Classic Ross Amico

Tag: WPRB

Unusual Holiday Music on WPRB This Week

In this season of miracles, the gift of music burns long. We’ll light some candles and follow some stars, this Thursday morning on WPRB, with unusual music for the midwinter holidays.

Highlights will include Conrad Susa’s “Carols & Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest,” a suite from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “Christmas Eve” (which naturally features the devil – love them Slavs), Latvian composer Juris Karlsons’ “Christmas Cantata,” Argentinean composer Ariel Ramirez’s “Navidad Nuestra,” Philadelphia composer William Henry Fry’s “Santa Claus Symphony,” Samuel Adler’s Hanukkah medley “To Celebrate a Miracle,” Christopher Rouse’s postmodern invention “Karolju,” and John Adams’ Nativity oratorio “El Niño.”

There will be plenty of surprises along the way. Leave out some milk and cookies. I’ll be playing multi-cultural Santa, this Thursday morning from 6 to 11 EST, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. That’s no fat suit on Classic Ross Amico.

December 14, 2017
Unearthing Unique Holiday Music on WPRB

Tired of the same old, same old?

Join me this Thursday morning on WPRB, as we tread the overgrown path of forgotten, overlooked, or neglected Christmas music (at least on the radio).

We’ll be all over the globe, touching on many traditions. Among the highlights will be a complete performance of John Adams’ Nativity oratorio “El Niño.” The texts are taken or adapted from poems by Rosario Castellanos, Gabriela Mistral, Hildegard von Bingen, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Rubén Darío, and Vicente Huidobro, as well as anonymous verses and passages from the Bible, the New Testament Apocrypha, and the Wakefield Mystery Plays.

In my opinion, this is one of Adams’ most consistently inspired works. And what a cast! We’ll hear soprano Dawn Upshaw, mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, and baritone Willard White. Listen to it for the first ten minutes, and you’ll be hooked.

I may even drop in a couple of pieces for Hanukkah, if I have anything worthwhile to contribute.

However you celebrate, enjoy this season of light. The music will be our beacon, this Thursday morning from 6 to 11 EST, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. We’ll have plenty of batteries, bulbs, and candles on hand, on Classic Ross Amico.

The striking artwork of Yreina Cervantez that graces the cover of the Nonesuch recording of Adams’ “El Niño”

December 14, 2017
New Classical Music 2017 on WPRB

Ah, the crinkle of shrink wrap. That’s what was heard in my home yesterday, as I began piling up CDs released over the past months that I haven’t been able to work into any of my shows. Thematic programming can be a challenge – admittedly therein lies a lot of the fun – but there is much music of worth that can fall through the cracks.

This Thursday morning on WPRB, we’ll have a chance to enjoy some fairly recent recordings issued by Albion Records (the label of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society), Azica Records, Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), Bridge Records, Inc., Centaur Records, Inc., Chandos Records, innova Recordings, Naxos, New World Records, Other Minds Records, and the Sono Luminus label, among others. If something catches your ear, record information will be made available at wprb.com.

Perhaps you’ll get some ideas for inspired stocking stuffers or hear something worthwhile on which to blow your Hanukkah gelt. Join me for a full playlist of interesting 2017 releases, this Thursday morning from 6 to 11 EST, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. We’ll find release in the new, on Classic Ross Amico.

December 7, 2017
Linda Holt on WPRB Discussing “The Black Spaniard”

Linda Holt will join Marvin Rosen for the last hour or so of Classical Discoveries this Wednesday morning on WPRB. Holt is the author of “The Black Spaniard,” a work of historical fiction about Beethoven. She’s expected between 9:50 and 11:00 EST. Listen in at WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com.

December 6, 2017
Emiko Edwards Plays Beethoven in Plainsboro NJ

Here’s a snapshot taken during the incredible Emiko/Amico segment of this past Thursday’s broadcast on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com.

Emiko Edwards, Juilliard-trained pianist (left), will join the Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra and its music director Chiu-Tze Lin (right) for Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto, this Sunday night at 7:00 at Princeton Alliance Church in Plainsboro, NJ.

Also on the festive program will be the “Polovtsian Dances” by Alexander Borodin, the “Toy Symphony” attributed to Franz Joseph Haydn, selections from Handel’s “Messiah,” and a holiday audience sing-along. More information is available at bravuraphil.org.

December 2, 2017

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