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Program Guide
March/April 2014
In This Issue
WWUH Archive Now Online
Hartford Hawks
Celtic Airs Concert News
The Year in Jazz: 2013
Classical Music on WWUH
Sunday Afternoon at the Opera
Upcoming Local Concerts
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We'll kick off our 2014 fund raising Marathon at 6pm on March 16 on the Rock and Roll Memory Machine with Wayne Jones.  Our goal this year is $65,000, same as the last couple of years, with the money going to keep the station on the air for another year.  We're proud of the fact that we have managed to control expenses so that we only have to interrupt programming to fund raise twice each year.  We'll have a variety of interesting thank-you premiums available during the week including a brand new T-shirt for 2014.  
You'll be able to call in a pledge or pledge online at http://www.anchoronline.org/wwuhstore.
 
John Ramsey   
General Manager
 

What do you think of when you think of college radio?  

 

Do you think of diversity of programming?  Exposure to new, emerging and local artists that you would rarely hear on other stations?  Public affairs programs that present alternative viewpoints on current issues?  Exclusive interviews and live on-air music performances?  Relevant and timely information about upcoming events in the community?  Dedicated and knowledgeable volunteer hosts who include 

university faculty, alumni, and members of the wider community?  

 

WWUH is all of the above and more.  

 

Thanks to your continued support, we are proud to bring you a 

diverse spectrum of listening experiences like none other.

 

Kari Mackey

Program Guide Editor

Never Miss Your Favorite WWUH Programs Again!
WWUH Round Logo Introducing... the WWUH Archive!

We are very excited to announce that all WWUH programs are now available on demand 
using the "Program Archive" link 
on our home page,  
 
  This means that if you missed one of your favorite shows, or if you want to listen to parts of it again, you can do so easily using the Archive link.  Programs are available for listening for two weeks after their air date.
 
Hartford Hawks on WWUH Radio

 

WWUH's live coverage of the Hartford Hawks basketball games continues with the Hawks' March 1st home game against Vermont 
 at 2pm, followed by 
the America East Championship 
at Albany  March 7th.
 
For the full broadcast schedule
of upcoming games,
Celtic Airs Concert News

Masters of Tradition
The Teetotaller
The Teetotalers

 

     Over the next two months, the Celtic Airs / WWUH concert series will offer two amazing concerts for your enjoyment, each featuring exceptional Irish traditional musicians. On March 22nd, in the Lincoln Theater, we will present The Masters of Tradition, a program that celebrates Irish music in it's purest form. Then on April 12th, we welcome back The Teetotalers who performed here 6/1/12 to an enthusiastic, enthralled, sell out crowd in the intimate setting of the Wilde Auditorium. 

Martin Hayes launched the Masters of Tradition Festival in 2002 in Bantry, Co. Cork. The original intention was to present traditional Irish music in small configurations (solos, duets, trios) in intimate performance spaces. Word of the success of the festival reached, of all places, Sydney, Australia! Organizers for the huge Sydney Festival asked Martin Hayes if his production could be moved to the iconic, 3000 seat Sydney Opera House. Once the deal was made, it became an overnight sensation with two advanced sale sell out performances on consecutive nights. Rave reviews from the Sydney press were duly noted in America and led to the Masters of Tradition's debut US tour in 2012, followed by an equally successful tour in 2013.

     The ensemble has performed in sold out venues in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Chicago, Denver, Austin, San Francisco and Seattle. I'd say we are VERY FORTUNATE to have the opportunity to see them here in Hartford in the relatively intimate (compared to their usual venues) Lincoln Theater!

Renowned fiddler Martin Hayes is the artistic director o the ensemble. He is joined on stage by six of the most compelling artists in Irish music today: vocalist Iarla O'Lionaird, fiddler Cathal Hayden, guitarists Dennis Cahill and Seamie O'Dowd, Mairtin O'Connor on button accordion and uillean piper David Power. This "magnificent seven" bears out the underlying treatise that Martin operates under: "That traditional Irish music is the equal of any other form and can strike and capture the hearts of music fans anywhere and at any time."

     The performers are all masters of their instruments. They appear in solo, duet and trio settings over the course of the show before all seven join together on stage for the final portion of the program. These are all artists who have found their own voice in the music, dynamic, powerful musicians, full of energy and life. Let's meet each of them. 

     Martin Hayes, Artistic Director (fiddle). Born and raised in East Co. Clare, considered one of it's most distinguished native sons. While remaining true to the East Clare style, he has shaped and advanced it as well.

Dennis Cahill (guitar). Born in Chicago to parents from Co. Kerry. His innovative accompaniment style is acknowledged as a major breakthrough for the guitar in traditional Irish music. He is also a talented record producer and photographer.

     Mairtin O'Connor (button accordion). His accordion style demonstrates astounding skill, dexterity and versatility. He has played with De Dannan, The Chieftains and the Dubliners and now leads his own talented trio.

Seamie O'Dowd (guitar) Steeped in traditional music growing up in Co. Sligo. As a child, he played fiddle then learned guitar, banjo, mandolin, bouzouki and bodhran. For six years he toured and recorded with Dervish, Sligo's legendary traditional band.

     Iarla O'Lionaird (vocals) Born and raised in the small Irish speaking enclave in West Cork, singing was the dominant form of artistic expression during Iarla's childhood. As vocalist for the Afro-Celt Sound System he garnered international acclaim before embarking on a very successful solo career.

     Cathal Hayden (fiddle) is from Co. Tyrone. He has a distinctive relaxed style that is original and inventive. First came to national attention as a founding member of Four Men and A Dog, one of Ireland's foremost traditional bands.

     David Power (uillean pipes). Was born into a very musical family in Co. Waterford. He was a whistle player from a very young age and by age ten had taken up the very challenging uillean pipes. Progressing rapidly in this pursuit, he captured the Senior All Ireland Piping Championship ion 1992. He was a member of the late Liam Clancy's Fairweather Band, and more recently has played with Liam's son Donal Clancy and Ciaran Somers in a trio called The Pipers Union.

     "The Masters of Tradition lives up to it's name, a production not to be missed" enthused The New Yorker. Dan Neely, reviewer for The Irish Echo said "This is an absolutely outstanding group! Each musician is worth seeing individually, but having them together in one show is something very special indeed!!" Time Out New York stated "This star-studded performance brings together some of the brightest luminaries in Irish music." Finally, a reviewer for The Irish Voice described the performance as "Brilliant! The stellar cast put together a blistering finale that brought thunderous applause and a standing ovation from an ecstatic audience." 

     This show will be a memorable experience for all in attendance. Most assuredly, it will sell out well in advance. Don't miss your opportunity to see The Masters of Tradition Saturday March 22nd at 7:30PM in the University of Hartford's Lincoln Theater.

 

     To paraphrase a well known expression, "there's no rest for the extremely talented", and to prove the point, Martin Hayes will return to the University of Hartford just three weeks later on April 12th, this time with The Teetotalers, the amazing trio composed of Martin on fiddle, Lunasa's Kevin Crawford on flute and whistle and John Doyle, ex -member of Solas, on guitar and vocals. During their debut tour of America in 2012, they made a stop here at the University of Hartford for a June 12th performance in the Wilde Auditorium. Anyone in attendance that night will tell you it was a magical experience. Their incredible skill and relaxed camaraderie made it feel as if we had stumbled into an Irish pub in music lover's heaven.

     I've already told you a bit about Martin in my description of the Masters of Tradition personnel. Let me add just a few things here. By the age of 19 he'd already won six All Ireland fiddle championships including the coveted Senior All Ireland title. In 2008, he was Irish language television network TGH's "Musician of the Year." He's also won an Irish Entertainment Award, Ireland's Grammy equivalent. 

     Kevin Crawford has been a fixture in the Clare based Irish traditional music scene for decades. He was a founding member of the trio Raise the Rafters then moved on to join the critically acclaimed band Moving Cloud. More recently he's been a member of Lunasa. In addition to jaw dropping performances on flute and whistle, his sly, often hilarious commentary provides an added bonus and makes him a perfect MC for the band's concerts.

