Classic Ross Amico

  • Victoria Bond Opera & Ives Recital on WWFM

    Victoria Bond Opera & Ives Recital on WWFM

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    Ross Amico
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    I’ve got the engine purring on the Classic Ross Amico interview machine.

    Join me this afternoon on The Classical Network for a chat with composer Victoria Bond. Bond’s new opera, “Clara,” inspired by the life of Clara Schumann, will be performed at Symphony Space in New York City, this Friday at 7 p.m. A second performance will follow in Rhinebeck, NY, on Sunday at 3.

    I’ll talk with Bond at 4:00 today. We’ll get to hear a selection from the opera, as well as music from her latest release, “Instruments of Revelation,” on the Naxos label.

    Then at 5:00, violinist Stefan Jackiw will tell us about his exciting Ives recital, with pianist Jeremy Denk, that will take place at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium tomorrow night at 8. The program will include not only all four violin sonatas of Charles Ives, but also demonstrations – with the help of Princeton University Glee Club – of some of the hymns, songs and marches to which the composer alludes.

    Following our conversation, we’ll get to hear Jackiw and pianist Max Levinson perform, on their album of the complete Brahms’ violin sonatas, issued on Sony Classical.

    At 6:00, it’s “Music from Marlboro,” and a salute to pianist Mieczyslaw Horszowski. We’ll hear performances of works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Ildebrando Pizzetti, captured at the legendary Marlboro Music Festival.

    Along the way, we’ll also celebrate Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone, and march king John Philip Sousa on their birthdays.

    Experience music from Bach to Bond, from 4 to 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

  • Autumn Music on The Classical Network

    Autumn Music on The Classical Network

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    Ross Amico
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    Now that we’ve changed the clocks, we’re officially in deep autumn – whether the temperatures happen to agree or not.

    Join me this afternoon on The Classical Network, as we finally get around to giving the season its due. We’ll hear the Symphony No. 10, “Zur Herbstzeit” (“To Autumn Time),” by Joachim Raff; “Poema autunnale” for violin and orchestra by Ottorini Respighi;” “The Seasons” by Alexander Glazunov;” “Fall of the Leaf” by Gerald Finzi; the “Sinfonia di Caccia” by Leopold Mozart; “November Woods” by Sir Arnold Bax; “Autumn Crocus” by Billy Mayerl; the Symphony No. 4, “Fall of the Leaf,” by Rued Langgaard; and “Autumn Gardens” by Einojuhani Rautavaara.

    Today’s Noontime Concert will be a comparatively brief one. John Mark Rozendaal and Adam Young will perform works for two violas da gamba by Tobias Hume and Johannes Schenck. The program, “Poeticall Musicke,” was presented as part of the Midtown Concerts series at the chapel of St. Bartholomew’s Church, 325 Park Avenue in New York City. Free concerts are held at St. Bart’s every Thursday at 1:15 p.m. For more information and a complete schedule, visit the website of Gotham Early Music Scene, gemsny.org.

    Find a dry place and enjoy a nice hot cup of something. It’s autumn. Be good to yourself. Tune in today, from 12 to 4 p.m. EST, to WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

  • Watch Cleveland Institute of Music’s The Juniper Tree

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    Ross Amico
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    If you missed both live streams, the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Sunday night performance of the Philip Glass-Robert Moran opera, “The Juniper Tree,” has been add to the first, both now posted to CIM’s Facebook page. You can watch by clicking on the play button below.

    I mentioned my concern that the peripheral action on the side balcony would not be visible to a single, stationary camera in the back of the hall, but happily that is not the case. However, I do recommend you read the brief synopsis in the program book before viewing.

    Here’s a link to the printed program, with synopsis and introductory comments by Robert Moran:

    https://www.cim.edu/sites/default/files/inline-files/The%20Juniper%20Tree_0.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3RkD78c2smjNhFq_HeKueh33G-1VyMHIoILOiyp5PiOnOBZO9seEpzVzo

  • Carl Tausig: Liszt’s Mischievous Genius

    Carl Tausig: Liszt’s Mischievous Genius

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    Ross Amico
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    4 responses

    Carl Tausig was the supremely talented, though impish protégé of Franz Liszt. Some say that he was Liszt’s greatest pupil.

    Tausig joined Liszt in Weimar at the age of 14. Energetic to a fault, he got up to all sorts of mischief, including sawing the ends off piano keys in order to make the instrument more challenging to play. He also hocked the original, unpublished manuscript of Liszt’s “A Faust Symphony,” an entire year’s labor, for a mere pittance. (Fortunately, Liszt was able to retrieve it.)

    Tausig then joined Richard Wagner in his political exile in Switzerland, where the boy’s boisterous behavior caused the operatic master his own share of distress. There must have been something exceptionally endearing in his personality, since he was always quickly forgiven.

    At a birthday celebration for the young pianist, Liszt predicted, with a twinkle in his eye, that Tausig would become either a great blockhead or a great master.

    Regrettably, his career was cut short. He died of typhoid fever, aged only 29 years.

    I’ll celebrate this mercurial pianist, born on this date in 1841, with recordings of some of his original music and transcriptions, this afternoon between 4 and 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

    Tausig, the merry prankster (left), and Wagner, looking vexed

  • Godzilla Roars Back Biggest Ever

    Godzilla Roars Back Biggest Ever

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    Ross Amico
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    4 responses

    Kaiju fans rejoice! Godzilla is bigger than ever.

    Hot on the gargantuan heels of Turner Classic Movies: TCM’s month-long tribute to the King of Monsters, The Criterion Collection has released high-definition digital transfers of all fifteen Godzilla films issued between 1954 and 1975 in one mega box.

    https://www.criterion.com/boxsets/2648-godzilla-the-showa-era-films-1954-1975

    Now, a LIFE-SIZE theme park attraction is coming to Japan.

    https://nypost.com/2019/11/01/life-sized-godzilla-theme-park-attraction-coming-to-japan/

    Of course Godzilla will fight Kong (again) in next year’s “Godzilla vs. Kong.” (It’s all right there in the title.) The latest installment will be the 36th in the Godzilla franchise.

    All hail the King!

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