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March 2007

Concerts from the Frick: Ysaye Quartet

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Tonight, we continue our annual series of Concerts from the Frick Collection with a concert by the Ysaye Quartet. Renowned for over twenty years for their interpretations of a varied repertoire, the quartet will perform some of their favorite quartets by Haydn, Schumann and Debussy.

Later on, we'll hear Robert Schumann's "Kinderszenen" ("Scenes from Childhood"), performed by firebrand pianist Lang Lang. We'll also hear the Suite for Violin and Orchestra by Frederick Delius, as well as works by less familiar composers David Maslanka and Katherine Hoover.


Boccherini Redux

Friday, March 30, 2007

Luigi Boccherini's Cello Concerto No. 9 in B-flat is one of the composer's most popular works. However, many listeners may not know that the version most often performed today is actually a heavily altered Classical-era hybridization partially penned by cellist Friedrich Grutzmacher in 1895. Tonight we will hear the original version of the concerto as Boccherini intended, replete with engaging freshness and exacting technical demands. Cellist Jian Wang performs with the Camerata Salzburg.

Also on the program tonight, we will hear Brahms' magnificent Horn Trio in E-flat, and well as contemporary works by Terry Riley and Philip Glass. In addition, we'll enjoy works by less familiar composers Victoria Bond, Gwyneth Walker, Matthew Locke and Libby Larsen.


Requiem for a Heavyweight

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Contrary to popular lore, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wasn't penniless and forgotten when he died. In fact, he was pulling in upwards of $142,000 a year in today's dollars and was one of the most famous and celebrated composers in Europe. Tonight we'll also clear up some other myths surrounding his last (and uncompleted) work, the Requiem in D Minor—featuring Claudio Abbado's acclaimed version with Bryn Terfel and Karita Mattila, recorded to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of another great Mozartean, Herbert von Karajan.


A Concerto for the Birds

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Einojuhani Rautavaara is probably the best known Finnish composer since Jean Sibelius (although Sibelius's name is far easier to pronounce!). Extremely prolific, Rautavaara's music has touched on nearly every musical genre; tonight we'll hear his fascinating concerto for birds (on tape) and orchestra (not on tape), the "Cantus Arcticus."


Moonpaths

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Korean-American composer, performer, and educator Beata Moon's music has been described as an "irrepressible outpouring" and "music of irreducible images.". Tonight we'll hear a sampling of her work with a piece called "Moonpaths," originally written for the New York City-based dance company Sensedance.


Thirty Years on the Cutting Edge

Monday, March 26, 2007

For thirty years, the American Composers Orchestra has been at the forefront of contemporary music in New York and around the world. WNYC celebrates this cutting-edge cultural icon with an in-depth exploration of the ACO's music-making, hosted by composer, author, and commentator Frank J. Oteri.


Concerts from the Frick: Leon McCawley

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Tonight, we continue our annual series of Concerts from the Frick Collection with a concert by young British pianist Leon McCawley. Hailed by the New York Times for his ability to "envelop the listener in an acoustical cocoon of bright, passionate sound," McCawley offers an intruiging program of Haydn, Beethoven, Janacek and Chopin.


Alla Turca

Friday, March 23, 2007

Eighteenth-century composer Franz Xaver Sussmayr is perhaps best known for completing Mozart's "Requiem" and other works as Mozart's student and copyist. However, Sussmayr was a gifted composer in his own right, as his "Sinfonia Turchesa" attests. The exotic work, written during a vogue for all things Turkish, sparkles with pastiche and Eastern-influenced percussion.

Later this evening, to contextualize Sussmayr's symphony, we will hear two traditional Turkish songs as well as two less familiar works by Mozart. We will follow with contemporary American composer Michael Nyman's "In Re Don Giovanni," and pieces by Chopin and Faure.


The Miniaturist from Queens

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Author and composer Paul Bowles started writing music while he was a child growing up in Queens; eventually his artistic reach touched nearly every important literary and musical figure in the 20th century. Calling himself a "miniaturist" composer, Bowles specialized in short, self-contained pieces — such as the work we'll hear tonight, his Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra.


The Composer's Advocate

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Leonard Bernstein was not only a first class composer, but championed other composers during his brilliant conducting career — most notably Gustav Mahler. Bernstein's recordings with the New York Phil of Mahler's symphonies sparked a re-examination of that composer's considerable talents; tonight we'll hear the aptly-named "Titan" symphony.


Life Out Of Balance

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Tonight we'll hear selections from Philip Glass's mesmerizing score to the 1982 documentary "Koyaanisqatsi" (Life Out Of Balance) directed by Godfrey Reggio. In the same way that Reggio uses slow-motion and time-lapse photography to manipulate the temporal senses, Glass uses rhythms, pulses and repeated figures to achieve much the same effect.


