This Week At The Classical Station

Photo: Meneerke Bloem, Wikimedia Commons,CC-BY-SA 3.0

This Week At The Classical Station

by Rob Kennedy

Sunday, March 19, 2023

Acclaimed violinist Hilary Hahn opens Preview! this evening with a performance of the first movement of Antonín Dvořák’s Violin Concerto. Caleb Gardner speaks with Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon about her life and work as a composer.

Preview! brings you new releases and the latest local arts news at 6 p.m. Eastern every Sunday.

The March edition of Renaissance Fare features some of the best performers who specialize in these instruments, including Andres Segovia, Sharon Isbin, Julian Bream, Paul O’Dette, and more.

Get out your tabret and join George Douglas for Renaissance Fare at 5 p.m. Eastern.

This morning Great Sacred Music includes music sung by the Choir of All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Beverly Hills, California, Chanticleer, and Pomerium. Also on the playlist is music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Marcel Tyberg, and Gabriel Fauré.

Great Sacred Music. Beautiful choral and organ music. Every Sunday morning. Right after Sing for Joy. At  8 a.m. Eastern.

On March 19 we observe the birthdays of Korean cellist Myung-Wha Chung (1944-), King John IV of Portugal (1604-1656), and German composer Max Reger (1873-1916).

After studying with Leonard Rose at The Julliard School, Myung-Wha Chung has gone on to an active performing career. She is a professor of cello at The Mannes College of Music in New York. King John ruled the Portuguese empire at its zenith. He was also a patron of the arts and a gifted composer. A prolific composer, Herr Reger’s music is familiar, and indeed terrifying, to organists.

Photos: Portrait of King John IV of Portugal, Unknown Author, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons; Myung-Wha Chung, Unknown Author, Alchetron; Max Reger, Ernst Hoenisch, Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg, Wikipedia.org


Saturday, March 18, 2023

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2022-23 season of Saturday matinee broadcasts continues with Wagner’s sweeping legend Lohengrin. Tenor Piotr Beczala stars as the mysterious Knight of the Swan, who pledges to aid a falsely accused woman and heal her divided country. Soprano Tamara Wilson is his beloved Elsa. Soprano Christine Goerke is the evil sorceress Ortrud, with bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin as her ambitious husband Telramund, and bass Günther Groissböck as King Henry the Fowler. Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads the Met orchestra and chorus in this soaring masterpiece, performed in a new production by François Girard.

The curtain goes up at 12 noon. Eastern.

On March 18 we observe the birthdays of Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908), and Japanese violist Nobuko Imai (1943-), and American conductor James Conlon (1950-).

Rimsky-Korsakov was one of The Mighty Handful of Russian composers that included Mily Balakirev, César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, and Alexander Borodin. After studying at Julliard and Yale, Ms. Imai has gone on to have a distinguished career performing and teaching. A native of Douglaston, Queens, New York, Maestro Conlon is currently Music Director of Los Angeles Opera and Artistic Advisor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from September 2021.

Photos: Portrait of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov by Valentin Serow, Public Domain, WikiMedia Commons; Nobuko Imai by Marco Borggreve; James Conlon courtesy Cincinnati May Festival


Friday, March 17, 2023

The Metropolitan Opera presents
Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin, Saturday, March 18, 12 p.m. Eastern

On March 17 we observe the birthday of composer and organist Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901).

A native of Liechtenstein, Rheinberger spent most of his life in Germany. He taught several Americans including Horatio Parker and George Whitefield Chadwick. His European students included Englebert Humperdinck, Richard Strauss, and Wilhelm Furtwängler.

Photo: Joseph Rheinberger, Unknown Author, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons


Thursday, March 16, 2023

This evening the Thursday Night Opera House features Giuseppe Verdi’s grand opera Aida. Aida is a tragic romance set in Egypt, filled with thrilling choruses, amazingly difficult arias, and brilliant orchestration…all of which show Verdi at his finest. This is a broadcast from the archives of the late Al Ruocchio, longtime host of Opera House.

The curtain goes up at 7 p.m. Eastern.

On March 16 we observe the birthdays of English conductor Sir Roger Norrington (1934-), German mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig (1925-), Spanish mezzo-soprano Teresa Berganza (1935-), American composer David Del Tredici (1937-), and German conductor Claus Peter Flor (1953-).