     John Doyle was born in Ireland and came to live in New York City in the early 1990's. While playing informal sessions in the Irish pubs of the city, he became acquainted with multi-instrumentalist Seamus Egan and fiddler Winifred Horan. In 1994, this trio joined John Williams and Karan Casey in the nascent Irish super group Solas. After a few years and three critically acclaimed albums, he and Casey departed the band to embark on solo careers. He has recorded two solo CD's, a duet album with fiddler Liz Carroll and another with former band mate Karan Casey. He has also become a much sought after accompanist and producer, working with Kate Rusby, Joan Baez, Eileen Ivers, Tim O'Brien, Linda Thompson and Alison Brown.

     The Teetotalers are returning to the Wilde Auditorium for a 7:30 pm show on Saturday April 12th. If you attended the first show two years ago, I know you'll be clamoring for tickets to this reprise. If you missed the first show, don't let that happen to you again!! There are only 190 seats in Wilde Auditorium so everyone should move quickly to secure tickets as the show will sell out well in advance of the performance date!!

 

     Tickets for the WWUH / Celtic Airs concert series are only available from the University of Hartford box office, now open Tuesday-Friday, 10:00 AM -5:00 PM. Call 1-800-274-8587 or 860-768-4228. On line purchases can be made at www.Hartford.edu/hartt. Better yet, use the direct links to purchase tickets for each show that you will find by clicking the benefit concert tab on the WWUH.org homepage, then scroll down until you see boxes labeled "Buy Tickets Now" next to the show of your choice. 

 

     Celtic Airs can be heard on WWUH 91.3 FM or streaming live at wwuh.org every Tuesday from 6:00-9:00 AM Eastern time. After 20 years and 1000+ shows, I continue to present you the best in Celtic music, new and old, as well as updates on our concert series and music from the featured artists. I look forward to talking to you on the radio and meeting you at the next concert!

 

Steve Dieterich, 

Producer/ Host of Celtic Airs

And promoter of the Celtic Airs Concert Series

The "Crimes" of Duke Ellington

DUKE: A LIFE OF DUKE ELLINGTON, 

by Terry Teachout, Gotham Books, 2013

 

                  ***reviewed by Jazz Officer Spaak***

  

The intent of this book is clear from the first page: to knock a revered jazz legend off his pedestal and drag him through as much 

mud as possible. Only the author can explain his motivation. Was it simply to 

generate controversy and publicity?

  

Here are Mr. Ellington's chief offenses, as laid out in the Prologue: 1.) he was a terrible procrastinator, always frantically working at the last minute to complete charts for new compositions--this has been well known for quite some time; 2.) he was a sex-crazed serial adulterer--he abandoned his wife, Edna, but refused to grant her a divorce while shacking up with numerous other women; 3.) he stole musical ideas from others and claimed them as his own creations; 4.) his whole life was a facade, with the real man always hidden from the public's view; 5.) he only produced a very few worthwhile, true extended works, many being "shapeless suites"; 6.) he was "a somewhat better than average stride pianist" [to be fair, the author credits him later in the book with some brilliant solo performances]; 7.) he employed a relentless public relations apparatus to hype his accomplishments and only present to the world the face he wanted perceived--so shouldn't he be credited with being a celebrity ahead of his time?

  

Chapter 1: The author attempts to put the black community of dawn-of-20th-Century Washington, DC on a psychoanalyst's couch. He appears obsessed with a battle for status within this community based on skin tone; this will be a recurring theme throughout the book. Teachout says Duke benefited from his relatively light coloration ("coffee with cream")--as if he had a choice of how much melanin his skin contained! Page 31: "Instead of worrying about getting lynched, Duke played with his friends, read Sherlock Holmes and Horatio Alger, sang hymns in church..." Light-skinned black folk (my terminology; the author declines to use "African-American" at all) didn't get lynched, Mr. Teachout? And I guess you've never seen the footage of mass KKK marches through the streets of the nation's capital in early 20th Century? Duke even gets slammed for saying only nice things about his parents, and admitting that they spoiled him.

  

Chapter 5: On page 101 Teachout says Ellington "emasculated" his own father by supplanting him as the family's chief breadwinner. He "...forced [son Mercer] to wear his hair in girlish braids for much of his childhood" to "keep [him] dependent." From the same page: "All he wanted, in other words, was to have everybody in the palm of his hand, and at the age of thirty-one, he got it." On page 112 we're told that Duke was severely challenged in writing memorable, tuneful melodies. At that point, a question sprang instantly into my head: so, I suppose "Sophisticated Lady" is lame? Right on cue, Teachout has a reply: that song was purloined from themes developed by Otto 'Toby' Hardwick and Lawrence Brown. This follows exposition on how tunes were frequently worked out collaboratively in rehearsals, at least in the early years. Hardwick and Brown were paid for their contributions and thereafter only Ellington got official credit for composition. But Teachout has earlier explained that this was Duke's system, so to accept the honor of being in the band was to accept this situation. Also acknowledged was the fact that Duke kept his musicians securely employed for years (some stayed for decades, of course), including through the Great Depression. And let the world note that in his own book, MUSIC IS MY MISTRESS (not a proper autobiography but more a collection of reminiscences about phases of his career and the people he knew and worked with), Ellington states clearly that from the day he started collaboration with Billy Strayhorn (1938) until the latter's death (1967), all works presented by the band were to be considered just as much Billy's as his own, regardless of whose name appeared as composer. Granted, these words were penned after Strayhorn's death, but I feel they demonstrate tremendous respect and affection for his collaborator. Oh, how foolish of me! Teachout says we basically shouldn't believe anything in that book. From page 116: "...those who have spent time around geniuses know that some of them cannot bear to be thought less than perfect." Later on he will attempt to say this piece is clearly the work of Ellington alone, that one of Strayhorn alone. This one is in Duke's handwriting alone, etc. He doesn't accept Duke's recounting of how, when the two composers were in different cities, they would discuss arrangements over the phone, even playing musical ideas back and forth to one another via piano over the phone line. (Again, to be very fair: Teachout says later that this actually happened some of the time.)

  

Chapter 7: On pages 159-160 Mr. Teachout takes music critic, later talent scout and record producer, John Hammond to task for writing in Down Beat "[H]e [Duke] has purposely kept himself from any contact with the troubles of his people...he shuts his eyes to the abuses being heaped upon his race and his original class..." (Quoting Teachout himself now:) "To criticize Ellington for remaining aloof from 'the troubles of his people' was, of course, ridiculous." It appears, at this point, that the author has forgotten that back in Chapter 1 he wrote that Duke took advantage of his relatively light skin tone to advance his own status in the white-dominated society. Oops. "In addition to being simple-minded, Hammond's review was an unforgivably personal assault..." Interesting, since up to this point, for every compliment given Ellington's accomplishments Teachout has given us three or four bits of "dirt" about how shabbily the book's subject treated other people.

  

Chapter 9: The following statement appears on page 192. "...Strayhorn, UNLIKE ELLINGTON, was blessed with the gift of tunefulness..." (reviewer's emphasis added). Again, on page 193, the accusation of theft: "By withholding credit for his work, Ellington struck at Strayhorn's as-yet-unformed sense of identity--and kept on doing so for years to come." Really? The chap who wrote "Lush Life" while a mere teenager? Who arrived on Duke's doorstep precocious and talented enough to be put right to work doing charts for the band? This is part of Mr. Teachout's argument that Ellington was a manipulator of people, and clearly implies a cruel streak (he "struck at"). On pages 193-194 the author dismisses Duke's claim that he and 'Swee' Pea' collaborated on everything as a "charade with which the younger man went along." Again, Duke the liar. He cites a scholar's finding that "only 52" manuscripts can be found that are in both men's handwriting. But this does not for a moment disprove that other compositions were, in fact, discussed between the two when they were geographically separated. A rather bizarre claim is made on page 195: Strayhorn quoted Ravel's "Valses nobles et sentimentales" in the opening bars of "Chelsea Bridge"...before he'd ever heard the work! I guess Mr. Teachout believes in "universal consciousness."

  

Chapter 11: The author relishes the failure of "Jump For Joy" to be financially sustainable and to make it to Broadway. (It ran for 101 performances in Los Angeles in 1941.) He complains that the show's anti-racist message is heavy-handed. Page 232: "It would not be the last time that Daisy Ellington's pampered son ran afoul of the gods of the copybook headings." Concerning a proposed collaboration with Orson Welles that never bore fruit, Teachout declares both men were "spoiled children."

