming performances.
Also tonight, we'll hear the Mozart Violin Sonata in A, part of Anne-Sophie Mutter's complete Mozart violin works recording series. In addition, we'll hear less familiar works by Zoltan Kodaly and Rodion Shchedrin.

The Best of Mozart

Friday, December 15, 2006

In April 1784, Mozart wrote to his father of his new Piano Quintet in E flat, "I myself consider if the best work I have written in my life till now." The work is scored for piano, oboe, bassoon, clarinet and horn - the only piece in Mozart's catalogue with this instrumentation - and is vibrantly concerto-like in its temperament and virtuosity. The Met Chamber Ensemble plays the Quintet on Sunday, December 17th at 5pm at Weill Recital Hall.
Also tonight, we'll hear less familiar works by Ernst Toch, Roy Harris, David Borden, Marco Uccelini and Harold Shapero. In addition, we'll round out the evening with some Baroque favorites, including Handel's Concerto Grosso No. 11 in A.

Anything But Plain

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz was always a colorful character; when he was seven, he blew an unprecedented chance to get into the Paris Conservatoire — when he accidentally tossed a ball through a plate glass window. Tonight we'll hear one of his seminal piano works, the (equally) colorful suite for piano, "La Vega" (The Plain).

Flights of fancy fill the later hours, with Britten's early "Phantasy" Quartet and Tchaikovsky's "Fantasy Overture" from "Romeo and Juliette." Continuing the theme is Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony with Alan Hovhaness's "Fantasy on Japanese Woodprints," preceded by Geminiani's "Enchanted Forest." Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera's ballet "Estancia" brings the evening to a close.

Oh, That Cello!

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

It's a wonderful evening for cellos, starting with music written by none other than the great Charlie Chaplin. Then, we'll take a Brazilian turn with the Cello Fantasia by Heitor Villa-Lobos, and hear the legendary cellist Jacqueline Du Pre in Frederick Delius's picturesque Cello Concerto.

Two vocal works that forgo words are heard in the first hour, however: Reinhold Gliere's Concerto for Soprano and Orchestra, and Rachmaninoff's famous Vocalise (in an arrangement for chorus). The Violin takes over in our third hour with a Sonata by Georges Enescu featuring Yehudi Menuhin (who made his professional debut at age 11 on this day in 1927). Our fourth hour concentrates on the Piano with music by Schubert and Liszt; then it's a return to vocalism (this time with words) from sopranos Jane Eaglen and Angela Gheorghiu, with works by Berg and Poulenc.

Pieter Who?

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Composer Pieter Hellendaal left his native Netherlands to seek fame and fortune in 18th century London, and probably would have found it too — if he hadn't been overshadowed by some guy named George Frideric Handel. Tonight we'll hear one of Hellendaal's wonderful (albeit underappreciated) concerti grossi from the European Community Baroque Orchestra.

Some other lesser-known composers top the list tonight as well: Pepe Romero strums his way through Ferdinando Carulli's guitar concerto, and Paul Freeman ventures into Leo Sowerby's "Prarie Poem" with the Czech National Symphony in tow. Later on, we'll hear the Symphony No. 1 by Russian composer Vassili Kalinnikov, a sort of Borodin/Tchaikovsky/Rimsky-Korsakov hybrid. In closing, Lorin Maazel and the Bavarian Radio Symphony lead us back to more familiar ground with Strauss's famous tone poem, "Don Quixote."

Mozart and Son

Monday, December 11, 2006

Tonight we'll hear a couple of selections from Papa Mozart and his (slightly more famous) son. John Lubbock leads the Orchestra of St. John's in Leopold Mozart's delightful "Toy" Symphony, followed by Wolfgang's Serenade No. 5 from Christopher Hogwood and The Academy of Ancient Music.

Later on, we'll preview the Collegiate Chorale's performance of Bach's Christmas Cantata at Carnegie Hall tomorrow night, as soloists extraordinaire Lisa Saffer and James Maddalena join us in the studio to talk Bach with musical examples. We'll undergo a sea change in the third hour with Debussy's "La mer" and Britten's "Four Sea Interludes"; George Pieterson and the Concertgebouw Orchestra bring the night to a close with Hindemith's Clarinet Concerto — originally written for none other than Benny Goodman.