Highly regarded for his performances and recordings of Beethoven, Schubert, Haydn, and more on period instruments, Sir Roger Norrington founded the London Classical Players in 1978. Active from the 40s through the 90s, Ms. Ludwig was one of the greatest singers of her generation. Besides appearing on opera house stages around the world, Senora Berganza has appeared in nine movies. A Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, David Del Tredici is renowned for his music written for a variety of genres. Maestro Flor has conducted many of the world’s great orchestras. He was the music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra from 1999-2008.

Photos: Sir Roger Norrington by Manfred Esser; Christa Ludwig, Unknown Author on Opera World; Teresa Berganza, Unknown Author, Public Domain, WikiMedia Commons; David Del Tredici, Unknown Author on Marin Music Chest; Claus Peter Flor, Shawn Northcutt


Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Photo: iStock Photos

Classical music lovers take many different paths to their passion for this music. It might have been your parents or a friend. It might have been Bach or Handel, Beethoven or Mozart, or Chopin.  The journey to classical music can begin just about anywhere, take any number of detours and diversions, and get thoroughly and delightfully lost.  Yet the heart of classical is always there, constantly drawing you in. For so many people The Classical Station has been a home for that passion. It’s been a further education in the musical tradition.

Please support the classical music you love by donating securely here on our website or on our app. If you prefer, call 800-556-5178 anytime and speak with a member of our staff who will be happy to take your gift. Thank you for your support.

On March 15 we observe the birthday of Austrian composer Eduard Strauss (1835-1916). Part of the Strauss dynasty, he and his brothers Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss composed much light music to entertain the good people of Vienna.

Photo: Eduard Strauss, Unknown Author, Public Domain, WikiMedia Commons


Tuesday, March 14, 2023

Our Spring 2023 Membership Drive begins next week. The point of our membership drives is to encourage listeners to become supporting members of The Classical Station. Did you know that Angels help us achieve that objective? Well, yes, they do and have done so for many years. Our Angels are very special listeners who will match your gift to encourage you to support this unique classical music radio station that you enjoy so much.

The way it works is very simple. For example, a listener in Virginia commits $600 to the membership drive. She tells us that she will match any contribution up to a total of $600. So, once her angel match is met, The Classical Station garners $600 from our Angel and another $600 from the listeners who have become Sustaining Members.

Can you be an Angel during our Spring 2023 Membership Drive? Here’s how to make that happen: call Tanja Greaves here at the station and let her know that you want to be an Angel with your gift of $300 or more. You can reach Tanja at 800-556-5178 or email her.

If you prefer, you can become an Angel by making your gift of $300 or more online via our secure server. Just be sure to mention that you want to be an Angel in the Comments box. Thank you for inspiring other listeners to support The Classical Station. Don’t hesitate to call if you have questions.

On March 14 we observe the birthdays of German composer Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), and Austrian composer Johann Strauss (1804-1849).

A prolific composer, Herr Telemann was a friend of Johann Sebastian Bach and godfather to his son Carl Philipp Emmanuel. Besides composing waltzes and popularizing that genre, Herr Strauss is well-known for another piece, namely, the Radetzky March.

Photos: Georg Philipp Telemann, after a lost painting by Ludwig Michael Schneider (1750), Public Domain, WikiMedia Commons; Lithograph of Johann Strauss, Public Domain, WikiMedia Commons. Both photographic reproductions are considered to be in the public domain in the United States.


Monday, March 13, 2023

This evening, Monday Night at the Symphony features the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, which has been active since 1900. The program includes music by Peter Tchaikovsky, Claude Debussy, George Gershwin, and more, conducted by Andrew Litton, Eduardo Mata, and Jaap van Zweden.

Tell your smart device to “Play The Classical Station” at 8 p.m. Eastern.

The March edition of Renaissance Fare features some of the best performers who specialize in these instruments, including Andres Segovia, Sharon Isbin, Julian Bream, Paul O’Dette, and more.

Get out your tabret and join George Douglas for Renaissance Fare at 7 p.m. Eastern.

Photo: Andreas Praefcke, Wikimedia Commons, CC by 3.0

On March 13 we observe the birthday of English composer Helen Glatz (1908-1996). Ms. Glatz was a student of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gordon Jacob at the Royal College of Music where her classmates were Benjamin Britten, Imogen Holst, and Elizabeth Lutyens, among others.

Photo: Unknown Author, on Dartington Trust.