October 29 Anna Russell's Facade
"My voice has been variously described as sounding like shattering glass or a cracked temple bell!" - Anna Russell, La Scena Musicale



Anna Russell, one of Canada's musical treasures is celebrated this week on Westcoast Performance. Russell recently passed away at her home in Australia. She was 94. WCP revisits a CBC Radio Orchestra studio session from 1984. Russell performs William Walton's Facade under the direction of Maestro Mario Bernardi musicians Ian Hampton, Kathleen Rudolph, Michael Borschel, Jerold Gerbrecht, Tony Nickels and Don Adams.

Declared, the "funniest woman alive," Russell's musical parodies were influenced by her rich musical education. She was a composition and piano student of both Ralph Vaughan Williams and Arthur Benjamin. But she often made fun of her voice. Among her many books on music is the self-deprecating "The Power of Being a Positive Stinker - A Practical Guide on How to Inspire Nobody."

This broadcast will include Anna Russells telling of her experience of attending the public premiere of Facade at the Aeolian Hall in London in 1923.
Facade Texts

October 22 Contemporary music from the Yarilo Ensemble


A brand new work commissioned by CBC radio is featured. Roussi Tarmakov's "Wine, Candlelight, and Hot Chili Peppers" mingles virtuosic piano music with folky rhythms and percussion inspired by his country of birth, Bulgaria. Also on the bill music by Bartok and Lutoslawski (by way of Paganini)performed by Anna Levy, Jane Hayes, Vern Griffiths, and Salvador Ferreras.

October 15 Cuban salsa from d'Talle




October 8

Did you know Mozart had a fascination with Turkey? No, not the gobble, gobble kind. The one with Istanbul in it! Well this week on Westcoast Performance Robert Silverman performs Mozart's Piano Sonata, K331. It includes the famous Alla Turca movement. And as a bit of a twist, Vern Griffiths joins him on percussion in that movement. It's a piano sonata with a twist.
Also on the show, Mozart's Quintet for Piano and Winds performed by Kenneth Broadway with members of the VSO wind section and Van Django pays musical hommage to the birthday boy in a track off of their brand new disc, Tiptoe Trip.
Mozart with Turkey but no gravy this Thanksgiving Sunday at 12:06 on CBC Radio 2.


October 1 The Bills recorded live at CBC Radio's Sounds Like Summer at the Steveston Salmon Festival.
Check out their BC tour schedule here


September 24
Back on January 27 we had a 12 hour Mozart marathon called Mozart Noon and Night.

I think it's high time we start rolling out a few more of those hours onto WCP.

This Sunday we'll do just that. And it's an interesting one. We called it "Mozartica Intima" because we featured the amazing 12 voices of musica intima. Composer and music commentator Rodney Sharman joined us for help interpreting Mozart's crass canons.

Not only did Rodney tell us about the music, he also helped translate some of the texts. Here's an example, "Oh, You're Such a Jackass, Martin".

For more information on who's been on WCP, look in Past Shows.

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