Classic Ross Amico

Tag: WPRB

Richard Einhorn Voices of Light on WPRB

Tomorrow morning on WPRB, I’ll have a very special guest in composer Richard Einhorn. Einhorn’s oratorio, “Voices of Light,” will be performed tomorrow night, to accompany a screening of the 1928 classic film, “The Passion of Joan of Arc,” that inspired it.

Performers will include soloists of Notre Dame Vocale, the Princeton Festival Chorus, and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. This extraordinary event, the result of a partnership between the Princeton Symphony, the Princeton Garden Theatre, and The Princeton Festival, will take place at Princeton University Chapel at 8:30 p.m. Einhorn will give a free pre-performance talk at the Garden Theatre at 5 p.m. For more information, visit princetonfestival.org.

We’ll do everything we can to set the mood for this special presentation of Carl Theodor Dreyer’s magnum opus – which sports a riveting performance by actress Renée Jeanne Falconetti – with a special on-air visit from the composer at 9 a.m. tomorrow. Einhorn will talk about his work on “Voices,” which has been performed over 100 times, recorded for the Sony Classical label by Anonymous 4, and issued as a bonus soundtrack on the Criterion Collection’s DVD release of the film. We’ll hear selections from the oratorio, as well as sample some of the composer’s other music.

For the remainder of the morning, we’ll honor Joan of Arc with music written to her memory, music inspired by the Hundred Years’ War, music evocative of the Middle Ages in general, and some authentic music of the period.

We get medieval, tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. The stake is always well done, on Classic Ross Amico.

PHOTOS: (clockwise from left): “Joan of Arc” by John Everett Millais; “Jeanne d’Arc,” gilded statue located in Philadelphia, by Emmanuel Frémiet; and Renée Jeanne Falconetti in “The Passion of Joan of Arc”

June 8, 2016
Summer Travel with Composers

With Memorial Day past, the season of summer travel has unofficially begun. This morning on WPRB, composers venture abroad, traveling for study, work and leisure.

Antonin Dvořák is lured to America with a job offer to head the National Conservatory of Music in New York. Julius Röntgen develops a friendship with Edvard Grieg that leads to spending summers with his wife in Norway. Darius Milhaud serves as secretary to the French ambassador to Brazil. Ignaz Moscheles anticipates a trip to Scotland. Derek Bermel studies Thracian folk music in Bulgaria. Benjamin Britten and Lennox Berkeley soak up Catalan folk music in Spain. Colin McPhee is captivated by gamelan music in Bali. And birthday boy Sir Edward Elgar vacations in Italy.

In addition, Reynaldo Hahn sends some musical postcards, Johann Strauss beckons us with the polka “On Vacation,” and Michael Torke gives us a portrait of “An American Abroad.”

At 9:00, we’ll pause to catch our breath with a visit from Thomas Lento of The Princeton Festival. He’ll drop by to let us know what’s on offer in terms of musical events for those of us who will remain home in the Princeton area for the month of June – including chamber and instrumental music, jazz and choral concerts, musical theater (“A Little Night Music”), dance, opera (“Peter Grimes”), and a screening of the classic Carl Theodor Dreyer film “The Passion of Joan of Arc” accompanied by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra.

I hope you’re up early and already packing. We follow the composers abroad this morning, from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. You’ll find us in rumpled linen and comfortable footwear, just in case, on Classic Ross Amico.

June 2, 2016
Musical Wanderlust Composers Abroad

It’s music by composers abroad this morning. Yet to come, Ignaz Moscheles anticipates a trip to Scotland. Derek Bermel studies Thracian folk music in Bulgaria. Benjamin Britten and Lennox Berkeley soak up Catalan folk music in Spain. Colin McPhee is captivated by gamelan music in Bali. Reynaldo Hahn writes us some musical postcards. Michael Torke gives us “An American Abroad.” And birthday boy Sir Edward Elgar vacations in Italy.

At 9:00, Thomas Lento of The Princeton Festival will stop by to let us know what’s on offer in terms of musical events for those of us who will remain in the Princeton area for the month of June – including chamber and instrumental music, jazz and choral concerts, musical theater (Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music”), dance, opera (Britten’s “Peter Grimes”), and a screening of the classic Carl Theodor Dreyer film “The Passion of Joan of Arc” accompanied by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra.

We’re seized by musical wanderlust this morning until 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com.

PHOTO: Antonin Dvořák’s passport

June 2, 2016
Korngold’s “Die Kathrin” on WPRB Sunday

I know it’s so early that even the roosters will be brewing their coffee, but if you want to get a taste of the melodic fecundity and lush orchestrations of Erich Wolfgang Korngold as opera composer, you’ll want to tune in to WPRB tomorrow for “Sunday Morning Opera” with Sandy Steiglitz.

Sandy will be celebrating Korngold’s birthday with a complete recording of the composer’s final opera “Die Kathrin.” The piece is gorgeous. It may not be his most profound work for the stage, but it contains one great melody after another. Also, it is the opera closest in style to his film scores. He completed it in 1937, the same year as his work on “The Prince and the Pauper.” By that time, he had already written his Academy Award winning music for “Anthony Adverse.” “Captain Blood” was two years in the past. The opening of the opera (set outside a cinema!) sounds like it could have been written for “The Adventures of Robin Hood.”

Technically the show runs from 6 to 10 a.m., with the opera beginning at 7; but because of the length, the main attraction this week will begin at 6:45 EDT. It makes no difference to Sandy; she’s there at 5:30 anyway, cleaning the studio and sharing the music she loves. So tune in early. I don’t know anyone who knows as much about opera, in terms of both repertoire and its recorded history, as Sandy does. It’s worth your while getting to know her show.

Hear “Sunday Morning Opera” tomorrow morning on WPRB 103.3 FM or at wprb.com. Korngold goes great with breakfast. Happy birthday, EWK!

Renée Fleming sings the Letter Song from “Die Kathrin”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcNJRo4K7fs

Korngold plays it (courtesy of Brendan Carroll):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgLXGInLMpc

In case you missed it, here’s an interview I did with Sandy in 2012 for the Trenton Times.

http://www.nj.com/times-entertainment/index.ssf/2012/08/sunday_morning_opera_host_sand.html

PHOTO: Erich Wolfgang Korngold in 1937

May 28, 2016
Princeton Reunions Weekend Music on WPRB

The first post-Prince Princeton Reunions Weekend will take place, starting today, at Princeton University. Whether you’re looking ahead to the P-rade, the concerts, or the fireworks, or you’re simply circling for a parking space, consider tuning in to WPRB to enjoy a full morning of music composed or performed by Princeton faculty and alumni.

Needless to say, Princeton University has had an exceptionally rich musical history, between the mid-century experimentalists, the visiting professors and talented students from around the world, and at least two Pulitzer Prize winners (three if you count Milton Babbitt’s lifetime achievement award). The scene remains vibrant, and we’ll hear works representative of Princeton’s current faculty composers and performers. Music by Milton Babbitt, Paul Lansky, Steven Mackey, and Roger Sessions will be presented cheek-by-jowl with that of Johann Sebastian Bach, Camille Saint-Saëns, Isaac Albéniz and Benjamin Britten.

Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, Litton-Lodal Artistic Director of The American Boychoir, will stop by at around 7:45 to tell us about the organization’s upcoming benefit concert, which will be held at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium on June 5 at 4 p.m.

We’ll have the eye of The Tiger, or at least his or her ear, as we present music composed and performed by Princeton University faculty and alumni, from 6 to 11 EDT on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. Orange is the color of our true love’s hair, on Classic Ross Amico.

#PrincetonReunions

May 26, 2016

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