It’s music that’s so over-the-top, Cecil B. DeMille would have blushed.
Join me this afternoon as we get all quasi-biblical, with a suite from Ottorino Respighi’s ballet “Belkis, Queen of Sheba.” The spectacle, set at the court of King Solomon, was given its first performance at La Scala in 1932. The finale featured over a thousand performers, which likely accounts for the work’s subsequent neglect. Grandiose even by Respighi’s standards, the concluding orgiastic dance whipped the opening night audience into a frenzy.
We’ll also hear a Concerto for Winds, Harp and Orchestra by Paul Hindemith, one of his more attractive inventions, which we’ll complement with music by his great Baroque counterpart Georg Philipp Telemann.
The last hour will likely feature at least some English music – because I’m just in that kind of mood.
Listen in, if you’re a little moody yourself, from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network or at wwfm.org.