This Week At The Classical Station
by Rob Kennedy
Sunday, August 28, 2022
Yolanda Kondonassis
Photo © Laura Watilo Blake
Yolanda Kondonassis performs Máximo Diego Pujol’s Milonga para mi Tierra to open Preview! this evening. Naomi Lambert speaks with conductor Alvana Eisenberg about her recording of music by William Grant Still.
Tell your smart speaker to “Play The Classical Station” at 6 p.m. Eastern for Preview!, bringing you the latest classical releases and local arts news.
This morning Great Sacred Music includes music sung by the St. Tikhon Choir, the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, and the Bach Collegium Japan. Also on the playlist is music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, and Simon McEnery.
Great Sacred Music. Beautiful choral and organ music. Every Sunday morning. 8 a.m. Eastern. Right after Sing For Joy. With Rob Kennedy.
On August 28 we observe the birthdays of two conductors who were active in the latter part of the 20th century: Austrian Karl Böhm (1894-1981) and Hungarian István Kertész (1929-1973).
Maestro Böhm conducted some 262 performances at the Metropolitan Opera over the course of his twenty-year tenure during the Bing era. By all accounts, Maestro Kertész was on track to be one of the great conductors of his generation. Unfortunately, his life was snuffed out when he was only 43 years old.
Photo: István Kertész, Roberto Mastrosimone, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
Saturday, August 27, 2022
On August 27 we observe the birthdays of German composer Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612), Russian inventor Leon Theremin (1896-1993), English composers Eric Coates (1886-1957), and Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979).
Herr Hassler studied with Andrea Gabrieli in Venice. He brought the music of the Venetian school to Germany when he returned home. Leon Theremin invented the theremin which was one of the first electronic instruments. Eric Coates was well-known for his light music and film scores. More than half of Rebecca Clarke’s music remains unpublished. She was also a fine viola player.
Photo: Eric Coates, Fair Use, Faber Music, Wikimedia Commons
Friday, August 26, 2022
The beauty and inspiration that classical music offers are the reasons so many people hold it so close to their hearts. Classical music is an experience without boundaries. It’s an experience that exists to bring forth the passion and wonder around us, the emotions we have, the challenges and struggles we face, and also the moments of pure joy that grace our lives every once in a while. This is music worth standing behind with your donation of support now. Keep it real for The Classical Station with your gift.
You can give securely online or call us anytime at 800-556-5178 to have a member of staff take down the details of your gift. Don’t forget to choose a Thank You Gift. Thank you for your support of The Classical Station.
Photo: “The last rose of summer” by Alice Brown May. From our Virtual Art Gallery
On August 26 we observe the birthdays of German conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch (1913-2013), American saxophonist and composer Branford Marsalis (1960-), and our very own Richard “Dick” Storck.
Maestro Sawallisch was Music Director for several important orchestras including the Vienna Symphony, l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Branford Marsalis is a saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. Dick Storck has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in radio including over 24 years here at The Classical Station. Dick hosts our afternoon drive program, Allegro, and is the voice you often hear at the top of every hour when he identifies the station.
Photo: Dick Storck by WCPE Photo Services
Thursday, August 25, 2022
This evening the Thursday Night Opera House presents Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg. Walther and Hans Sachs battle it out, each of them wanting to win the heart of Eva. This is Wagner’s only comic opera and his only opera that is based on an original story.
Tell your smart speaker to “Play The Classical Station” at 7 p.m. Eastern. Jay Pierson hosts.
On August 25 we observe the birthday of American composer, conductor and pianist Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990).
A graduate of Harvard University, Maestro Bernstein then attended the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia where he studied with Fritz Reiner and Randall Thompson. He conducted most of the world’s orchestras at one point or another. Remarkably facile as a composer, Bernstein composed several very successful Broadway musicals as well as a variety of works in many genres. He was also a brilliant teacher and lecturer.
Photo: Jack Mitchell
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
What can we play for you on Friday? If you’re reading this and have never asked us to play something for you, it’s really easy to do. Click on the Request Music link at the top of our web page. That will pull up a short form where you can tell us what to play, who composed it, your name and where you live. That’s all there is to it. We play listener requests between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern every Friday.
The Saturday Evening Request Program is another opportunity for you to hear a piece you have requested. Again, if you have never asked us to play anything, why not fill out the Request Music form now? We’d love to hear from you.
Photo: iStock Photos
On August 24 we observe the birthday of American composer Stephen Paulus (1949-2014). A GRAMMY Award-winning composer principally of operas and choral music, he was the co-founder of the American Composers Forum.
Photo: Sharolyn Hagen
Tuesday, August 23, 2022
London, England, Toronto, Canada, Seoul, South Korea. Did you know The Classical Station has Sustaining Members all over the world? You can help us grow our global community by becoming a sustaining member today. Sustaining members support us with a monthly gift of $10, $20, $30 or more. This financial support helps us promote great classical music all over the world. Become a sustainer online or call us anytime at 800-556-5178. Thank you for your support.
On August 23 we observe the birthdays of English composer and conductor Constant Lambert (1905-1951) and American conductor Karina Canellakis (1981-).
Lambert was a student of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Sir Malcolm Sargent at the Royal College of Music. In 1931 Lambert was appointed Conductor and Music Director of the Vic Wells Ballet which later became the Royal Ballet. Born and raised in New York City, Maestra Canellakis attended The Curtis Institute and The Juilliard School. She is the chief conductor of the Radio Filharmonisch Orkes in the Netherlands. Karina was our guest on My Life In Music in October 2019. You can listen to our interview with her on our Conversations With Conductors page.
Photo: Karina Canellakis by Mathias Bothor
Monday, August 22, 2022
This evening Monday Night at the Symphony features the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, which was founded in 1935. On the program is music by Ottorino Respighi, Béla Bartók, and Marcel Tyberg, in performances conducted by Maestra JoAnn Falletta who has been the orchestra’s Music Director since 1990.
Tell your smart speaker to “Play The Classical Station” Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern.
Photo: JoAnn Falletta by Heather Bellini
On August 22 we observe the birthdays of English composers Christopher Gibbons (1615-1676) and Sir Edward Bairstow (1874-1946), and French composer Claude Debussy (1862-1918).
Gibbons was the second son of Orlando Gibbons who was one of England’s prominent composers of the late Tudor period. Sir Edward Bairstow was Organist of York Minster from 1913 to 1946. It was Claude Debussy who stated that “Works of art make rules; rules do not make works of art.” The two leading impressionistic composers, Debussy and Ravel, delighted in breaking musical rules. The result was a whole fresh approach to musical composition.
Photo: Claude Debussy, Félix Nadar, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
