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Compact Discoveries Program Descriptions
in numerical order as of August 5, 2008
Click on the title to link to the complete script. Click
on LISTEN NOW! to listen to the program at PRX.org. All programs are
not yet available for streaming on demand, but we're working towards
that goal!
1
Brazilian Beats
The catchy tunes and foot-stompin, rhythms of Brazilian tangos,
waltzes and other dances composed by Nazareth, da Arbeau, Villa-Lobos
and even Frenchman Darius Milhaud. Performances by Brazilian pianist
Arthur Moreira Lima, classical flutist Paula Robison, guitarist
Michael Cedric Smith, and Leonard Bernstein conducting the French
National Orchestra. Listen Now!
2
Discs for Dishwashing
Fred Flaxman attempts to turn dishwashing from a chore into, well,
almost a pleasure, with his selection of appropriate music which
can be enjoyed to the accompaniment of the rattle of pots and
pans. The program includes Handel's Water Music,
"Mack
the Knife" from Kurt Weil's The Threepenny Opera,
Victor Herbert's Pan Americana, and other tunes
which relate
by a very far stretch of the imagination to that necessary daily
task. This is definitely a light approach to serious music! Listen Now!
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3
The
Tune That Drove Composers Wild (Part 1)
In 1820 an Italian violinist, unknown outside of his native country
at the time, published a tune that was destined to drive audiences
-- and composers -- wild ever since. His name: Niccolo Paganini.
The piece: the last of 24 caprices for solo violin. In this hour
Fred Flaxman plays the original Paganini caprice plus variations
on the theme by Liszt, Brahms, Szymanowski and Rachmaninov. Listen Now!
4
The
Tune That Drove Composers Wild (Part 2)
So many variations by so many composers were written on Paganini's
original theme, Fred Flaxman couldn't fit even the most famous
such works in one hour. So the theme continues in this program
with very interesting, unusual, tuneful variations by Boris Blacher,
Witold Lutoslowski, and Cats composer Andrew Lloyd
Webber. Listen Now!
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5
The First Gershwin
The 19th Century Creole New Orleans composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk
-- not George Gershwin -- was the first American composer to combine
Afro-American rhythms with classical European forms. His delightful
Creole- and Caribbean-influenced fantasies for piano and orchestra
are featured. Performances by pianists Philip Martin and Eugene
List, and the Utah Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maurice Abravanel. Listen Now!
6
The
French Gershwin
The jazz-classical suites of Claude Bolling, featuring flutist
Jean-Pierre Rampal, guitarist Alexandre Lagoya, violinist Pinchas
Zukerman, pianist Emmanuel Ax, cellist Yo Yo Ma and trumpeter
Maurice André accompanying Bolling's jazz trio. Listen Now!
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7
The
Cuban Gershwin
Virtually everyone 60 years or older has heard of the piano piece
Malagueña, but not one out of 100 could
name the
composer. Well, it's by Ernesto Lecuona. The Cuban composer, like
his contemporary, George Gershwin, wrote popular music and tried
his hand successfully at longer forms. Thanks to the Swedish company,
BIS, several volumes of Ernesto Lecuona: the Complete Piano
Music, are now available. Fred Flaxman presents highlights
from these albums as well as an historical release on RCA Victor
which features the composer playing his own compositions. Listen Now!
8
The Next Gershwin?
Paul Schoenfield's music mixes Broadway with Jewish folk, jazz,
blues, Dixieland, contemporary, classical, romantic and circus
styles. This program features recordings of his exciting, melodious,
highly charged, rhythmic pieces: Vaudeville, Four Parables
and Café Music. Listen Now!
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9 Best Music for Back Rubs
The music selected should reflect the type and style of backrub
desired, the mood of the back rubber and rubbee, and the time
of day that it is to be administered. This program's different
strokes for different folks includes Carl Orff's Carmina
Burana
(for those who like to be sat on, pounded with fists and pushed
in with great force from above) and Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight
of the Bumblebee (for those who prefer more of a tickle than
a rub). Listen Now!
10
Fauré's Fiascoes
Did Fauré have any idea how to play his own Barcarolle
No. 1 in A Minor? This gem is followed by the composer's Elégie
for Cello and Orchestra, Pavane and his Sonata
in
A for Violin and Piano. The program's title refers not to
Fauré's music, but to his love life. Listen Now!
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11
Radio Revisited
A return to the yesteryears of radio, when a generation of Americans
was introduced to classical music via the theme songs of The
Lone Ranger, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, The Shadow and
other programs. Clips from the original radio programs show how
the music was used. The music includes Rezniceck's Donna
Diana
Overture, Rossini's William Tell Overture
and Lizst's
Les Préludes. Listen Now!
12
Crazy about Kalinnikov
Kalinnikov's two symphonies should be as popular as those of
Tchaikovsky.
But they are not. You'll want to correct this situation, at least
in your own home, when you hear these performances by the Scottish
National Orchestra conducted by Neeme Järvi and the USSR
Symphony conducted by Evgueni Svetlanov. Listen Now!
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13
Leroy Anderson's Clever Musical Miniatures
Live long enough and the popular music of your youth becomes the
classical music of today. Witness the clever orchestral miniatures
of Leroy Anderson, the once-popular American composer who is now
listed in the classical music catalogs. This program takes a new
look at The Syncopated Clock, Sleigh Ride, The Typewriter Song
and other Anderson favorites, as well as his rarely-performed
Concerto in C for Piano & Orchestra. [You'll find another hour of this composer's music on Program 142.] Listen Now!
14
All About Alkan
A search for the theme song to Alfred Hitchcock Presents
leads by mistake to the discovery of the French composer Charles
Valentin Alkan. The music includes his parody, the Funeral
March on the Death of a Parrot, as well as Charles Gounod's
Funeral March of a Marionette (the actual Hitchcock
theme).
Also featured are excerpts from the Concerto for Solo Piano
performed by Marc-André Hamelin. Listen Now!