  

Chapter 13: Teachout continues to relish failures of Duke's efforts in the realm of musical theater. On page 265 he quotes approvingly from a critical article in Saturday Review by composer Alec Wilder. But included is this Wilder observation: "...the man [Ellington] has the knack, as always, for creating lovely melodic lines..." I guess Teachout would claim that must be Strayhorn's work, stolen by Duke.

  

Chapter 14: More beating of the drum on theme of failures of the extended works Ellington moved more toward as the years went by, apparently quoting every negative contemporary review the author could dredge up. On page 298, on subject of "Such Sweet Thunder," he complains that previously composed works, e.g. "The Star-Crossed Lovers," were incorporated into this Shakespearean-themed suite. Elsewhere he has complained that thematic titles were appended to works previously composed in other contexts, or with no particular programmatic context, especially "In A Harlem Air-Shaft." Mr. Teachout, I believe this is known as artistic license and a composer's prerogative. Critics long complained that in "Ein Heldenleben," Richard Strauss recycled bits and pieces of his best-known earlier works. Be that as it may, this listener has always thrilled to the "hero's theme" in that opus. To be fair yet again, I note that after this griping the author deigns to allow that "For all its limitations, 'Such Sweet Thunder'...is a satisfying piece..." High praise indeed!

  

Chapter 16: On page 339 Mr. Teachout objects that a very enthusiastic review of Gunther Schuller's EARLY JAZZ: ITS ROOTS AND MUSICAL DEVELOPMENT, which featured a 40-page chapter on Duke full of high praise, "...was written not by a musicologist but by Frank Conroy, a novelist and part-time jazz pianist." Turning to the dust jacket blurbs of Teachout's own book, what do we learn of HIS credentials? "Terry Teachout is the drama critic for The Wall Street Journal. He blogs about the arts...He has also written two plays...[He] played jazz bass professionally before becoming a full-time writer." Interesting, yes? If we should discount Mr. Conroy's opinions based on his background, aren't we entitled to do the same in Mr. Teachout's case?

  

I will make two final points. Mr. Teachout offers the hypothesis that "Black, Brown and Beige" (the thematic, extended work debuted at Carnegie Hall in 1943) is mostly about internal strife within the black community--the "caste system" or hierarchy determined by skin tone--rather than the consequences of having dark skin in a racist society. (For the last time, to show my fairness: the author does acknowledge the burden of racism on black folk in America.) Divisions of this nature are acknowledged within the African-American community, but I find the author's obsession with this phenomenon unproductive. Perhaps Mr. Teachout isn't familiar with Big Bill Broonzy's song "Black, Brown and White," which lays things out clearly with these lyrics: "If you's white, you alright; If you's brown, stick around. But as you is black, whoa brother, Get back, get back, get back!"

  

Finally, I point out that on several occasions Mr. Teachout credits a detractor of Duke's character as quoting an "unnamed source" for some juicy gossip. In this reviewer's opinion, this is unsound journalism. I am reminded of an old joke that the author is probably old enough to be familiar with. A man is on trial for physically abusing his wife. On the witness stand, he denies laying a hand on his spouse. So the Prosecutor asks: "Well then, can you tell us exactly when you STOPPED beating your wife?" So, Mr. Teachout, when did YOU stop beating YOUR wife? No one is without sin, and a balanced view of a figure like Duke Ellington is desirable, but I find the glee with which this book besmirches his reputation quite unpalatable.

 

WWUH Classical Programming -
March/April 2014

 


Sunday Afternoon at the Opera... Sundays 1:00 - 4:30 pm

Evening Classics... Weekdays 4:00 to 7:00/ 8:00 pm

Drake's Village Brass Band... Mondays 7:00-8:00 pm

 


 

 

March

Sun

2

Mozart: Don Giovanni (Gardiner)

Mon

3

David: Le Desert- Symphonic Ode; Debussy: Nocturnes for Orchestra; D. Baker: Shades of Blue

Drake's Village Brass Band...U.S. Air Force Heritage of America Band - Portraits

Tue

4

G. P. Telemann: Suite in G major after Die Kleine Kammermusik; Nancy Van de Vate: Violin Concerto No. 2 (1996); D.Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas; Hartt Professor Ira Braus talks about C.P.E. Bach (born March 8, 1714) and plays recorded examples.

Wed

5

Franz Beck: Symphony No. 5; Orlando Lassus:          Missa Osceletur Me; Liszt: Benediction de Dieu dans la Solitude; Francesco Barsanti: Concerto Grosso No. 5; Dario Castello: Sonatas; George Chadwick: String Quartet No. 1

Thu

6

New Releases. A Sampling of New Acquisitions from the WWUH Library.

Fri

7

Celebrating the Women Composers Festival of Hartford

Sun

9

Handel: Belshazzar

Mon

10

Reyer: Le S�lam (The Greeting) - Oriental Symphony in 5 Pictures; Respighi: The Birds, Fountains of Rome; Janos Starker Performs Martinu, Debussy, Bartok and others

Drake's Village Brass Band...Jeffrey Silberschlag- The American Trumpet

Tue

11

Rota: Divertimento Concertanto for Double Bass & Orchestra; Haydn: String Quartet in d, Op. 76, #2; Bruckner: Symphony #4; Leighton: Mass, Op. 44

Wed

12

Stamitz: Symphony in F Major; Claudin de Sermisy:      Motets; Charles Koechlin: Nine Pieces for Oboe and Piano; Felix Blumenfeld: Piano Etudes; Franz Richter:  Sonata No. 5 for Flute, Cello and Harpsichord in F; Vincenzo Capriola: Lute Music

Thu

13

Blavet: Sonatas; Kayser: Parthia in D; Shaw: Gov. Arnold's March; Wolf: Selections from the Spanish and Italian Songbooks, Italian Serenade; Ardevol: Sonata for Guitar; Anderberg: Bewegungen; Milner: Out of Your Sleep Arise; Rihm: Cantilena; Mozart: Violin Concerto #4 in D K 218; Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto #1.

Fri

14

Visit the Emerald Isle for St. Paddy's Day

Sun

16

Davies: Taverner

Mon

17

Marathon

Tue

18

WWUH Marathon: Music for Pledging - David: Schubertiade; Weber: Der Freisch�tz, Overture; Schubert: Impromptu in Eb, Op. 90, #2; Tchaikovsky: Andante Cantabile

Wed

19

Frantisek Tuma: Sinfonias; Ann Lee: Hymns; Johann Schobert: Sonata for Harpsichord; Rodion Shchedrin: Piano Conceto No. 2; Lalo: Piano Trio No. 1, op. 7; Widor: Piano Concerto No. 2

Thu

20

Marathon

Fri

21

Spring has sprung...

Sun

23

The Play of Daniel; Britten: Noye's Fludde

Mon

24

The Legacy of Randall Thompson; Respighi: Brazilian Impression, Pines of Rome; Debussy: Preludes for         Piano, Book 1

Drake's Village Brass Band...Rosner: Symphony #8 "Trinity"; Flagello Symphony #2 "Symphony of the Winds"

Tue

25

G. P. Telemann: Suite in C minor after Die Kleine Kammermusik; Gian Francesco Malipiero: Violin Concerto (1932); D. Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas; Music by Sofia Gubaidulina; Music by C.P.E. Bach (born in March, 1714)

Wed

26

Christian Cannabich: Symphony No. 68; Adrian Willaert: Missa Mente Tota; Paganini: Violin Concerto No. 4; Scriabin: Etudes; Alfred Schnittke: Piano Quintet, op. 57

Thu

27

J.S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue in d BWV 565; Eberlin: Toccata and Fugue #1 in d; Joseph Marie Clement dall'Abaco: Capricci; Elvey: Psalm 115; D'Indy: Istar Op. 42, Diptyque m�diterran�en Op. 87; Grof�: Grand Canyon Suite; Matsudaira: Danza Rituale e Finale; Ruders: Concerto in Pieces.

