Classic Ross Amico

Tag: The Lost Chord

Sir Richard Rodney Bennett Unsung Musical Genius

Sir Richard Rodney Bennett could do it all: from twelve-tone to torch songs, from film music to jazz. Bennett was a brilliant musician who never really seemed to find his niche and continues to be undersold – despite the knighthood he acquired in 1998.

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we remember Bennett with an hour of his music, including his later, generously melodic “Partita for Orchestra,” his thornier Violin Concerto from 1975, and selections from his most celebrated film score, that for “Murder on the Orient Express.”

Even so, it hardly encompasses the enormous variety of his pursuits. Late in life, Bennett began to diversify even further, preferring to paint and work in collage.

Howard Ferguson, one of his teachers at the Royal Academy of Music in London, regarded him as perhaps the greatest talent of his generation, though, he opined, he lacked a personal style. I’m not sure I agree with this, but when one is all over the map with one’s interests, one becomes very difficult to pigeonhole.

Bennett died in 2012. I hope you’ll join me, on what would have been his 80th birthday, for “A Nod to Rod,” tonight at 10 ET. A repeat will air Wednesday evening at 6; or you can enjoy it later as a webcast at http://www.wwfm.org.

PHOTO: The young Bennett, looking very Mod, with skinny tie and cigarette

March 29, 2015
Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Snow Maiden” on “The Lost Chord”

A few days ago, on the occasion of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s birthday anniversary, I was going on about his operas. This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” you’ll have a chance to sample one of them, as we welcome spring with selections from “The Snow Maiden.”

Based on an allegorical Russian fairy tale of humans, quasi-mythological creatures, and the eternal forces of nature, it’s the story of a star-crossed love that brings about the end of a 15-year winter. The orchestral suite – which climaxes with the “Dance of the Tumblers” – is fairly popular, but the opera, as with all of Rimsky’s 16 efforts in the form, is virtually unknown in the West.

The recording, on the Capriccio label, which features the Bulgarian Radio Symphony conducted by Stoyan Angelov, doesn’t hold a candle to the best Rimsky opera recordings by conductors like Nikolai Golovanov, but it’s enough to give a taste of what American opera lovers are missing.

I hope you’ll join me for “Thaw of the Wild,” tonight at 10 ET, with a repeat Wednesday evening at 6, or that you’ll listen to it later as a webcast at http://www.wwfm.org.

March 22, 2015
Irish Music on The Lost Chord

Don’t let the Italian surname fool you; my mother’s people came from Ireland. My own sensibilities tend more toward the Northern climes than to the Mediterranean.

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we anticipate St. Patrick’s Day, with music from, and in celebration of, the Emerald Isle. We’ll hear works by Irish composers John Larchet, Philip Hammond, Howard Ferguson and A.J. Potter, and works on Celtic themes by Percy Grainger, Sir Arnold Bax and John Foulds.

I hope you’ll join me for “The Sharing of the Green,” tonight at 10 ET, with a repeat Wednesday evening at 6; or that you’ll enjoy it later as a webcast, at http://www.wwfm.org.

March 15, 2015
Cupid & Psyche Love’s Timeless Valentine Story

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” with Valentine’s Day fast approaching, we examine two treatments of the classical myth of Cupid and Psyche, as recounted in Apuleius’ “The Golden Ass.”

Frequently interpreted as an allegory of the elevation of the soul through love, the union of Cupid and Psyche is a beautiful story which has much in common with the fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast. There is the prohibition against a maid looking upon her “captor,” her catty stepsisters who conspire to trip her up, and the revelation of the “beast” as a kind of prince – in this case, the god of love himself.

In the end, the protagonists pass through travails to triumph, as love conquers all – a nice change of pace, I think you’ll agree, from the usual classical story arc of being transformed into a stag and devoured by hounds, flying too close to the sun and being struck down by Zeus’ thunderbolt, or accidentally eating one’s own children in a meat pie.

We’ll hear music from César Franck’s “Psyche and Eros,” full of romance and ardor, and a completely different approach, which sounds more suited to a ballroom or even an amusement park, “Cupid and Psyche,” by Lord Berners.

Get Psyched for Valentine’s Day this week, with “Slings and Eros,” this Sunday night at 10 ET, with a repeat Wednesday evening at 6; or listen to it later as a webcast at http://www.wwfm.org.

February 7, 2015
Gordon Jacob A Prolific Composer Remembered

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we honor the accomplishments of Gordon Jacob.

Jacob’s is perhaps a name most frequently encountered these days as an orchestrator. He did a popular arrangement for full orchestra of Vaughan Williams’ “English Folk Song Suite,” originally composed for symphonic band; he orchestrated Sir Edward Elgar’s Organ Sonata; and his arrangement of the ballet “Les Sylphides” has been eclipsed only by that of Roy Douglas.

But he was also a prolific composer himself. In all, he wrote some 400 works. In fact, when weighing the size of his output against his reputation, it’s tempting to underestimate – as the Angel did his Biblical namesake – Jacob’s tenacity.

We’ll be listening to an example of his work as an arranger, his “William Byrd Suite,” in a classic recording on the Mercury label, and his rarely-heard Symphony No. 1, dedicated to the memory of his brother, who died in the First World War, in its world premiere recording on the Lyrita label.

I hope you’ll join me as we grapple with the range of Jacob’s accomplishments, in “Wrestling Jacob,” tonight at 10 ET, with a repeat Wednesday evening at 6 – or that you’ll enjoy it later as a webcast at http://www.wwfm.org.

In the meantime, follow the link for a witty survey ranking the various depictions of Jacob wrestling the angel in Western Art:

http://the-toast.net/2014/09/16/famous-paintings-jacob-wrestling-angel-ranked-much-actions-resemble-slow-dancing/

January 25, 2015

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