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15
Favorite Funeral Music
Music lovers can make the task of writing their last will and
testament far more interesting by naming the musical selections
they would like to be played at their funeral. Schubert's Death
and the Maiden string quartet might be appropriate for some,
but Fred Flaxman chooses piano pieces he never managed to play
well while still alive, played (by more gifted pianists) as he
would have liked to play them. Listen Now!
16
Hats Off to Coates
The music of English composer Eric Coates, including movements
from The London Suite, The London Again Suite, and
The
Three Bears Fantasy. The program also includes the Forsyte
Saga theme from The Three Elizabeths Suite
and By
the Sleepy Lagoon, the theme song of the BBC's "Desert
Island Discs." Listen Now!
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17
Music for Halloween (Pledge Event Version)
Host Fred Flaxman attempts to scare listeners into contributing
to their local public radio station during their Fall membership
drives. Music includes "Fossils" from The Carnival
of the Animals and Danse macabre by
Saint-Saëns;
A Night on Bald Mountain by Mussorgsky; The
Sorcerer's
Apprentice by Dukas and a snippet of The Isle of
the Dead
by Rachmaninov. Listen Now!
18
In
Praise of Poulenc
Was Francis Poulenc a great composer? If, by great, you mean a
composer who creates a significant body of music which is truly
original, full of memorable melodies, with unique harmonies and
colorful, captivating orchestration, the French composer would
certainly qualify. Examples of his art presented here include
"Le Lion Amoureux" from Les Animaux Modèles;
his piano concerto; and his Concerto for Two Pianos and
Orchestra. Listen Now!
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19
Aaron Copland: The
Brooklyn Cowboy
Aaron Copland talked with a Brooklyn accent and composed with
a Western touch. In addition to Appalachian Spring, El Salon
Mexico, and Fanfare for the Common Man,
this program
includes an excerpt from an interview with the composer. Listen Now!
20
Controversial Comrade Kabalevsky
With the fall of communism in the Soviet Union and the demise
of atonal elitism in the West, Fred Flaxman takes a new look at
this major 20th Century Russian composer, and a new listen to
his music. Compositions played include his romantic and tuneful
first violin concerto, the Overture to Colas Breugnon,
and the Comedians. Listen Now!
21
Viva Villa-Lobos!
The Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos was so prolific, one
needs a guide to pick out the real gems of his output. Fred Flaxman
volunteers and presents his listeners with the hauntingly lyrical
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 for soprano and cellos;
the
melodious, rhythmic, catchy, unforgettable, Brazilian-to-the-core
Choros No. 1 for guitar, and the dynamic, tuneful,
rhythmic
First Piano Concerto.
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22
Music
for Hanukkah?
What is appropriate music for Hanukkah? Host Fred Flaxman chooses
Ravel's Chanson hébraïque;
"This Land
is Mine" from the movie Exodus; the "Finale"
from Live in the Fiddler's House, with Itzhak
Perlman as
the violinist; harpist Rachel Van Voorhees playing My Little
Dreydl, Candles Burning, Hanukkah, and Rock of Ages;
Krein's Esquisses hébraïques;
Levenson's Two
Jewish Folk Songs; and klezmer music by Klezamir. Listen Now!
23
Schubert's Tuneful Chamber Music
Schubert was one of the greatest melody writers of all time. If
you don't believe that, just tune in for this hour of proof. It
includes the Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano in A Minor.
As an additional bonus, you'll find out what an arpeggione is
and why you'll hear this piece played on a cello instead.
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24
Wagner Without Words
This program is aimed particularly at people who enjoy classical
music, but who don't care for opera and can't stand, in particular,
the long, heavy, highly Germanic operas of Richard Wagner. The
overtures, preludes and incidental music to those operas contain
many of the best melodies from those works without any of the
words. The program will include the "Prélude &
Liebestod" from Tristan und Isolde, the
"Prélude
to Act III" of Lohengrin and some music Wagner
wrote
that wasn't for any of his operas.
25 A Symphony for Santa Claus
Featured is the Santa Claus Symphony by William
Henry Fry,
the first native-born American to compose for large symphonic
forces. Tony Rowe conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra
in this world-premiere recording. Listen Now!
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26
Neglected Saint-Saëns
It is ironic that the most famous piece written by French composer
Camille Saint-Saëns was his musical joke, The
Carnival
of the Animals. Ironic because, except for the section called
"The Swan," he withdrew the piece after just a few performances
and wouldn't allow it to be published until after his death. He
didn't want this auditory burlesque to interfere with his reputation
as a serious composer. Unfortunately, some of the composer's most
beautiful works are still rarely heard by comparison to The
Carnival. But they will be featured in this hour, including
the Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, the Piano Concerto No. 2
in G Minor, and the symphonic poem Phaëton. Listen Now!
27
Love Music, Part 1 Classical love music
includes Josef Suk's "Song of Love,"
Prokofiev's march from "The Love for Three Oranges,"
Khrennikov's "Love for Love" ballet suite, and Grieg's
song "Jeg elsker Dig." Love music by George Gershwin
concludes the program. Gershwin himself tells the story behind
the failure-turned-success of "The Man I Love." Listen Now!
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28
Love Music, Part 2 Fred Flaxman presents
popular love music by George Gershwin,
Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, the theme from "Love Story"
by Francis Lai, Sammy Fain's "Love is a Many Splendored Thing,"
"Creole Love Call" with the Comedy Harmonists, and more.
Artists include Michael Rose and the WXEL Orchestra, Christiane
Noll, Kiri Te Kanawa, Ivy Austin, and the Cincinnati Pops conducted
by Erich Kunzel. Listen Now!
29
Variations on Very Familiar Tunes Fred
Flaxman brings you "Happy Birthday Variations"
by Peter Heidrich, "Variations on Auld Lang Syne" by
Franz Waxman, "Variations on a Nursery Song" ("Twinkle
Twinkle Little Star") by Ernst von Dohnányi, and "McMozart's
Eine Kleine Bricht Moonlicht Musik" by Teddy Bor. Listen Now!