» The Collegiate Chorale performs Bach at Carnegie Hall Tomorrow

Must Have Festival 2006: Contest Winner

Sunday, December 10, 2006

And the winner is...Ricky Ian Gordon! Ricky is a composer of unusual scope. He is equally at home writing for the concert hall, opera, dance, theater and film and his songs and song cycles have been performed, as well as recorded, by many internationally acclaimed singers. Past highlights of Ricky Ian Gordon’s all-encompassing career to date include: Only Heaven, with a libretto by Langston Hughes, recorded on PS Classics; Stonewall/ Night Variations, States of Independence, and Autumn Valentine, the latter to texts by Dorothy Parker. Listen to Ricky's winning essay tonight and find out what recordings he can't live without as the Must Have Festival concludes on WNYC.

Must Have Festival 2006: Juan Diégo Florez and Diana Damrau

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Opera's latest "It" couple, Peruvian pop star wanna-be Juan Diégo Florez and German diva Diana Damrau, wowed audiences recently with their chemistry, carnality and classic good looks in the Metropolitan Opera's new production of "The Barber of Seville" - but turns out they have a soft spot for everything from "My Fair Lady" to Mahler.

Must Have Festival 2006: Brooke Gladstone

Friday, December 08, 2006

On the Media co-host Brooke Gladstone's taste transcends genre — she's looking for music that seduces with clever wordplay or compelling narratives. Tune in tonight to find out Brooke's top picks as the Must Have Festival continues on WNYC.

Must Have Festival 2006: Marvin Hamlisch

Thursday, December 07, 2006

A weeklong on-air music festival designed to help you create the classical music library of your dreams. Tonight, find out what composer Marvin Hamlisch likes to listen to.

Must Have Festival 2006: Meg Wolitzer

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

A weeklong on-air music festival designed to help you create the classical music library of your dreams. Tonight, Meg Wolitzer will clue us in to how great music informs her process as an author.

Must Have Festival 2006: Alec Baldwin

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

A weeklong on-air music festival designed to help you create the classical music library of your dreams. Tonight, actor and activist Alec Baldwin joins us to talk about the music he loves to wind down to after putting in a day at the set.

Must Have Festival 2006: Jonathan Schwartz

Monday, December 04, 2006

A weeklong on-air music festival designed to help you create the classical music library of your dreams. Jonathan Schwartz has championed music by artists as diverse as Crosby, Stills and Nash, Nancy LaMott, and of course, Frank Sinatra… Find out how he narrowed his top picks down to five (although he chose a few runners-up just in case!). Plus, Placido Domingo shares a few of his own favorite recordings.

Lots of Lute

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Little is known about Renaissance composer John Dowland's life. Born around 1563, this master of the song wrote primarily for voice, lute and viola da gamba. Dowland's music has deservedly experienced a major revival in the past 100 years; transcriptions of his lute works for modern classical guitar have doubtless sparred on this resurgence. Tonight we'll hear Bengt Ericson on viola da gamba and Rolf LaFleur on lute as they perform three selections from Dowland's collected lute music.

Also on the program tonight, we'll hear a string quintet by Luigi Boccherini and a guitar and two-violin trio by Sergio Assad. We'll also hear "Birds in Warped Time II," a haunting and less familiar work by Japanese composer Somei Satoh.

Spotlight on: Chris Brubeck

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Jazz trombonist and composer Chris Brubeck joins us at WNYC tonight. Son of jazz legend Dave Brubeck, Chris is an innovative performer and composer in his own right, influenced by not only the jazz tradition but also blues, folk, funk, pop and classical music styles. Chris collaborates with his brother Daniel and a rotating roster of other musicians to form the Brubeck Brothers Quartet. We'll chat with Chris about his compositions as well as his performing life.

Also on the program tonight, we'll hear Russian-Tatar composer Sofia Gubaidulina's orchestral work with solo violin, "Offertorium." Charles Dutoit conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra with violinist Gidon Kremer.
All-Gubaidulina program Wednesday, Dec. 6 at 7:30pm at Zankel Hall

Czech yourself

Friday, December 01, 2006

Leos Janacek's Sinfonietta was written partly as a patriotic tribute to his beloved city of Brno, Moravia (now the Czech Republic). Janacek frequently incorporated Moravian and Slovak folk music into his works. The Sinfonietta builds upon these traditional themes in a rousing military spirit, complete with plenty of brass and percussion. We'll hear a spirited performance by the Vienna Philharmonic under Sir Charles MacKerras.

Tonight we'll also hear works by less familiar Spanish and Italian composers Andrea Falconeiro, Francesco Geminiani, Bernardo Storace, Dario Castello, Diego Ortiz and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. In addition, we'll hear two Baroque gems, Couperin's Harpsichord Suite No. 6 (interpreted by the inimitable Angela Hewitt) and Thomas Tallis' Missa "Puer natus est nobis."