Classic Ross Amico

Tag: The Classical Network

Support Classical Music Radio WWFM

What kind of a price tag do you put on something of intangible worth? It’s the age-old conundrum of the value of art.

Without getting into whether or not art is “good” for you or for your community (like spinach), consider for a moment what having classical music on WWFM has meant for the quality of your life. If you seriously feel it has done much to enrich your days and to give you solace or inspiration at all hours, then why not follow your heart – within the restraints of your budget, of course?

Public radio isn’t here to break the bank. Ideally, if everyone who enjoys the service – an endangered one in an increasingly commercial, talk, and news-driven market – then there would be no danger of having this invaluable asset lost or compromised. We’ve already had to make some hard decisions in recent years in order to survive within our budget.

If you’ve already given recently, thank you so much for your support – but if it’s been a year or more, how about it? Can you spare $20, $50, $120 for the station you love? $120 is just ten dollars a month. It may not seem like it would amount to much, but if even a few dozen people were to contribute, that’s quite a considerable chunk of change. If our entire listenership could be moved to be so generous, The Classical Network would one of the most well-off public radio stations in existence. But the reality is only a very small percentage of listeners give.

Regardless of what attracts you to the station – Who’s your favorite composer or performer? What’s your preferred era or genre? Who’s your favorite host or what’s your favorite specialty show? – we like to think we offer something for everyone who cares about classical music.

As you consider what you are able to do in order to help support our future, enjoy a day of wall-to-wall Mozart, as Alice Weiss (9 to noon), David Osenberg (10 to 2), Carl Hemmingsen (1 to 4), Michael Kownacky (2 to 6) and yours truly (4 to 6) share some of our favorites, in advance of the master’s 262nd birthday. (The actual anniversary is tomorrow.)

Then stick around for “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, coming your way at 6 p.m. I’ve selected four recordings of scores by another one of classical music’s great musical prodigies, Erich Wolfgang Korngold. I’ll post a little more about that in just a bit.

“Picture Perfect” kicks off a Friday evening of unique specialty shows and live concert material. Bill McGlaughlin brings you another edition of “Exploring Music” (and more Mozart) at 7; Carl Hemmingsen hosts a concert of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, with music by Respighi, Schulhoff, and Mendelssohn, at 8; Allan Kelly presents “Distant Mirror” at 10; and Lewis Baratz hosts “Well-Tempered Baroque” at 11.

The Mozart celebration is already underway on WWFM – The Classical Network. Please show your support by calling 1-888-232-1212 or by contributing online at wwfm.org. We wouldn’t be here without your generosity. Thank you for your support!

January 26, 2018
Medieval Music on The Classical Network

This Tuesday at noon on The Classical Network, we present another gem from GEMS – Gotham Early Music Scene – as the ensemble Marginalia enlivens your lunch hour with a program of medieval French music. The broadcast will feature selections from the 13th century, including songs of the trouvères and troubadours, as well as instrumental dances. Marginalia consists of Dongmyung Ahn, rebec and vielle; Christa Patton, harp, pipe and tabor; and Peter Walker, bagpipe and voice.

Today’s program was recorded at St. Bartholomew’s Church, 50th Street and Park Avenue, in Midtown Manhattan. The next Midtown Concert will take place there this Thursday at 1:15 p.m., when Hollinshead & Bass (mezzo-soprano Barbara Hollinshead and lutenist and guitarist Howard Bass) will present “Time, Cruell Time!,” with music reflective of the passage of time by Thomas Campion, Robert Johnson, John Dowland, and others. You’ll find a complete schedule of free lunchtime performances at midtownconcerts.org.

In addition, GEMS presents evening concerts. Talisman Medieval (David Yardley, countertenor and harp, and Christopher Preston, tenor and harp) will present a program of medieval and newly-composed medieval-inspired music, this Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Church of the Transfiguration, 1 East 29th Street, Manhattan.

On Sunday at 4 p.m., Juilliard415 will present “Madness and Enchantment,” with Luigi Boccherini’s Sinfonia in D minor “From the House of the Devil,” Georg Philipp Telemann’s “Burlesque de Quixotte,” and excerpts from Henry Purcell’s “The Fairy Queen.” Jonathan Cohen will direct, at Corpus Christi Church, 529 West 121st Street, Manhattan.

