November 17, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 17, 2007 at 12:01 AM
CBC Radio 2's flagship live classical music performance show is Sunday Afternoon In Concert. Funny, every time the expression "flagship" pops up in this context I picture some massive ocean going vessel transporting whole orchestras, choirs, maybe a dozen chamber ensembles. But that's beside the point, really.
What is the point is what they are broadcasting this Sunday, and it looks like a nice lineup. From the Scotia Festival of Music, Anonymous 4, four women who perform chants and songs from a rare illuminated manuscript that was recently rediscovered -- choral music has not been performed in over four hundred and fifty years. Musicologist Jennifer Bain transcribed the music for the performance, and the manuscript itself is undergoing conservation work in Ottawa. Host Bill Richardson finds out about the history of the score -- and how it came to Halifax.
Then, from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, a performance of Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird, among other selections.
And a visit from the indefatigable Alex Ross, music critic for New Yorker magazine, whose recently published book The Rest is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century seems to be knocking everyone's socks off.
November 10, 2007
Posted by Li Robbins on November 10, 2007 at 12:00 AM
This week's episode of Sunday Afternoon in Concert features Canadian composers from the turn of the (last) century, the TSO with Stravinsky's Rite Of Spring, and a premiere of Bramwell Tovey's Fugitive Voices. (I almost said "Pieces," interesting how deeply a well chosen name can sink into one's subconscious.) And here are the details on all the above:
First, those turn-of-the-century composers. Conductor Alain Trudel and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra unearth several art songs by four Canadian composers. (Well, not literally, I don't think. The 20th century hasn't quite gone to ground, yet.) Anyway, the featured soloists are bass Robert Pomakov and mezzo soprano Patricia Green, performing songs by Guillaume Couture, Charles Harriss, Gena Branscombe and Ernest Lavigne. Both vocalists are also heard in music by Shostakovich, from his Symphony No. 14, a song cycle that draws on different poets' views of death.
Then the Toronto Symphony Orchestra performs Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, the work that sent them screaming from the hall in Paris, back in 1913, with its startling choreography and what at the time were considered brutally primitive rhythms. Seems funny to view it in that context today, nearly a century later, when it is such a standard part of the repertoire. Perhaps this gives current, daring composers hope?
And finally, from the Sweetwater Music Weekend, which sounds like it should be held somewhere in the deep south, but is held in Owen Sound, Ontario, the premiere of Bramwell Tovey's Fugitive Voices. And in fact Owen Sound very much figures into this work -- it was inspired by the town's role as the northern-most terminus on the Underground Railroad.
All in an afternoon, Sunday afternoon.
November 04, 2007
Posted by on November 4, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Much music on Sunday Afternoon In Concert today, including the delightfully named Let's Hear It For Haydn, a celebratory concert of (quelle suprise!) music by Haydn, conducted by Alain Trudel leading the CBC Radio Orchestra.
The line up: two of the 104 symphonies that Haydn composed in his lifetime, plus music inspired by Haydn, from the pens of Johannes Brahms and Alfred Schnittke.
There's also a performance from the Sweetwater Music Weekend in Owen Sound, Ontario featuring one of the instruments that Haydn particularly loved -- the Baryton. Don't know the Baryton? Don't feel bad, it hasn't been in vogue since the 18th century.
Of the existing repertoire for the Baryton, the best known works are the 175 compositions written by Joseph Haydn for his patron, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, who enjoyed playing this instrument. (Seems the perfect instrument for a patron to play, somehow.)
And finally... Sunday Aft. host Bill Richardson meets the fully grown children of "father of the Twelve-Tone Row," Arnold Schoenberg.
October 26, 2007
Posted by on October 26, 2007 at 11:32 AM
Last week Sunday Afternoon In Concert broadcast Maurice Ravel's "crescendo for orchestra," a.k.a. the Bolero -- this week they have a raft of great music on the show, including music from Kiri Te Kanawa's farewell tour. I'll have more on what's coming up Sunday soon, but back to Bolero for a sec.
Came across this version by Stringfever, who call themselves the world's first "genetically modified string quartet," and it has to be seen to be believed -- four brothers playing the piece on one instrument.
October 24, 2007
Posted by on October 24, 2007 at 12:01 PM
Quite a lineup today on Sunday Afternoon In Concert, as members of the National Arts Centre Orchestra are joined by tenor Ben Heppner and soprano Erin Wall, with the music of Mozart, Massenet and others. These performances are from NACO's celebratory gala concert, held in September.
Also on the bill, the NACO and conductor Pinchas Zukerman welcome 20-year-old-piano sensation Yuja Wang, in a performance of Edvard Grieg's popular Piano Concerto In A Minor.