Fri

28

"Just Don't Call It Minimalism"

Sun

30

Telemann: Der Tag des Gerichts; Hovhaness: From the Ends of the Earth

Mon

31

Host's choice

April

Tue

1

C.P.E. Bach: Harpsichord Concerto No. 1, Wq 43; Nikolai Myaskovsky: Violin Concerto (1938); D. Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas; G. A. Homilius: Matth�uspassion

Wed

2

Host's choice

Thu

3

New Releases. A Sampling of New Acquisitions from the WWUH Library.

Fri

4

Let's go to the movies with Elmer Bernstein

Sun

6

Weisman: Darkling; Diamond: AHAVA - Brotherhood; Music for Prayer

Mon

7

Some Greek Myths in Music - Stravinksy: Apollo, Orpheus; Carter: The Minotaur; Rousel: Bacchus et Ariadne; Britten: Metamorphosis- Six Pieces After Ovid

Drake's Village Brass Band...Davison: Sonatas for Horn and Trumpet

Tue

8

Tchaikovsky: Symphony #3; Haydn: String Quartet in C, Op. 76, #3; Schubert: Symphony #6; Vierne: Messe Solennelle

Wed

9

Debussy: Symphony in B Minor: Wolfgang Rihm: St. Luke Passion; Soler: Sonatas; Francesco Veracini: Sonata No. 5; Wieniawski: Violin Concerto No. 2 in D Minor; Anthoni van Noordt: Fantasias

Thu

10

Corrette: Les delices de la solitude Op. 20 - Sonatas #3, 4, 5; D'Albert: Symphony in F Op. 4, Scherzo in F sharp Op. 16 #2; De Sabata: Gethsemani; Casterede: Sonatine for Tuba and Piano; Bolling: Espiegle; Beethoven: Piano Trio #10 "Variations on an Original Theme" Op.44.

Fri

11

Blitzstein: Serenade for String Quartet; Yarmolinsky: April 15th Blues; Bliss: Triptych for Piano; Rubbra: String Quartet No. 2 in E flat, Op. 73; Strauss (arr. Grainger): Ramble on the Last Love Duet in "Die Rosenkavalier"; Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 4, Op.37. (Guest host William Mackey)

Sun

13

Bach: St. Matthew Passion (in English)

Mon

14

Music for Shakespeare...Liszt: Hamlet Symphonic Poem; Paine: The Tempest - Symphonic Poem; Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music; Walton: Hamlet - A Shakespeare Scenario

Drake's Village Brass Band...Alfred Reed- Music for Shakespeare

Tue

15

Schubert: Impromptu in Gb, Op. 90, #3; Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Festival Overture; Schumann: M�rchenbilder, Op. 113; Dvoř�k: Symphony #6; Rachmaninov: All-Night Vigil

Wed

16

Joseph Kraus: Symphony in C Minor; Ludwig Senfl: Missa Paschalis; Messiaen: Diptyque; R.Schumann: Kreisleriana; Diabelli: Serenata Concertante

Thu

17

Heinichen: Concerto for 2 Flutes 2 Oboes 2 Bassoons in F S232, Concerto for 2 Horns Violin Oboe and Flute in F S234, Oboe Concerto in g S237, Concerto for Violin Viola da Gamba Cello in D; Kleinknecht: Divertimento in G; Philip Hayes: Piano Concerto #4 in A; Naumann: Amphion Overture; Tomasek: Piano Concerto #1 in C Op 18; Schnabel: Seven Piano Pieces; Burleigh: Rocky Mountain Sketches; Saeverud: Peer Gynt Suite, Op. 28; Burkhard: Serenade, Op. 71, #3; Hailstork: An American Port of Call.

Fri

18

Post Tax Season vacation at Niagra Falls ... No, the Grand Canyon ... Heck, let's do them both!

Sun

20

Elgar: The Apostles

Mon

21

Music for Earth Day...Waxman: Elephant Walk; Avshalomov: Praises from the Corners of the Earth; Kallman: The Vanishing Snows of Kilimanjaro; Hovhaness: String Quartet #4 "Under the Ancient Maple Tree"

Drake's Village Brass Band...De Meij: Symphony #3 "Planet Earth"

Tue

22

Haydn: Symphony #31; Farrenc: Piano Trio #3; Mahler: Symphony #5; Lobo: Missa Prudentes virgines

Wed

23

Hanson: Symphony No. 6; Berlioz: Requiem; Michele MasMarcellocitti: Sonatas a Tre; Benedetto Marcello: Concerti a Cinque; Johann Kusser: Suite No. 1

Thu

24

Kirnberger: Sinfonia in D for 2 Horns & Strings; Hellmesberger: Danse Diabolique; Boldemann: Sinfonietta Op. 11; Augusta Read Thomas: Moon Jig; Roxanna Panufnik: Stay with Me; Bruckner: Symphony #9; Schubert: Piano Sonata #3 in E D459.

Fri

25

Bond meets the Opera Babes

Sun

27

Schubert: Die Freunde von Salamanca; Sondheim: The Frogs

Mon

28

Monday Night at the Movies...Koechlin: The Seven Stars Symphony; Four by Corigliano - Music from The Red Violin, Altered States, Revolution, From The Edge

Drake's Village Brass Band...De Meij: Symphony #2 " The Big Apple"

Tue

29

C.P.E. Bach: Harpsichord Concerto No. 2, Wq 43; Barber: Violin Concerto (1939); D. Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas; Louise Farrenc: Nonette in E-flat major, Op. 38; C.P.E. Bach: Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus

Wed

30

Torelli:Sinfonias; Pietro Lappi: Canzones; Ignaz Moscheles:Piano Concerto No. 4; Robert de Visee: Suite in E Minor; Shulamit Ran: 3 Fantasy Movements

 

Composer and Musician Birthdays
 
 
Thursday Evening Classics - 
Composer Birthdays for 
March and April 2014

 

Mar 6

1616 Malachias Siebenhaar

1763 Jean Xavier Lefevre

1793 Bernhard Klein

1829 Heinrich Lichner

1870 Oscar Straus

1872 Paul Juon

1890 Adolfo Salazar

1897 Knudage Riisager

1911 Roland Leich

1926 William Schmidt 

1928 Ronald Stevenson

1948 Jay Vosk

1953 Arthur Levering

1963 Maarten Regtien

  

Mar 13

1700 (bapt) Michel Blavet 

1700 James Kent

1712 Isfrid Kayser

1746 Maurus Haberhauer

1767 Heinrich Domnich

1779 Oliver Shaw

1832 Alberto Randegger

1850 Emilio Serrano y Ruiz

1860 Hugo Wolf

1862 Vasily Mikhaylovich Metallov

1883 Enrico Toselli

1887 Carlos Isamitt

1890 Michael Taube

1899 Pancho Vladigerov

1908 Helen Sinclair Glatz

1911 Jose Ardevol

1914 Carl-Olof Anderberg 

1925 Anthony Milner 

1929 Will Eisma

1938 Hans-Joachim Hespos

1938 Jean-Claude Risset

1946 Tolib-khon Shakhidi

1952 David Carlson

1952 Wolfgang Rihm

  

Mar 20

1680 Baron Emanuel D'Astorga (Gioacchino Cesare Rincon)

1739 Eligio Celestino

1774 John Braham

1813 Matthias Keller

1829 Charles A. White

1833 Henry Southwick Perkins

1849 Henri Edouard Dallier

1851 Pietro Abb� Cornaglia

1863 Ernesto Nazareth

1872 Bernhard Seklas

1883 Karl Hasse

1888 Krsto Odak

1908 Enzo Borlenghi

1918 Bernd Alois Zimmermann

1927 John Pierre Herman Joubert

1930 Michel Magne

1931 Antonio Tauriello

1932 Tod Dockstader

1933 Jacques Guyonnet

1939 C. Rudolph Emilson

1939 Ralph Votapek

1945 Jerzy Sapieyevski

1956 Timothy Jon Mahr

  