30
Ravel: The Composer as Pianist and Conductor Maurice
Ravel plays his own compositions: "Valses nobles
et sentimentales," "Sonatine," "Pavane pour
une infante défunte," and conducts his most famous
piece, "Boléro." Listen Now!
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31
A Gershwin Tribute
Fred Flaxman takes us back in time to July 10, 1938, and we listen
to a memorial broadcast honoring George Gershwin on the eve of
the first anniversary of his death. It features Jane Froman, Felix
Knight, Sonny Schuyler and the Victor Salon Group, conducted by
Nathaniel Shilkret. We also hear Al Jolson singing Gershwin's
first hit, "Swanee," and an excerpt from Gershwin himself
playing his "Rhapsody in Blue" with Paul Whiteman and
His Orchestra. Listen Now!
32
Movie Concertos Fred Flaxman presents the
most famous of the mini piano concertos
written especially for the movies, mostly in the 1940s: Richard
Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto, the Cornish
Rhapsody
by Hubert Bath, the Swedish Rhapsody by Charles
Wildman,
Miklos Rozsa's Spellbound Concerto, George
Gershwin's New
York Rhapsody, and others. The Cuban-American pianist
Santiago
Rodriguez performs with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra conducted
by William Hudson. Listen Now!
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33
One-Hit American Composers Fred Flaxman
presents the biggest hits of four American composers
who only had one big hit: Morton Gould's American Salute,
Edward MacDowell's Piano Concerto No. 2 in D Minor,
Walter
Piston's The Incredible Flutist, and an excerpt
from Virgil
Thomson's The Plow that Broke the Plains. Listen Now!
34
More One-Hit American Composers Howard
Hanson's Romantic Symphony, Samuel Barber's Adagio
for Strings, and excerpts from Ferde Grofé's Grand
Canyon Suite are featured. Listen Now!
35
One-Hit French Composers Featured are
Emmanuel Chabrier's España, Vincent
d'Indy's Symphony on a French Mountaineer's Song,
and an
excerpt from Canteloube's one masterwork, Songs of the
Auvergne. Listen Now!
36
Good
Old-Time Music by Vieuxtemps Vieuxtemps
means "old times" in French, and the 19th
Century Belgian violinist Henri Vieuxtemps composed seven old-time
romantic violin concertos worthy of his name. Fred Flaxman features
the fourth and fifth concertos in this program, both performed
by Itzhak Perlman with the Orchestre de Paris conducted by Daniel
Barenboim, plus Vieuxtemps, humorous variations on Yankee
Doodle. Listen Now!
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37
The Birds and the Bees Fred Flaxman's
sexiest program yet. It includes The Birds
by Respighi; The Wasps and The Lark Ascending by
Vaughan-Williams; The
Bees by Barrios, and two versions of The Flight of the Bumblebee by
Rimsky-Korsakov. Listen Now!
38
Summer Music Cool off with Summer
Nights (Les Nuits d,Été)
by Berlioz, Summertime by Gershwin, "Summer"
from The Four Seasons by Vivaldi (in a version for
harp
and orchestra), Alvén's Midsummer Vigil
(in a version
by the composer for piano, four hands), the theme from Summer
of '42 by Michel Legrand, and the theme from A
Summer Place
by Max Steiner. Listen Now!
39
Leftover Birds Fred Flaxman's previous
program on "The Birds and the
Bees" turned up so much terrific bird music, he decided to
do another hour of "Leftover Birds." Included: At
the Chicken Chaser's Ball with the Royal City Saxophone
Quartet...
hens, roosters, cuckoos and aviaries from The Carnival of the
Animals by Saint-Saëns (Program 41 is devoted
entirely to "Swan Songs"!)... Dave Brubeck's Strange
Meadow Lark...Tchaikovsky's Song of the Lark...Hoagie
Carmichael's Skylark... and music by Glinka, Liszt,
Mouquet
and others. Listen Now!
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40
Music
of "Rospighi" To create the ballet music
for La Boutique Fantasque
(The Fantastic Toyshop), Ottorino Respighi
orchestrated
piano pieces written by the famous opera composer Giacomo Rossini
as part of his Sins of Old Age. Respighi
orchestrated other
Rossini piano pieces into a suite called Rossiniana.
These
delightful combinations of compositions by Rossini and Respighi
constitute what Fred Flaxman calls the music of "Rospighi."
The pianist is Paolo Giacometti, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra
is led by Antonio Janigro. Listen Now!
41
Swan Songs This hour, devoted entirely to
music inspired by swans, includes
a suite from the ballet Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky, The
Swan of Tuonela by Sibelius, and several versions of "The
Swan" from The Carnival of the Animals by
Saint-Saëns. Listen Now!
42
Sullivan Without Gilbert Sir
Arthur Sullivan is famous for his collaborations with W.S.
Gilbert on a series of highly successful operettas. But he did
write other music as well. Fred Flaxman presents Sullivan's Overture
di Ballo, his Cello Concerto and excerpts
from his
ballet, L'Ile Enchantée. Listen Now!
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43
From Borodin to Broadway The
Broadway musical Kismet was based on themes of the
Russian composer Alexandr Borodin. In this hour Fred Flaxman presents
songs from the musical paired with the Borodin originals. Listen Now!
44 Name
That Tune! [no script available to prevent cheating!] This
is the first and, so far, only Compact Discoveries quiz, so get out
your pen and paper and try to name the composer and composition
for each of the ten delightful selections you will hear in this
hour. Compact discs will be awarded to the winners. Listen Now!
45
Musical Gardens Fred Flaxman presents In
a Monestary Garden by Ketèlbey,
Country Gardens by Grainger, The Flowers
by Sibelius,
and Chrysanthemums by Pucinni, along with
butterflies by
Grieg and Lavallée and bees by Mendelssohn and
Rimsky-Korsakov. Listen Now!
