Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Reinhold Gliere

Salty Cossacks on “The Lost Chord”

This week on “The Lost Chord,” our ears will burn from the haughty and profane response of the Zaporozhy Cossacks to an ultimatum from Sultan Mehmad IV. The Sultan demanded the peaceful surrender of the Cossacks, after they had scored a glorious defeat against his Ottoman forces. To his giddy and inebriated foes, he was not exactly negotiating from a position of power.

Among Reinhold Glière’s works steeped specifically in Ukrainian lore is the symphonic poem/ballet “The Zaporozhy Cossacks,” based on the famous canvas by Ilya Repin. Glière, born in Kyiv in 1875, is best known for his ballet “The Red Poppy,” with its ubiquitous “Russian Sailor’s Dance,” and perhaps for his epic Symphony No. 3, “Ilya Muromets.”

In 1913, Glière attained an appointment to the school of music in Kyiv, which was raised to the status of conservatory shortly thereafter. Glière served as director of the conservatory from 1914 to 1920.

One of his pupils there was Boris Lyatoshynsky, who lived from 1895 to 1968. Lyatoshynsky was a student at the conservatory at the start. The first movement of his Symphony No. 1 was written as a graduation work. The other two movements followed in 1919.

The first performance of the piece took place under Glière’s direction in 1923. If you get all sweaty listening to the orchestral works of Alexander Scriabin, you certainly won’t want to miss this, an opulent work by a young man determined to impress.

I hope you’ll join me for “Steppe Lively” – classical music from Ukraine – on “The Lost Chord,” now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

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Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – Saturday at 11:00 AM EST/8:00 AM PST

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

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If you aren’t too squeamish, you can read more about the Cossacks’ reply, with a rough (and I do mean rough) translation here. The translation was removed from a Wikipedia page about the painting, but preserved in a screenshot taken for the purpose of Ukrainian studies by the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Toronto.

https://tarnawsky.artsci.utoronto.ca/courses/Cossacks/Reply%20of%20the%20Zaporozhian%20Cossacks%20-%20Wikipedia,%20the%20free%20encyclopedia.pdf

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IMAGE: Ilya Repin’s “Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks” (1880-1891)

November 15, 2025
Unbowed Strings on “Sweetness and Light”

This week on “Sweetness and Light,” it’s an hour of “unbowed strings.” All of these string instruments will be plucked, struck, or strummed, with not a bow in sight. We’ll hear works for zither, guitar, cimbalom, harp, and mandolin, by composers Anton Karas, Ferdinando Carulli, Zoltán Kodály, Reinhold Gliere, and Samuel Siegel. We forgo the bow, but strings are the thing on “Sweetness and Light,” this Saturday morning at 11:00 EST/8:00 PST, exclusively on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Stream it, wherever you are, at the link kwax.uoregon.edu and soon here at rossamico.com/radio!

November 8, 2025
Classical Music Broadcast Schubert Glass Gliere WWFM

This Tuesday morning at 10:00, Alice Weiss will host “The Classical Network in Concert,” featuring winners of the 2016 Astral Artists National Auditions, in a program that was recorded at the Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia.

That means there will be no noontime concert today, leaving me with a blank canvas on which to paint for the next four hours. During that time, we will not only mark the 220th anniversary of the birth of Franz Schubert, we will also celebrate the 80th birthday of Philip Glass. Glass will be represented by his Violin Concerto, with Gidon Kremer the soloist. Kremer will appear with his chamber orchestra, Kremerata Baltica, at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton on Friday.

Because there is always so much room to play with on Tuesday afternoons, I usually try to accommodate a larger work, on a scale not generally encountered on radio in the middle of the day. This afternoon will be no exception, as we take a 72-minute break from Schubert to enjoy Reinhold Gliere’s Symphony No. 3, subtitled “Ilya Muromets,” in a stunning performance by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by JoAnn Falletta. Gliere’s programmatic symphony evokes the heroic exploits of the legendary bogatyr, who employs his superhuman strength against a series of formidable opponents.

The Buffalo performance has been described by David Hurwitz of classicstoday.com as “the finest version yet recorded,” and by Peter J. Rabinowitz of Fanfare Magazine as “beyond excellent.”

