Host Bill McGlaughlin takes off on a whole new adventure as for the first time, he explores the world of operetta. Whether you think of them as operas or musicals, we'll explore the spectrum of music from Jacques Offenbach to François-Adrien Boieldieu. Week of July 19th at 7pm.
Week of July 5, 2021 - Orpheus in the New World With communications and travel offering cultural exchange like never before, today’s composer draws from an enormous palette, giving voice to the amazing era in which we live. You’ll find tonality and melody are most decidedly in style, while originality and diversity reign. From Schwantner and Adams to Neikrug and Beach, we'll listen to and celebrate their music.
Week of July 12, 2021 - Haydn Symphonies Dear old Papa Haydn, as he was known in 18th century Vienna, was a fatherly figure to the finest musicians of his day. He is also the father of the symphonic form. This week we’ll sample some of his 104 symphonies, following their development from modest orchestral pieces to expressions of wit, humor, and drama.
Week of July 19, 2021 - Operetta One In all the years exploring music together, we’ve covered Wagner’s massive Ring Cycle, sampled some big Verdi operas, and heard waltzes from Johann Strauss and Franz Lehár, but we’ve never explored the world of operetta. We know that not everyone can agree on what makes one piece an operetta and another one an opera, or a Singspiel, or a musical, but it always comes down to getting to listen to beautiful music! Join us as we listen to The Beggar’s Opera by John Gay; Tales of Hoffmann from Jacques Offenbach; plus, other gems new to us from Michael William Balfe and "the French Mozart” François-Adrien Boieldieu.
Week of July 26, 2021 - Voices from the East With mechanical consistency, a lone bell creates a meditative sound. Very slowly, strings begin shimmering through the image by playing canonic scales. This Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten, written by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, will be the first piece we hear in this week’s program Voices from the East. Throughout the week, our musical journey brings us to composers that were born in the most northern of the Baltic states; in Tschistapol, on the banks of the Kama river in western Russia; and in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia in the middle of the Caucasus Mountains: Arvo Pärt, Sofia Gubaïdulina and Giya Kancheli.