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46
Music for Insomniacs Pieces selected to
help people fall asleep. WARNING: Do
not drive and listen to this program at the same time! Music
includes Satie's Gymnopédie
No. 1, Vaughan-Williams'
Fantasia on Greensleeves, Albinoni's Adagio
for Strings,
and Tchaikovsky's Andante Cantabile. Listen Now!
47
Classical Kids Piano music inspired by
children, including Debussy's Children's
Corner Suite, Schumann's Kinderszenen (Scenes
from
Childhood), Fauré's Dolly Suite,
and Poldini's
Poupée valsante (Waltzing Doll). Listen Now!
48
The
End Fred Flaxman presents particularly
interesting, exciting and
unusual endings of classical music pieces. These include the final
moments of Mahler's Song of Lament and his Symphony
No. 6, Malcolm Arnold's A Grand, Grand Overture,
Stravinsky's
The Rite of Spring, Dvorak's Symphony No. 9,
Rachmaninov's
Piano Concerto No. 2 and his Variations on
a Theme by
Paganini, Ives' Symphony No. 2, and
Poulenc's Dialogues
of the Carmelites. Listen Now!
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49
Opus
1 A program of first published
compositions by Rachmaninov, Chopin,
Grieg and others -- their Opus 1. Listen Now!
50
Joaquín Nin The father of
writer Anaïs Nin was a modern day "Don
Juan" whose scandal-plagued life eclipsed his melodic, rhythmic,
folksy piano compositions. Pianist Thomas Tirino's new CD of Nin's
complete works for solo piano is featured. Listen Now!
51
Vocalise Variations
Fred Flaxman presents vocal, instrumental, choral and orchestral
transcriptions of one of Rachmaninov's most beautiful melodies. Listen Now!
52
Tyzen Hsiao, the Chinese Rachmaninov The highly romantic
violin and cello concertos of the contemporary Taiwanese
composer Tyzen Hsiao successfully mix Chinese folk melodies with
Western classical music. Listen Now!
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53
Chamber Music Palm Beach Highlights from the group's first four compact discs. Music include's Poulenc's Perpetual Motion, Turina's Toreador's Prayer, Lalo's Aubade No. 2, the third movement from McAlister's Lou's Mountain Bread, the opening movement from Malcolm Arnold's Trio, Paladilhe's Danse noble, the allegretto movement from Martinu's Nonet, two movements from Pierné's Royal Court Ballet, a Divertissement by Samazeuilh, and Deux Mouvements by Ibert. Listen Now!
54
From Norway to Broadway The music
of Edvard Grieg as turned into the Broadway musical
"Song of Norway." The Grieg originals include Norwegian
Dance No. 2, the Waltz from Lyric
Pieces, Book 1,
Notturno from the Lyric Suite,
and To Spring
from Lyric Pieces, Book 3. The Broadway songs
include Strange
Music, Hymn of Betrothal, and Freddy and His Fiddle. Listen Now!
55
James Brooks-Bruzzese The recordings of
the conductor of the Symphony of the Americas,
based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, are featured. Maestro
Brooks-Bruzzese
conducts the Hungarian Virtuosi in Tchaikovsky's Serenade for
Strings, Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances,
and Elgar's
Serenade for Strings. He conducts the Xalapa
Symphony Orchestra
of Mexico for Gershwin's I Got Rhythm and Kander
and Ebb's
Cabaret. Listen Now!
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56
Symphonic Klezmer Producer/presenter Fred Flaxman presents two lively, tuneful, fun works by Canadian composers -- the Suite for Klezmer Band and Orchestra by Sid Robinovitch and The Old Toronto Klezmer Suite by Srul Irving Glick -- and "Klezmers" from the Vaudeville suite by the American composer Paul Schoenfield. Listen Now!
57
The Buster Walk Jamboree A personal look
at melodious memories from an imaginary radio
series. Music includes a suite from Oklahoma! and
easy-to-play
piano pieces by Clementi and Kuhlau. The program opens with an
essay on what Fred Flaxman learned about life from his childhood
dog. Listen Now!
58
Richard Strauss, Homebreaker Producer/guide Fred Flaxman presents the music of Richard Strauss
for people who don't like the music of Richard Strauss. The music
includes early piano pieces played by Glenn Gould and the orchestral
waltzes from Der Rosenkavalier. Listen Now!
59
Richard Strauss, Orchestrator Producer/guide Fred Flaxman presents some of Richard Strauss' greatest tunes:
Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Don Juan, and Burleske. Listen Now!
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60
How to Get Kids into Classical Strictly
forbid it in your home and they'll listen to it in
secret every chance they get. If that doesn't work, Fred Flaxman
has some suggestions for classical music that might appeal to
them. Listen Now!
61
Swingin' Classics Fred Flaxman explores
Big Band-era music based on classical
themes. Works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Khachaturian, Rimsky-Korsakoff
and Weber are interpreted by Glenn Miller, Freddy Martin, Alvino
Rey, Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey.
62
From Classics to Carmen Cavallaro Original
and jazz interpretations of works by Mozart, Beethoven,
Chopin, Brahms, Badarzewska and Sarasate. Listen Now!
63
Classic Ellington Duke Ellington's jazz
interpretations of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker
Suite and Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite No. 1
are interposed
with the Tchaikovsky and Grieg originals.
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64
Music
for Autumn The program includes "Autumn"
from The Seasons
by Glazunov, "Autumn" from The Four Seasons by
Vivaldi, "Autumn Song" from The Seasons by
Tchaikovsky,
Autumn Colors by Zamfir, and Autumn Leaves
by Joseph
Kosma, as interpreted by Richard Hayman and his Orchestra, jazz
violinist Stéphane Grappelli with classical violinist Yehudi
Menuhin, and French singer Jacques Douai.
65
Chanticleer Fred Flaxman plays
excerpts from this extraordinary male choir's
latest release, "How Sweet the Sound," as well as from
three previous albums: "Wondrous Love," "Where
the Sun Will Never Go Down," and "Our American Journey."
Songs include Camptown Races, Love Walked In, Old Time
Religion,
Deep River, Keep Your Hand on the Plow, Nelly Bly and many
others.
