Happy birthday, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov! I’ve always been a fan.
Recommended Rimsky playlist:
Ormandy and the “Procession of the Nobles” from “Mlada”
Song of the Viking Guest from “Sadko,” with Mark Reizen
Lots of intoxicating music in this staged performance of “Sadko” (complete, Gergiev conducting)
Ernest Ansermet conducts the Symphony No. 2 “Antar,” a haunting work, full of beautiful melodies, that was once much better known
Leopold Stokowski conducts the “Russian Easter Festival Overture,” employing a bass-baritone in place of a trombone solo, for maximum liturgical effect
Evgeny Mravinsky conducts a suite from “The Invisible City of Kitezh”
Mikhail Pletnev in Rimsky’s little-known gem, the Quintet for Piano and Winds
Lily Pons sings the “Hymn to the Sun” from “Le coq d’or”
Leif Segerstam conducts “Scheherazade,” with a highly unconventional, piratical conclusion
“Flight of the Bumblebee” with real bees (!), courtesy of The Lost Fingers
It pains me not to be there with you all today. I love programming for holidays, and St. Patrick’s Day is one of my favorites. Undoubtedly, I’ll be spinning wall-to-wall St. Patrick’s music at home. As a way of sharing some of it with you, here are some links to just a few of my favorites. You may be puzzled by the inclusion of composers like Handel, Beethoven, and Frank Martin, but everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day! A hoist of my Irish coffee to you!
Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, “Irish Rhapsody No. 5”
Sir Hamilton Harty, “Three Miniatures for Oboe and Piano”
