Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Princeton Symphony Orchestra

Stream Classical Music During Inclement Weather

Inclement weather got you down? As long as the power holds, there’s no reason to be glum.

In recent days, my inbox has been a logjam of press releases for streamed concerts. It’s still a big, wide, wonderful world of music out there, and there’s something for just about every taste.

My pick for the weekend – and I realize it may not be everyone’s cup of cocoa – is a FREE stream of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s most opulent opera, “Das Wunder der Heliane” (“The Miracle of Heliane”). Korngold was a celebrated child prodigy and an opera composer well before he came to Hollywood to write music for Errol Flynn and Bette Davis. “Heliane” is a heady blend of eroticism, pathos, and redemption. I can’t speak for the production, but the music is guaranteed to be transporting. The opera is being offered on-demand, from Deutsche Oper Berlin, now through Sunday at 9 am EST (assuming the times on the website are German). Visit https://www.deutscheoperberlin.de/de_DE/das-wunder-der-heliane-als-video-on-demand?fbclid=IwAR0gsLk8oT5GFsq5q_73iwq6K9IVVBhOc9e7W5jYxn8ZwOvuKXvcKqbmx14

Closer to home, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra has posted the first of a four-part series devoted to Johann Sebastian Bach’s “The Musical Offering.” The installments, which include illuminating commentary by PSO assistant conductor Nell Flanders, will be released weekly over the coming month and can be viewed FREE. Part One is posted now at https://princetonsymphony.org/

Whether because of the political zeitgeist, for Black History Month, or the natural result of cumulative exposure to the repertoire, there has been a really nice representation of music by Black composers recently. And the development is a welcome one. This weekend, The Philadelphia Orchestra will present Florence Price’s Piano Concerto, alongside works by Rossini and Schubert. The on-demand concert will be available starting tonight at 8 pm and will stream through next Thursday at 11 pm EST. Tickets available at https://philorch.org/

Pianists Danny Driver and Piers Lane will offer an elegant recital of French classics by Franck, Fauré, Saint-Saëns, and Lili Boulanger, courtesy of the Fisher Center at Bard. On-demand access will be available from Friday at 10 am through next Thursday at 5 pm EST. For tickets, visit https://fishercenter.bard.edu/events/driver-lane?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2021-02-17-Driver-Lane-TON-AFAIG-Dev&utm_content=version_A

If new music is more your thing, Bang on a Can will present a marathon of 16 world premieres by living composers, including avant-garde icon Alvin Lucier and Princeton’s own Bora Yoon. Streaming of the four-hour event will begin this Sunday at 1 pm EST. The marathon is FREE and can be viewed at https://live.bangonacan.org/

As always, free may be free, but donations are welcome – indeed encouraged – and help support the performers and organizations.

Snowbound? ‘S no problem! There’s still plenty to munch on. Classical music is like grilled cheese for the soul, and it’s a lot easier on the arteries.

February 18, 2021
Princeton Symphony & Buskaid Premiere On-Demand

Starting today, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra unveils a new series of on-demand concerts featuring the remarkable Buskaid Soweto String Ensemble.

Buskaid is an organization that offers high-quality string teaching to young people in the township of Soweto, South Africa. In 23 years, the organization has produced a world class ensemble that has received acclaim on 26 international tours.

This weekend’s opener, available now, features guest pianist Melvyn Tan, Buskaid-trained violist Tiisetso Mashishi, popular vocals, and examples of kwela, a South African style of music with jazzy undertones, derived from the marabi sound. The concert was filmed at Johannesburg’s Linder Auditorium.

PSO Executive Director Marc Uys, who hails from South Africa, visited the Buskaid School with a group of PSO trustees in 2019. Among them was composer Julian Grant, whose work “Sancho’s Dance-Mix,” a Buskaid commission, is featured on this weekend’s program.

To learn more about the series and to gain three-day access to this weekend’s debut concert, visit princetonsymphony.org.