66
Dracula Music from the ballet by Anthony
DeLorenzo, performed by Proteus
7. Listen Now!
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67
Cécile
Chaminade, Part 1 Fred Flaxman's latest
compact discoveries are CDs of music
by an extraordinarily talented French woman composer and pianist
who lived from 1857 until 1944. The program starts with two very
different versions of her most famous piano piece, the Scarf
Dance, and goes on to include her strikingly melodious Trio
No. 1 in G Minor performed by the Tzigane Piano Trio, her
Sérénade espagnole as
transcribed by Fritz
Kreisler and played by Itzhak Perlman on one of his "Greatest
Hits" CDs, and her Concertstück for Piano and
Orchestra
with Rosario Marciano and the Orchestra of Radio Luxembourg conducted
by Louis de Froment. The hour concludes with a beautiful piano
piece by this master of the keyboard. Listen Now!
68
Cécile Chaminade, Part 2 This
second hour of music by Chaminade includes 11 of her best
piano pieces, three of her songs, and her Concertino for
Flute
and Orchestra. Performers include pianists Enid Katahn, Eric
Parkin and Bengt Forsberg, soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, and flutist
Marilyn Maingart with the Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra conducted
by James Brooks-Bruzzese. Listen Now!
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69
Classical Tango A fun-filled hour of
familiar and unfamiliar tangos by classical
and popular composers from Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Denmark,
England and the United States. Listen Now!
70
A
Russian Winter Experience a Russian winter
with Fred Flaxman the warm and
cozy, easy way -- through music by Tchaikovsky, Glazunov and Prokofiev.
No need for a down coat or gloves; just your ears and your imagination. Listen Now!
71
Tarantellas Originally created as a dance
to keep the poisonous bite of
the tarantula from killing its victims, this infectious, increasingly
rapid music has inspired composers from many different countries.
Fred Flaxman brings you an hour of melodious examples.
72P
Hidden Treasures [a pledge program for use in
fund-raising
by local public radio stations] Fred Flaxman unearths gorgeous
music by composers you may not
have heard of: Jaromir Weinberger, Franz Xaver Scharwenka, Karl
Goldmark, Ivan Laskovsky, Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, and Grigoras
Dinicu.
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73P
Favorite French Waltzes When you think
waltz, Johann Strauss comes to mind, as does
Vienna. But French composers have come up with their own unique
concept of this famous dance form. Fred Flaxman presents some
favorite examples.
74
Catchy
Khachaturian, Part 1 This hour includes
Khachaturian's Violin Concerto and
the suite from Masquerade. The composer himself
conducts
the latter, from an EMI Classics recording.
75
Catchy
Khachaturian, Part 2 This hour includes
Khachaturian's ballet suites Gayne
and Spartacus.
76
Musical
Beasts The ferocious musical animals
include a glowworm, a bullfrog,
two little bullfinches, two pigeons, a turkey, a tiger, a parade
of elephants and the entire gang from Noah's Ark!
77
More Musical Beasts Fred Flaxman presents
real beasts this time, including a wolf,
a lion, an elephant, kangaroos, a bear, and -- most frightening
of all -- two pianists. Music is by Prokofiev, Saint-Saëns
and Poulenc.
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78
A Musical Voyage with Camille Saint-Saëns Although
Saint-Saëns was born in Paris, he died in Algiers
-- one of the many places in North Africa which fascinated him
and which influenced his music. He wrote an Algerian suite, an
Arab caprice, an African fantasy, and a piano concerto which is
called "The Egyptian." All of these pieces are included
in this program.
79
Clara
Schumann The music of a superwoman who
gave birth to eight children,
played the piano on the level of Franz Liszt, and supported her
family, including footing the bills for a private insane asylum
for her husband, the composer Robert Schumann. Included are Clara's
Piano Concerto in A Minor and her Piano
Trio in
G Minor.
80
Orchestral Paris This is the first in a
series of programs devoted to music
inspired by major cities. This hour includes Gershwin's An
American in Paris, the Paris Suite by
Haydn Wood, and
excerpts from the ballet music for Gaité parisienne,
based on the music of Jacques Offenbach. Listen Now!
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81
Orchestral London The second program in a
series devoted to music inspired by
major cities. This hour includes the London Cameos Suite
by Haydn Wood, the London Suite and London
Again Suite
by Eric Coates, and the minuet movement from the Symphony No.
104 ("The London") by Franz Joseph Haydn. Listen Now!
82
Symphonic
Rome The third program in a series devoted
to music inspired by
major cities. This hour includes the Roman Carnival Overture
by Berlioz, and the Pines of Rome, the Fountains
of
Rome, and the final section of Roman Festivals,
all
by Respighi. Listen Now!
83
New York, New York Music inspired by the
city of New York, including selections
from the film score to the Woody Allen movie, Manhattan,
with music by George Gershwin; Gershwin's New York Rhapsody;
Rodgers and Hart's song, Manhattan; and New
York-inspired
music by American composers John Kander, Vernon Duke, and John
Philip Sousa. The program concludes with New York Skyline
by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.
84
More Musical Cities In
this final "musical cities" hour, Fred Flaxman presents works inspired
by the cities of Vienna, Warsaw, Moscow, Québec, Londonderry
and
Brussels.
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85
Bernstein for Orchestra Fred Flaxman presents his
favorite Bernstein pieces for orchestra: the Overture to Candide, Symphonic
Dances from West Side Story, and excerpts from Fancy Free, On the Town, Mass,
On the Waterfront and Chichester
Psalms. Listen Now!
86
Latin-American Rhythms by Jewish-American Composers South-of-the-border-inspired
pieces by George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, Morton Gould and Leonard
Bernstein. Listen Now!
87
Latin-American Rhythms by Latin-American Composers This
hour features tuneful, rhythmic, appealing music from Cuba, Ecuador,
Brazil, Peru and Argentina. Artists featured include violinist
Jorge Saade Scaff, flutist Paula Robison and guitarist David Burgess. Listen Now!
