Afternoon Classics - Tuesday, January 20, 2009

This is an auspicious day in our history and deserves to be noted in music as well as a lot of video time. Starting off with Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" and moving into his "An Outdoor Overture" the joy of the day is caught in the "Gloria" by Francis Poulenc. The vision of Rev Martin Luther King, Jr was also seen by Duke Ellington and this brings us to Ellington's "New World a-Comin'." The American composer Walter Piston was born on this date so here is is Symphony No. 2 to add to the celebration. Following that a little more Copland so to finish out the first half of the program here are a few dance episodes from "Rodeo".
The second half opened with Paul Hindemith's "Trauermusik" and proceeded to Mozart's Symphony No. 38 K. 504 the "Prague" symphony. After that Saint-Saens Cello Concert with a young Yo-Yo Ma performing and then to Hindemith's "Symphonic Metamorphoses on a Theme of Karl Maria von Weber" always a great one for a little fun. To finish up - here is Ellington's "Harlem" in the Luther Henderson version.

Afternoon Classics - Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Greetings & welcome to Afternoon Classics for 2009!  I hope that you will enjoy our four hours together on weekday afternoons in the coming year. There is so much music and so little time!

The playlist for Tuesday, January 6, is as follows:

Field: Piano Sonata No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 1, No. 1, John O'Conor - piano

Mendelssohn: String Symphony No. XII in G minor, Patrick Strub, Kammerorchester Arcata Stuttgart

Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26, Salvatore Arccardo - violin, Kurt Masur, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig 

Arnold: Symphony No. 4, Op. 71, Andrew Penny, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland

Dvorak: Piano Quintet in A major, Op. 81, Sviatoslav Richter - piano, the Borodin String Quartet

Dvorak: Rondo for cello & piano, Op. 94, Robert Cohen - cello, Roger Vignoles - piano

Ravel: Piano concerto in G major for the left hand, Michele Campanella - piano; Gianluigi Gelmetti, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart

Scriabin: Piano Concerto in F sharp minor, Op. 20, Vladimir Ashkenazy - piano, Lorin Maazel, London Philharmonic Orchestra

Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 4, Op. 30, Jean Louis Steuerman - piano

Afternoon Classics - Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Bringing the year to an end is not always easy, some years are more cantankorous than others. This year seems to be rather docile. The music for this afternoons program is: