Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Georgy Sviridov

Christmas in July Wintry Movie Music on KWAX

It’s the 25th. Christmas in July! This week on “Picture Perfect,” there won’t be a manger or a Santa Claus in sight, but I’m sure we’ll all be grateful for a blast of frigid air and some chilly scenes from world cinema.

We’ll begin with music from “The Snow Storm” (1964), an adaptation of Pushkin’s “The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkan.” The score’s Waltz and Romance enjoyed particular popularity, earning its composer, Georgy Sviridov, two of his greatest hits.

Then Arthur Honegger will take us to higher altitudes with his music for “The Demon of the Himalayas” (1935), complete with the eerie electronic timbre of the ondes Martenot.

Ralph Vaughan Williams will guide us to the South Pole with selections from his score for “Scott of the Antarctic” (1948). The music perfectly reflects the sublime, austere beauty of an unforgiving landscape. The score became the basis for the composer’s seventh symphony, “Sinfonia Antartica” (note the Italian spelling; hence the single “c”).

Finally, the “Battle on the Ice” from “Alexander Nevsky” (1938) provides a textbook marriage of music and film. Director Sergei Eisenstein granted the composer, Sergei Prokofiev, the unusual luxury of having the images cut to suit his music, as opposed to the usual practice, which is the other way around. The result is not only one of the great films, but also one of the great film scores.

Feeling hot under the collar? Chill out with wintry scenes from world cinema this week, on “Picture Perfect,” music from the movies, now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – Saturday at 11:00 AM EDT/8:00 AM PDT

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT

Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

July 25, 2025
Cool Movie Scores to Beat the Summer Heat KWAX

We’ve had it better than most this summer in the Trenton-Princeton area, but it’s been an unrelenting scorcher for many. This week on “Picture Perfect,” we’ll think cool thoughts with some chilly scores from world cinema.

“The Snow Storm” (1964) is an adaptation of Pushkin’s “The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkan.” The score’s Waltz and Romance enjoyed particular popularity, earning its composer, Georgy Sviridov, two of his greatest hits.

Then Arthur Honegger will take us to higher altitudes with his music for “The Demon of the Himalayas” (1935), complete with the eerie electronic timbre of the ondes Martenot.

Ralph Vaughan Williams will guide us to the South Pole with selections from his score for “Scott of the Antarctic” (1948). The music perfectly reflects the sublime, austere beauty of an unforgiving landscape. The score became the basis for the composer’s seventh symphony, “Sinfonia Antartica” (which is titled in Italian, hence the single “c”).

Finally, the “Battle on the Ice” sequence from “Alexander Nevsky” (1938) provides a textbook marriage of music and film. Director Sergei Eisenstein granted the composer, Sergei Prokofiev, the unusual luxury of having the images cut to suit his music, as opposed to the usual practice, which is the other way around. The result is not only one of the great films, but also one of the great film scores.

Feeling hot under the collar? Chill out with wintry scenes from world cinema this week, on “Picture Perfect,” music from the movies, now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Keep in mind, KWAX is on the West Coast, so there’s a three-hour difference for the Trenton-Princeton area. Here are the respective air-times of my recorded shows (with East Coast conversions in parentheses):

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday on KWAX at 5:00 PACIFIC TIME (8:00 PM EDT)

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday on KWAX at 4:00 PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM EDT)

Stream them here!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

August 18, 2023
Classical Birthday & Movie Music on WWFM Friday

There will be plenty of candles on the cake today. Join me at 4:00 EST in celebrating the birthday anniversaries of Max Bruch, Alexander Scriabin, and Maurice Abravanel. I’ll also have a musical remembrance of conductor Georges Prêtre, who died on Wednesday at the age of 92.

“Picture Perfect” comes your way at 6:00. Now that we’ve had a taste a snow, it’s time to take in some wintry scenes from world cinema. We’ll hear music from “The Snowstorm” (1964), by Georgy Sviridov, “The Demon of the Himalayas” (1935), by Arthur Honegger, “Scott of the Antarctic” (1948), by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and “Alexander Nevsky” (1938), by Sergei Prokofiev.

It’s Friday afternoon. Chill out with WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

January 6, 2017
Beat the Heat with Wintry Film Scores

Though the weather is uncharacteristically lovely today in the Trenton-Princeton area, I wholly expect to be sweating it out again in front of the air conditioner sometime soon. (It will be back to 90 by the weekend.) In that glass-half-empty frame of mind, this week on “Picture Perfect,” we’ll have an hour of aural escapes from the grim heat of summer.

“The Snow Storm” (1964) is an adaptation of Pushkin’s “The Tales of the Late Ivan Petrovich Belkan.” This year marks the centenary of the birth of the composer, Georgy Sviridov. The Waltz and Romance from “The Snow Storm” enjoyed particular popularity, bringing Sviridov two of his greatest hits.

Then Arthur Honegger will take us to higher altitudes with his music for “The Demon of the Himalayas” (1935), complete with the eerie electronic timbre of the ondes Martenot.

Ralph Vaughan Williams will guide us to the South Pole with selections from his score for “Scott of the Antarctic” (1948). The music perfectly reflects the sublime, austere beauty of a hostile environment. The score became the basis for Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No. 7, “Sinfonia Antarctica.”

Finally, the “Battle on the Ice” sequence from “Alexander Nevsky” (1938) provides a textbook marriage of music and film. Director Sergei Eisenstein granted the composer, Sergei Prokofiev, the unusual luxury of cutting the images to suit his music, as opposed to the usual practice, which is the other way around. The result is not only one of the great films, but also one of the great film scores.

Chill out with wintry scenes from world cinema this week, on “Picture Perfect” – music from the movies – this Friday evening at 6, with a repeat Saturday morning at 6; or listen to it later as a webcast at wwfm.org.

PHOTO: Very cool

July 16, 2015

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