As you may have noticed, a good many of my WPRB programs have been exercises in excess. I basically choose a theme (Goethe, the circus, Hallowe’en, “Fantasia”) and run with it. I show up with a whole box full of stuff, and I just keep playing from it until I hit the five-hour mark.
Of course, that doesn’t tell the whole story. The point is, when you deal with themes all the time, a lot of worthwhile music tends to fall through the cracks. In particular, I’ve been eyeing the mountains of promotional copies that have been accumulating in my apartment and thinking, something really has to be done about this.
This Thursday morning on WPRB, I’ll be playing from all new releases, or at the very least from albums which have been released in 2015. We’ll hear recordings issued on the Ancalagon, Beau Fleuve Records, BMOP, Bridge, DaCapo, Delos, Innova and Navona labels, and probably a whole lot more.
Over the course of the show, you may encounter selections from violinist Lara St. John’s “Shiksa,” a collection of new works inspired by Central European, Mediterranean and Near Eastern folk music; flutist Mimi Stillman’s latest, “Freedom,” featuring music by Mieczyslaw Weinberg, David Finko and Richard Danielpour; cellist Louise Dubin’s “The Franchomme Project,” a long-overdue tribute to Auguste Franchomme, friend, confidante and musical partner of Frederic Chopin; Nadav Lev Guitarist and Composer’s “New Strings Attached,” a compilation of pieces by young Israeli composers; Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP)’s traversal of the complete Lukas Foss symphonies; “Infinite Jest,” a San Francisco Symphony CD devoted to the works of John Adams; Danish Romantic piano trios performed by – well, The Danish Piano Trio; and JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s recent issue of Sibelius orchestral favorites, titled “The Essential Sibelius” (and what Sibelius isn’t?).
With the holidays fast approaching, you never know how many of these might make for interesting gift ideas. I hope you’ll join me tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 ET, on WPRB 103.3 FM or at wprb.com, for a show made up entirely of CDs straight out of the shrinkwrap. It’s all brand-spanking new, on Classic Ross Amico.
DISCLAIMER: Tom Jones will not be played on this program!
