Classic Ross Amico

Tag: WPRB

Ashkenazy at 80 A WPRB Birthday Salute

July 6 marks the 80th birthday of Vladimir Ashkenazy. Who hasn’t heard his Rachmaninoff, his Beethoven, his Chopin? It’s been done.

Then, the more I thought about it, I started to remember his cherishable recording, as conductor, of César Franck’s “Psyché.” And his disc of rarely-heard orchestral works by Boris Blacher. And his album of two-piano music by Igor Stravinsky, recorded with Andrei Gavrilov. And his Robert & Clara Schumann lieder recordings with Barbara Bonney. And his solo turns in André Previn’s Piano Concerto and Einojuhani Rautavaara’s “Gift of Dreams.” And I thought, okay, I guess I really do have the justification and the means to put together a truly compelling show.

I hope you’ll join tomorrow morning on WPRB as I salute Ashkenazy at 80.

We’ll also have a visit from accordionist Robert Young McMahan. McMahan, who is on the faculty of The College of New Jersey, is one of the foremost authorities on his instrument. He is on the governing board of the American Accordionists’ Association, which will hold its annual festival at the Westin Princeton at Forrestal Village, from July 12 to July 16. Tune in tomorrow to learn more, or look online at http://www.ameraccord.com. The AAA has commissioned prominent American composers to write for the accordion for over 65 years. McMahan will share some of his insights and recordings in the 9:00 hour.

It will be Ashkenazy in concord with the accordion, this Thursday morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. We’ll be tickling the keys, in whatever form, on Classic Ross Amico.

July 5, 2017
America Through Foreign Eyes on WPRB

Show me the money!

That’s what Richard Wagner said when he was approached to write something for the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. He responded with an execrable march, which he himself admitted he had only done for the $5000, a very great sum at the time. America was, after all, the Land of Opportunity.

But not everyone’s motives were so transparently mercenary. Ernest Bloch composed his epic rhapsody for orchestra, “America,” in sincere appreciation of his adopted homeland. Tune in to WPRB this morning to hear these works and others like them, as we celebrate America from foreign perspectives, in anticipation of Independence Day.

We view the promise of America from distant shores this morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. May the Fourth be with you, on Classic Ross Amico.

June 29, 2017
America Through a Foreign Lens on WPRB

On the suggestion of a loyal listener, who alerted me to the fact that Sir Arnold Bax’s Symphony No. 7 was dedicated to “The People of America,” I thought I would take a different tack this year when putting together my show in honor of Independence Day, which I will observe tomorrow morning on WPRB.

Instead of targeting the strike zone of American patriotism that encompasses composers who came of age during the Great Depression and World War II (much of whose music I admire and even love very much), we’ll view America and the American experience through a foreign sensibility. Some of the composers will be immigrants, excited and even grateful to have made the United States their home, and some will be visitors. Some, such as Richard Wagner, who wrote his dreadful “American Centennial March” for the 1876 celebrations in Philadelphia, will merely have been looking to cash a paycheck.

Not all of the music will sound American (eg. Bax’s Symphony No. 7, given its premiere in conjunction with the 1939 New York World’s Fair); some of it will be self-consciously so (Ernest Bloch’s “America”).

Join me tomorrow, as we welcome the tired, the poor, the huddled masses of the world’s composers, yearning to celebrate the United States, this Thursday morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. I’ll be stirring the musical melting pot, on Classic Ross Amico.

June 28, 2017
Midsummer Music Bonfires and Roman Roots

You can thank the Romans. They’re the ones who marked the summer solstice on June 24. Hence, the schism between the longest day (June 21) and Midsummer. But the Romans liked nothing if not a good party, so why not keep celebrating?

This morning on WPRB, on the second day of summer, we anticipate the Eve of St. John – Midsummer, tomorrow night – the night when the demon Chernobog emerges from the Bald Mountain, Puck pours love juice in everyone’s eyes, and inebriated folk leap naked over bonfires.

Join me for selections inspired by Swedish Midsummer revelry, Ukrainian folklore, and Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” We’ll also hear music from Igmar Bergman’s “Smiles of a Summer Night,” Alfred Schnittke’s “(K)ein Sommernachtstraum” – “(Not) a Summer Night’s Dream” – and Gunnar de Frumerie’s ballet “St. John’s Eve.”

We’ll squeeze the juice of love-in-idleness onto sleeping eyelids, this Thursday morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. Don’t get between me and my bonfires, on Classic Ross Amico.

June 22, 2017
Midsummer Traditions Worldwide Radio Show

Why let the calendar get in the way of a good pagan tradition? Join me tomorrow morning on WPRB as I stand like a colossus, with one foot on the summer solstice and the other on St. John.

June 21 may be the first day of summer, but the Swedes don’t celebrate Midsummer’s Eve until Friday, the eve of St. John the Baptist’s feast day. That’s the night the demon Chernobog emerges from the Bald Mountain, Puck pours love juice in everyone’s eyes, and inebriated folk leap naked over bonfires. The Swedes don’t really seem to care when it’s observed, as long as there’s plenty of drink, dancing, food, flowers and flame.

Midsummer’s Eve, of course, is tied to the summer solstice and marked by free-flowing vodka, prognostications of the identities future lovers, fertility rituals, and the wider celebration of nature. The Swedes observe Midsummer by wearing wreaths, carousing around the maypole, and eating strawberry cake. The day is a national holiday. Skål!

Sweden is not the only country to celebrate Midsummer, of course. There will be raucous celebrations in Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada (Quebec), Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Slovenia, Serbia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Half the world will be sleeping it off on Saturday.

Bottom joins his rude mechanicals in listening in with ass’s ears, this Thursday morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. We’ll all be dreaming of Midsummer, on Classic Ross Amico.

June 21, 2017

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