Classic Ross Amico

Category: Daily Dispatch

WWFM Salutes Barbirolli Kajanus & Chung

It was Ralph Vaughan Williams who dubbed Sir John Barbirolli “Glorious John.” This afternoon on WWFM, we’ll enjoy some of his glorious recordings.

In fact, it’s a great day for conductors. We’ll also salute Robert Kajanus, a colleague of Jean Sibelius, who did much to promote the music of his friend, including making the first recordings of the Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 3 & 5.

In addition, it’s the birthday of South Korean conductor Myung-Whun Chung, a pupil of Messiaen, who demonstrates a certain flair for the music of Danish composer Carl Nielsen.

We’ll enjoy examples of their artistry and more, between 4 and 6 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

Then stayed tuned to hear music written for film adaptations of girls’ literary classics on “Picture Perfect” at 7:00. More on that to come!

December 2, 2016
Literary Classics Movie Music on Picture Perfect

This week on “Picture Perfect,” we’ll have music from movies based on girls’ literary classics. Of course readers of either gender have enjoyed these books, but with female protagonists and female authors, they have proved great favorites among generations of female readers. All of them have been adapted for film numerous times.

We’ll hear selections from a 1993 version of “The Secret Garden.” Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 novel tells of an ill-tempered child who loses her neglectful parents in India, only to blossom at the discovery of the titular garden on her uncle’s otherwise gloomy estate on the Yorkshire moors. Agnieszka Holland directed. The film was released through Francis Ford Coppola’s independent studio, American Zoetrope. Its music was by Zbigniew Preisner.

Another popular novel by the same author, from 1905, is “A Little Princess.” Alfonso Cuarón directed his adaptation in 1995. In his version, a well-bred English girl, again brought up in India, is placed in a boarding school in New York. Her fortunes change when her father goes missing in action during World War I. The girl entertains her fellow students by reciting tales from the Hindu epic, “The Ramayana.” Her Indian connection is reflected in Patrick Doyle’s score.

“Little Women,” by Louisa May Alcott, follows the lives of four sisters of the March family, as they pass from childhood to adulthood in Concord, Massachusetts, during and after the American Civil War. A sensation on its publication in 1868, the book remains one of the most beloved of all time. In 1994, it received its fifth adaptation for the big screen, with Winona Ryder as Jo and Susan Sarandon as Marmee. Thomas Newman, one of the sons of famed film composer Alfred Newman, and the cousin of Randy Newman, wrote the music.

Finally, “Heidi,” by the Swiss writer Johanna Spyri, recounts the events in the life of a young girl who shares a home with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. There have been roughly 20 film or television productions of “Heidi” to date. This one, from 1968, starred Jennifer Edwards, daughter of Blake Edwards and stepdaughter of Julie Andrews. Maximilian Schell, Jean Simmons and Michael Redgrave were in the supporting cast. The music was written by an up-and-coming composer then known as “Johnny Williams.” And there’s plenty in the score to indicate great things to come.

I hope you’ll make “Picture Perfect” your secret garden tonight. It comes your way at 7:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

December 2, 2016
Stravinsky’s “Funeral Song” Rediscovered & Streamed

Tying in with our celebration of Igor Stravinsky this morning on WPRB, I just learned that the composer’s recently rediscovered “Funeral Song,” composed in memory of his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov, will receive its first performance in over 100 years (its second performance ever!) tomorrow afternoon, and it will be streamed live. Valery Gergiev will conduct the Mariinsky Orchestra in St. Petersburg at 2:00 EST. Take a late lunch and watch it here:

http://www.medici.tv/#!/valery-gergiev-stravinsky-chant-funebre

Here’s more about it::

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/arts/second-ever-concert-of-stravinskys-lost-funeral-song-to-stream-free.html?_r=0

Stravinsky served a residency at Princeton University in 1966, which culminated in the first performance of his “Requiem Canticles” at McCarter Theatre. To mark the 50th anniversary of his visit, it’s all Stravinsky this morning until 11:00 EST, with interviews, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com.

PHOTO: Stravinsky (left) with his hirsute teacher

December 1, 2016
Stravinsky’s Princeton Premiere 50th Anniversary

It was 50 years ago that Igor Stravinsky came to Princeton to give the world premiere of his new work for chorus and orchestra, the “Requiem Canticles.” The composer, then 84 years-old, was seen lying flat on his back in the McCarter Theatre box office, trying to conserve his energy. He stunned everyone by leading the work’s first performance in October of 1966. (Many had expected to see his assistant, Robert Craft, take over following rehearsals.)

Tomorrow morning on WPRB, we honor the 50th anniversary of Stravinsky’s Princeton University residency. We’ll have a full morning of his music, including the early Symphony in E-flat, composed while he was yet an apprentice of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, the ballet “Le baiser de la fée” (“The Fairy’s Kiss”), written in homage to Tchaikovsky, and his final masterpiece, the “Requiem Canticles.”

Dropping by at 10:00 will be Michael Pratt, who will conduct the suite from Stravinsky’s “The Firebird” on two concerts of the Princeton University Orchestra, on Dec. 8 & 9, and Gabriel Crouch, who will lead a program including Stravinsky’s “Les Noces,” with the Princeton University Glee Club and So Percussion, on Dec. 11. All three concerts will be held at Richardson Auditorium.

And we’ll have yet another special treat: some recorded comments by Maida Pollock, whose job it was to pull the concert together in 1966, culled from a phone conversation she granted from her current home in Hawaii. We’ll hear those around 9:00.

I hope you’ll join me for this multi-faceted salute to Igor Stravinsky, tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 EST, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. We’ve always got an ear for Igor, on Classic Ross Amico.

December 1, 2016
Stravinsky A Princeton Celebration

If it’s not too early for Igor, who traveled so far, it shouldn’t be too early for you.

So pull up a chair and enjoy a cup of neoclassicism. Pour yourself a bowl of serialism. Nibble on some Russian nationalism. It’s music by the 20th century’s most versatile composer, an incredible journey from a student symphony steeped in the idiom of the Mighty Handful to the absorption of twelve-tone technique in the moving “Requiem Canticles,” his last major work.

In 1966, the “Requiem Canticles” was commissioned by Princeton University, which led to a residency by the composer, who, at 84, conducted the world premiere of the work at McCarter Theatre. Join me this morning, as we gaze back a half-century to this remarkable event, with a full playlist of Stravinsky’s music.

The program will be enhanced by commentary by Maida Pollock, now 90 years-old and living in Hawaii. Pollock was the university’s concert manager at the time of Stravinsky’s visit. In the 9:00 hour, we’ll hear recorded excerpts from a conversation we had yesterday by telephone. That will be followed by a recording of “Requiem Canticles.”

In addition, we’ll have some special guests in the 10:00 hour: Michael Pratt, who will conduct the suite from Stravinsky’s “The Firebird” on two concerts of the Princeton University Orchestra, on Dec. 8 & 9, and Gabriel Crouch, who will lead a program including Stravinsky’s “Les Noces,” with the Princeton University Glee Club and So Percussion, on Dec. 11. All three concerts will be held at Richardson Auditorium.

It’s a full morning of grapefruit and Grape Nuts with the 20th century’s greatest composer, from 6 to 11 EST, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. Suddenly we’re kind of hungry, on Classic Ross Amico.

December 1, 2016

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