This Week at The Classical Station

This Week at The Classical Station

by Chrissy Keuper

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Saturday and Sunday, August 10-11, 2024

Welcome to the weekend!

Tune in at 6pm ET for the Saturday Evening Request Program to hear the favorite music of your fellow listeners, and don’t forget to put in your requests for next week!

Great Sacred Music includes performances by the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists; the St. Petersburg Chamber Choir; and organist John Scott, with the music by Tchaikovsky, Barber, Scarlatti, and more. Our featured work this week is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Davide Penitente. Join Mick Anderson every Sunday at 8am ET, following Sing for Joy.

And this week’s Preview! includes Rob Kennedy‘s interview with cellist Cameron Crozman about his new recording of Josef Haydn’s cello concertos, Hétu: Rondo. We’ll also hear more of the latest releases from the classical music world, including new recordings of music by Johann Schenck and Antonín Dvořák and a new arrangement of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sonata for Solo Violin No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003 by mandolinist Alon Sariel. Join us for Preview! on Sunday at 7pm ET. 

On these dates in classical music history:

Russian composer, conductor, and educator Aleksandr Glazunov was born August 10, 1965, in St. Petersburg. Glazunov began studying piano when he was nine and started composing a couple of years later. Mily Balakirev brought some of Glazunov’s work to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, who said Glazunov’s talent “was indubitably clear.” Rimsky-Korsakov premiered the early orchestral work in 1882, when Glazunov was 16 years old. Glazunov was a conductor as well as a composer for much of his career, but he never felt that he really excelled at it. He became a professor at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1899, then its director between 1905 and 1928 (over his tenure, the conservatory became the Petrograd Conservatory, then the Leningrad Conservatory). After leaving the USSR in 1928, Glazunov toured Europe and the U.S., finally settling in France in 1929, where he died in 1936. His collection of work includes ballets, concerti, symphonies and many other orchestral pieces, chamber music, and vocal/choral music.

And English conductor Raymond Leppard was born John Raymond Leppard on August 11, 1927, in London. Leppard studied harpsichord and viola at Trinity College, Cambridge; was a choral conductor and the music director of the Cambridge Philharmonic Society while he was a student; and later became a music lecturer at the college. In 1952, Leppard made his London debut, conducting his own Leppard Ensemble; then conducted the Goldsbrough Orchestra (which became the English Chamber Orchestra in 1960) and performed as a harpsichordist while guest conducting throughout Europe and the U.S.; and went on to become one of the most respected international conductors of the 20th century; he had more than 40 years on the podium appearing with most of the world’s leading orchestras, including eight years with the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra (1972-1980, now the BBC Philharmonic) and 14 years with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (1987-2001). Leppard also made more than 200 recordings, composed several film scores, and was instrumental in the revival of Baroque operas, especially those of Monteverdi and Cavalli. 

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Friday, August 9, 2024

Good Day, Good People!

It’s All-Request Friday, so we’re hearing your favorite works and dedications all day long. Tune in again tomorrow evening for the Saturday Evening Request Program, and make your requests here for next week!

On this date in the history of classical music:

It’s the birthdate of French violinist Zino Francescatti in Marseilles in 1902. Francescatti was exclusively taught by his parents who were both violinists (his father also played the cello). He made his Paris debut in 1925; in 1927 he joined the faculty of the École Normale de Musique and conducted the Concerts Poulets; and made his first world tour in 1931. From 1945, he toured internationally, living in both the U.S. and France, and edited classical repertoire for the International Music Company. He retired in 1976 and established the Zino Francescatti Foundation. 

And today is the anniversary of the 1919 death of Italian composer and librettist Ruggero Leoncavallo in Montecatini. Leoncavallo studied piano and poetry in childhood, and went on to write symphonic poems (like Le Nuit de mai), operettas, and ten operas, but he is most famous for his opera Pagliacci (1892). He was inspired by the 1890 opera Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni, which exemplified the verismo literary movement of less romanticized, more realistic stories. Pagliacci tells the story of a commedia dell’arte actor (Canio) who murders his wife (Nedda) and her lover (Sylvio) onstage during a performance. Leoncavallo based the story on the 1865 murder of a servant in his own household: Gaetano Scavello was killed by brothers Gaetano and Luigi D’Alessandro over romantic entanglements with a young lady (Leoncavallo’s father was a judge and presided as magistrate over the investigation into the incident). Pagliacci remains a standard in the opera repertoire and is regularly performed worldwide.

