Classic Ross Amico

Tag: JoAnn Falletta

Russian Folklore Music on WPRB

Join me this week on WPRB, when we immerse ourselves in the exotic realms of Russian folklore.

We’ll have music inspired by the myths, legends and folktales of Russia, including works evocative of Baba Yaga, Koschei the Deathless, the Firebird, Zolushka, Ivan the Fool, Ruslan and Ludmila, and the Invisible City of Kitezh. The folk heroes Sadko and Stepan Razin will also be represented.

Reinhold Gliere’s epic symphony on the exploits of Ilya Muromets has been the most requested piece of the summer. (That is to say, it was requested by the most people, as opposed to multiple requests from the same source!) We’ll finally have a chance to hear the acclaimed recording by JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, who took the work to Carnegie Hall in 2013 and subsequently recorded it complete (over 70 minutes) for the Naxos label. The release was described by David Hurwitz of classicstoday.com as “the finest version yet recorded,” and by Peter J. Rabinowitz of “Fanfare” as “beyond excellent.”

It was the excuse to play “Muromets” that determined our theme for the week. It seems all the more appropriate since I’m always Russian to get there anyway. I hope you’ll join me tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 ET, for five hours of Russian folklore at WPRB 103.3 FM or online at wprb.com. Say “da” to Classic Ross Amico.

September 9, 2015
JoAnn Falletta’s Musical Morning on WPRB

It’s a Falletta Fest! All recordings of works conducted and/or played by JoAnn Falletta this morning.

Falletta is in Princeton with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for this year’s Edward T. Cone Composition Institute, five days of intensive compositional evaluations and consultations, master classes and career-building opportunities, which will culminate in a live concert performance of participating composers’ works. The concert, including four world premieres and a piece by Institute director Steven Mackey, will take place tonight at Richardson Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.

In the meantime, composers you can expect to hear on this morning’s program will include Miguel del Águila, Romeo Cascarino, Eric Ewazen, Kenneth Fuchs, Gustav Holst, E.J. Moeran, Jerome Moross, Behzad Ranjbaran, and Marcel Tyberg, among others, performed by orchestras with which Falletta has had fruitful associations, including the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the Ulster Orchestra, the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Women’s Philharmonic.

Falletta herself will drop by around 9:00 to talk about the institute and some of her other projects. She’s always very busy, with plenty of concerts, festivals and recordings in the pipeline.

I hope you’ll join me, this morning from 6 to 11 a.m. ET, for some entrancing musical rarities, at WPRB 103.3 FM or online at wprb.com.

July 16, 2015
JoAnn Falletta on WPRB Tomorrow!

I am elated that JoAnn Falletta has accepted my invitation to drop by WPRB tomorrow. She has always been a conductor after my own heart.

As music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra (among her numerous other credits), she has championed dozens of works which could easily be classified as unusual or neglected. She is also an indefatigable champion of new music.

Falletta is in Princeton this week with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, as part of this year’s Edward T. Cone Composition Institute. The institute is an intensive workshop and lab for young composers who are shepherded through the process of getting their music from manuscript through rehearsals to performance. They are also provided with valuable career insights into what it means to be a professional composer.

The program will culminate in a public concert made up of four world premieres, including Luke Carlson’s “The Burnished Tide,” Brendan Faegre’s “Dirt to Gold,” Shuyin Li’s “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night,” and Reinaldo Moya’s “Siempre Lunes, Siempre Marzo,” tomorrow night at Richardson Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Institute director Steven Mackey’s “Urban Ocean” will also be heard.

Tomorrow morning on WPRB, Falletta will talk a little bit about the institute and some of her other upcoming projects. She is a prolific recording artist. The entire show will be devoted to selections from her extensive discography.

Some of the composers you can expect to hear will include Miguel del Águila, Romeo Cascarino, Eric Ewazen, Kenneth Fuchs, Gustav Holst, E.J. Moeran, Jerome Moross, Behzad Ranjbaran, and Marcel Tyberg, among others. You may even get to hear Falletta play the guitar.

Expect her visit around 9:00. I hope you’ll join me, tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 a.m. ET, at WPRB 103.3 FM, or online at wprb.com. Keep it classy with glassy-eyed Classic Ross Amico.

July 15, 2015

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