Classic Ross Amico

Tag: WWFM

Italian Escape on The Classical Network

With rain and snow and impending frigid temperatures in the forecast for this week for the immediate listening area, we find a welcome escape in today’s Noontime Concert on The Classical Network, as we’re off to sunny Italy with Tempesta di Mare – Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra.

Though no doubt aptly named (Tempesta di Mare = storm at sea), the group will present “A Tale of Two Italian Cities,” with musical selections from Venice (by Antonio Vivaldi, Giovanni Legrenzi, and Dario Castello) and Naples (by Alessandro Scarlatti, Andrea Falconieri, and Francesco Mancini).

Then, to take us up to 2:00 – how could I possibly resist? – we’ll hear Franz Liszt’s tale of two Italian cities, from the second volume of his “Years of Pilgrimage,” “Venezia e Napoli,” with the great pianist Lazar Berman.

The centerpiece of the afternoon will be Henri Sauguet’s Symphony No. 2, subtitled “Allégorique,” a winter-to-winter traversal of the four seasons that employs an atmospheric chorus and orchestra. The 90-minute work has been danced and presented as a straightforward oratorio. An early radio broadcast even incorporated the sounds of nature.

The forecast may be soggy, but the music will be Sauguet. We emerge from winter, if only fleeting, from 12 to 4 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

January 29, 2019
Westminster Choir Homecoming Concert Tonight

When you’ve got a nasty cold, all you want to do is come home. It’s rather fortunate for me, then, that tonight will be WWFM’s annual broadcast of Westminster Choir’s Homecoming Concert. The program will be heard live, coming your way from Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium, starting at 7:30 p.m.

Joe Miller will lead the world-renowned Westminster Choir of Westminster Choir College in works of Ēriks Ešenvalds, Ted Hearne, Dan Messé, and Claudio Monteverdi, as well as a selection of traditional American folk songs and spirituals. I’ll be sticking around a little later than usual to man the board and to provide the fill music, following the concert, up until 10 p.m.

You can listen to a preview of the program with Joe Miller and founding “Sounds Choral” host Marjorie Herman here:

https://www.rider.edu/events/westminster-choir-homecoming-concert-2019

Of course, I’ll be spinning the platters, as usual, beginning this afternoon at 4 p.m. I hope you’ll join me as I observe the birthday anniversaries of Johann Ernst Bach, Frederic Lamond, Vittorio Rieti, Arthur Rubinstein, Sir John Tavener, and Gregor Joseph Werner.

And I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if we also hear music by William Alwyn, Johann Sebastian Bach, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Franz Liszt, Ottorino Respighi, and Camille Saint-Saëns, with a couple of send-offs to organist Jean Guillou and composer Michel Legrand, both of whom died over the weekend.

I’ll be sure to have plenty of tissues and lozenges on hand. I invite you to come home to great music, from 4 to 10 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

January 28, 2019
Marcel Tyberg Holocaust Composer Rediscovered

Marcel Tyberg was a forgotten casualty of the Holocaust. Targeted because of his Jewish ancestry (a mere 1/16th of his make-up), Tyberg was deported to Auschwitz, where his death was recorded on New Year’s Eve, 1944.

His music alone should not have attracted unfavorable attention from the authorities. Quite apart from the modernism being explored by many of the composers interned in the “artists’ camp” of Terezin – a musical language the Nazis branded “degenerate” – Tyberg’s symphonies are very much in the Austro-German romantic tradition.

Nevertheless, his output was revived only in the last decade or so, thanks in large part to conductor JoAnn Falletta. This week on “The Lost Chord,” learn about the extraordinary journey of Tyberg’s scores from wartime Italy to 21st century Buffalo.

Tyberg lives again, through his Symphony No. 3, on “Resurrection Symphony,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

January 27, 2019
WWFM Mozart Campaign Thanks & Figaro Sunday!

Thank you to all of you who contributed to yesterday’s Mozart campaign. It’s because of listeners just like you that we at WWFM are privileged to be able to do what we love to do – share great music with the community. And that community is huge! Yesterday, someone called in all the way from Nikiski, Alaska.

Unfortunately, we still came up considerably short of our projected goal, which means that we’ll have to come back and do it again sooner than we had hoped. If you had been meaning to contribute and did not have an opportunity to do so, you may still donate online at wwfm.org.

Tomorrow (Mozart’s actual birthday), the “Sunday Opera” will be devoted to a special presentation of “The Marriage of Figaro,” hosted by Michael Kownacky and David Osenberg. The performance, captured at the 1962 Glyndebourne Festival, will feature Heinz Blackenburg as Figaro and Mirella Freni as Susanna. Silvio Varviso will conduct. If you find you like it, the recording is still available as one of our thank you gifts. Search for it under the thank you gift drop-down box, when you make your online contribution.

There are also options to obtain all of the offered Mozart recordings as a bundle, with or without the handsome and durable WWFM tote bag.

Again, thank you for all that you do to help keep great music on the air on WWFM – The Classical Network.

As a token of my gratitude, please enjoy this duet from “The Magic Flute” rendered by actual birds:

January 26, 2019
Celebrate Mozart’s Birthday with Classical Music

There’s no art quite like MozArt.

Reacquaint yourself with the astonishing facility and pervasive humanity of Mozart’s music, as we observe his birthday today (he was born on January 27, 1756) with a full playlist of his symphonies, concertos, chamber and choral works, and selections from his music for the stage.

Yes, Mozart is good for you. Whether or not exposure to his output improves the development of babies’ brains, it has undoubtedly contributed to the world’s sentimental education. Mozart’s music is just plain good for the soul. It reassures and it keeps us in touch with the larger truths of what it means to be human. Was Mozart’s life a bed of roses? No. But he knew where to find beauty, and he devoted a substantial portion of his brief existence to shepherding it into the world.

We at The Classical Network understand the significance of keeping great music in our lives and in our community. But we can only do it with your help and with the help of listeners just like you. If you haven’t contributed to The Classical Network, or if you haven’t contributed recently – or if you HAVE contributed, but now feel you are in a position to bestow an additional gift – please consider joining us in membership today. We have four brand new Mozart-oriented thank you gifts to hopefully entice you and certainly to demonstrate our gratitude to you for doing your part to keep classical music on the airwaves and in continued good health.

There’s more to life than acquiring things, struggling to survive, or shouting down those who happen to disagree with us. The greatest truths and consolations are to be found in the finest music. You don’t have to “know” anything about it. All you to do is open yourself up to it and support it.

Please call us today (between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. EST) at 1-888-232-1212, or donate online (anytime) at wwfm.org. Then enjoy the music of Mozart right along with us, your friends, at WWFM – The Classical Network. Thank you for ALL that you do.

January 25, 2019

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