Classic Ross Amico

Tag: WWFM

Sir Stephen Cleobury Remembrance

Sir Stephen Cleobury, former director of music at King’s College, Cambridge, died on Friday at the age of 70. Cleobury has been a familiar presence for all of us here on this side of the pond, through his live Christmas Eve broadcasts of “A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols,” for which he directed the Choir of King’s College for the past 37 years.

I hope you’ll join me this afternoon on The Classical Network for some musical remembrances of Cleobury, whose recordings, I imagine, we’ll enjoy with increased frequency, as we once again enter the Christmas season.

I’ll also celebrate pianist Wilhelm Kempff and composers Ilja Hurnik, Ethelbert Nevin, Tibor Serly, Sergei Taneyev, and Virgil Thomson, on this, the anniversary of their births.

Cleobury was interviewed several times over the years on WWFM, most recently on “A Tempo” last December, in advance of the 100th anniversary of the King’s College Christmas Eve service. Cleobury’s conversation with Rachel Katz has been archived at our website. You can hear it right now by following the link.

https://www.wwfm.org/post/tempo-festival-nine-lessons-and-carols-marks-100-years-seasonal-and-musical-inspiration?fbclid=IwAR1JSOZIIWzfrG0M2K0HGWEORRKetkuF3IbqgRXFgBjsf6PyKdXp9FUuEW4#stream/0

Then tune in for more Cleobury and company, from 4 to 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

November 25, 2019
WWFM Gratitude Gala: A Haunting & Future Support

For anyone who missed it, here I am, haunting the bar at last night’s WWFM Gratitude Gala – to my knowledge, the only documented proof of my attendance. (That’s coffee in the cup, by the way.)

If you are a supporter of the station, thank you. I met some very nice people and made a few contacts that may allow me to produce further installments of “Picture Perfect.”

If you think it’s not in your budget to contribute enough to make a difference as an underwriter, we are now offering the option of supporting our specialty shows as part of a consortium. That means the station will act as matchmaker, pooling donations from multiple sources in order to fund individual programs.

If that sounds like something you would like to do, to spruce up and ensure the future of your favorite shows, contact the station at 609-587-8989, during business hours – be sure to specify “Picture Perfect” or “The Lost Chord,” if that is your intention – or private message me here.

It was great fun to jawbone with George Marriner Maull, of the Discovery Orchestra and “Inside Music,” and Joseph Horowitz and Angel-Gil Ordóñez, of the PostClassical Ensemble. It was also good to reconnect with some of the other hosts I myself seldom see.

Of course, nothing eclipses a nice compliment, of which I gratefully received several. I am always deeply appreciative, humbled even, by sincere praise from obviously engaged listeners. Last night, one of them even sang the theme from John Williams’ “Dracula” for me. That’s NOT one of his better-known scores. Thanks to all those who attended.

PHOTO: Classic Ross Amico, all blurred-out like Sasquatch

November 23, 2019
Saint Cecilia Feast Day Music on WWFM

Hail! Bright Cecilia, hail!

November 22 is the feast day of Saint Cecilia – the patron saint of music.

Join me this afternoon at 4:00 on The Classical Network, as we celebrate with musical tributes by William Boyce, Benjamin Britten, Anthony Collins, Charles Gounod, George Frideric Handel, Henry Purcell, Joaquin Rodrigo, and Alessandro Scarlatti. We’ll also hear the “Serenade to Music” by Ralph Vaughan Williams and “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra,” narrated by Sean Connery.

At 6:00, look ahead to Thanksgiving on “Picture Perfect,” with selections from “Friendly Persuasion” (Dimitri Tiomkin), “Our Town” (Aaron Copland), “Plymouth Adventure” (Miklós Rózsa), and the building-the-barn sequence from “Witness” (Maurice Jarre).

There’s always plenty to be thankful for, musically speaking, from 4 to 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

November 22, 2019
Classical Music Today on The Classical Network

As the day wanes, I’ll do my best to keep your late afternoon and early evening bright, here on The Classical Network.

At 4:00, I’ll lead off with Arthur Foote’s “At Dusk.” This will commence an All-American hour, which will include a set of works by New England composers, all born in the 19th century. Then we’ll have a couple of pieces by Meredith Monk (on her birthday) and Robert Moran, respectively.

“Music from Marlboro” gets an early start, at 5:50 p.m., to accommodate a complete performance of Franz Schubert’s Octet in F major, D. 803.

What comes in between – in the gloaming, so to speak – is anyone’s guess.

For now, I can pretty much guarantee a quintet of Americans and an octet of Schubert, from 4 to 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

November 20, 2019
Schubert’s Octet Marlboro Music Festival

It’s foolish to attempt to play something like the Schubert Octet all by yourself. Many have tried – mad dreamers! – only to come up looking ridiculous. Not even the gloss of extraneous percussion instruments or transposition to the banjo can disguise the bald fact of the matter – that to really enjoy this work as Franz Schubert intended, you can’t do better than eight superb musicians from the Marlboro Music Festival.

On the next “Music from Marlboro,” we’ll hear Schubert’s Octet in F major, D. 803, performed in its entirety, by violinists Joseph Genualdi and Felix Galimir, violist Steven Tenenbom, cellist Peter Wiley, double-bassist Peter Lloyd, clarinetist Shannon Scott, bassoonist Alexander Heller, and hornist David Jolley. Marlboro musicians toured the piece, alongside Mozart’s “Eine kleine Nachtmusik,” in 1987.

Tune in for this expansive masterwork a little earlier than usual – there’s too much melody and charm to be confined within a single hour – this Wednesday evening at 5:50 EST. It pays to be a team player. One can’t outscore the Octet, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

Marlboro School of Music and Festival: Official Page

November 20, 2019

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