“Picture Perfect” gets pedantic. In just a few minutes, I’ll weigh in on the relative merits of four movies about teachers. Oh yeah, and we’ll hear some music, too, by Richard Addinsell, Maurice Jarre, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Michael Kamen. Class begins at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org
Tag: Dmitri Shostakovich
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Leonard Bernstein Birthday Salute on WPRB
Our birthday salute to Leonard Bernstein is underway!
Featured highlights this morning will include that dark horse among great American symphonies, the “Symphony for Classical Orchestra,” by Harold Shapero (now playing), a powerhouse recording from Lenny’s later years of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 “Leningrad,” and a concert broadcast of his debut with the New York Philharmonic, from 1943. Bernstein was a brash (and severely hungover) 25 year-old at the time. We’ll get to hear that around 8:00 this morning. Bernstein was perhaps the greatest of American conductors, but he was touched by genius in so many areas – as composer, pianist, and teacher among them. Ideally we’ll have time for representative recordings of those, as well.
I hope you’ll be on hand, from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM or at wprb.com. We’ll try not to get ash on the keyboard, on Classic Ross Amico.
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Glazunov’s Birthday & Prince Igor’s Legacy
Today is the birthday of Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936), a prodigious musician whose talent unfortunately was all too often compromised by drink. It was Glazunov the conductor who, under the influence, derailed the first performance of Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 1.
On a more positive note, he accomplished minor miracles in the completion of Alexander Borodin’s magnum opus, the opera “Prince Igor.” The oft-told story is that Glazunov jotted the overture down from memory, having heard Borodin play through it once at the piano. By Glazunov’s own admission, the feat wasn’t quite as impressive as all that – he had found a few fragmentary sketches Borodin left behind and simply allowed his imagination to vault off of those, honoring Borodin’s intended structure. Still, it was Glazunov who did the heavy lifting, and if not for him and Rimsky-Korsakov, “Prince Igor” would have never become the icon of Russian music that it has.
Earlier in the hour, we heard the overture in Glazunov’s completion and orchestration of the work. We also had a chance to listen to music by Glazunov’s star pupil, Dmitri Shostakovich – his Concertino for 2 Pianos, written for performance by Shostakovich and his son. Right now we’re enjoying Glazunov’s lovely and languid Symphony No. 4, in a recording with Gennadi Rozhdestvensky conducting.
In the 5:00 hour, we’ll be celebrating the birthday of American composer Douglas Moore (1893-1969) with selections from his opera, “The Ballad of Baby Doe,” with Beverly Sills in the title role, and his delightful suite, “The Pageant of P.T. Barnum” in a classic recording conducted by Howard Hanson.
The 6:00 hour will be all-Brazilian, including a piece for string orchestra by Clarice Assad, the daughter of guitarist Sergio Assad, as we continue to play off of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Our trajectory takes us from Russia to Brazil today, until 7:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.
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