And some music a few of you have asked after, as in WHEN will it be on the air? Well, the moment has arrived, as Vancouver bids farewell to one of the world’s most luminous voices, soprano Kiri Te Kanawa, from the Chan Centre in Vancouver as part of her around-the-world farewell tour.
October 23, 2007
Posted by on October 23, 2007 at 01:30 PM
The other day someone asked:
"When is the Kiri Te Kanawa concert on Bill Richardson's new program? How can a get a weekly schedule of what is on his program?"
The answer, courtesy of the helpful and very busy producers at Sunday Afternoon In Concert:
The concert has been rescheduled to the coming week (Oct 27th), and the show's updatable website, on the Radio 2 page, is close to being ready -- that is where you'll be able to get the info. So please stay tuned, and thanks for your patience.
October 21, 2007
Posted by on October 21, 2007 at 12:00 PM
In case you missed this earlier post about what's coming up on Sunday Afternoon In Concert, here's the reprise! Today, some of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's season opener, with the Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin, by Richard Wagner, and Maurice Ravel's "crescendo for orchestra," a.k.a. the Bolero.
Continue reading "Sunday Aft Reminder" »
Posted by on October 21, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Sunday Afternoon In Concert broadcasts some of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's season opener today, with the Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin, by Richard Wagner, and Maurice Ravel's "crescendo for orchestra," a.k.a. the Bolero -- to a full house, the concert was sold out. And with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and Canadian Children's Opera Chorus on stage there were something like 300 performers! A very big show indeed.
Bolero Trivia Bulletin: Ravel himself called the work “a special and limited experiment.” (And there you thought I was going to say something about Bo and her cornrows, no, I wouldn't stoop that low.)
But on with the big show. There's also a behind-the-scenes look at the renowned Shanghai Quartet preparing for an appearance at the Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival in St. John's, Newfoundland. Selections include Tchaikovsky's string sextet Souvenir de Florence, and Schumann's Piano Quintet, with pianist Timothy Steeves.
And one last highlight to mention -- you can also hear Karina Gauvin from the 2007 Opera Canada Awards.
There you have it. Sunday afternoon. All afternoon long.
October 14, 2007
Posted by on October 14, 2007 at 12:05 PM
In case you missed this earlier, which well you may have, given the rapid scrolling of the blog, not to mention time passing...here is a handy reprise. This week, Sunday Afternoon In Concert, (which airs from 1pm to 5pm), finds host Bill Richardson exploring some music from Western Canada. For choral music fans -- a major highlight is a live broadcast of the finalists in the prestigious European Choral competition, Let The Peoples Sing.
In radio-ese, there are two kinds of "lives," live-to-tape ("tape" being one of those quaint terms from bygone, horse-and-buggy days), and live-to-air, happening in real time. Sunday Aft's broadcast of the choral competition is in the latter category -- you'll hear two Western Canadian choirs who are finalists -- as they actually perform in the competition.
Also from Winnipeg, the gala 60th anniversary concert by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the first orch. to play symphonic music live for a young Bill Richardson. (Don't know the details of that encounter, but I'm betting/hoping he might tell us today on the radio.)
And a final highlight to point out -- you can also hear the man sometimes known as The Pride of Brandon, a.k.a. violinist James Ehnes, conducting the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra in two Mozart Violin Concertos.
Posted by on October 14, 2007 at 12:00 AM
'Tis the second week of broadcasts for the three new shows on CBC Radio 2. Last week's debuts went handily, from what I heard in between token efforts to help with a Thanksgiving dinner at another family member's home. Excellent sweet-potato pie, and the music was good too.
This week, Sunday Afternoon In Concert, (which airs from 1pm to 5pm), finds host Bill Richardson exploring some music from Western Canada. For choral music fans -- a major highlight is a live broadcast of the finalists in the prestigious European Choral competition, Let The Peoples Sing.
In radio-ese, there are two kinds of "lives," live-to-tape ("tape" being one of those quaint terms from bygone, horse-and-buggy days), and live-to-air, happening in real time. Sunday Aft's broadcast of the choral competition is in the latter category -- you'll hear two Western Canadian choirs who are finalists -- as they actually perform in the competition.
Also from Winnipeg, the gala 60th anniversary concert by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the first orch. to play symphonic music live for a young Bill Richardson. (Don't know the details of that encounter, but I'm betting/hoping he might tell us today on the radio.)
And a final highlight to point out -- you can also hear the man sometimes known as The Pride of Brandon, a.k.a. violinist James Ehnes, conducting the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra in two Mozart Violin Concertos.