Mar 27

1416 Antonio Squarcialupi

1702 (bapt) Johann Ernst Eberlin

1710 (bapt) Joseph Marie Clement dall'Abaco 

1746 Augustin Ullinger

1757 Richard John Samuel Stevens

1760 Ishmail Spicer 

1772 Giovanni Liverati

1796 Louis Lambillotte

1816 Sir George Elvey

1851 Vincent D'Indy

1853 Carl Valentine Lachmund

1854 Edgar (Pierre Joseph) Tinel

1858 Peter Christian Lutkin 

1862 Arturo Berutti

1876 William H. Tyers

1883 Jan Kunc

1892 Ferde Grof� 

1901 Albert Henneberg 

1912 Reuel Lahmer 

1912 Robert Watson Hughes

1913 Godfrey Turner

1925 Frank Lewin

1931 Yori-Aki Matsudaira

1936 Malcolm Goldstein

1949 Poul Ruders

1954 Thierry Lancino

1990 Paul Cecchetti

  

Apr 3

1569 Giovanni Battista Massarengo in Parma

1603 (bapt) William Smith in Durham

1617 Antimo Liberati in Foligno

1649 (bapt) organist Joseph-Fran�ois Salomon in Toulon

1682 Johann Valentin Rathgeber in Oberelsbach 

1751 Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne in Eymet, Dordogne

1757 Ferenc Verseghy in Szolnok

1825 pianist, oboist, conductor Adolf Rzepko in Prague

1836 Rigdon McCoy McIntosh in Maury County, TN

1859 Reginald De Koven in Middletown, CT 

1874 musicologist Eduardo Sanchez de Fuentes in Havana

1889 violinist Grigoras Dinicu in Bucharest (Hora Staccato) 

1895 violist Bjarne Brustad in Christiania [now Oslo]

1895 pianist and writer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco in Florence

1902 Siguringi Eirikur Hjorleifsson

1917 Slovakian conductor Tibor Andrasovan

1918 Louis Applebaum in Toronto

1918 teacher Enrique Iturriaga in Lima

1934 Sune Smedeby in Eskilstuna, Sweden

1947 Anders Eliasson in Borl�nge, Sweden

1949 Daniel Cat�n in Mexico City

  

Apr 10

1633 Werner Fabricius

1707 Michel Corrette

1737 Fran�ois Giroust

1808 Auguste Franchomme

1847 Charles Swinnerton Heap

1864 Eugene d'Albert

1887 Heinz Tiessen

1892 Victor de Sabata

1910 Abu-Bakr Khairat

1914 Noah Francis Ryder

1926 Jacques Casterede

1929 Dusan Radic

1930 Claude Bolling 

1933 Philip Corner

1939 Charles Andrew Rudin

1946 Anne Elizabeth Boyd

1949 Vladimir Tosic

1957 Arkadi Troitsky

  

Apr 17

1587 (bapt) Marko Ivan Lukacic

1683 Johann David Heinichen

1715 Johann Wolfgang Kleinknecht

1719 (bapt) Christian Gottfried Krause

1738 (bapt) Philip Hayes

1741 Johann Gottlieb Naumann

1774 Vaclav Jan Krtitel Tomasek

1797 Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Tolbecque

1811 Ann Sheppard Mounsey

1820 Gottfried Conradi

1852 L�on Walpot

1863 Johannes P Boskaljon

1882 Artur Schnabel

1883 Hermann Darewsky

1885 Cecil Burleigh

1894 Hans Spialek

1897 Harald Saeverud

1900 Willy Burkhard

1903 Nicolas Nabokov 

1927 Christopher Whelen

1937 Donald Buchla

1941 Adolphus Hailstork

1945 Nicolay Apollyon

1972 Peter Scartabello

1977 Frederik Magle

  

Apr 24

1538 Gugliemo Gonzaga

1594 Benedikt Lechler

1670 Christian Ludwig Boxberg

1706 Giovanni Martini

1721 (bapt) Johann Philipp Kirnberger 

1800 Georg Hellmesberger

1852 Luigi Abussi

1867 Karel Navratil

1875 Jeno Huszka

1877 Charles Cuvillier

1897 Gyorgy Kosa

1907 Vaclav Trojan

1911 Sigursveinn David Kristinsson

1913 Violet Archer

1921 Laci Boldemann 

1924 Yehoshua Lakner

1928 Gustav Krivinka

1929 Ferit Tuzun

1931 Alexei Nikolayev

1943 Alexander Kuzmich Vustin

1946 Bruce Saylor

1964 Augusta Read Thoma 

1964 Brian Robison

1968 Roxanna Panufnik

1970 James Matheson


 Sunday Afternoon at the Opera

 

Your "lyric theater" program

with Keith Brown

programming selections

for the months of January and February

Sunday 1-4:30pm

 

 

SUNDAY MARCH 2ND

Mozart, Don Giovanni

     This will be the sixth time over thirty two years of opera broadcasting when I will again be presenting Mozart's immortal dramma giocoso from 1787. Don Giovanni has always been well represented in the classical music discography. Practically every significant conductor of the recorded music era,going way back in the twentieth century,has left us an interpretation. Starting with Wilhelm Furtwangler's back in the 1950's (my broadcast of Sunday, April 23 ,1989), you have heard the interpretations of Sir Charles Mackerras, Roger Norrington Michael Halusz and, most recently, Rene Jacobs (Sunday, February 8, 2009). Norrington and Jacobs gave us historically informed, period instrument interpretations. The Rene Jacobs interpretations of all the major Mozart operas for Harmonia Mundi records have won much praise. You'd think they could not be bettered. But for comparison's sake at the very least you need to hear John Eliot Gardiner's take on "The Don." Gardiner is one of the pioneers in the "period" approach to baroque and early classical music performance. Through the 1990's he recorded all the well known Mozart operas. He recorded Don Giovanni in connection with the production of the opera at the 1994 Ludwigsburg Festival in Germany. Gardiner led the period instrument ensemble he founded, the English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir. Baritone Rodney Gilfry is the Don. The Gardiner recordings of the Mozart operas for the German Archiv label have been gathered together and reissued in 2011 in an 18 CD boxed set. Again this Sunday I draw upon that Archiv reissue. Gardiner follows the Vienna version of Don Giovanni.

 

SUNDAY MARCH 9TH

Handel, Belshazzar 

     This past March 5th was Ash Wednesday, inaugurating the five week (actually forty day) penitential period called Lent in the traditional Christian calendar. In old Catholic Europe (and even in Protestant countries) the opera houses closed for the duration. The church authorities did, however, permit the performance of sacred oratorio. In keeping with that long established custom, on the first Sunday in Lent I present one of George Frideric Handel's Biblical oratorios: Belshazzar, which premiered in London during Lent of 1745. It has a libretto derived largely from the Old Testament book of the prophet Daniel by Charles Jennens, who four years previously provided Handel with the libretto of Messiah. The basic difference between those two works is that Messiah is a musical reflection upon a composite of various verses from Holy Scripture including the New Testament, whereas Belshazzar is very specifically one Old Testament story. Jennens added into his Belshazzar wordbook elements from classical Greek texts (historians Herotodus and Xenophon), plus the prophecies of the fall of Babylon in Isaiah. The result was a highly dramatic,  wellnigh operatic setup for Handel to put into music. The tale is told of the rash young tyrant Belshazzar, king of the Babylonians, and the ill-fated feast he gave in the royal palace. The pleas of his mother Nitocris would not prevent him from committing sacrilege. The feasting stopped suddenly when the king saw the Lord God's handwriting upon the wall. On Sunday,February 18, 2007 I presented the 1991 Archiv release of Belshazzar with Trevor Pinnock conducting the choir and period instrumentalists of the English Concert. This Handelian rarity has been recorded again with William Christie leading his own French period instrument ensemble Les Arts Florissants with a cast of native English speaking vocal soloists. After its 1745 premiere Handel continued to tinker with the score of Belshazzar for its 1751 revival. Both Pinnock and Christie adhere as closely as possible to the original 1745 score, admitting only a few of Handel's revisions. Christie's new Belshazzar is the world premiere 2013 release of Les Arts Florissants under its own LAF record label. Both the LAF and Archiv issues come on three silver discs.

