¡Viva México!
For Cinco de Mayo, here’s Silvestre Revueltas’ “Ocho por radio” (“Eight for Radio”):
PHOTO: Tequila Mockingbird

¡Viva México!
For Cinco de Mayo, here’s Silvestre Revueltas’ “Ocho por radio” (“Eight for Radio”):
PHOTO: Tequila Mockingbird

Now, more than ever, the arts continue to enrich our lives in ways most of us probably never even considered. Yet how much longer would be the days of isolation without music, without drama, without books, and without film? Without these connections – these interactions with creativity and humanity – we really would be isolated. At their core, the arts are not about escape. They are about enrichment.
Unfortunately, when the going gets tough, it’s usually arts funding that is the first to be slashed. Even in the best of times, most arts organizations and nonprofit media tend to live hand-to-mouth. The lost revenue of a single cancellation, a dropped gala, or a delayed membership drive can be devastating. An enforced closure of only a few months, exacerbated by a loss of funding from most sources, including ticket sales, subscriptions, and private donations, has already driven too many organizations to close permanently. This sets off a ripple effect that further diminishes the options for freelance artists.
As we continue to enjoy all the creative, innovative, and free content being streamed on the internet or broadcast over the radio, understand that much of it comes at great personal cost. It is an offering and a sacrifice from those who create it. The arts are media for expression, for communication, and for human connection. While it’s true that artists need to communicate, is there any other field in which it’s taken for granted that one can walk into a place of business and expect to get something for nothing?
Now, more than ever, your favorite arts organizations need you. If you’re in a position to do so, please consider making a donation to The Classical Network and the other non-profits that continue to enrich your life.
A loss to the arts is a loss for all of us. Help us to continue to do our part to share beautiful music, live concert broadcasts, and engaging interviews with representatives of our artistic community, through your donation today, at wwfm.org.
And please spare a thought for your favorite music ensembles, theater and dance companies, museums, non-profit movie theaters, and other organizations that serve to lift your spirit, touch your heart, and replenish your soul. Help foster the arts, as they have always fostered us. Thank you for your generosity.
#GivingTuesdayNow – today – is a call for charitable endeavors to help lift the weight from the shoulders of those most effected by COVID-19. It’s an opportunity for everyone to come together to assist health care workers, small businesses, truly isolated individuals, and non-profit organizations.
Tune in at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. EDT, to hear Rachel Katz talk with Jamie McDonald, chief strategy officer of #GivingTuesdayNow, on today’s edition of “On a Positive Note,” on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

Thanks a lot, Met, for last night’s subversion of “Prince Igor.” Pee-yew.
However, it would be churlish of me to suggest that the overall quality of the Met streams – and the hours of pleasure they have afforded – have been anything less than appreciated, as the superlative gifts that they are.
This week’s opera offerings are especially appealing, beginning with “The Marriage of Figaro,” performed by an all-star cast (tonight); followed by “Hamlet” by Ambroise Thomas (tomorrow); “Capriccio,” Richard Strauss’ final opera, with Renée Fleming (Thursday); a classic performance of “La bohème,” with Renata Scotto and Luciano Pavarotti (Friday), and a double-bill of “Cav” & “Pag” (Sunday).
On Saturday, a change of pace, as the stream will be devoted to the 2017 feature-length documentary “The Opera House,” about the creation and 1966 opening of the new Met at its current home in Lincoln Center.
Surely the pick of the week, however, is Wednesday’s opera: Kaija Saariaho’s “L’Amour de Loin,” the first opera by a woman to be performed at the Met in over 100 years! (The last was Ethel Smyth’s “Der Wald,” back in 1903.) Way to go, Met.
All operas stream free, for 23 hours, beginning each day at 7:30 p.m. (“Prince Igor” is available until 6:30 this evening.) You’ll find teasers and bonus materials when following the link.
https://www.metopera.org/user-information/nightly-met-opera-streams/week-8/
Monday, May 4
Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro
Starring Renée Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Susanne Mentzer, Dwayne Croft, and Sir Bryn Terfel, conducted by James Levine. From November 11, 1998.
Tuesday, May 5
Thomas’s Hamlet
Starring Marlis Petersen, Jennifer Larmore, Simon Keenlyside, and James Morris, conducted by Louis Langrée. From March 27, 2010.
Wednesday, May 6
Saariaho’s L’Amour de Loin
Starring Susanna Phillips, Tamara Mumford, and Eric Owens, conducted by Susanna Mälkki. From December 10, 2016.
Thursday, May 7
Strauss’s Capriccio
Starring Renée Fleming, Sarah Connolly, Joseph Kaiser, Russell Braun, Morten Frank Larsen, and Peter Rose, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. From April 23, 2011.
Friday, May 8
Viewers’ Choice: Puccini’s La Bohème
Starring Renata Scotto and Luciano Pavarotti, conducted by James Levine. From March 15, 1977.
Saturday, May 9
The Opera House
A 2017 feature-length documentary by Susan Froemke about the creation and 1966 opening of the new Met at Lincoln Center
Sunday, May 10
Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci
Cavalleria Rusticana: Starring Eva-Maria Westbroek, Marcelo Álvarez, and George Gagnidze.
Pagliacci: Starring Patricia Racette, Marcelo Álvarez, and George Gagnidze.
Conducted by Fabio Luisi. From April 25, 2015.

How much Western-style classical music composed in the East ever makes it to the West? Not much, unfortunately. Happily, some record companies dare to venture where concert programmers won’t.
This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll hear selections from Naxos’ “Japanese Classics Series,” including Kiyoshige Koyama’s variations on a woodcutter’s song, “Kobiki-Uta” (1957), Qunihico Hashimoto’s symphonic suite “Heavenly Maiden and Fisherman” (1933), and Komei Abe’s neoclassical Symphony No. 1 (1957).
Armchair travelers, your passage is paid! Music brings us all closer. Expand your horizons, with “Nippon Notes from Naxos,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network.
Aaron Copland (94) Beethoven (95) Composer (114) Film Music (152) Film Score (143) Film Scores (255) Halloween (107) John Williams (198) KWAX (233) Leonard Bernstein (105) Marlboro Music Festival (125) Movie Music (167) Mozart (91) Opera (221) Philadelphia Orchestra (91) Picture Perfect (174) Princeton Symphony Orchestra (110) Radio (90) Ross Amico (244) Roy's Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner (290) The Classical Network (101) The Lost Chord (269) Vaughan Williams (107) WPRB (397) WWFM (881)