Classic Ross Amico

Tag: WWFM

Singularity Quartet Plays Memory on Classical Network

As I type here, with strings tied around every finger, I’m lucky if I can remember what day it is. But the Singularity Quartet, with youth on its side, has managed to put together an entire program constructed on the theme of memory. Join me for today’s Noontime Concert on The Classical Network for four pieces performed by this remarkable saxophone ensemble.

The program will open with a setting by the quartet’s Scotty Philips of Josquin de Pres’ 16th century chanson, “Mille Regretz.” Philadelphia composer David Ludwig’s “Josquin Microludes” weaves fragments of the material into his own original composition, which he likens to “channel surfing,” as recognizable snippets of Josquin emerge throughout the work’s five movements.

Pulitzer Prize winner David Lang’s “revolutionary etudes” references Frederic Chopin’s famous etude. The three-movement piece grew out of the composer’s fascination with Chopin’s ability to “make a ridiculously fast and vaguely minor scale last forever.” Lang is the current artist-in-residence at Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study.

Finally, Dutch composer Tristan Keuris’ “Music for Saxophones” conjures a memory of significance for Singularity Quartet alto saxophonist Cole Belt, since encountering this piece in his years as an undergraduate contributed significantly to his decision to take up the instrument.

The original concert took place on December 4 at the Institute for Advanced Study’s Wolfensohn Hall, as part of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s chamber music series.

Singularity Quartet will do the heavy lifting. All you need to remember is to tune in today at 12:00 EST, to WWFM – The Classical Network or wwfm.org.

PLEASE NOTE: The members of Singularity, Saxophone Quartet – (left to right) Thomas Giles, Bryan McNamara, Scotty Philips, and Cole Belt – will appear as guests of my colleague, David Osenberg, on this week’s “Cadenza,” which will be broadcast on Thursday at 10 p.m.

March 7, 2017
Handel’s Esther & Purim’s Story on WWFM

Following today’s Noontime Concert on WWFM, we look ahead to the Jewish festival of Purim, with a complete performance of George Frideric Handel’s “Esther.” Generally acknowledged to be Handel’s first English oratorio, “Esther” recounts the events of the Biblical book (by way of an Old Testament drama by Jean Racine), in which a Hebrew woman becomes Queen of Persia and thwarts the extermination of her people by Haman, the king’s jealous vizier.

We’ll also hear the symphony, “Midrash Esther,” by Jan Meyerowitz. Meyerowitz’s family experienced an analogous threat in Germany in the 1930s, but their solution was the opposite of Esther’s. Rather than reveal their Jewishness, they chose to conceal it, converting to Christianity shortly before Meyerowitz’s birth. So carefully kept was the secret that the composer himself didn’t learn of his true heritage until the age of 18.

Meyerowitz studied in Berlin, then in Rome with Ottorino Respighi and Alfredo Casella. He emigrated to the United States in 1946, where he found employment at Tanglewood, then Brooklyn College and the City College of New York. The symphony was first performed in 1957, by the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Dimitri Mitropoulos.

Purim begins on Saturday at sunset. Enjoy the music with a cup of coffee and some hamantaschen, this afternoon, beginning around 1:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

March 7, 2017
Kiri Te Kanawa Norman Treigle Birthday Broadcast

Two beloved singers were born on this date. Join me this afternoon, as we hear recordings by soprano Kiri Te Kanawa and bass-baritone Norman Treigle. We’ll also have music by a Strauss – and a Straus – unrelated to the famous waltz dynasty. There will be orchestral and instrumental settings of several Scottish ballads, and Kirill Kondrashin will conduct Shostakovich. You can expect all this between 4 and 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

PHOTOS: Birthday celebrants Kiri Te Kanawa (left) and Norman Treigle exchange hair tips

March 6, 2017
Chopin’s Birthday Mystery: February 22 or March 1?

People lie about their birthdays all the time, usually to make themselves appear younger. In the case of Frédéric Chopin, he may have bought himself a week.

It is widely believed – including by his mother and himself – that Chopin was born on March 1, 1810. However, his baptismal certificate, filled out on April 23, gives February 22 as the date. The Chopin Society UK, in defiance of the composer and his family, is inclined to go with the latter.

Was there a conspiracy at work? Do we have ourselves a 19th century precursor of the “birther movement?”

You can read more about the Chopin birthday controversy here:

http://jackgibbons.blogspot.com/2010/03/chopins-birthday.html

Or you can simply join me today to enjoy a sampling of his music, between 4 and 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

PHOTO: Chopin, not looking a day older than 207

March 1, 2017
Shrove Tuesday: Carnival Music & Doughnuts

It’s Shrove Tuesday. Mardi Gras. Fastnacht Day. The last day to stuff down as many doughnuts as you can before the start of Lent.

To mark the occasion, we’ll have music this afternoon about Carnival, with an emphasis, perhaps, on the Carnival of Venice, including musical depictions of stock characters of the commedia dell’arte, figures like Pulcinella, Scapino, Scaramouche, Columbina and Pierrot.

We’ll also touch on New Orleans with some pieces inspired by Mardi Gras, with perhaps a few works thrown into the mix by Creole composers.

All that will follow today’s “Noontime Concert.” I’ll mostly be pressing the buttons this afternoon and providing the connective material, as my colleague David Osenberg will be joined by composer Michael Ippolito, violist Nathan Schram of the Attacca Quartet, and composer and impresario Paola Prestini for another program which took place at National Sawdust in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

The concert will begin at 12:00 EST; the Carnival music will commence immediately following. I’ll be dunking the doughnuts until 4 p.m., on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

Pulcinella che mangia spaghetti

February 28, 2017

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