Classic Ross Amico

Category: Daily Dispatch

Early Music Month on WPRB: Medieval to Modern

The pull of history will be strong tomorrow morning on WPRB, as we celebrate Early Music Month. We’ll examine the influences of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance on “contemporary” composers – that is to say, composers who lived within the past 100 years. In fact, several of them (William Kraft, Paul Lansky, and Kile Smith) are still very much with us.

At 9:00, I’ll be joined by John Burkhalter, a stalwart of the local Early Music scene and a member of the Guild for Early Music. He’ll fill us in on the Guild and its series of upcoming concerts featuring vocal and instrumental music from the 12th through the 18th centuries. The concerts will be presented by the Guild’s member groups throughout the month of March. You’ll find a complete schedule at guildforearlymusic.org.

Plainchant and polyphony, pavanes and galliards, madrigals and lute pieces, all will shimmer as if from a distant mirror, as we enjoy 20th and 21st century classics inspired by the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, this Thursday morning from 6 to 11 EST, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. I’ll be feeling a tad Middle Aged myself, on Classic Ross Amico.

#EarlyMusicMonth
Early Music America

March 2, 2017
Saad Haddad Wins Ives Fellowship

Congratulations to Saad Haddad, Composer. The American Academy of Arts and Letters has named Haddad a recipient of a Charles Ives Fellowship. Ives’ widow, Harmony, bequeathed to the Academy the royalties to Ives’ music, enabling Ives awards in composition to be bestowed since 1970. The award brings with it a prize of $15,000.

Haddad appeared as my guest last month on Classic Ross Amico on WPRB 103.3 FM. His work, “Manarah,” was heard on a concert of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra on January 29. The PSO will present a newly commissioned work from Haddad on one of next season’s concerts. I wish him the very best.

Fascinatingly, the Academy houses the actual contents of Ives’ studio, which has been painstakingly reproduced, as it originally appeared in the composer’s home in Redding, CT, as part of the institute’s Manhattan gallery. You’ll find more information here:

http://artsandletters.org/exhibition/charles-ives-studio/

PHOTO: Saad Haddad (left) with PSO music director Rossen Milanov

March 1, 2017
Chopin’s Birthday Mystery: February 22 or March 1?

People lie about their birthdays all the time, usually to make themselves appear younger. In the case of Frédéric Chopin, he may have bought himself a week.

It is widely believed – including by his mother and himself – that Chopin was born on March 1, 1810. However, his baptismal certificate, filled out on April 23, gives February 22 as the date. The Chopin Society UK, in defiance of the composer and his family, is inclined to go with the latter.

Was there a conspiracy at work? Do we have ourselves a 19th century precursor of the “birther movement?”

You can read more about the Chopin birthday controversy here:

http://jackgibbons.blogspot.com/2010/03/chopins-birthday.html

Or you can simply join me today to enjoy a sampling of his music, between 4 and 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

PHOTO: Chopin, not looking a day older than 207

March 1, 2017
Shrove Tuesday: Carnival Music & Doughnuts

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

February 28, 2017
Sammy Davis Jr Oscar Envelope Mix-Up History

This has been circulating all over the internet today. It turns out Sunday night’s envelope mix-up was not the first in Academy Awards history. Watch as Sammy Davis Jr. is handed an envelope for a different category than the one announced. Nobody fielded the foul ball on Sunday as well as Davis does here. I am also inclined to share it because of the staggering talent of the nominees for Best Original Score. I don’t think the time will ever come again. Truly, this was an era when giants walked the earth.

PHOTO: André Previn, Sammy Davis Jr., and Elmer Bernstein

February 28, 2017

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