Classic Ross Amico

Tag: WWFM

Respighi’s Queen of Sheba & More

It’s music that’s so over-the-top, Cecil B. DeMille would have blushed.

Join me this afternoon as we get all quasi-biblical, with a suite from Ottorino Respighi’s ballet “Belkis, Queen of Sheba.” The spectacle, set at the court of King Solomon, was given its first performance at La Scala in 1932. The finale featured over a thousand performers, which likely accounts for the work’s subsequent neglect. Grandiose even by Respighi’s standards, the concluding orgiastic dance whipped the opening night audience into a frenzy.

We’ll also hear a Concerto for Winds, Harp and Orchestra by Paul Hindemith, one of his more attractive inventions, which we’ll complement with music by his great Baroque counterpart Georg Philipp Telemann.

The last hour will likely feature at least some English music – because I’m just in that kind of mood.

Listen in, if you’re a little moody yourself, from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network or at wwfm.org.

September 12, 2016
Wagner’s Lost Symphonies Hear Early Works

If you’ve passed a good deal of your Sunday enjoying Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger” on WWFM, perhaps you would be interested to drop back before bedtime to hear one of his symphonies.

What? Wagner wrote symphonies? That’s right. He took a crack at writing two of them, in a Beethovenian style, before finding his niche as a revolutionary composer of opera.

Wagner’s Symphony in E will be featured tonight on “The Lost Chord,” alongside early attempts at symphonies by Gustav Holst and Claude Debussy – judging from their mature works, three figures perhaps least likely to attempt sonata form. Impetuous youth!

Tune in, if you’re still up for it, this Sunday night at 11:00 EDT – one hour later than usual, thanks to the outrageous length of the opera – for “Bold Heads on Young Shoulders,” on WWFM – The Classical Network and on wwfm.org.

IMAGES: Symphonies by the young (clockwise from left) Wagner, Holst and Debussy will be heard tonight on “The Lost Chord”

September 11, 2016
Teacher Movies and Classical Music WWFM

“Picture Perfect” gets pedantic. In just a few minutes, I’ll weigh in on the relative merits of four movies about teachers. Oh yeah, and we’ll hear some music, too, by Richard Addinsell, Maurice Jarre, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Michael Kamen. Class begins at 6:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org

September 9, 2016
Hungarian & Grieg Music Today on WWFM

Do you have a hunger for Hungarian music? Join me this afternoon at 4:00 EDT for music by Leo Weiner, László Lajtha, and Béla Bartók.

Nostalgic for Norway? No way! My featured work in the 6:00 hour will be Edvard Grieg’s “Symphonic Dances.”

As for the rest – your guess is as good as mine. I’ll be combing the stacks, from 4 to 7 p.m., on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

September 7, 2016
Spanish Guitar Noontime Concert WWFM

¡Buenos días, amigos!

I hope you’ll join me today, as WWFM begins its fall series of “Noontime Concerts.” I’ll host a broadcast of Spanish guitar works performed by The Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo.

The concert took place on May 28 at Bethlehem Presbyterian Church in Pittstown, NJ, located in rural Hunterdon County, as part of the Raritan River Music Festival. Soprano Rochelle Ellis will join the duo for “Aranjuez, ma pensée,” after the famous adagio from Joaquín Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez,” and the composer’s “Four Love Madrigals,” as well as Manuel de Falla’s “Seven Spanish Folksongs.” Also on the program will be music by Isaac Albéniz.

The concert will open with the world premiere performance of “Incendia” by Ryan Sandor, an 8th grade student at Alexandria Middle School and a winner of the Hunterdon County Young Composers Contest.

Michael Newman has been on the faculty of Mannes College of Music in New York City for 37 years. Recently, he joined the faculty of The College of New Jersey. Laura Oltman is on the faculty of Lafayette College in Easton, PA. For more than three decades, she has also taught at Princeton University. Rochelle Ellis teaches at both Princeton University and Westminster Choir College.

The next Raritan River Music concert will be a special fall event, to honor America’s veterans. Singer-songwriter-storytellers Sally Rogers and Claudia Schmidt will appear at Bethlehem Presbyterian Church on November 6 at 2 p.m. For more information, visit RaritanRiverMusic.org.

Following today’s “Noontime Concert,” I will salute conductor Evgeny Svetlanov on his birthday anniversary with one of his many recordings of the symphonies of Nikolai Myaskovsky. Enjoy this and more, between 12 and 4 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and at wwfm.org.

September 6, 2016

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