88 René Touzet The
popular songs of this Cuban composer were recorded by Frank Sinatra,
Bing Crosby and Desi Arnaz, but it took Maria Letona to bring
attention to Touzet's melodious jazz-inspired art music for the piano. Listen Now!
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89 The Romantic Patent Officer Manager Swedish composer Kurt Atterberg
combined an almost life-long career in the patent office with an
equally lifelong career as a musician,
composer, conductor, music administrator and critic. Fred Flaxman
introduces his piano concerto, featuring Dan Franklin Smith, and
several chamber music selections. Listen Now!
90 Thomas of Nazareth The
Brazilian composer sounds like a cross between Frederic Chopin and
Scott Joplin, as demonstrated by pianist Thomas Tirino on a new Koch
International release. The music includes exciting, melodious Brazilian
tangos, waltzes and polkas. Two world-premiere recordings are featured,
plus the story of how host Fred Flaxman managed to get his name in the
CD's program notes. Listen Now!
91 Nazareth Encore! More
tuneful gems from this Brazilian composer, including side-by-side
recordings of his original piano music and contemporary transcriptions
for guitar, flute and Brazilian band. Performances by pianists Thomas
Tirino, Maria José Carrasqueira and Iara Behs, flutist Paula
Robison and guitarist David Burgess. Listen Now!
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92 A Musical Feast Religion
inspired some great music, but food fed the creative juices of several
composers who are featured on this hour. Fred Flaxman brings you
first an appetizer on a public radio budget: Raisins and Almonds, the traditional Yiddish song. Then comes La Revue de Cuisine by Martinu, peas by Rossini and a last meal by Jacques Brel. For drinks, Tea for Two as arranged for large orchestra by Shostakovich and Rootbeer Rag by Billy Joel. Desserts include French Pastry by Hayman and Wedding Cake by Saint-Saëns. Listen Now!
93 Beethoven at His Happiest This
serious composer's lighter side is featured in this hour. Music
includes a bagatelle, the scherzo movements from three trios, the rondo
movements from two piano concertos, excerpts from two violin sonatas,
and the "Ode to Joy" ending from his Ninth Symphony. Listen Now!
94 Classic Happiness Includes Al Fresco, Intermezzo by Victor Herbert; "For He's Going to Marry Yum-Yum" from The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan; a movement from Haydn's Symphony No. 88 in G and his Gypsy Rondo; Smiles and Chuckles and The Laughing Vamp by the Six Brown Brothers, and an excerpt from Schubert's Octet in F for Strings and Winds, Op. 166, D. 803. Listen Now!
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95 The Sound of Trees Music
inspired by nature's tallest living creatures includes Ottorino
Respighi's The Pines Of Rome, Trees by Jean Sibelius, Larch Trees
by Malcolm Arnold and The Happy Forest by Arnold Bax. Listen Now!
96 Classically Irish Irish
folk tunes turned into orchestral music by Leroy Anderson, Victor
Herbert, Frank Bridge and Hamilton Harty. Pleasant listening for St.
Patrick's Day or any day. Listen Now!
97 Classically Scottish Music inspired by Scotland and Scottish folk-music. Featured are Max Bruch's Scottish Fantasy, Scottish Dances by Ronald Binge, Four Scottish Dances by Malcolm Arnold, and Leroy Anderson's Blue Bells of Scotland from his Scottish Suite. The program also includes brief clips from Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony, Dvorak's Scottish Dances, Ted Health's big band version of Night Train to Scotland and Frederic Lamond's From the Scottish Highlands. Of all the composers represented in this program, only Lamond was Scottish. Listen Now!
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98 Two Stravinsky Ballets in One Hour Robert Craft conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra in music from Pulcinella and the London Symphony Orchestra in music from The Fairy's Kiss. The former is based on music by Pergolesi and others; the latter is a homage to Tchaikovsky. Listen Now!
99 Music by the Numbers Music which begins with a number, including the 20th Century Fox Fanfare, The 12th Street Rag, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, Hsiao's 1947 Overture, music from Rota's filmscore to Fellini's 8 & 1/2, Nin's 1830 Variations on a Frivolous Theme, and Meredith Wilson's 76 Trombones from The Music Man. Listen Now!
100 Carnival Classics The
100th "Compact Discoveries" program is a musical carnival, presenting
three composers' variations on "Carnival of Venice," two
interpretations of "Carnival of Rio," Berlioz's "Roman Carnival" and
"The Carnival of the Animals" -- not the famous piece by Camille
Saint-Saens, but a much more recent set of musical animals by British
composer Malcolm Arnold. Listen Now!
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101 More Carnival Classics Fred Flaxman presents three more tuneful, happy pieces inspired by carnivals: Alfred Hill's Symphony No. 5 in A Minor (“The Carnival”), performed by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Wilfred Lehmann; Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 in E-flat (“Carnival at Pest”), performed by Georgia & Louise Mangos, piano four-hands; and Mikis Theodorakis's Carnaval: Ballet Suite for Orchestra, performed by the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer. Listen Now!
102 Even More Carnival Classics The final program in this trilogy devoted to music inspired by carnivals features piano and orchestral versions of Schumann's Carnaval, the Vienna Carnival Waltz by Johann Strauss I and Cuban composer Rene Touzet's Carnival Bells. Listen Now!
103 Classical Disney Favorite melodies from Disney films in the style of great classical composers. Listen Now!
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104 More Classical Disney More favorite melodies from Disney films in the style of great classical composers. Listen Now!
105 The Dream of America Peter Boyer's Ellis Island: The Dream of America
is featured, performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by the
composer with a cast of well-known actors reading texts from the Ellis
Island Oral History Project. The hour concludes with Belgian composer
Henri Vieuxtemps' Yankee Doodle Variations and James Raphael's piano arrangement of John Philip Sousa's The Stars and Stripes Forever.
Although this program was designed for use on or around July 4, it can
be used anytime as Independence Day is not actually mentioned. Listen Now!
