It’s Shrove Tuesday. Mardi Gras. Fastnacht Day. The last day to stuff down as many doughnuts as you can before the start of Lent.

To mark the occasion, we’ll have music this afternoon about Carnival, with an emphasis, perhaps, on the Carnival of Venice, including musical depictions of stock characters of the commedia dell’arte, figures like Pulcinella, Scapino, Scaramouche, Columbina and Pierrot.

We’ll also touch on New Orleans with some pieces inspired by Mardi Gras, with perhaps a few works thrown into the mix by Creole composers.

All that will follow today’s “Noontime Concert.” I’ll mostly be pressing the buttons this afternoon and providing the connective material, as my colleague David Osenberg will be joined by composer Michael Ippolito, violist Nathan Schram of the Attacca Quartet, and composer and impresario Paola Prestini for another program which took place at National Sawdust in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

The concert will begin at 12:00 EST; the Carnival music will commence immediately following. I’ll be dunking the doughnuts until 4 p.m., on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

Pulcinella che mangia spaghetti