This week on “Sweetness and Light,” I’ve assembled a playlist of avian music for the month of May.
Yes, yes, I’ve programmed Ottorino Respighi’s “The Birds,” his evergreen suite for small orchestra based on musical bird portraits of the 17th and 18th centuries, and Handel’s Organ Concerto in F major, “The Cuckoo and the Nightingale.”
But I’ve also included a lesser-heard selection by Hubert Parry, from his incidental music for Aristophanes’ “The Birds,” a bridal march revived for the weddings of both Princess Elizabeth (soon to be Elizabeth II) and Prince William; a piece of light music kitsch juxtaposing bird song and chanting monks by Albert Ketèlbey; and a galop by Danish composer Hans Christian Lumbye, the Johann Strauss of the North, celebrating the exotic birds of the Tivoli Volière.
Finally, it’s very much my pleasure to have dusted off some vintage recordings of Elisabeth Schumann (whose hobby it was to engage in bird-whistling) and John McCormack, who will sing works by Carl Zeller and Eric Coates, respectively.
Better start lining the cage with newspaper. It’s “For the Birds” this week on “Sweetness and Light,” this Saturday morning at 11:00 EDT/8:00 PDT, exclusively on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!
Stream it wherever you are at the link:
https://kwax.uoregon.edu/
Tag: Elisabeth Schumann
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Avian Music Playlist Sweetness and Light KWAX
This week on “Sweetness and Light,” I’ve assembled a playlist of avian music for the month of May.
Yes, yes, I’ve programmed Ottorino Respighi’s “The Birds,” his evergreen suite for small orchestra based on musical bird portraits of the 17th and 18th centuries, and Handel’s Organ Concerto in F major, “The Cuckoo and the Nightingale.”
But I’ve also included a lesser-heard selection by Hubert Parry, from his incidental music for Aristophanes’ “The Birds,” a bridal march revived for the weddings of both Princess Elizabeth (soon to be Elizabeth II) and Prince William; a piece of light music kitsch juxtaposing bird song and chanting monks by Albert Ketèlbey; and a galop by Danish composer Hans Christian Lumbye, the Johann Strauss of the North, celebrating the exotic birds of the Tivoli Volière.
Finally, it’s very much my pleasure to have dusted off some vintage recordings of Elisabeth Schumann (whose hobby it was to engage in bird-whistling) and John McCormack, who will sing works by Carl Zeller and Eric Coates, respectively.
Better start lining the cage with newspaper. It’s “For the Birds” this week on “Sweetness and Light,” this Saturday morning at 11:00 EDT/8:00 PDT, exclusively on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!
Stream it wherever you are at the link:
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Klemperer’s Opera Scandal A 1912 Love Triangle
In 1912, the conductor Otto Klemperer eloped with soprano Elisabeth Schumann, after the two fell in love while rehearsing at the Hamburg Opera. Inconveniently, Schumann happened already to be married.
Klemperer returned to the Opera to conduct Wagner’s “Lohengrin.” Following the performance, the hall resounded with applause, when all at once Klemperer caught the lash of a horsewhip brandished by Schumann’s apoplectic husband. Klemperer was taken off-guard, but quickly recovered. According to soprano Lotte Lehmann, he clambered out of the pit “like a huge black spider.” (Klemperer stood 6-foot-6.) When the two men were finally pried apart, Klemperer collected himself and turned to address the audience. “This man has attacked me because his wife loves me,” he said. “Good evening!”
It’s one of the many great stories recounted in this documentary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mqz-qUiCgbQ
Happy birthday, Otto Klemperer.
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