Thank you, DJ Bone Soir, for braving the weather this morning so that I didn’t have to. M. Soir, who is a double bassist, is the host of Skeleton Dream Buffet with DJ Bone Soir, which can be heard Fridays from 2-5 p.m. EST. As M. Soir observes, we all have xylophones in our chests. Dem bones will be rattling until 11:00 this morning (at least), on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. I’ve got a femur, and the only prescription is more cowbell.
Category: Daily Dispatch
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Snowpocalypse Cancels Radio Show Old Man Retreats
I didn’t learn until this afternoon about the latest snowpocalypse that’s barreling up the coast and expected to make life a living hell for everyone in its wake for the next 36 hours or more.
So I hope you don’t mind if I err on the side of caution and defer to those intrepid, younger souls who live within walking distance of Princeton University campus to do whatever they will, this Thursday morning on WPRB 103.3 FM. The outgoing and incoming program directors are working hard to inspire anyone with snowshoes and a dream to commit to a few hours in front of the microphone.
Me? I plan to burrow in deep with a book and get reacquainted with the insides of my eyelids. Hey, I’ve done my share of driving in snow. Back in the days when I was still considered an essential link in the Emergency Broadcast System, I did so even after the highways were officially closed. That was then. This is now.
Thank you, WPRB, for your understanding, and to whoever steps up and into my snow boots tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 EST, Classic Ross Amico salutes you.
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Fauré, Gounod: Ageless French Music
When Gabriel Fauré, then 76, unveiled his Piano Quintet No. 2 in C minor in 1921, he surprised just about everyone. For one thing, no one except his wife knew he was even working on anything. For another, he was supposed to be retired, having stepped down from the directorship of the Paris Conservatory only the year before.
Though the composer’s health in his later years was far from the best, thanks in part to decades of heavy smoking, the Quintet conveys a surprisingly youthful spirit, full of tenderness and ardor. Paradoxically, a knowing serenity hangs over the piece, lending it a kind of wisdom and balance. I am reminded of Wordsworth’s assessment that poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility.
It’s one of two works by seasoned French composers that we’ll enjoy on this week’s “Music from Marlboro.”
We’ll also hear Charles Gounod’s classically proportioned and wholly delightful “Petite symphonie.” Gounod, who is best known for his opera “Faust” and for his setting of “Ave Maria,” was 66 at the time of the work’s premiere in 1885. Though the structure is well-worn, based on the standard symphonic form developed a hundred years earlier by composers like Haydn and Mozart, its long-limbed melodies and occasional harmonic surprises mark it as a product of its time. In spite of its evident nostalgia, it’s another work in which the spirit of youth seems ever-green.
Gounod’s “Petite symphonie” will be performed by Marlboro wind players, including “the Heifetz of the flute” (Gramophone) Marina Piccinini, principal oboist of the Metropolitan Opera Nathan Hughes, principal oboist of the Minnesota Orchestra Joseph Peters, principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic Anthony McGill, New York-based freelance clarinetist Alicia Lee (Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, The Knights, NOVUS and ACME), principal bassoonist of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra Brad Balliett, San Francisco Symphony bassoonist Steven Dibner, newly appointed principal hornist of the Berlin Philharmonic David Cooper, and former principal horn of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (and now concert soloist) Radovan Vlatković, from a concert given in 2013.
Fauré’s Quintet in C minor will be performed by pianist Roman Rabinovich (top prizewinner at the 2008 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition), violinists YooJin Jang (winner of the 2017 Concert Artists Guild Competition) and Scott St. John (formerly of the St. Lawrence String Quartet), violist Shuangshuang Liu (associate principal violist with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra), and cellist Will Chow (of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra), from a concert given in 2015.
I hope you’ll join me for a program of French music that belies and defies the passage of time, in performances from the archives of the legendary Marlboro Music Festival, this Wednesday evening at 6:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network.
Marlboro School of Music and Festival: Official Page
FOREVER YOUNG: Gabriel Fauré (left) and Charles Gounod
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Elizabethan Serenade Lunchtime Concert
Who needs a napkin, when you’re wearing a ruff? On today’s Noontime Concert on The Classical Network, we continue our partnership with Gotham Early Music Scene (GEMS) by enlivening your lunch hour with an Elizabethan serenade.
Abendmusik – New York’s Period Instrument String Band will perform consorts of William White and his contemporaries (Thomas Tomkins, William Byrd, and Orlando Gibbons). The program was recorded at St. Bartholomew’s Church, 50th Street and Park Avenue, in Midtown Manhattan. You’ll find a complete schedule of free lunchtime performances at midtownconcerts.org.
This Saturday at 3:30 p.m., Abendmusik will present “The Early Music Revival in Arts & Crafts London,” in conjunction with the closing day of the exhibition “John Lockwood Kipling: Arts & Crafts in the Punjab and London,” at Bard Graduate Center Gallery, 18 West 86th Street, 3rd Floor. The concert is free, but registration is required.
The next Midtown Concert will take place at St. Bart’s on Thursday at 1:15 p.m. The ensemble Alkemie will present “Noel Sing We: A Medieval Celebration,” inspired by Twelfth Night and Epiphany celebrations that officially mark the close of the Christmas season.
In addition, GEMS presents evening concerts, such as the one that will take place tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m., featuring Praetorius’ “Vespers.” The program will be performed by Tenet NYC (Vocal Ensemble) and friends at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 3 West 65th Street.
You’ll find more information about GEMS and a complete listing of events at gemsny.org.
Our afternoon will continue, then, with music by Sir Michael Tippett and Mily Balakirev, among others, between 12 and 4 p.m. EST. Settle in for a musical banquet with WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
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New Year Love Uncorked Spirits Find Each Other
Their eyes were glassy and they were full of alcohol, but once their spirits were uncorked, they knew they were made for each other.
Happy New Year, everyone.
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