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Tag: Baroque Music

Tempesta di Mare Philadelphia Baroque Concert

Tempesta in morning, sailor’s warning; Tempesta at noon, music’s boon.

On today’s Noontime Concert, Tempesta di Mare – Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra will present a program titled “Fantaisie – Character, Allegory and Imagination.”

Composers will include Johann Sigismund Kusser, George Frideric Handel, François Couperin, and Georg Philipp Telemann.

The program will open with a grasshopper, and end with – the Eagles. If that piques your curiosity, I hope you will tune in and see what these bestial bookends are all about.

Tempesta di Mare takes its name from a concerto by Antonio Vivaldi, which translates as “Storm at Sea.” The group has made 10 stunning recordings of mostly underexposed repertoire for the Chandos label. In particular, it has done much to restore the reputation of Johann Friedrich Fasch.

To learn more about the ensemble and its upcoming concerts in Philadelphia and Chestnut Hill, this Saturday and Sunday – which will include Bach’s Concerto for 2 Violins and yet another Fasch discovery – visit Tempesta’s website at tempestadimare.org.

Following today’s concert broadcast, we’ll mark Women’s History Month with an afternoon of music by female composers, beginning with Philadelphia-based Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Higdon. We’ll trip back and forth across the centuries for worthwhile contributions from undervalued musicians of earlier times to works by more widely acknowledged – and even celebrated – artists of the present.

Speaking of Bach: there are only two days left until our Bach birthday bash. Help cancel fundraising on Thursday by becoming one of the “Bach 500” today. 500 listener contributions IN ANY AMOUNT will ensure that we can pull out all the stops to celebrate Bach’s genius as he deserves – with just his music, no fundraising! But in order to make that a reality, 500 noble folk need to step up and toss some bills into the kitty. Please join us today in helping to make this Elysian ideal a reality by visiting wwfm.org and clicking on “Donate.”

Then join me for an example of the kind of programming generous listeners just like you have made possible for the past 37 years, today from 12 to 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

Thank you for doing your part to help keep great music on the radio!

March 19, 2019
Telemann: The Underdog Baroque Master

Of the three Baroque masters who were born between February 23 (George Frideric Handel) and March 21 (Johann Sebastian Bach), it is too often Georg Philipp Telemann who fulfills the function of Larry Fine.

Caught between Bach’s contrapuntal face-slaps and eye-pokes and Handel’s melodic-dramatic shoulder-spins, Telemann, as often as not, winds up getting his hair pulled and his violin smashed.

I thought it only right to point out that Telemann taught himself the flute, oboe, recorder, double bass, etc., all against the wishes of his family. He wrote more music than Bach and Handel combined – over 3000 works – making him one of the most prolific composers of all time. He was also offered the cantorate of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig ahead of Bach.

Sure, Bach and Handel were his friends, and he was the godfather of Bach’s son, C.P.E., but he also lived too long and lost his eyesight. And his wife ran up horrific gambling debts.

Anyway, happy birthday, Telemann. You may have written way too much music for your own good, but you were always the funniest of the Baroque stooges.

Which reminds me: Here at WWFM – The Classical Network, we’re only a week away from Bach’s birthday, and we’re looking to generate enough donations that we, in good conscience, can cancel fundraising on that day, March 21, and celebrate by simply enjoying Bach’s music. We call it the “Bach 500.” Basically, we’re looking for 500 listeners to step up and contribute in any amount. When we reach 500 donations, we stop asking for money and focus exclusively on spinning the discs.

We are accepting contributions now, at our website, wwfm.org – click on “donate” – or please call us during business hours at 1-888-232-1212. If you have received a renewal request in the mail, get that return envelope back to us ASAP, so that we can include you in the tally before the 21st.

Again, 500 contributions will cancel the fundraising and open the floodgates on Bach. (Bach, after all, is German for brook.) Thank you for doing your part to make this year’s Bach 500 a success!

PORTRAITS (left to right): Bach, Telemann, and Handel

Nyuk nyuk nyuk!

March 14, 2019
Les Barocudas Baroque Concert NYC

On February 15, three musicians stand at the ready on the steps of St. Bart’s. The caption to the photo, posted on the group’s Facebook page, reads, “We are here! NYC! Less than 1 hour before the concert. Be here or be lame!!!” I can only reiterate.

I hope you’ll tune in for today’s Noontime Concert on The Classical Network for the Baroque stylings of Les Barocudas. The Montreal-based trio describes itself thusly:

“Les Barocudas est un groupe de musique ancienne sur instruments d’époque composé de 3 jeunes musiciens qui cherchent simplement à débrider leur créativité.”

Ou en anglais: “Les Barocudas is an old-time group of period instrument performers composed of 3 young musicians who simply want to unleash their creativity.”