We appreciate your support of The Classical Station, home to the best music in the world!

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Thursday, August 8, 2024

Hello, Listeners! And Happy Friday Eve. Tomorrow is All-Request Friday, so we’ll be hearing your favorites. Thank you for making those requests and dedications! (Follow the link to make your requests for next Friday AND for the Saturday Evening Request Program.)

 

This week’s episode of Thursday Night Opera House features a 1984 recording of Sir Colin Davis conducting Staatskapelle Dresden in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute). The story involves a prince trying to save his true love; a birdcatcher trying to find his true love; and an angry queen, three spirits, and three ladies. Join Dr. Jay Pierson for this fun and classic opera at 7pm ET.

 

On today’s date in classical music history:

It’s the birthdate of French pianist and composer Cécile Chaminade in Paris in 1857. Chaminade took her first piano lessons with her mother and wrote many compositions as a child, then began receiving private lessons at age 10 from Félix Le Couppey and other teachers at the Conservatoire de Paris (her father forbade her studying at the Conservatoire). She performed for Georges Bizet in 1869, and then gave her first public concert in 1878, performing only her own compositions. She went on to give recitals throughout Europe, England, and the U.S. Chaminade was the first female composer to receive the Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur (1913), the highest French order of merit and only one of several national honors that she received, from various countries. She wrote orchestral and chamber works, songs, one opera, and many works for piano.  

And today is the anniversary of the death of English pianist and composer John Ogdon in London in 1989. Ogdon studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with fellow students Elgar Howarth and Peter Maxwell Davies and was one of the founders of New Music Manchester. He won first prize at the London Liszt Competition in 1961 and shared the 1962 first prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition with Vladimir Ashkenazy. Ogdon wrote more than 200 compositions, including four operas, two orchestral works, chamber music, cantatas, songs, sonatas for violin, flute and cello, and a lot of music for piano, including two piano concerti. He was diagnosed with manic depression (now called bipolar disorder) in the 1970s and his health never really recovered from a breakdown in 1973. 

Loving what you hear on The Classical Station? Consider becoming a member if you’ve never donated before. Your support is the essence of public radio, and we thank you for helping keep us on the air for more than 46 years!

 

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Wednesday, August 7, 2024

A very good day to you, Listeners!

On today’s date in the history of classical music:

On August 7, 1829, Felix Mendelssohn visited Fingal’s Cave on the island of Staffa in the Hebrides Islands west of Scotland and began composing Die Hebriden (The Hebrides), originally entitled Die einsame Insel (The Lonely Island). The excursion was part of a painting and sketching journey for Mendelssohn and his friend Karl Klingemann around England and Scotland. Mendelssohn was deeply influenced by the acoustics of the cave, which amplified the sound of the waves hitting the rocks of the island. He dedicated the work to the Crown Prince of Prussia, Frederick William IV.

And today is the birthdate of Romanian composer George Enescu in 1881 in Liveni, a village now named ‘George Enescu’ in his honor. Enescu (‘Enesco’ in France) entered the Vienna Conservatory as a violin student at the age of seven and the youngest student to ever be admitted (Fritz Kreisler was only slightly older when he was admitted to the school in 1882). He graduated at age 12, not long after meeting his idol, Johannes Brahms, at the home of Conservatory director Joseph Hellmesberger, Sr., and went on to study at the Conservatoire de Paris until 1889. Enescu wrote symphonies, other chamber and orchestral works, music for piano, and one opera, and made his first recordings as a violinist in the U.S. in the 1920s. He spent much of his life as a teacher and his students included Yehudi Menuhin, Arthur Grumiaux, Uto Ughi, and Joan Field.    

Thank you so much for your support of The Classical Station. Enjoy the day!

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Tuesday, August 6, 2024

Hello, Listeners!

Looking for ways to support The Classical Station? There are so many.

You can make a simple, one-time donation. You can become a Sustaining Member. You could purchase a Day Dedication, an on-air announcement celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, memorials, or just because.

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Above all, we make it easy for you to support WCPE and to contact us if you have questions. Your membership and support are what keep us on the air, playing the music you (and we) love and sounding great. Thank you!

 

Today in classical music history:

We celebrate two 17th-century composers who were instrumental (no pun intended) to the development of a number of classical music genres.