 

SUNDAY MARCH 16

Davies, Taverner

     For the Second Sunday in Lent I offer you a "church opera." Peter Maxwell Davies' Taverner (1972) was his first opera; strangely, it had to wait until well into the twenty first century to be released to the public on disc.  I have hitherto aired recordings of two of Davies' later operas,Resurrection (1987), which was broadcast on Sunday, September 8, 1996, and The Doctor of Myddfai (1995) on Sunday, February 5, 2000. The subject of Taverner the opera is John Taverner (c1490-1545), who wrote much beautiful choral music for the Roman Catholic Church in Tudor England. Taverner stopped composing "popish ditties," so the story goes, and converted to Lutheranism. Act one of the opera shows us Taverner on trial for heresy. Then in act two the heresy trial is turned upside down. Davies' ecclesiastical opera incorporates tweaked Renaissance dance music played on instruments of the period, among these the regal, a small reed organ. The score even quotes from Taverner's Missa Gloria Tibi Trinitas. Taverner the opera was recorded in concert performance in BBC's studios in December,1996 and subsequently broadcast over BBC Radio Three in April, 1997. Oliver Knussen conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra,the London Voices and the New London Children's Choir. Also heard in the Renaissance music sequences were His Majesty's Sagbutts and Cornetts and the Fretwork consort of viols. John Taverner is tenor Martyn Hill. In 2009 Taverner was issued on two NMC compact discs. Reviewing this recording for Fanfare magazine (Mar/Apr, 2010), Carson Cooman rates it as simply "superb." Oliver Knussen, he says, "... leads a strong cast in a definitive performance of the extremely difficult score...Taverner is a strong and compelling dramatic work that deserves to be heard." Keep listening for Taverner's entire Missa Gloria Tibi Trinitas, as sung by the Tallis Scholars.

 

SUNDAY MARCH 22RD

The Play of Daniel, Britten, Noye's Fludde 

     On this Third Sunday in Lent we go way back in music history. Long before there was opera there was liturgical drama. Two related plays with notated music are given in the early 13th century Beauvais Manuscript, kept in the library of the British Museum. Both plays are dramatized incidents from the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament. One of them deals with Belshazzar, the other with the ordeal of the prophet Daniel in the lion's den. The New York Pro Musica,under Noah Greenberg's direction, gave the first performance of The Play of Daniel in modern times in 1958 and subsequently recorded it for the American Decca record label. The medieval neumatic notation in the Beauvais Ms. gives only one single vocal line of Latin plainchant. Whenever and wherever The Play of Daniel has been performed or recorded it has been embellished vocally and given accompaniment with parts fpr medieval instruments. Since 1958 there actually have been quite a few recordings made of The Play of Daniel. In 2008 Harmonia Mundi released the rendition of the play recorded by the Dufay Collective, under the direction of William Lyons. Ten vocal soloists portray the characters of the Ludus Danielis. They are joined by the boy treble Choristers of Southwell Minster and five instrumentalists playing harp, bells, percussion, medieval fiddle, etc. (Their parts are partly improvised.)

     Then we bounce back into more recent times to listen to music of Benjamin Britten inspired by medieval liturgical drama. Between 1964 and '68 Britten wrote a series of "Church Parables," building upon his quasi-operatic dramatization of the life of St. Nicholas (1948). In Noyes Fludde (1958) he created a modernization of the Chester Miracle Play, which sets forth the Genesis story of Noah's flood. He employed children's singing voices and a children's orchestra performing alongside adult professional singers and players drawn from the English Opera Group. Britten retained something of the simplicity of medieval plainsong.  He was rendering into song a text in archaic English. Under the composer's direction Noyes Fludde was recorded in 1961 live in performance in Orford Church in conjunction with the Aldeburgh Festival. That recording reappeared on compact disc in 2005 in the British Decca boxed set "Britten Conducts Britten."

     This Sunday your "lyric theater" program participates in Marathon 2014, our station's annual week of intensive on-air fundraising. During the course of today's broadcast I will be going on mike to urge you listeners to phone in your pledges of monetary support for opera programming, but also for classical music programming as you hear it throughout the week, and indeed for the full spectrum of music genre shows and public affairs programs that go to make WWUH your true audio alternative in the Greater Hartford listening area. Keep in mind also that "Sunday Afternoon at the Opera" carries forward into the twenty-first an unbroken tradition of opera broadcasting on Sunday afternoons going all the way back to 1970 with the broadcasts of my predecessor in the timeslot, Joseph S. Terzo. You faithful listeners have never failed to help us meet or even exceed our Marathon fundraising goals in years past, so I thank you in advance for your generosity.

 

SUNDAY MARCH 30TH

Telemann, Der Tag des Gerichts; Hovhaness, From the Ends of the Earth 

     On the Fourth Sunday in Lent you get a heapin' helpin' of Apocalypse. Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) is the all-time most prolific of composers. He outlived and out-composed his two famous contemporaries Bach and Handel. Over the years I have broadcast recordings of his operas and oratorios. From 1721 onwards Telemann resided in Hamburg, where he wrote cantatas and Passions for the city's most important churches, operas for the "Goose Market" opera house and works for various civic functions. A new,heated concert hall opened in Hamburg in January, 1761. For this venue the octogenarian composer wrote his last large-scale vocal/dramatic works. One of those was an oratorio based on the Book of Revelation, Der Tag  des Gerichts ("The Day of Judgement," 1762). Telemann himself styled it a Singgedicht (ie. a "sung poem"), divided into four parts or Betrachtungen (ie. "observations"). These four scenes of Judgement Day provided Telemann with ample opportunity for tonal depiction of the whole gamut of human emotions. I have broadcast Der Tag des Gerichts once before on Sunday, January 11, 1987. There is a Telefunken LP recording of this gem of the late baroque with that pioneer of period instrument practice, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, directing the ensemble he founded,the Concentus Musicus of Vienna,along with the Vienna Choirboys and the Monteverdi Choir of Hamburg. These are basically the same musical resources employed in Telefunken's complete series of the Bach cantatas back in the 1970's. In 2010 Radio Germany's own label Rondeau Produktion released a new recording of Der Tag des Gerichts on a single compact disc. Gotthold Schwarz leads the Bach Consort of Leipzig in a scaled-down performance:only one singer or player to a part. There's considerable controversy concerning this minimalist approach to baroque music, especially when it comes to the Bach cantatas. When I auditioned the Rondeau CD for myself I found the sound of the Bach Consort to be full and satisfying. Perhaps that's because the recording session took place in the Schlosskirche of Torgau,where the accoustics seem to have enhanced the modest auditory output of the little consort.

     Now for something completely different, The music of Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000) reveals a special American spirituality. It is at once profoundly Christian and embracing of all faiths and modes of spirituality worldwide. It combines Eastern and Western modes of tonality. Everything Hovhaness wrote was dedicated to the glory of God. It's quite fitting then that a vocal group named Gloriae Dei Cantores should record a major part of Hovhaness' output of music for massed voices. There's a psalm setting From the End of the Earth, op. 187, which lends that phrase to the title of a 2011 CD compilation. Elizabeth C. Patterson is the director of the internationally acclaimed "Glories of God Singers." They have sung repertoire in eighteen different languages. The Gloriae Dei Cantores group is based on Cape Cod. Their home venue of performance is the Church of the Transfiguration in Orleans,Massachusetts. The stone structure is a contemporary expression of a fourth-century AD architectural heritage, a place singularly suitable for the choral singing of both Western Catholic and Eastern Orthodox rite.

 

SUNDAY APRIL 6TH     

Weisman, Darkling; Diamond, AHAVA-Brotherhood 

      During the Lenten period I like to program vocal music that reflects upon some aspect of the Judaic heritage, this in anticipation of the upcoming Passover holiday. The Holocaust is the signal event of the twentieth century for Jews worldwide. It was even the inspiration for an opera: Darkling (2010), with music by Stefan Weisman and libretto by Anna Rabinowitz. The title refers to "The Darkling Thrush," a poem by Thomas Hardy. Darkling the Holocaust opera actually concerns itself with the period between the World Wars. Eastern European Jewry would soon be wiped out, leaving only dim,fragmentary memories of people and communities. Darkling gives voice to those memories. It poses the question: who will acknowledge things of Darkness as their own? Produced by American Opera Projects, Darkling is a multimedia theatrical conception calling for four singing voices, string quartet and a host of spoken-word participants. Brian DeMaris is the conductor. Albany Records released Darkling on two compact discs in 2011.