There will be plenty of blood and thunder to counterbalance the delicacy of Schubert and the minimalism of Glass, from 12 to 4:00 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

January 31, 2017
Classical Music for All Seasons on WWFM

As the weather has careened over the past several days from 20 degrees and snow to a projected 60 degrees tomorrow, so shall our musical selections this afternoon be varied and perhaps even a mite exhilarating.

We’ll observe the anniversary of the birth of composer Reinhold Glière with his flamboyant symphonic poem “The Zaporozhy Cossacks,” inspired by the raucous painting of Ilya Repin. Sir Alexander Gibson’s artistry will be recalled through one of his great Sibelius recordings. The Norwegian composer, Christian Sinding (he of “Rustles of Spring” fame) will be represented by his über-Romantic piano concerto. And Maurice Duruflé will set a more contemplative mood with his “Four Motets on Gregorian Themes.”

Is it winter? Spring? We have music suitable for all seasons this afternoon, from 4 to 7:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

January 11, 2017
Support Classic Ross Amico on WPRB #wprb75

Do you like what I’ve been doing at WPRB? Have you enjoyed the music? The guests? The five-hour exercises in thematic excess? Then, please, call in today and help cement my standing there with a strong show of listener support, at 609-258-1033.

Classical Discoveries’ Marvin Rosen will join me from 6 to 11 ET, to beat the drum and cry for your pennies. Hopefully you’ll have some dough left over after your outstanding show of support for Marvin’s show yesterday.

Like Marvin (though on a more modest scale), I’ve got some special “thank you” gifts to sweeten the pot (click on the image below). PLEASE NOTE: Because of the limited quantities of the titles, only those who pledge by telephone will be able to collect these special gifts.

Listen in for music by Aaron Copland, Lou Harrison, Zoltán Kodály, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Steven Mackey, Miklós Rózsa, Florent Schmitt, Marcel Tyberg, and more Reinhold Gliere than you could comb out of your Stalinesque mustache. And to our telephone volunteers: good luck distinguishing E.J. Moeran (the English pastoralist) from Robert Moran (composer of “Game of the Antichrist”)!

This is my first WPRB 103.3 FM pledge drive, and it would be great if we could drum up a few thousand dollars to help validate my existence. Pledge early and often for Classic Ross Amico, at 609-258-103.3 or wprb.com – and thank you!

In addition to the authorized WPRB swag –the 75th anniversary commemorative pin and sticker set ($15), the t-shirt ($45), the lunch box and history booklet ($103.30), the retro bag ($250), a grab at immortality (and our eternal gratitude) through having your named inscribed on a station wall plaque ($500), and the anniversary banquet reservation ($1000) – consider picking up one of the following tasties for the low, low price of $45 dollars:

BUILT FOR BUFFALO – World premiere concertos by Aguila, Hagen and Ewazen (SIGNED BY JOANN FALLETTA), BEAU FLUEVE RECORDS 610708-094951

COPLAND, AARON – CELLULOID COPLAND, TELARC 80583

DEBUSSY, CLAUDE – THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (with Edgar Allan Poe-inspired music by Andre Caplet & Florent Schmitt), EMI 47921

FLEISHER, LEON – ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE, BRIDGE 9429

GLIERE, REINHOLD – MACAL CONDUCTS GLIERE (Symphony No. 2 & “The Red Poppy,” w/the New Jersey Symphony), DELOS 3178

GLIERE, REINHOLD – Symphony No. 3 “Ilya Muromets” (SIGNED BY JOANN FALLETTA), NAXOS 8.573161

HARRISON, LOU – A PORTRAIT, ARGO 455 590-2

KODALY, ZOLTAN – SUMMER EVENING: WORKS BY ZOLTAN KODALY AND JOSEF SUK, DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 447 109-2

KORNGOLD, ERICH WOLFGANG – THE SEA HAWK: PREVIN CONDUCTS KORNGOLD, DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 471 347-2

MACKEY, STEVEN – AMERICAN GRACE, CANARY CLASSICS 11

MORAN, ROBERT – GAME OF THE ANTICHRIST (SIGNED BY THE COMPOSER), INNOVA 251

MOERAN, E.J. – Cello Concerto (SIGNED BY JOANN FALLETTA), NAXOS 8.573034

ROZSA, MIKLOS – CONCERTOS FOR VIOLIN AND CELLO, TELARC 80518

TYBERG, MARCEL – Symphony No. 2 (SIGNED BY JOANN FALLETTA), NAXOS 8.572822

#wprb75

October 15, 2015

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