106 Two Unknown Romantic Gems Producer/presenter Fred Flaxman brings you two of his most recent "Compact Discoveries" -- the Quartet in E-flat Major for Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano, Op. 1 by Walter Rabl and the Quintet in D Major for Clarinet, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Piano, Op. 11
by Josef Labor. Both are performed by the Orion Ensemble and both come
from a Cedille compact disc called "Twilight of the Romantics." Listen Now!
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107 The Color of Music, Part 1: Blue Fred Flaxman presents music with the color blue in the title: Leroy Anderson's Blue Tango, Johann Stauss's Blue Danube Waltz, Ernesto Nazareth's Gold on Blue, George Gershwin's Jazzbo Brown Blues and a clarinet quartet version of his Rhapsody in Blue called Little Rhapsody in Blue, an excerpt from Humperdinck's The Blue Bird, Savino's A Study in Blue, Tchaikovsky's Valse bluette, Dave Brubeck's Blue Rondo à la Turk, The Bull Frog Blues by the Six Brown Brothers, and From the Land of the Sky-Blue Water by Cadman. Listen Now!
108 The Color of Music, Part 2: The Competition Host
Fred Flaxman serves as judge and jury for a mock competition to find
the best compositions in his personal collection with colors in their
titles. The colors include black, white, gray, brown, green, red, pink,
silver and gold. The "winning" works are by Frederic Chopin, Charles
Tomlinson Griffes, Haydn Wood, Stephen Foster, Ralph Vaughan Williams,
Leroy Anderson, Reinhold Glière, Victor Herbert, Henry Mancini,
and Dmitri Shostakovich. Listen Now!
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109 On the Right Track Classical,
popular and jazz music inspired by railroad trains. Train
conductor, Fred Flaxman, ends the hour in England with the short,
light, tuneful pieces that 20th Century British composers were so good
at turning out, but he begins the program with classical pieces by
Heitor Villa-Lobos, Arthur Honegger and Gioacchino Rossini. In
the middle is a French song sung by Jacques Douai and train music by
Percy Grainger, Duke Ellington and Ted Heath. Listen Now!
110 A CATalog of Music, Part 1 Music
inspired by our feline friends from the Baroque period through the
beginning of the 20th Century. Includes: Aaron Copland's The Cat and the Mouse; The Cat Came Back and Eine Kleine Kat by Garrison Keillor; Cat's Serenade by Razek; Sauget's Le Chat; Satie's Song of the Cat; Bizet's Puss in the Corner; Ravel's Cat Duet; Fauré's Mi-a-ou and Kitty-Valse; Tchaikovsky's Puss-in-Boots and The White Cat; Rossini's Cat Duet; Chopin's Cat Waltz; Miau! Miau! by Mozart; Biber's The Cat; Scarlatti's Cat Fugue; and other pieces. Listen Now!
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111 A CATalog of Music, Part 2 Music from the 20th Century inspired by our feline friends: Aroon Copland's arrangement of I Bought Me a Cat; Garrison Keillor's The Grandmother's Cat; Kitten on the Keys by Confrey; Gato by Gustavino; Cat Dreaming by Hohvaness; Piece for Piano, Four Paws by Ketzel the Cat; March of the Cats on the Midnight Solstice by Martinu; the Dog-Cat Polka by Antheil; Our Cat by Siegmeister; Leroy Anderson's Waltzing Cat and The Pussy Foot; the overture to Kern's The Cat and the Fiddle; Lecuona's Black Cat; Cat Miaow and The Cat by Villa-Lobos; The Jellicle Ball and Memory from the Broadway musical Cats by Andrew Lloyd-Webber; and What Kind of Cat Are You? by Billy Jonas. Listen Now!
112 Romantic Reinecke The
German composer Carl Reinecke, who lived from 1824 until 1910, is
remembered today mainly as an educator, pianist, and conductor of the
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He was the teacher of Sullivan of Gilbert
and Sullivan, as well as of Weingartner and Grieg. But he has a long
and varied list of compositions to his name, including operatic, vocal
and choral works, three symphonies, and concertos for piano, harp and
flute. Host Fred Flaxman presents the beautiful harp and flute
concertos, his latest compact discoveries, during this hour. Listen Now!
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113 A Bouquet of Roses Host
Fred Flaxman guides listeners through a selection of classical,
popular, French, Big Band and ragtime music all connected to roses --
one way or another. The hour begins and ends with Edward
MacDowell's To a Wild Rose. Other works include the waltzes from Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, Haydn Wood's Roses of Picardy, Leroy Anderson's orchestration of The Last Rose of Summer, Scott Joplin's Rose Leaf Rag, La Vie en Rose
sung by Edith Piaf, and two selections performed by Michael Rose and
His Orchestra, including Rosebud vocalist Evelyn Russell singing Tenderly. Listen Now!
114 Noël with Noel The
“Noël” part consists of unfamiliar Christmas music
and very familiar Christmas music in unfamiliar piano concert
arrangements. The “Noel” part of the theme title comes from
Noel Lester, the pianist for the entire hour. Listen Now!
115 Don Gillis Host
Fred Flaxman spends the hour presenting two very American, jazzy
symphonic pieces by a very American composer: Don Gillis.
Featured are his ballet Shindig and his Star Spangled Symphony. Listen Now!
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116 Cartoon Classics Classical music as used in Bugs Bunny
cartoons of the 1940s and 50s. These are cuts from the 1991 Warner
Bros. compact disc called "Bugs Bunny on Broadway," with material
recorded in stereo in 1990 by the Warner Brothers Symphony Orchestra
conducted by George Daugherty. The CD was taken from a production at
the Gershwin Theatre in New York in which new prints of the classic
cartoon films were accompanied by the live orchestral music. Listen Now!
117 The Sweet Sounds of Suk, Part 1 Host Fred Flaxman begins the hour with Suk’s very successful opus one, his Quartet for Piano, Violin, Viola and Cello. Then, in case you think that was just beginner’s luck, he’ll move on to Suk's equally beautiful opus two, the Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello. After that Fred presents Suk's romantic, melodic Elegy for Piano, Violin and Cello. And he concludes the hour with the scherzo movement from Suk’s Quintet for Piano, two violins, viola and cello. Listen Now!