      Aaron Copland (1900-1994) is honored as the dean of all American composers in the twentieth century. Copland is also Jewish, but his younger colleague David Diamond (1914-2006) should rightly be regarded as the dean of American Jewish composers of the last century. Diamond was commissioned to compose something in celebration of the tercentenary of the founding of the Jewish community in the United States. He came up with a large-scale work for narrator and orchestra he called AHAVA-Brotherhood. Diamond assembled his own text from passages in Hebrew Scripture, the writings of the sage Hillel, the Union Prayerbook and poets Moses Ibn Ezra and Yeduda Halevi. AHAVA entreats us to share a universal compassion among all faiths,races and ethnicities. When AHAVA premiered in Washington, DC in 1954 the actor Lorne Green was the narrator. AHAVA was recorded in 1998 with Theodor Bikel as speaker (and singer,too), backed by the Seattle Symphony under Gerard Schwarz' direction. The world premiere recording of AHAVA-Brotherhood comes to us from the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music and courtesy of Naxos Records. Naxos has been issuing a series from this historic collection. This one is a single CD issue from 2004. Also included on this CD are choral and solo voice settings of prayers in the Jewish liturgy by Diamond, Morton Gould, Roy Harris and Douglas Moore. All of these, too, were recorded for the first time.

 

SUNDAY APRIL 13TH

Bach, St. Matthew Passion

     I have presented Bach's immortal St. Matthew Passion (1727) multiple times on Palm Sunday over the course of three decades-plus of lyric theater broadcasting. There are plenty of recordings of it in circulation. I could have gone with Rene Jacobs' new recorded interpretation for the Harmonia Mundi label (2013, Akademie fur Alte Musik, Berlin and RIAS Kammerchor). I opted this Palm Sunday not to air the great masterpiece in its original German language, as I always had done previously, but to present the Passion-oratorio in English translation and performed by all-English forces. On Good Friday, 2009 the Ex Cathedra ensemble of Birmingham in the English Midlands recorded the St. Matthew Passion live in performance in Birmingham's Symphony Hall. Jeffrey Skidmore directed the period instrument orchestra and a considerable choral body, from which, as in Bach's time, the best choral voices step forward in solo capacity to portray the characters in the Passion drama. This is a "historically informed" interpretation of the music, but certainly not a slim, one-voice to-a-part affair. In 1911 the English composer Sir Edward Elgar made a serviceable translation of the German text. Ex Cathedra drew upon a new translation by Nicholas Fisher and John Russell that is more contemporary in its wording. This English St. Matthew Passion was released in 2009 on two compact discs under the Orchid Classics label.

 

SUNDAY APRIL 20TH

Elgar,The Apostles

     After the disappointing English premiere of The Dream of Gerontius (1900), Edward Elgar vowed angrily that he would never again write a religious choral drama of that type. In no time, however, he was at work on another large-scale work for chorus and orchestra intended for performance at Birmingham's Three Choirs Festival.The Apostles (1903) was followed by The Kingdom (1906), forming a trio of oratorios. Some listeners and music critics find Elgar's oratorios, with their vaunted Victorian religiosity, to be wearisome and overrated. In reviewing the new Halle recording of The Apostles, Fanfare magazine's James Altena finds this music profoundly spiritual, and if interpreted properly, not at all sentimental. Sir Adrian Boult was a great interpreter of Elgar's oratorios. I have broadcast his take on The Apostles for EMI with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonic Choir, first on LP's in the original 1974 HMV release (Sunday, April 17, 1986) and then the 1992 EMI Classics reissue in CD format (Sunday, April 11, 1993). James Altena says the new version from Halle compares favorably with Boult's and Richard Hickox's,too, for the Chandos label. He ends his review with a thumbs-up: "heartily recommended" (Fanfare, July/August, 2013). Recorded live in performance in Manchester, England in May of 2012, Mark Elder conducted Manchester's famed Halle Orchestra and Halle Chorus, augmented by the Halle Youth Chorus. Baritone Jacques Imbrailo in the role of Jesus won special praise from Mr. Altena In Elgar's oratorio the other vocal soloists give us the Apostles' reactions to Christ's Passion, His Resurrection and Ascension and the ensuing Pentecost.

 

SUNDAY APRIL 27TH

Schubert, Die Freunde von Salamanca; Sondheim, The Frogs 

     One of the best kept secrets in classical music is that Franz Schubert, the immortal songwriter, wrote opera. An awful lot of opera. Unfortunately, he was just not a very successful opera composer. Whenever I have run across those rare recordings of Schubert's operas I have broadcast them.Schubert's Singspiel Die Freunde von Salamanca ("The Friends from Salamanca," 1815) was never performed in his lifetime. Essentially, it's a romantic comedy set in Spain. The German language spoken-word passages for this Singspiel have not survived, but the outlines of the plot are clear enough, and it's Schubert's melodious sung passages that matter in lyric theater broadcast. (So many recordings of Viennese operetta omit dialog, anyway.) This particular Schubert rarity was recorded live at the 1978 Hohenems Schubertiade. Theodor Guschlbauer directs the chorus and orchestra of Radio Austria. The singing cast assembled for that festival production was absolutely stellar for that time period in Central Europe. Soprano Edith Mathis and baritone Hermann Prey took part. Deutsche Grammophon originally released Die Freunde von Salamanca in 1981. It has been reissued on a single compact disc through the Dutch label Brilliant Classics.

     We continue in the comic vein with the 2001 world premiere release for the Nonesuch label of The Frogs, musically adapted from the ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes. America's greatest living songwriter, Stephen Sondheim, wrote both music and lyrics for the spectacular 1974 Yale Repertory Theater production. Actors in the cast included drama students Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver. Dancers in the company performed a water ballet in an Olympic-sized pool. Sondheim's songs for The Frogs have been sung and recorded separately, but never in their entirety as numbers in the incidental music for the play.Sondheim himself supervised the recording made at the Hit Factory in New York City. Nathan Lane is heard in the role of Dionysos in the recording session. He starred in the concert revival of The Frogs given in May, 2000 by the Music Division of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. Piggybacked on the Nonesuch CD are Sondheim's songs for Evening Primrose (1967).

     In putting together the programming for this two-month period I borrowed for broadcast the recordings of Davies' Taverner and Britten's Noyes Fludde from Rob Meehan, former classics deejay here at WWUH and a specialist in the alternative musics of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Telemann's oratorio Der Tag des Gerichts and the Schubert Singspiel come from my own collection of recorded lyric theater music. Everything else featured on these Sundays in March and April is taken from our station's ever-growing library of classical music on disc.  I must also thank WWUH's operations director Kevin O'Toole for mentoring me in the preparation of these notes for cyber-publication.

  

Hartford Symphony Orchestra - Upcoming Events
Hartford Symphony Orchestra: 
March - May 2014 Events

 

POPS! SERIES: THE MUSIC OF BILLY JOEL & MORE
Saturday, March 8, 2014| 7:30 p.m.
Mortensen Hall│ The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts 
Michael Cavanaugh, guest artist
Hand-picked by Billy Joel for the show's starring role in the hit Broadway musical, Movin' Out, Michael Cavanaugh won the hearts of audiences and critics night after night. His accolades included both Tony and Grammy award nominations. Catch this rising star performing the hits of the "Piano Man," plus rock 'n' roll classics from the 1950s through the current day, such as Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Beatles, The Who and Elton John.


MASTERWORKS SERIES: MICHAEL LANKESTER CONDUCTS ENIGMA VARIATIONS
March 20-23, 2014
Thursday 7:30pm | Friday & Saturday 8:00 p.m. | Sunday 3:00 p.m.
Belding Theater│ The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts 
Michael Lankester, guest conductor, HSO music director from 1985-2000
Program: Elgar: Enigma Variations Bruckner: Symphony No. 3
Michael Lankester makes a triumphant return to the Hartford Symphony Orchestra to lead two pieces of expressive personality.  Lankester's fellow Englishman Edward Elgar dedicated his Enigma Variations to "my friends pictured within" - and made each variation an affectionate portrayal.  This is followed by Bruckner's grand, dramatic, and brassy Third Symphony.

