December 8th marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Jean Sibelius. I know, it’s a little early yet, but the Sinatra celebrations are underway, and he wasn’t even born until the 12th!
We’ll salute Finland’s most celebrated composer this morning with outstanding performances by Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Thomas Beecham, Anthony Collins, Sir Colin Davis, Neeme Järvi, Robert Kajanus, Herbert von Karajan, Serge Koussevitzky, Eugene Ormandy, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Leopold Stokowski and Osmo Vänskä – or as many of those as I can get to. I’ll also include a gorgeous rarity, “The Bard,” from a new CD with JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
In addition, organist Gail Archer will be dropping by at 9:30 this morning, to talk about her new CD devoted to music by women composers, “The Muse’s Voice.” Archer will perform a free recital at 12:30 this afternoon at Princeton University Chapel. The program will include works by Joan Tower, Libby Larsen, Nadia Boulanger and Jeanne Demessieux.
Other than that, it’s wall-to-wall Sibelius, from 6 to 11 ET, on WPRB 103.3 FM or at wprb.com. We’ll have the vodka and cigars at the ready, on Classic Ross Amico.