Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Princeton Symphony Orchestra

Beethoven Week on The Classical Network

When Inon Barnatan joins the Princeton Symphony Orchestra tonight at 8:00, for a special radio broadcast of Beethoven’s Piano Concertos Nos. 3 & 5, it will commence The Classical Network’s annual celebration of this King of Composers.

December 16 marks the anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, in 1770. So as not to leave any concertos on the vine, Carl Hemmingsen and I will do what we can tomorrow, from about 3 to 6 p.m., to work through most of the remaining works for solo instrument(s) and orchestra.

Then on Monday, Beethoven’s actual natal day, we will hear all of the symphonies, in sequence, including a knockout performance of the Symphony No. 9.

All this will come your way with limited interruptions this year. No breaking in between movements or playing highlights from the major works – pure, unadulterated Beethoven, as the composer intended.

Of course, we hope that you will be moved to support it. We’ll be reminding you of our phone number in between the symphonies on Monday, hoping to take your calls. But you can also support us anytime by donating at our website, wwfm.org. You’ll find a nice array of incentives there when you head over to contribute.

In this season of giving, make a gift for “Ludwig van.” Beethoven is the beating heart of WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org. Thank you for your help in keeping great music on the air!

December 12, 2019
Rachel Barton Pine on The Classical Network

When you tune in to The Classical Network this afternoon at 4:00 EST, you’ll be able to enjoy a conversation with Rachel Barton Pine, Violinist. Pine will be a guest of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra this Sunday, when she appears as the soloist in Niccolò Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 1. The concert will take place at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall. Also on the program will be works of Leoš Janáček and Igor Stravinsky. Pine will tell us a little more about the concert, her insights, and her work promoting music by Black composers, both through her foundation and a new recording on the Cedille Records label.

We’ll round out the hour with a recording on Boston Records of Princeton Symphony music director Rossen Milanov conducting a performance of Reinhold Glière’s Harp Concerto, with Gretchen Van Hoesen, principal harpist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

At 8:00 tonight, Carl Hemmingsen will host a broadcast concert with Milanov conducting the Princeton Symphony. Guest soloist Simone Dinnerstein will perform the Keyboard Concerto No. 7 by Johann Sebastian Bach and the Piano Concerto No. 3, a PSO co-commission, by Philip Glass. The program will also include works by Mason Bates and Maurice Ravel.

In matters unrelated to the PSO, it’s also the birthdays today of Paul Hindemith, Antipodean colossus Alfred Hill, and neglected Baroque master Guillaume Dumanoir. We’ll celebrate with some of their music, and more, in the 5:00 hour.

At 6:00, we’ll turn our attention to music for the silver screen, as we do every Friday, on “Picture Perfect.” This week, we’ll anticipate Thanksgiving with film scores by Aaron Copland, James Horner, Hugo Friedhofer, and John Williams.

It’s a veritable cornucopia! Give thanks for variety in music. Make us your horn of plenty, at WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

November 16, 2018
Teddy Abrams Conducts Princeton Symphony Sunday

Here I am with Teddy Abrams, music director of The Louisville Orchestra, in town to guest conduct the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. On the program will be works by Joan Tower, Beethoven, and Joshua Roman (who will also be the cello soloist). The concert will take place on Sunday at 4 p.m. at Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall on the campus of Princeton University. You can find out more at princetonsymphony.org.

For the remainder of my shift, between now and 7 p.m. EDT, I’ll be marking the Ides of March with music inspired by Julius Caesar and Ancient Rome. Ottorino Respighi is tossing Christians to the lions right now, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

March 15, 2018
Beware the Ides of March: Caesar & Classical Music

Beware the Ides of March!

March 15th lives in infamy as the anniversary of the murder of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. Shortly after declaring himself Dictator Perpetuus (Dictator for Life), Caesar was set upon by members of the Roman Senate and stabbed 23 times. His alleged last words, as the final blow was struck by his friend and confidant Marcus Brutus, were “Et tu, Brute?” (“You too, Brutus?”). The phrase “Beware the Ides of March” was coined by William Shakespeare for his historical play.

Join me today on The Classical Network for music inspired by Caesar and Ancient Rome, including works by Sir Arthur Bliss, George Frideric Handel, Robert Schumann, Rudolf Tobias, and/or Miklós Rózsa. If time allows, we’ll also do our best to touch on the birthdays of Nicholas Flagello, Johan Halvorsen, Ben Johnston, Colin McPhee, and Eduard Strauss.

By the way, the Ides don’t necessarily fall on the 15th of every month, so you can’t just drop an “Ides of January” or an “Ides of June” on any old whim. It had to do with the date of the full moon, which in Ancient Rome was believed to fall on the fifteenth day of March, May, July, and October, the months with 31 days. In the other months, the Ides fell on the 13th – which sounds even more unlucky!

We’re lucky to be able enjoy such a variety of music, today from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT – or anytime for that matter – on WWFM – The Classical Network. Please support us at wwfm.org.

NOTE: As an added bonus, and in no way related to our “Ides” observation (in spite of his fortuitous surname), I will be joined at 4:00 by cellist Joshua Roman and conductor Teddy Abrams, music director of The Louisville Orchestra. Both will appear this Sunday afternoon with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra for a program of music by Joan Tower, Beethoven, and Roman himself. To learn more, tune in today at 4:00 or look online at princetonsymphony.org.

March 15, 2018
Zhou Tian’s “Broken Ink” Premieres Tonight!

Music by one-time Classic Ross Amico guest, composer Zhou Tian, can be heard on tonight’s Princeton Symphony Orchestra broadcast, on WWFM – The Classical Network. Zhou’s “Broken Ink” will be featured alongside Claude Debussy’s “La Mer” and Paul Hindemith’s “Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes by Carl Maria von Weber.” PSO music director Rossen Milanov will conduct. Do yourself a favor and catch this well-balanced concert, especially Zhou’s assured and beautifully orchestrated suite in its U.S. premiere! The concert begins at 8 p.m. EDT at wwfm.org.

September 15, 2017

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