HSO'S PLATINUM GALA: A CELEBRATION OF 70 SEASONS 
Saturday April 5, 2014 
Marriot│Downtown Hartford  
Carolyn Kuan, conductor 
Join the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in celebrating its 70th anniversary season with a cocktail reception, dinner, open bar, live auction and a very special performance by HSO musicians led by Maestra Carolyn Kuan.

MASTERWORKS SERIES: MOZART'S REQUIEM 
April 10-13, 2014 
Thursday 7:30 p.m. | Friday & Saturday 8:00 p.m. | Sunday 3:00 p.m. 
Belding Theater│The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts 
Carolyn Kuan, conductor; Patricia Schuman, soprano; Tamara Mumford, mezzo-soprano; Andrew Stenson, tenor; Matthew Burns, bass-baritone; The Hartford Chorale, Richard Coffey, music director 
Program: Bernstein: Symphony No. 1, "Jeremiah"; Mozart: 
Requiem, K. 626 
The HSO will be joined by the Hartford Chorale and soloists to perform Bernstein's setting of the moving biblical story of the prophet Jeremiah, along with Mozart's final work, a Requiem Mass known for its melodic beauty and fiery evocations of the composer's own morality.  
 
LINCOLN FINANCIAL DISCOVERY SERIES: AMERICAN LEGACIES: THE CIVIL WAR & CIVIL RIGHTS ERA  
Wednesday, April 23, 2014│10:30 a.m. 
Mortensen Hall│The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts  
Adam Kerry Boyles, conductor; Isabella Palacpac, cello 
The year 2014 marks the 150th and 50th anniversaries of two of America's most historically significant eras: the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement, respectively. This concert will feature music, old and new, which captures the spirit of these important times in American history. Complementing the music will be student performances of some powerful historical speeches honoring America's fight for "liberty and justice for all."  
 
POPS! SERIES: PLAYING WITH FOOD- SECOND COURSE! 
Saturday, April 26, 2014 | 7:30 p.m. 
Mortensen Hall│The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts  
Carolyn Kuan, conductor 
Playing With Food is back by popular demand to explore more of how food and music go together. Carolyn Kuan, HSO Musicians, and some of the best culinary artists will share the secrets behind their unique dishes, cooking tips and, of course, the music that inspires them.

SUNDAY SERENADES SERIES: WHISTLER & IVES 
Sunday, May 4, 2014│2:00 p.m. 
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art 
Program: Horatio Parker: Suite, Op. 35; Ingolf Dahl: Concerto � Tre; Charles Ives: Violin Sonata No. 2; Peter Schickele: Quartet for Piano, Clarinet, Violin & Cello 
Sunday Serenades chamber music concerts are presented in collaboration with the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art's special exhibitions and permanent collections. Concerts take place in the museum galleries and feature Concertmaster Leonid Sigal and Hartford Symphony Orchestra musicians.

MASTERWORKS SERIES: EDWARD CUMMING CONDUCTS BRAHMS' DOUBLE CONCERTO 
May 8-11, 2014 
Thursday 7:30 p.m. | Friday & Saturday 8:00 p.m. | Sunday 3:00 p.m. 
Belding Theater│The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts 
Edward Cumming, conductor; Leonid Sigal, violin; David Finckel, cello 
Program: Dvoř�k: 
Slavonic Dances; Brahms: Concerto for Violin and Violoncello, "Double Concerto"; Dvoř�k: Symphony No. 6 
Edward Cumming conducts music that defined his signature style. Slavonic Dances catapulted Dvor�k to fame - while Symphony No. 6 showcased his experimental technique. Brahms combined violin and cello for the solo portions of his final orchestral work to create a "super" instrument of sonority and range.

 

For tickets and more information, visit 

http://www.hartfordsymphony.org/concerts-tickets/ 

or call HSO Ticket Services at 860.244.2999.

Jorgensen Center : Upcoming Events

Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts 2014 Events

 

Opened in December of 1955, Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts is the largest college-based presenting program in New England. Each season, Jorgensen events attract more than 70,000 students, faculty and staff from the University of Connecticut, as well as residents from Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Jorgensen presents 25-30 nationally and internationally acclaimed artists and ensembles annually, ranging from classical music to world music and dance, classical and contemporary dance, comedy, family programming and contemporary entertainment. Box Office: 860.486.4226 or http://jorgensen.uconn.edu. 

 

Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts 

Spring 2014 Events

 

3/3 

Art Spiegelman

 

3/9

Irish Baroque Orchestra

 

3/13

Scharoun Ensemble Berlin

 

3/14

Danu

 

3/27

Giselle

 

3/28

The Piano Guys - SOLD OUT

 

3/29 

Punch Brothers

 

4/5

Latin Fest '14

 

4/9 Richard Dawkins

 

4/23

Hillary Rodham Clinton

 

4/27

LUMA Theater of Light

 

4/29

RTE Vanbrugh Quartet

 

The Musical Club of Hartford
The Musical Club of Hartford - 
Upcoming Events

 

The Musical Club of Hartford, Inc., is a non-profit Connecticut organization celebrating its 123rd anniversary this year. Each year, from October to May, ten or more concerts are presented by performing members, featuring soloists and vocal or instrumental ensembles. These concerts usually take place on Thursday mornings at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2080 Boulevard, West Hartford, CT.  For more information, visit:

 

 

 

Program Dates:

Thurs., Mar. 6 : Musical Exploration Sarah Masterson
Thurs., Mar. 20 : Piano Recital,  E.B. Storrs Scholars
Sun., Mar. 23 : Piano Ensemble Day, at Hartt, 3 pm
Thurs., Apr. 3 : Music by Members
Thurs., Apr. 24 : Music by Members
Thurs., May 8 : Annual Meeting & Luncheon, Town & County Club

 

Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra

The Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra 

2014  Concert Season 

All concerts are at 3:00 PM at Trinity Episcopal Church
120 Sigourney St., Hartford.
 
 
The Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra, a non-profit Community Orchestra, presents numerous concerts in the Greater Hartford area, performing works from all periods in a wide range of musical styles. The members of Hartford's only community orchestra are serious amateurs who come from a broad spectrum of occupations. Besides commissioning and performing new works, the CVCO has made concert tours to Romania, Spain, Hungary, Austria and Poland 
under the sponsorship of organizations such as the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation.

  

April 13, 2014 - "Variations Through the Ages" 

 

The third concert of our season is a great concert for children to attend. In our "Variations Through the Ages," we will explore pieces that employ a theme-and-variation style of composition and trace them throughout history. We will begin with Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue , originally written for organ and later orchestrated by Leopold Stokowski. Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme will follow, featuring French cellist Louise Gr�vin, a graduate of the New England Conservatory. In Ives' Variations on 'America,' listeners will recognize the familiar "America" theme (which Ives twists and contorts), and we may stretch your ears with Ernst Toch's Big Ben Variations Fantasy , where the famous "clock" theme is ever-present underneath the experimental sounds of the 1930s. 

 

June 8, 2014 - "Dance" 


We will end the season with a collaboration with a local dance company, performing many beloved dance pieces from all over the world. The program is still being determined, but we hope to highlight the orchestra in music from countries such as Mexico, Hungary, Romania, America, Russia, and Vienna, including excerpts from some of Tchaikovsky's famous ballets. 


 

For more information, visit the CVCO website.

West Hartford Sympthony: Upcoming Concert

West Hartford Symphony Orchestra

For over ten years, the West Hartford Symphony has been providing a musical outlet for residents of West Hartford and the Greater Hartford Area. Musicians from the ages of 14 to 86 come together once a week to play a variety of pieces and perform four concerts each year. For tickets and information, 860-521-4362 or http://whso.org/


Upcoming Events

March 30, 2014 - The Ellis Island & New World Concert

at Kingswood Oxford's Roberts Theatre

3:00 pm

 


Who Else
WWUH Radio 91.3 FM : Celebrating 45 Years of Public Alternative Radio
 
Our programming can be heard at various times throughout the day on the following stations:
WAPJ -  Torrington, 89.9 and 105.1 Mhz
WDJW - Somers, 89.7 Mhz
WWEB - Wallingford, 89.9 Mhz.