And judging from their promotional material, that they certainly do.

Even their name, presumably, is a cryptozoological hybrid of the Italian “barocco” and the toothy “barracuda.”

The ensemble, made up of Marie Nadeau-Tremblay, baroque violon, Ryan Gallagher, viola da gamba, and Nathan Mondry, harpsichord and voice, will present a program titled “Anonymous and Friends,” with music by Giovanni Battista Fontana, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Claudio Monteverdi, Nathan Mondry, and Jehan Chardavoine.

To get you in the mood, check out some of the group’s entertaining videos, including a Georges Méliès-style dramatization of a sonata by Schmelzer. Search under “video/audio” at the ensemble’s website, http://www.lesbarocudas.com.

The concert was given at St. Bartholomew’s Church, 50th Street and Park Avenue, in Midtown Manhattan, yet another presented by Gotham Early Music Scene, or GEMS. GEMS is a non-profit corporation that supports and promotes artists and organizations in New York City devoted to Early Music. The free lunchtime series is offered at St. Bart’s on Thursdays at 1:15 p.m. To learn more about these midday events and other GEMS concerts, visit gemsny.org.

Immediately following today’s noontime broadcast, stick around for Canadian-born violinist Lara St. John and one of her Bach performances. Then we’ll be on with the afternoon and, among other highlights, the Symphony No. 5, “The Gorilla,” by Richard Arnell.

Join me in a paradise of barracudas and gorillas, from 12 to 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

October 2, 2018
Barbara Strozzi Baroque Composer Spotlight

Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677) was a significant anomaly in an art form that, until the 20th century, did not exactly nurture women. She was a singer, but also a composer. More astonishingly, she appears to have been recognized for it.

Today’s Noontime Concert on The Classical Network will be devoted almost exclusively to Strozzi’s music. Brooklyn Baroque will present “Barbara Strozzi and Her World.” The program will also include a sonata by virtuoso cellist Domenico Gabrielli.

Strozzi was the adopted (and possibly biological) daughter of Giulio Strozzi. Giulio was one of the driving forces behind the propulsive growth of opera in Venice in the first half of the 17th century. He was a poet and librettist, a regular collaborator of Claudio Monteverdi and others. He was also unusually supportive of his daughter’s talent, arranging for her studies with Francesco Cavalli (of “La Callisto” fame) and even founding an academy for its display, in order to help legitimize it in the eyes of the public.

Barbara’s music was published and it’s thought that later in life she was able to support herself by means of her investments and compositions. Did she bolster her income as a courtesan, or was this a fabrication of her jealous (male) rivals? Many important details of her life have had to be fleshed out by hearsay and conjecture. After all, she lived 400 years ago, and society hasn’t been particularly attentive to its female artists.

Today’s broadcast comes our way courtesy of Gotham Early Music Scene (GEMS). The program was presented on October 26, 2017 at St. Bartholomew’s Church, 50th Street and Park Avenue, in Midtown Manhattan, where free concerts are held every Thursday at 1:15 p.m. The 2017-2018 season will conclude on June 28. This Thursday, Empire Viols will present “Strictly Organic: Transcriptions of Organ Trios by J.S. Bach and J.L. Krebs.” For a complete schedule of lunchtime performances, look online at midtownconcerts.org.

GEMS also hosts evening concerts. The ensemble Voyces will present “Angels Cry Aloud: Masters of the Roman Collegio Germanico,” featuring music by Victoria, Carissimi, and Charpentier, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 309 St. Paul’s Avenue, Staten Island, tonight at 7:30 p.m. Artek will present “Madrigal Madness,” highlighting the work of Monteverdi, at 17 Frost Gallery, 17 Frost Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Friday at 7:30 p.m. Angelica Women’s Chamber Choir will present “Sanctuary,” a program that seeks refuge from life’s turbulence, with repertoire ranging from the Middle Ages to the present, at the Church of St. John of Nepomucene, 411 East 66th St., New York City, Sunday at 3 p.m.

Gotham Early Music Scene is a non-profit corporation that supports and promotes artists and organizations in New York City devoted to early music – music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical periods. For more information and GEMS’ events calendar, look online at gemsny.org.

Following today’s Noontime Concert, I’ll return to some of the unplayed “favorites” left over from last week’s “Play It Again” membership campaign. These will be drawn from lists submitted by WWFM hosts, partners, and listeners. We’ll hear more of this music, in its entirety, until 4 p.m. EDT. David Diamond’s Symphony No. 2 will be a particular highlight.

If you haven’t gotten around to making your contribution to WWFM – The Classical Network, remember, you may do so at any time at wwfm.org. As always, thank you for your support!

June 5, 2018
Bach & Handel Finally Met The Truth

It was believed that the two greatest musical masters of their day never met. Now we know better.

March 21, 2018

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