There’s an autumnal radiance about Romeo Cascarino’s best music. His depiction of the treaty with the Lenape, which forms the climax of his magnum opus, “William Penn,” expertly captures the mood of Benjamin West’s famous painting. Enjoy the complete opera, with commentary by my special guest, Dolores Cascarino, the composer’s widow – who created the role of Gulielma, Penn’s wife, opposite Metropolitan Opera bass-baritone John Cheek – this morning, beginning at 7:00 EST, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com.
Tag: WPRB
-
William Penn Opera on WPRB Sunday
William Penn envisioned Philadelphia, the city he established in 1682, as a “greene Country Towne” along the Delaware River. Equally verdant was composer Romeo Cascarino’s vision of “William Penn,” the opera, which he crafted over a quarter century, from 1950 to 1975. The completed work was first heard at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music in 1982, to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the city’s founding.
I’ll be presenting Cascarino’s magnum opus tomorrow morning on WPRB, as I sit in for Sandy Steiglitz on “Sunday Morning Opera.” Metropolitan Opera singer bass-baritone John Cheek will sing the title role, and Christopher Macatsoris will conduct the Philadelphia Singers and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.
I will be joined in the studio by a very special guest: Dolores Cascarino, the composer’s widow, who created the role of Gulielma (as Dolores Ferraro), Penn’s first wife. She will offer insights into the opera and its creator, and share her memories of that premiere run of performances. The program will also include private recordings of some of the composer’s other works, with a special focus on his writing for voice.
I hope you’ll join me for this one-of-a-kind broadcast of a first-rate, virtually unknown American opera, in a recording which is not commercially available, with valuable insights from the composer’s closest confidante, who sang in the work’s first performance.
It all comes your way tomorrow, on “Sunday Morning Opera,” from 7 to 10 a.m. EST, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com.
Tune in early to enjoy a pre-show treat, the world premiere broadcast of collaborations with pianist Richard Rome, a producer in the field of commercial music, in arrangements made by Cascarino, who will conduct the orchestra in a program of works on celestial themes. The album, recorded at Cinecittà studios, outside Rome, was never released. Musicians for the sessions were assembled from performers who were heard on the soundtracks of Italian films of the era, who recorded for RCA Italia, and who played at La Scala Milan. The airing of this music, great background for your morning coffee, will begin around 6:30 a.m.
PHOTO: John Cheek as William Penn, with my guest, soprano Dolores Cascarino (née Ferraro), as Gulielma
-
Thanksgiving Radio WPRB Americana Music
It’s never too early to be thankful. Therefore, I hope you’ll join me early tomorrow morning on WPRB, as we look ahead to Thanksgiving.
We’ll enjoy Matthew Brown’s setting of “Table Grace” (on a text by Garrison Keillor) and Eric Whitacre’s “I thank you God for most this amazing day,” alongside Quincy Porter’s “New England Episodes” (evocative of the region’s Puritan past), John Adams’ “Shaker Loops,” and one of Alan Hovhaness’ most fascinating symphonies, the Symphony No. 60 “To the Appalachian Mountains,” informed by the composer’s study of shape notes, mountain music and folk poetry.
It’s a cornucopia of Americana for Thanksgiving, tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 EST, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. To the tables and stuff yourselves, on Classic Ross Amico.
PHOTO: Seldom has cheesecake sat so well atop turkey
-
Pilgrim’s Progress Thanksgiving on WPRB
In the words of the Duke, “Whoa, take ‘er easy there, Pilgrim.”
It’s understandable that the Pilgrims would have been agitated. By the time the Mayflower left England, they had already been living on board ship for a month and a half. Then 300 miles out to sea, the Mayflower’s sister ship, the ironically named Speedwell, began to leak and they had to return to port. The now extremely overcrowded Mayflower embarked once more. It took 66 days to cross the Atlantic. By the time they finally landed, well north of their projected target of Northern Virginia (the territory then encompassing the Hudson Valley), they had long exhausted their supply of sandwiches and their collective blood sugar level was plummeting. Fortunately, the locals were kind enough to help them out, and Puritanism took root in America. And we’ve been paying for it ever since.
Still, we, like the Pilgrims, have much to be thankful for, and this morning on WPRB we’ll celebrate our good fortune with music by American composers on the subjects of gratitude, flight from religious persecution, the torments of Puritanical repression, Native American themes, and New England, Southern and mountain folk music and hymn tunes.
So go ahead and help yourself to a second slice. It will be more powerful than a tryptophan coma, from 6 to 11 EST, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. We’ll be loosening our belts in front of the football game, on Classic Ross Amico.
-
William Penn Opera Rare Broadcast
Trust me. If you are interested in American opera or local history, you won’t want to miss this one.
Just in time for Thanksgiving, I’ll be sitting in for Sandy Steiglitz on WPRB’s Sunday Morning Opera with Sandy to host a rare broadcast of Romeo Cascarino’s “William Penn.”
Cascarino, born in South Philadelphia in 1922, labored at this, his magnum opus, for 25 years, from 1950 to 1975. It was given its premiere at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia in 1982, to mark the 300th anniversary of the founding of the city. Metropolitan Opera singer bass-baritone John Cheek assumed the title role, and Christopher Macatsoris conducted the Philadelphia Singers and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia.
I will be joined in the studio by a very special guest: Dolores Cascarino, the composer’s widow, who created the role of Gulielma (as Dolores Ferraro), Penn’s wife. She will offer anecdotes about – and insights into – this beautiful and haunting opera.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: if Cascarino had completed “William Penn” within a few years of starting it, in the 1950s, the opera would now be mentioned in the same breath as Carlisle Floyd’s “Susannah” and Robert Ward’s “The Crucible.” It’s that good.
Join me for this one-of-a-kind broadcast of a first-rate, virtually unknown American opera, in a recording which is not commercially available, with valuable insights from the composer’s closest confidante, who sang in the work’s first performance.
It all comes your way on this week’s “Sunday Morning Opera,” which will be heard from 7 to 10 a.m. EST, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com.
Tag Cloud
Aaron Copland (92) Beethoven (95) Composer (114) Film Music (124) Film Score (143) Film Scores (255) Halloween (94) John Williams (188) KWAX (229) Leonard Bernstein (101) Marlboro Music Festival (125) Movie Music (139) Opera (202) Philadelphia Orchestra (89) Picture Perfect (174) Princeton Symphony Orchestra (106) Radio (87) Ralph Vaughan Williams (85) Ross Amico (244) Roy's Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner (290) The Classical Network (101) The Lost Chord (268) Vaughan Williams (103) WPRB (396) WWFM (881)