Strike up, pipers!

This Thursday morning on WPRB, we continue with our commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare – on April 23, 1616 – with the second of four programs devoted to music inspired by his sonnets and plays.

Depending on how timings align, tomorrow’s playlist may include Mily Balakirev’s incidental music for “King Lear,” Sir Edward Elgar’s symphonic study “Falstaff,” and Hector Berlioz’s dramatic symphony “Romeo and Juliet,” among others. But who knows? I’ve got a whole suitcase full of Shakespeareana, which I’ll keep playing and replenishing through the end of the month.

What’s certain is that we’ll be joined in 9:00 hour by William Hobbs, music director of Westminster Opera Theatre, and Trent Blanton, stage director for a production of Verdi’s “Falstaff,” which will be performed at the Robert L. Annis Playhouse on the campus of Westminster Choir College in Princeton this Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

To borrow from Juliet, our only love springs from our only hate, every Thursday in April from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. Radio is such sweet sorrow, on Classic Ross Amico.