Classic Ross Amico

Category: Daily Dispatch

Russian Folklore Music on WPRB

I try to make it a practice never to start in on the vodka before noon. But today I will make an exception. This week on WPRB, whether by flying carpet or magic slippers, we travel to the exotic realms of Russian folklore.

We’ll have music inspired by the myths, legends and folktales of Russia, including works evocative of Baba Yaga, Koschei the Deathless, the Firebird, Zolushka, Ivan the Fool, Ruslan and Ludmila, and the Invisible City of Kitezh. The folk heroes Sadko and Stepan Razin will also be represented. Along the way, we’ll also hear some of the great singers of Russian opera.

The crowning glory of the morning will be Reinhold Gliere’s epic symphony on the exploits of Ilya Muromets. We’ll hear the acclaimed recording by JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, who took the work to Carnegie Hall in 2013 and subsequently recorded it complete (over 70 minutes) for the Naxos label. The release was described by David Hurwitz of classicstoday.com as “the finest version yet recorded,” and by Peter J. Rabinowitz of “Fanfare” as “beyond excellent.” Listen for it to begin between 9:30 and 9:45.

I hope you’ll join me this morning from 6 to 11 ET, for five hours of Russian folk tales and fairy music at WPRB 103.3 FM or online at wprb.com. I start the day singing basso profundo this week on Classic Ross Amico.

September 10, 2015
Russian Folklore Music on WPRB

Right now, we’re listening to selections from Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Sadko.”

Stay with me for musical depictions of the nefarious cossack and freebooter Stepan Razin and the heroic bogatyr Ilya Muromets, by way of the epic Symphony No. 3 by Reinhold Gliere.

It’s all music inspired by Russian folklore this morning, until 11 ET, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com.

September 10, 2015
Early Russian Cinema Classics to Watch Online

A short while ago, I mentioned a cinematic treatment of an episode from the career of “Stenka Razin,” made in 1908, originally featuring a score by Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (he of “Caucasian Sketches” fame). The score may very well be lost — it doesn’t appear with any of the prints I could find posted online — but the film fascinates, not only as a faithful translation of the poem, but as the very first Russian film.

Watch it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo7pSJIPdY4

Also, sample from this opulent telling of “Sadko” (1952), scored using Rimsky-Korsakov’s music, which lends to some rather grandiose moments. There’s a very cool confrontation with Vikings at around the 43 minute mark!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyUGAZZ1AEk

Finally, here’s a big screen version of “Ilya Muromets” (1956), before Roger Corman got a hold of it, reedited it and dubbed it as “The Sword and the Dragon”:

Reinhold Gliere’s Symphony No. 3, “Ilya Muromets,” begins at around 9:45 ET on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com

September 10, 2015
Elmer Bernstein’s Western Film Score Legacy

Elmer Bernstein scored films in just about every genre – from “The Man with the Golden Arm” (1955) to “The Ten Commandments” (1956) to “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962) to “The Great Escape” (1963) to “Animal House” (1978) to “The Age of Innocence” (1993) to his final project, the Oscar-nominated “Far from Heaven” (2002) – but he had a particular knack for the western.

His swaggering theme for “The Magnificent Seven” (1960) is just about synonymous with most people’s idea of western adventure. (It also sold a heck of a lot of cigarettes when it was licensed by Marlboro.)

Not surprisingly, “The Magnificent Seven” put Bernstein much in demand as a western composer, and he wrote scores for many, including most of the films of John Wayne’s final decade. What’s striking is just how much he was able to vary them. His work for “The Comancheros” (1961) is very different from that for “True Grit” (1969), for instance, and “The Shootist” (1976), Wayne’s final film, is different still.

You’ll be able to sample some of them, when we saddle up for western scores of Elmer Bernstein, on “Picture Perfect” – music for the movies – this Friday evening at 6 ET, with a repeat Saturday morning at 6; or listen to them later on the webcast at wwfm.org.

September 10, 2015
Russian Folklore Music on WPRB

Join me this week on WPRB, when we immerse ourselves in the exotic realms of Russian folklore.

We’ll have music inspired by the myths, legends and folktales of Russia, including works evocative of Baba Yaga, Koschei the Deathless, the Firebird, Zolushka, Ivan the Fool, Ruslan and Ludmila, and the Invisible City of Kitezh. The folk heroes Sadko and Stepan Razin will also be represented.

Reinhold Gliere’s epic symphony on the exploits of Ilya Muromets has been the most requested piece of the summer. (That is to say, it was requested by the most people, as opposed to multiple requests from the same source!) We’ll finally have a chance to hear the acclaimed recording by JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, who took the work to Carnegie Hall in 2013 and subsequently recorded it complete (over 70 minutes) for the Naxos label. The release was described by David Hurwitz of classicstoday.com as “the finest version yet recorded,” and by Peter J. Rabinowitz of “Fanfare” as “beyond excellent.”

It was the excuse to play “Muromets” that determined our theme for the week. It seems all the more appropriate since I’m always Russian to get there anyway. I hope you’ll join me tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 ET, for five hours of Russian folklore at WPRB 103.3 FM or online at wprb.com. Say “da” to Classic Ross Amico.

September 9, 2015

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