Gotham Early Music Scene is a non-profit organization that supports and promotes artists and organizations in New York City devoted to early music – music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical periods. For more information on these and other programs presented by GEMS, look online at gemsny.org.

Then stick around – among my featured works this afternoon, between 12 and 4 p.m. EST, will be a concerto by Anton Rubinstein and a symphony by Eduard Tubin. Rubinstein is fine, and we’re cruisin’ for some Tubin, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

January 9, 2018
Beethoven’s Ninth A Hidden Gem Revealed

I’VE FOUND MY NINTH!

Of course no recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony can be all things to all people. However, having gone through my collection and sampled a number of the greats – Bernstein, Furtwängler, Szell, Toscanini, Walter – I came across something of a dark horse.

If we can reach our goal of $8000 by around 4:45 this afternoon, we will enjoy this extraordinary performance in its entirety. If we can’t, then we’ll just have to settle for the finale, and that would be a real shame, since the first two movements sound like the musicians ate lava for breakfast.

Our salute to Beethoven resumes on WWFM – The Classical Network, following today’s Noontime Concert. Won’t you support us at 1-888-232-1212 or wwfm.org? Make that recording of Beethoven’s Ninth the joyous occasion it is meant to be!

December 15, 2017
Beethoven A King Among Composers?

Was Beethoven the King of Composers?

If anything, Beethoven proved just how far someone could go with determination, a gift for fantasy, and plain old hard work. Beethoven may have lacked the natural facility of a Bach or a Mozart, yet through an uncompromising force of will he managed to achieve greatness. In fact, so powerful was his musical imagination that he managed to change music. And he knew his own worth, even to the point of not deferring to his “betters.”

How much is Beethoven worth to you? As The Classical Network observes the Master’s birthday today (he was born on December 16, 1770) with a full day of his music, join us in celebrating the great Ludwig Van with your gift of support at 1-888-232-1212 or wwfm.org.

Because of listeners just like you, we have been able to share 35 years of some of the greatest music ever written. All of us at WWFM – The Classical Network thank you for your generosity.

December 15, 2017
GEMS Early Music Concerts in NYC on The Classical Network

I’ll be arriving by gondola for today’s Noontime Concert, as The Classical Network continues its partnership with Gotham Early Music Scene (GEMS).

We’ll hear selections from another one of GEMS’ Downtown Concerts: The Queens Consort will present a program titled “Venetian Masters,” with music by Dario Castello, Biagio Marini, Giovanni Lagrenzi, Marco Uccellini, and Antonio Vivaldi.

Concerts in GEMS Downtown Concerts series are held at Saint Bartholomew’s Church, 50th St. and Park Avenue, in midtown Manhattan. You’ll find a complete schedule of free lunchtime performances at midtownconcerts.org.

In addition, GEMS presents evening concerts, such as “Big Wig: A French Baroque Dance Mix,” with music by Rameau, Lully, Purcell, and Handel, which will be performed by New York Baroque Incorporated, directed by Grammy-winning baroque violinist Robert Mealy, and featuring virtuoso baroque dancers Caroline Copeland and Carlos Fittante. That concert will take place on December 20 at 7 p.m. at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tickets to the event will include same day museum admission. A special 10th anniversary GEMS gala reception will follow the concert.

Other upcoming highlights include a program of “Christmas Vespers” by Johann Rosenmüller, to be presented by the ensemble Artek with members of Les Sacqueboutiers de Toulouse on December 29 at 8 p.m. at Old Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, 273 Mott Street, in Tribeca.

The next concert of The Queens Consort, “Music for Yuletide,” will take place on December 16 at 7 p.m. at Saint Mark’s Church, 30-50 82nd Street, Jackson Heights, Queens.

You’ll find more information about GEMS and a complete listing of events, at gemsny.org.

Following today’s Noontime Concert, stick around for more music, including Stephen Dodgson – composer’s cantata “Last of the Leaves,” Gerald Finzi’s “The Fall of the Leaf,” and Lawrence Ashmore’s “Four Seasons,” among others. I’ll keep mining the gems until 4:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

December 5, 2017

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