October 13, 2007
Posted by on October 13, 2007 at 08:25 AM
This week, Sunday Afternoon In Concert, (which airs from 1pm to 5pm), finds host Bill Richardson exploring some music from Western Canada. For choral music fans -- a major highlight is a live broadcast of the finalists in the prestigious European Choral competition, Let The Peoples Sing.
Also from Winnipeg, the gala 60th anniversary concert by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the first orch. to play symphonic music live for a young Bill Richardson. (Don't know the details of that encounter, but I'm betting/hoping he might tell us today on the radio.)
And a final highlight to point out -- you can also hear the man sometimes known as The Pride of Brandon, a.k.a. violinist James Ehnes, conducting the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra in two Mozart Violin Concertos.
October 07, 2007
Posted by on October 7, 2007 at 11:30 AM
For its premiere edition, Sunday Afternoon In Concert (a.k.a. Sunday Aft, since I think that looks nicer than "SAIC"), hosted by Bill Richardson, features a concert from Iqaluit with the CBC Radio Orchestra, a world premiere of a piece written by Winnipeg composer Jim Hiscott for button accordian and chamber orchestra.
You may have heard Jim Hiscott's work before on CBC, and if you have you'll know he's written some wonderful music for accordion (he's also an accordion player himself) as well as other "folk" instruments. He has a great sense of how "folk" instruments and sometimes folk themes, can work so beautifully in contemporary classical music.
Also on today's show, recitals by pianists Louie Lortie, Andre LaPlante and Marc-Andre Hamelin, from the Glenn Gould Studio.
But wait, there's more! A documentary about Glenn Gould's spiritual home, Uptergrove, Ont, which includes conversation with people having lunch next to the statue of Glenn Gould outside the Toronto Broadcast centre.
(I love watching people see that statue for the first time. You just know that some, at a glance, think that's a real person sitting there.)
Hope you enjoy the first broadcast of Sunday Aft.
October 06, 2007
Posted by on October 6, 2007 at 10:21 AM
This Sunday there are three new shows launching on Radio 2. In chronological order: In The Key Of Charles, from 10-noon, Inside The Music, until 1pm, and then the four-hour classical music performance show, Sunday Afternoon In Concert. I've yet to blog about Inside The Music -- and wanted to take a few minutes to let you know what you can expect.
Continue reading "Inside The Music With Patti Schmidt Launches Sunday" »
October 05, 2007
Posted by on October 5, 2007 at 01:30 PM
You may have heard, on air, or on ye olde blogge, that there are three new shows launching this weekend. Including the new flagship CBC R2 live classical music performance show, Sunday Afternoon in Concert, hosted by Bill Richardson. The show is broadcast from 1pm until 5pm, (thus the name), and is going to have a lot of very fine music, and conversation about music.
For its premiere edition, Sunday Aft (I think that's going to become it's blog nickname, unless you can think of something better) you can hear a four-hour classical music extravaganza that features a concert from Iqaluit with the CBC Radio Orchestra, featuring a world premiere of a piece written by Winnipeg composer Jim Hiscott for button accordion and chamber orchestra.
I don't know if you're familiar with Jim Hiscott's work, but he's written some wonderful music for accordion (he is an accordion player himself, and has performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra), as well as other instruments of course. But I really like his sense of how "folk" instruments and sometimes "folk" themes, can work so beautifully in contemporary classical music.
Continue reading "Sunday Afternoon In Concert Debuts On (Naturally) Sunday!" »
October 04, 2007
Posted by on October 4, 2007 at 02:58 AM
Consider this the first heads up! CBC R2's new flagship live classical music performance show, Sunday Afternoon in Concert, hosted by Bill Richardson debuts this weekend. The show is broadcast from 1pm until 5pm, (not 4pm, as was previously advertised) and for its premiere edition, you can hear a four-hour classical music extravaganza that includes a concert from Iqaluit with the CBC Radio Orchestra, featuring a world premiere of a piece written by Winnipeg composer Jim Hiscott for button accordian and chamber orchestra.
As well, three stellar recitals from the Variations On Gould series, by pianists Louie Lortie, Andre LaPlante and Marc-Andre Hamelin, from the Glenn Gould Studio.
As for the listener, what kind of experience will it be? A rich and varied one, judging from the first show line-up, and potentially a quite moving one as well. We'll laugh, we'll cry, we'll...actually, I don't know whether or not we'll laugh, cry etc. etc., but I do know that as Bill Richardson is involved, it will not be dull. Other known quantity? There will be plenty of good music.
More on this and the other two new shows in the days to come...
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