Today is the birthdate of Italian singer and composer Barbara Strozzi in 1619 in Venice. Strozzi was renowned as a wonderful singer and one of the most prolific composers of her time. She is often credited with the invention of the cantata genre, publishing eight collections of songs during her lifetime (meaning she had more music in print at that time than most of her more famous contemporaries). She achieved this feat without a wealthy patron or the support of the church, though she grew up during the cultural, academic, and musical peak in Venice and was a family- and household-member of poet Giulio Strozzi, whose home was frequented by many of the greatest literary and musical minds of the period.

And today is the birthdate of Italian-born French court and operatic composer Jean-Baptiste Lully (born Lulli) in Florence in 1632. From 1662, Lully completely controlled French court music and his compositions influenced composers and musicians throughout Europe. He joined Louis XIV’s court violin ensemble (“Petit-Violons du Roi”) in the early 1650s and soon began composing dance music for the king and for the court ballets. He collaborated with Molière (born Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) in the 1690s, then with librettist Philippe Quinault on operas and ballets. Lully is credited with introducing new dances (including the minuet) in his ballets and with introducing female dancers to the genre. He also wrote many songs, sacred compositions, and motets; dances for various instruments; and orchestral suites.

 

Want to know what’s ahead on The Classical Station? Quarter Notes is our quarterly preview of musical highlights and upcoming programming that includes profiles of our announcers; articles about composers and performers; and reviews of books and musical releases. It’s one of the many benefits of your membership and support of The Classical Station.

Check out the links or get in touch with us to learn more!

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Monday, August 5, 2024

Hello, Classical Music Lovers!

Heads-Up: TICKET GIVEAWAY THIS WEEK

Join George Leef during Classical Café between 11am and 12pm ET on Wednesday August 7 for your chance to win a pair of tickets courtesy of the Vivace Music Foundation and the Vivace International Music Festival! The Festival finale is a Piano Extravaganza on August 10 at 7:30pm ET at the Wilson Center, featuring pianists Marina Lomazov and Joseph Rackers and Camille Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals arranged for two pianos and chamber orchestra. Tune in to win!

 

The August edition of My Life in Music features pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, regarded as one of the most important pianists to emerge in several decades. Join Rob Kennedy at 7pm ET for a look at this stunning performer.

 

And this week’s Monday Night at the Symphony features the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1945.* We’ll hear Moshe Atzmon, Sir Neville Marriner, and Sir Roger Norrington conducting Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Davide Penitente, K. 469, plus other works by Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schuman. Tune in every Monday at 8pm ET for the symphony!

*(In 2016, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (SWR) and the SWR Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden and Freiburg merged to become the SWR Symphonieorchester Stuttgart.)

 

On this date in the history of classical music:

Today is the birthdate of Franco-Flemish composer Guillaume DuFay in Berseel, near Brussels, in 1397. DuFay was a chorister at the Cambrai cathedral at the age of 12 and began studies in composition and voice before going to Rome and joining the papal singers (1428). In 1436, he returned and became a canon of Cambrai, supervising the music of the cathedral; a decade later, he was a canon of Sainte-Waudru, Mons. Of Dufay’s surviving works are 87 motets, 59 French chansons, 7 Italian chansons, 7 complete masses, and 35 mass sections, and his masses are considered the foundation for the popularity and the boom in the composition of masses in the late 15th century. He was considered one of the most famous European composers of his time.

And today marks the death of English composer George Butterworth in 1916 during WWI. Butterworth’s first music lessons were with his mother, a singer, and he was an organist in his preparatory school’s chapel before attending Eton College. He turned his focus solely to music at Trinity College, Oxford, and was President of the University Music Club. His good friends included folk song collector Cecil Sharp; composer Ralph Vaughan Williams; future Director of the Royal College of Music Hugh Allen; and baritone and conductor Adrian Boult. Butterworth and Vaughan Williams traveled and collected English folk songs together, the tunes of which were often reflected in the works of both composers. After graduation, Butterworth worked as a music critic for The Times; composed and taught at Radley College, Oxfordshire; and studied piano and organ at the Royal College of Music. He joined the British Army at the outbreak of WWI and was serving with the 23rd Division when he was shot and killed by a sniper in the Battle of the Somme in Pozières, France.

We at The Classical Station hope you had a very nice weekend and have a wonderful week ahead of you. A background soundtrack of classical music should help, so we’re here for you! You can listen here. Thank you for supporting classical music and public radio!