• Mimi Stillman Plays Mozart on The Classical Network

    Mimi Stillman Plays Mozart on The Classical Network

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    Flutist Mimi Stillman will be my guest this afternoon, for today’s Noontime Concert on The Classical Network, as we present a program of “Mozart Woodwind Masterpieces.”

    Stillman will join members of her Dolce Suono Ensemble to perform the Flute Quartet in D major, K. 285. Then Ricardo Morales – Clarinetist, principal clarinetist of The Philadelphia Orchestra, will join the ensemble for the Clarinet Quintet in A major, K. 581. On the second half of the program, Charles Abramovic will be at the keyboard for a special arrangement of the Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat major, K. 452. Stick around – there might even be an encore or two. The concert was recorded on March 21 at Trinity Center for Urban Life in Philadelphia.

    Next Tuesday, May 9, Dolce Suono will convene for a special memorial concert for Pulitzer Prize winner Steven Stucky. The program will include a Philadelphia premiere by the late composer; DSE commissions of works from Stucky, Fang Man, and Zhou Tian; and world premiere performances of pieces by DSE Young Composers Competition winners, performed by baritone Randall Scarlata. That concert will take place at the Curtis Institute of Music’s Gould Hall at Lenfest Hall, 1616 Locust Street, in Philadelphia. You can learn more at http://www.dolcesuono.com.

    Later this afternoon, we’ll enjoy the unabashedly epic Symphony No. 2 by Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén. Yesterday was the anniversary of Alfvén’s birth, and – what with all the May Day revelry – we really didn’t get to do him justice, beyond a brief festive polonaise. Alfvén composed his Second Symphony at the age of 26. The work traces an at times intense trajectory from youthful high spirits to solemn grandeur, concluding with a powerful chorale-prelude and fugue in D minor. While “absolute” in form, the composer confided that everything he ever wrote contains a hidden program. The symphony was influenced by two near-death experiences, from which the composer emerged stronger than before.

    There will be much strength to be derived from our music today, from 12 to 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.


    PHOTOS: Ricardo Morales (left); Mimi Stillman and Charles Abramovic


  • May Day Music Festival On WWFM

    May Day Music Festival On WWFM

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    Tra-la! It’s May! The lusty month of May!

    Join me this afternoon for a dance around the maypole. We’ll have a selection of madrigals, music inspired by birds and flowers, some morris dances, and musical evocations of Robin Hood, a figure traditionally associated with May Day festivities. Along the way, we’ll mark the birthdays, I hope, of Hugo Alfven, Jon Leifs, Leo Sowerby, and Walter Susskind.

    We’ll spring into May, from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.


  • Swedish Spring Music on The Lost Chord

    Swedish Spring Music on The Lost Chord

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    This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we focus on “The Virgin Spring.” No, not the Bergman film, in which Max von Sydow exacts terrible vengeance on those who… well, nevermind. See the movie.

    Anyway, the show’s not about that. The spring in the film is a body of water, a symbol of rebirth and renewal, but we’re using “spring” in the purely seasonal sense, as we enjoy an hour of vernal expressions by Swedish composers.

    We’ll hear the “Pastoral Suite,” by Gunnar de Frumerie, and two works by Wilhelm Peterson-Berger: first, one of the books from his collection “Flowers of Frösö;” then the “Earina Suite.” “Earina,” derived from the Greek “earinos,” meaning “spring-like,” according to the composer, conjures a world of “cult deeds and magic rites… belonging to some undefined natural religion.” Appropriate music, then, for Walpurgis Night.

    The long winter dissolves in the lengthening days of “The Virgin Spring,” this Sunday night at 10 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.


  • Communiversity Traffic? Walpurgis Night Movie!

    Communiversity Traffic? Walpurgis Night Movie!

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    As Princeton becomes an unholy traffic nightmare for Communiversity, I’ll be home watching this:

    Presumably the film was retitled “The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman,” because most Americans haven’t the slightest idea of what Walpurgis Night is.

    Communiversity will place today from 1 to 6 p.m. For a complete listing of concerts and activities, follow the link:

    http://artscouncilofprinceton.org/communiversity/schedule-and-activities/

    Enjoy your Walpurgis Night Communiversity!


  • Chet Atkins Classical Guitar Virtuoso

    Chet Atkins Classical Guitar Virtuoso

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    Country legend Chet Atkins performs some of that elitist classical music:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D66ywH4mTiI

    And it remained in his repertoire:


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