Celebrating La Divina
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
Maria Callas was born this day in 1923. To celebrate, we bring you two arias featuring that glorious interpretive artist during the first hour of Evening Music. Don’t miss them!
Speaking of birthdays, we also honor birthday celebrant Nino Rota (1911) by bringing you his Concerto for Strings, Riccardo Muti conducting La Scala Philharmonic. And speaking of La Scala...well, no. Our Callas offerings are not with that orchestra. Instead, we hear the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire conducted by Nicola Rescigno as Callas sings Verdi’s ‘Ecco l’orrido campo’ from “Un ballo in maschera.” Then it’s Callas a second time, singing ‘Un bel dì’ from Puccini’s “La bohème,” Tullio Serafin conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Beethoven’s E-flat Piano Trio, Op. 1/1, opens our second hour, with pianist Wilhelm Kempff, violinist Henryk Szering, and cellist Pierre Fournier, all of whom enjoyed the highest esteem for several decades following WW II. You could hear that same work live as played by the Beaux Arts Trio, were you to go to the Metropolitan Museum on December 10th. Another chamber work follows: Anton Webern’s String Quartet as orchestrated by Christoph Poppen, who conducts the Munich Chamber Orchestra.
To end? More from Nino Rota: remember the film “La strada,” and its familiar theme? I Salonisti bring us their version. Ah, la memoria...!
Speaking of birthdays, we also honor birthday celebrant Nino Rota (1911) by bringing you his Concerto for Strings, Riccardo Muti conducting La Scala Philharmonic. And speaking of La Scala...well, no. Our Callas offerings are not with that orchestra. Instead, we hear the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire conducted by Nicola Rescigno as Callas sings Verdi’s ‘Ecco l’orrido campo’ from “Un ballo in maschera.” Then it’s Callas a second time, singing ‘Un bel dì’ from Puccini’s “La bohème,” Tullio Serafin conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Beethoven’s E-flat Piano Trio, Op. 1/1, opens our second hour, with pianist Wilhelm Kempff, violinist Henryk Szering, and cellist Pierre Fournier, all of whom enjoyed the highest esteem for several decades following WW II. You could hear that same work live as played by the Beaux Arts Trio, were you to go to the Metropolitan Museum on December 10th. Another chamber work follows: Anton Webern’s String Quartet as orchestrated by Christoph Poppen, who conducts the Munich Chamber Orchestra.
To end? More from Nino Rota: remember the film “La strada,” and its familiar theme? I Salonisti bring us their version. Ah, la memoria...!
