Classic Ross Amico

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WWFM Giving Tuesday Special Concerts & Interviews

For those of you who can’t get enough of my interviewing skills, today is your lucky day.

To mark Giving Tuesday, The Classical Network will salute a number of non-profit organizations that continue to make a difference in our community. WWFM hosts will conduct brief interviews at the top of most every hour, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with representatives of the following: HomeFront (9 a.m.), SAVE, A Friend to Homeless Animals (10 a.m.), Breast Cancer Resource Center (11 a.m.), Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (12 p.m.), D&R Greenway Land Trust (2 p.m.), Womanspace, Inc. (3 p.m.), Mercer Street Friends (4 p.m.), Trenton Community Music School (5 p.m.), and Centurion Ministries (6 p.m.). Tune in to learn more and see how you, too, can lend a hand.

I’ll also be joined in-studio by a special guest, flutist Mimi Stillman, as we present today’s noontime concert, “Dolce Suono Ensemble Goes to the Opera.” The program, which was performed live at Philadelphia’s Trinity Center for Urban Life this past September, will be made up of selections which, in one way or another, are connected to the opera, with works by Weber, Bellini, Meyerbeer by way of Frédéric Chopin and Auguste Franchomme, Carlisle Floyd, Donizetti, Bizet by way of François Borne, and Léo Delibes. There will even be an aria from Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion.” Featured performers will include, in addition to Stillman, soprano Sarah Shafer, cellist Nathan Vickery, and pianist Charles Abramovic.

After the concert, I’ll share Bruno Walter’s cherished, late-career recording of Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony, a personal favorite, which concludes, appropriately enough, with a song of thanksgiving.

Join us for Giving Tuesday, all day long. I’ll be with you from noon to 4 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

November 29, 2016
Beethoven’s Shadow: Ries Rubinstein & More

The shadow of Beethoven looms large over this afternoon’s programming, as we celebrate the birthday anniversaries of Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838) and Anton Rubinstein (1829-1894).

Ries, a composer of some 300 works, was Beethoven’s friend, secretary and pupil. His volcanic symphonies emulate those of his master. Rubinstein, founder of the St. Petersburg Conservatory and one of the great pianists, was long rumored to be Beethoven’s illegitimate son, so striking were the similarities of their features.

We’ll hear music by both men – a symphony by Ries and a concerto by Rubinstein – and a work by Beethoven himself, this afternoon between 4 and 7:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

IMAGES: Beethoven and son (?)

November 28, 2016
Riisager’s “Fool’s Paradise” on WWFM

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we wrap up the long, gluttonous holiday weekend with Knudage Riisager’s ballet “Slaraffenland” (usually translated as “Fool’s Paradise”).

Inspired by Bruegel’s painting “The Land of Cockaigne,” the scenario imagines a Promised Land “where roasted pigeons fly around in the air with knives and forks in their backs, and the streets are paved with marzipan and chocolate.” The plot concerns a silly boy who wanders into the country of King Sauce and becomes ill from overindulgence. Along the way, he encounters Robin Hood, the Three Musketeers, Captain Fear, Fountains of Liqueur, Cigarettes, and the Candy Princess.

Riisager was born in 1897 to Danish parents living in Estonia. He studied music at Copenhagen University and then in Paris with Albert Roussel. Though he was a prolific composer, with some 400 works to his name, including symphonies, concertos, chamber music and songs, he is probably best known, if at all, for his ballet works.

I hope you’ll join me, even as you’re zoning under the influence of tryptophan, for “Fool’s Paradise” – Knudage Riisager’s “Slaraffenland” – this Sunday night at 10 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

IMAGE: A very Bruegel Thanksgiving

November 27, 2016
Thanksgiving Travel With Philadelphia Music

Get ready to creep over the river and through the woods – with millions of other folks attempting to do exactly the same thing. I’ll be there to keep you company this afternoon, as you tap the breaks, with a basket full of Thanksgiving goodies.

We’ll anticipate the holiday with an abundance of American music, with the aim of keeping everyone in a positive frame of mind. Just keep repeating to yourself, what would William Penn do?

That must have been what Louis Gesensway did when he came to write “Four Squares of Philadelphia.”

Gesensway was born in Latvia in 1906. A violin prodigy, he was one of the founders of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He came to Philadelphia at the age of 19, where he played in the orchestra under Leopold Stokowski and Eugene Ormandy.

In his mid-20s, he took a leave of absence to study composition with Zoltán Kodály. “Four Squares of Philadelphia” was described by the composer as a “symphonic poem for large orchestra, narrator and street criers.”

The piece opens with a recitation of Penn’s prayer, then continues with musical evocations of Washington Square (captured in early morning, during Colonial times, with street criers hawking their wares), Rittenhouse Square (on a bright and cheerful afternoon), Logan Square (with its fountains at dusk), and Franklin Square (at night, reflective of noisy bridge traffic, with a side excursion into Chinatown, and interjections from the honky tonk joints that used to be located about the square in the 1950s).

No telling what Penn would have thought of the honky tonk joints, but all in all, he was a pretty fair-minded guy. Also, he knew to be thankful. It took him 60 days to reach his destination, traveling from a cell in London to his “greene country towne” in America. Think of that as you gaze through the windshield at countless taillights stretching to the horizon.

“Four Squares of Philadelphia” will be among our featured works this afternoon. We’ve much to be thankful for, from 4 to 7:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

PHOTO: Statue of Penn high atop the city he founded

November 23, 2016
St. Cecilia Music WWFM Celebrates Patron Saint

November 22 is St. Cecilia’s Day – St. Cecilia, the Patron Saint of Music.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. The IT people are going to be by today to upgrade the computers, so I am going to stack the afternoon will all the sizable St. Cecilia pieces I can get my hands on.

To this end, we will hear the world premiere recording of William Boyce’s “Ode for St. Cecilia,” Ernest Chausson’s rarely-played “The Legend of St. Cecilia,” and, if I can make it fit, Charles Gounod’s “Messe solonnelle de Sainte Cécile.” All have the added benefit of containing much worthwhile music.

But first, before we get to those, today’s Noontime Concert will inaugurate a partnership between The Classical Network and the Lake George Music Festival. The Lake George Music Festival is an arts festival and artist retreat for gifted young professionals and celebrated artists. Each August, over 80 musicians and composers present two weeks of orchestral and chamber music performances, open rehearsals, children’s concerts, workshops, lectures, and innovative outreach events. Events are presented in unconventional venues in and around Lake George, NY, including outdoor parks, art galleries, museums, schools, libraries, churches and hotels. To find out more, visit LakeGeorgeMusicFestival.com.

Today’s program will include music by Tchaikovsky, Rossini, Debussy (as arranged by Arnold Schoenberg), Michael Djupstrom, Andy Akiho, and Ervin Schulhoff. Among the performers will be flutist Mimi Stillman, the Donald Sinta Quartet, and the Lake George Festival Symphony Orchestra.

Every art can use a patron. Join me today for selections in celebration of music’s patron saint. It’s music for St. Cecilia, following the Noontime Concert, until 4:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

November 22, 2016

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