Uys and Grant talk about their personal connections to Buskaid on a podcast with Discover Jersey Arts:

https://jerseyartsfeatures.com/content/2021/1/28/from-soweto-to-princetonthe-buskaid-string-ensemble

Uys and Buskaid Founder and Music Director Rosemary Nalden visit “A Tempo” on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org:

https://www.wwfm.org/post/virtual-performances-transcend-geographic-boundaries-princeton-symphony-south-african-ensemble

January 29, 2021
Princeton Symphony Plays Saint-Georges Mozart

Music by violinist, conductor, and master swordsman Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, will open this weekend’s concert – the first of the new year – by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. The virtual event will stream this Sunday at 4 pm EST.

Born on Christmas Day, 1745, in the French colony of Guadeloupe, Saint-Georges gained renown as a soldier as well as a musician. Commander of the so-called “American Legion,” made up of free men of color, he ascended an all-too-brief thermal of opportunity in the decades leading up to and following the French Revolution. Among his fellow officers was a former fencing student, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, father of the writer of “The Three Musketeers.” Saint-Georges also served as music teacher to Marie Antoinette. Future President of the United States John Adams, in Paris as commissioner to France, described him as “the most accomplished man in Europe.”

Saint-Georges wrote operas, concertos, and chamber music. He also commissioned and led the first performances of Haydn’s “Paris” Symphonies.

The PSO will open its Sunday program with Saint-Georges’ Symphony No. 1 in G major.

In his lifetime, the composer was identified as “Le Mozart Noir.” He actually shared a summer residence with Mozart in 1778. Mozart, 11 years Saint-Georges’ junior was evidently jealous of the older man’s success.

Be that as it may, the PSO will reunite the two artists by concluding the afternoon with Mozart’s Serenade for Winds in C minor, K. 388.

In between, Ukrainian-born pianist (now a resident of Australia) Alexander Gavrylyuk will perform works by Mozart, Brahms, and Arkady Filippenko.

Viewers will receive on-demand access to the concert for a period of one week, beginning on Sunday. To learn more and to register for admission, visit princetonsymphony.org.

January 7, 2021
Princeton Symphony Garden Concerts

Culture and cultivation find common ground, as the Princeton Symphony Orchestra commences its new Garden Chamber Series, tomorrow night, on the grounds of Morven Museum.

These live events will highlight the talents of the orchestra’s individual instrumental sections and showcase PSO principal musicians. Concerts will take place on select Thursday evenings in September and October.

The series will begin tomorrow, September 24, at 5:30 pm, with the PSO Brass Quintet performing an eclectic program of Bach, Bernstein, Mozart, Mancini, Holst, Fats Waller, Eubie Blake, Tielman Susato, and John Philip Sousa.

On October 8 at 5:30 pm, PSO woodwinds will take the stage to perform Samuel Barber’s “Summer Music,” Valerie Coleman’s “Umoja,” and more.

A third concert is scheduled for October 15 at 5:30 pm. Program information for that event is pending.

Outdoor seating and social distancing will be in place for all concerts. The PSO will provide marked-off, socially-distanced “pods” for up to two people. Attendees should plan to bring a lawn chair or a blanket. A designated picnic area will be open from 4 pm to the start of the concert.

Morven Museum & Garden is located at 55 Stockton Street in Princeton. Ample free parking is available at the end of the museum’s driveway.

For tickets and information, visit princetonsymphony.org.

September 23, 2020
PSO Fall Preview on WWFM Radio This Week

Tune in to WWFM – The Classical Network this Friday at 3:45 pm and Saturday at 7 pm EDT, to hear about the Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s fall plans.

David Osenberg will host Executive Director Marc Uys and Music Director Rossen Milanov, on Friday at 3:45 pm.

On Saturday, Rachel Katz will talk to Marc Uys and the Youth Orchestra of Central Jersey’s Larisa Epps about their organizations’ new partnership, on “A Tempo” at 7:00 pm.

WWFM can be heard locally at 89.1 FM. Additional frequencies and online streaming are available at wwfm.org.

September 11, 2020

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