Bridge of Light

Monday, March 19, 2007

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.


French Troubadours

Sunday, March 18, 2007

During the first hour of this evening's program, we will delve into French songs from the medieval and Renaissance periods. Beginning with anonymous troubadour songs of the 12th and 13th centuries, we will follow with a favorite song by Guillaume de Machaut whose Old French title is "J'aim la flour de valour."

Also on the program tonight, we will hear Aaron Copland's seminal Violin Sonata, performed by Gil Shaham and accompanied by Andre Previn on the piano. In addition, we'll hear the suite "Aires Tropicales" by Cuban composer and bandleader Paquito D'Rivera.


Concerts from the Frick Collection

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Tonight, we begin our annual series of Concerts from the Frick Collection, with a program of Seventeenth Century music from Trio Setticento. Bringing what the Chicago Tribune calls "some of the most refreshing, life-enhancing Baroque playing heard in years" to their performances, Trio Setticento features harpsichordist David Schrader, violinist Rachel Barton, and cellist John Mark Rozendaal.

Later in the evening, David celebrates St. Patrick's day with some traditional favorites, plus Irish-themed works by George Gershwin and John Gardner. We'll also hear a few pieces by the "last of the Irish bards", harpist Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1728). Bringing the party to a close is Mark O'Connor with his brilliant "Fiddle" concerto; Marin Alsop conducts the Concordia Orchestra.


King Rene's Chimney

Friday, March 16, 2007

In 1939, French composer Darius Milhaud collaborated with Arthur Honegger and Roger Desormiere, scoring the film "Cavalcade d'Amour." Milhaud later adapted this source material into a wind quintet, entitled "La Cheminee du Roi Rene" (King Rene's Chimney). The piece brings to life the daily goings-on of a Medieval French royal court, and its movements are infused with a Provencal flavor.

Later tonight, we will hear two works by Henry Purcell, juxtaposed with one of Steve Reich's favorite works, "Music for Large Ensemble." We will also hear four pieces by American composer David del Tredici, as well as a Gershwin prelude and Rachmaninoff's "Variations on a Theme of Corelli" for piano.


The Baroque Romantic

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Swiss composer Ernest Bloch (not be confused with philosopher Ernst Bloch) was the first director of the Cleveland Institute of Music, having taken U.S. citizenship in the mid-1920's. Like Brahms before him, Bloch specialized in casting Romantic music in Baroque and Classical forms; we'll hear an example tonight with his first concerto grosso for orchestra.


Pythagoras and the Pastorales

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

When Lou Harrison was searching for a new musical language in the late 1940's, he decided to revisit the ancient Greek tuning system invented by Pythagoras. The first of his works to employ Pythagorean tuning was "Seven Pastorales," which provided just the breakthrough that Harrison needed— and opened the door to his exploration of the artifice of tonality.


New York Counterpoint

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Steve Reich was looking to the canons of J.S. Bach when he wrote his "New York Counterpoint" in 1985. Just as one of Bach's canonic themes is played against multiple copies of itself, Reich asks a single clarinetist to play against multiple pre-recorded tracks of themselves, to fascinating effect (we'll hear it tonight from clarinetist Evan Ziporyn). Also, opera star Diana Damrau joins us for an informal chat— including an hour of her favorite German songs, after the Writer's Almanac.


Diamond in the Round

Monday, March 12, 2007

Composer David Diamond rightly earned the title "Dean of American Composers" both for his body of work and his academic influence, which dominated the second half of the twentieth century. Tonight we'll feature his classic piece written in 1944, "Rounds for String Orchestra."


Gymnopédi-huh?

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Erik Satie started calling himself a "gymnopédiste" before he wrote a note of his famous "Gymnopédies" for piano (which we'll hear tonight). Borrowing the word from an abstract poem by Patrice Contamine, Satie delighted in confounding his contemporaries as to what the word meant, exactly.

Later on we'll be celebrating the anniversary of composer Henry Cowell's birth in 1897 with one of his "Hymn and Fuguing Tunes." Other Cowell tonight includes two of his wildly descriptive piano pieces, "Aolean Harp" and "The Banshee." Works by Johann Sebastian Bach—plus a little John Cage thrown in for fun—complete the evening.


Spotlight on: Helga Davis

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Tonight David is joined by acclaimed theater artist and vocalist Helga Davis for a conversation about her wide-ranging musical talents. Later on, we'll enjoy music by Lou Harrison, Chick Corea, and Michael Nyman.


A Barber Birthday

Friday, March 09, 2007

Were he alive today, composer Samuel Barber would have been 97 years old. We'll mark this musical maverick's birthday anniversary with several selections, including a recording of Barber singing and playing his own songs.

