This Week at The Classical Station
by Chrissy Keuper
Thursday, 14 August 2025
It’s Friday Eve, All!
Let’s celebrate with Thursday Night Opera House and a 1994 recording of Marek Janowski conducting the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Rundfunkchor Berlin, and incredible soloists in the romantic Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber.
Join Dr. Jay Pierson for the opera at 7pm ET.
On this day in classical music history:
Georges Prêtre with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra at the Richard Strauss Festival, c. 1989. (Photo by Reinhold Möller – Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
It’s the birthdate of French conductor Georges Prêtre in 1924 in Waziers. Prêtre was a student in harmony and conducting under Maurice Duruflé and André Cluytens at the Conservatoire de Paris and he also enjoyed and studied jazz and trumpet. He began conducting under a pseudonym (Georges Dherain) in Paris opera houses before making his formal debut under his actual name at the Opéra de Marseille in 1946. Prêtre went on to conduct the world’s greatest opera companies and orchestras and was best known for his focus on the music of French composers, especially Debussy and Poulenc.
Wednesday, 13 August 2025
Is it a good week? We hope so.
Join us for great music to make it even better.
On this date in the history of classical music:
It’s the birthdate of English soprano Sheila Armstrong in Ashington, Northumberland in 1942. By her mid-20s, Armstrong was a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music; a winner of the Mozart Prize and the Kathleen Ferrier Award; and a known name in the world of opera and the oratorio. She went on to perform and make many recordings (especially of the works of Vaughan Williams and Britten) until her retirement in 1993.
Tuesday, 12 August 2025
We thank you from the bottom of our classical music-loving hearts for your support of great music on The Classical Station since 1978. Donate today, right here.
On this date in classical music history:
Manuel Blancafort, c. 1965. (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
It’s the birthdate of Spanish-Catalan pianist and composer Manuel Blancafort in 1897 in Barcelona. Blancafort did not have a formal education in the instrument, but his father owned the Victoria pianola roll factory, where he learned to read music and found keyboard techniques from paper rolls of works by Debussy, Ravel, and others. His friend Federico Mompou inspired Blancafort’s decision to become a composer, against the wishes of his father (at least until his first works were published, when Blancafort’s father decided to support his son’s efforts). Blancafort also helped form the Asociación de Compositores Independientes de Catalunya (CIC) with other composers, and his collection of compositions includes works for piano and for orchestra; songs and chorus works; and chamber music.
Monday, 11 August 2025
We hope you had a wonderful weekend, Listeners!
Let us accompany you into the new week.
This evening at 7pm ET, join Vince Tillona for Drop the Needle and the warmth of vinyl recordings. This week’s show highlights a single recording of Ludwig van Beethoven’s monumental Symphony No. 3.
Then at 8pm ET, Monday Night at the Symphony features the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and works by Antonin Dvorak, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Peter I. Tchaikovsky, conducted by Raymond Leppard (whose birthday is today).
And on Tuesday, tune in for Classical Café with George Leef for this week’s Legendary Performer:
Jean Martinon.
On this date in classical music history:
Catherine Collard.
(© Photo by Mali – Warner Classics & Erato)
It’s the birthdate of French pianist Catherine Collard, born in Paris in 1947. Collard was an early prodigy and entered studies at the Paris Conservatoire at age 14, winning first prize in piano in 1964 and the first prize in chamber music in 1966, in addition to a number of other competition prizes. She performed, recorded, and taught piano on the faculty of the Conservatoire de Saint-Maur-des-Fossés until her death in 1993.
Thursday, 14 August 2025
It’s Friday Eve, All!
Let’s celebrate with Thursday Night Opera House and a 1994 recording of Marek Janowski conducting the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Rundfunkchor Berlin, and incredible soloists in the romantic Der Freischütz by Carl Maria von Weber.
Join Dr. Jay Pierson for the opera at 7pm ET.
On this day in classical music history:
Georges Prêtre with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra at the Richard Strauss Festival, c. 1989. (Photo by Reinhold Möller – Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
It’s the birthdate of French conductor Georges Prêtre in 1924 in Waziers. Prêtre was a student in harmony and conducting under Maurice Duruflé and André Cluytens at the Conservatoire de Paris and he also enjoyed and studied jazz and trumpet. He began conducting under a pseudonym (Georges Dherain) in Paris opera houses before making his formal debut under his actual name at the Opéra de Marseille in 1946. Prêtre went on to conduct the world’s greatest opera companies and orchestras and was best known for his focus on the music of French composers, especially Debussy and Poulenc.
Friday, 15 August 2025
Happy Friday, All!
We’re playing your special requests and dedications on All-Request Friday (and again tomorrow evening on the Saturday Evening Request Program).
I’d like to see the playlists, please!
I’d like to make a request for next week’s shows, please!
On this date in the history of classical music:
It’s the birthdate of Italian-French pianist Aldo Ciccolini in Naples in 1925. Ciccolini entered Naples Conservatory as a music student at the age of nine, studying piano, harmony, and counterpoint. His early career as a teenager included performances at the Teatro San Carlo and gigging in bars for tips. He was a winner of the 1949 Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris and quickly became a much sought-after and renowned concert pianist and recording artist as a soloist and with orchestras all over the world. Ciccolini was later appointed to the faculty of the Conservatoire de Paris, where Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Nicholas Angelich were among his students, and he performed almost up to his death in 2015.