Later on we'll listen to selections by Osvaldo Golijov, whose music is featured on the Brooklyn Philharmonic's concert at BAM tomorrow night. Pianist Stephen Hough pays tribute to the English piano tradition in a sprinkling of works by Stephen Reynolds and York Bowen; cutting a rug Armenian style is violinist Hideko Udagawa with pianist Boris Berezovsky in dances by Aram Kachaturian.


Rach's Rock

Thursday, March 08, 2007

When the twenty-year-old Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote his ambitious fantasy for orchestra, "The Rock," Tchaikovsky loved it so much that he planned to take it on tour — but died suddenly before he could do so. We'll hear Rach's "Rock" tonight from the Russian National Orchestra; Michael Pletnev conducts.

Also tonight, Lou Harrison's hop, skip and a jump for piano, the "Gigue and Musette"; winding the clock back a few centuries is archguitarist Peter Blanchette with a lively Gigue by Silvius Leopold Weiss. We'll hear an entire guitar quartet in Federico Torroba's musical postcard "Estampas," and Jordi Savall leads La Capella Reial de Catalunya in music by "El Sabio" ("The Wise" A.K.A King Alfonso X of 13th-century Spain).


Britten's Water Music

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

English composer Benjamin Britten grew up near the North Sea and carried it with him all his life. In his first opera, "Peter Grimes," the sea is almost a character unto itself. Tonight we'll hear his orchestral suite from that opera, the "Four Sea Interludes."

We'll also hear from one of Britten's countrymen, Ralph Vaughan Williams, in the popular tone poem for violin and orchestra, "The Lark Ascending." In a related vein, Fritz Reiner leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Stravinsky's "Song of the Nightingale." Finally, we'll indulge in a little meteorological fantasy with Robert Schumann's "Spring" Symphony.


Happy Birthday, Maestro!

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

While the music world is abuzz with speculation over who will succeed Lorin Maazel as conductor of the New York Philharmonic in 2009, Evening Music takes time tonight to wish the Maestro a happy 77th birthday. We'll not only hear from Maazel the conductor, but also Maazel the composer, as Mstislav Rostropovich performs his "Music for Violincello and Orchestra."

Later in the evening we'll hear some Rossini via tenor Juan Diego Flórez, whose rescheduled Carnegie Hall debut takes place on Saturday. Works by Robert Moran and Arvo Pärt are heard as well; the Ma'alot Quintet perform Bagatelles by Antonin Dvorak, and composer/conductor Karol Husa leads the Prague Symphony Orchestra in his own Symphony No. 1.


Late Copland

Monday, March 05, 2007

Written in 1967, Aaron Copland's "Inscape" was his last major orchestral work. Over the course of his musical development, Copland became increasingly intrigued by the twelve-tone school of composition, often in stark contrast to his works written in a popular style. "Inscape" completed Copland's journey into serialism, standing on its own as a challenging, exhilarating work of the modern age.

Also on the program this evening, we will feature two less familiar Scandinavian composers, Erkki Melartin of Finland and Per Norgaard of Denmark. In addition, the night's music will include a favorite piano sonata by Mozart, short pieces by Ernesto Lecuona and Heitor Villa-Lobos, and concertos by Antonio Vivaldi and Sir John Barbirolli.


Bach on Violin

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Bach's Violin Partitas represent the apotheosis of the Baroque tradition on strings. Comprised of varying numbers of traditional dance-based movements, the Partitas are pillars of the repertoire and have been performed and recorded by numerous violinists.

The Chaconne from the Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor has enjoyed a spate of transcriptions, including a popular arrangement for piano by Ferrucio Busoni and an orchestration by Leopold Stokowski. This evening we will hear an innovative arrangement for trumpet and orchestra, interpreted by Doc Severinsen and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra under Erich Kunzel.


Spotlight on: Marta Eggerth

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Tonight, David is joined by legendary Hungarian actress and singer Marta Eggerth for a conversation about her astonishing career and her plans for the future. Later on, we'll settle in for some songs by French Renaissance composer Guillame Machaut, as well as John Cage's 1948 piano elegy "In a Landscape."


Mark Morris: Movie Soundtracks

Friday, March 02, 2007

Mark Morris takes a break from his day job as a choreographer to guest host Evening Music. Each night he plays a different genre, spins his favorite cd’s and tells us what he loves about them. Tonight, Mark takes on some of his favorite Movie Soundtracks, including music by Nino Rota (written for a different film) that was eventually recycled for "The Godfather."


Mark Morris: Country and Western

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Mark Morris takes a break from his day job as a choreographer to guest host Evening Music. Each night he plays a different genre, spins his favorite cd’s and tells us what he loves about them. Tonight, Mark saddles up for some Country and Western, including songs by the Carter Family and Lefty Frizzell.