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118 The Sweet Sounds of Suk, Part 2 In this second hour host Fred Flaxman presents Suk's most famous orchestral piece, his Serenade for Strings.
James Brooks-Bruzzese conducts a stunning performance by the Cappella
Istropolitana from Bratislava, Slovakia. Also, pianist Antonin Kubalek
performs Song of Love and Idyl in F Minor,
both from the composer's opus 7. Two pieces for violin and piano are
heard next, with the composer's namesake grandson, Josef Suk, as
violinist, and Jan Panenka at the piano. The Finnish pianist, Risto
Lauriala, concludes the hour with Humoreske and Recollections. Listen Now!
119 Tantalizing Thuille Ludwig
Thuille, who lived his short life from 1861 until 1907, is host Fred
Flaxman's latest compact discovery. Folksy parts of his "Piano Sextet"
sound as though they might have been written by Dvorak, while his
"Piano Quintet in G Minor" sounds very much like Brahms. These two
works are featured, the first as performed by the Appalachian Wind
Quintet with Noel Lester at the piano; the second by the Falk Quartet
with Tomer Lev, pianist. Listen Now!
120 More Tantalizing Thuille In this second hour of music by Ludwig Thuille, Fred Flaxman presents the Sonata for Cello and Piano , performed by Antony Cooke, cello, and Armin Watkins, piano; and the last movement of the Piano Concerto in D Major, with the Haydn Orchester von Bozen und Trient, conducted by Alun Francis, with Oliver Triendl at the piano. Listen Now!
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121 Morricone's Memorable Melodies On
Feb. 25, 2007, Italian composer Ennio Morricone received
a special lifetime achievement Oscar award from the National Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his tremendous output of
filmscores. In this hour, host Fred Flaxman presents various
interpretations of some of Morricone's most famous scores. Included is
music from Cinema Paradiso, The Mission, Once Upon a Time in America, and For Love One Can Die.
Morricone conducts his own arrangements of these tunes. Then there are
interpretations by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Michael Chertock,
violinists Angele Dubeau and Gil Shaham, an Austrian trio called
Triology, and the Hollywood Bowl and Rome Sinfonietta orchestras. Listen Now!
122 In the Beginning... In
the beginning, there are pieces that just start out with some notes
played by some instruments. But once in a while a composer starts off
his composition with something really original and interesting. Such is
the case with every selection in this hour of Compact Discoveries, which includes the openings to Kodaly's Hary Janos Suite, with its big orchestral sneeze, Beethoven's Third and Fifth Symphonies, Richard Strauss' Burleske, Grieg's Piano Concerto, and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. Listen Now!
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123 Spring Fred
Flaxman presents an hour's worth of uninterrupted music inspired by
this season, including a humorous piece by Tom Lehrer called Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, It Might as Well Be Spring by Rodgers and Hammerstein; With a Song in My Heart by Rodgers and Hart from the 1929 Broadway show Spring is Here; April in Paris
as performed by violinists Stéphan Grappelli and Yehudi Menuhin;
a concert rag by contemporary composer Brian Dykstra called Spring Beauties as performed by pianist Noel Lester; a beautiful but rarely heard serious piece by Leroy Anderson called The First Day of Spring, conducted by the composer; Mendelssohn’s Spring Song; another Spring Song by Frank Bridge; April, May and June from The Seasons by Tchaikovsky as transcribed for violin and orchestra by Peter Breiner; The Last Spring by Grieg; excerpts from Beethoven’s Spring Sonata as performed by Yehudi and Jeremy Menuhin; and Spring from The Four Seasons by Vivaldi. Listen Now! 124 Music to Die For Beethoven
called Luigi Cherubini "the greatest living composer." Berlioz,
Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms and Wagner all admired his Requiem in C Minor.
Beethoven said that if he were to write a requiem, this would be his
only model. And yet this beautiful work has fallen into undeserved
obscurity. Discover it for yourself now on this edition of Compact
Discoveries! Listen Now! 125 Classic Beatles Producer/presenter
Fred Flaxman introduces four famous Beatles tunes, each one played in
very different versions by Ofra Harnoy and the Orford String Quartet,
the Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic, the King's Singers, the
Cincinnati and Boston Pops, and, in one case, by a Chinese guitarist.
The tunes are Michelle, Yesterday, Eleanor Rigby, and Here, There and Everywhere. Listen Now! 126 More Classic Beatles In
this second hour devoted to classical interpretations of Beatles songs,
producer/presenter Fred Flaxman presents movements from four Beatles Concertos Grosso
by Peter Breiner -- one each in the styles of Handel and Vivaldi and
two in the style of J.S. Bach. The hour concludes with four different
interpretations of Hey Jude
by five different musical groups: Ofra Harnoy and the Orford String
Quartet, the Cincinnati Pops with the King's Singers, the Cellists of
the Berlin Philharmonic, and the Boston Pops Orchestra. Listen Now! 127 Pleasures of Pierné Producer/Presenter
Fred Flaxman recently discovered the beautiful, melodic, romantic and
impressionistic music of the French composer, conductor and organist,
Gabriel Pierné, who lived from 1863 until 1937. In this first of
two programs featuring Pierné's music, Fred shares his love of
Pierné's Piano Concerto,
Canzonetta for Clarinet and Piano, the March of the Little Lead
Soldiers, the Fantaisie-Impromptu for Violin and Piano, the Pastoral
for Wind Quintet, the Serenade for Oboe and Harp, and the mini-ballet Giration/Gyration. Listen Now! 128 More Pleasures of Pierné This second hour of melodious, very French romantic and impressionistic music includes Pierné's Scherzo-Caprice in D for Piano and Orchestra, Suite No. 1 from his ballet Cydalise et le Chèvre-pied / Cydalise and the Faun, excerpts from his Ballet de Cour / Royal Court Ballet, and his Solo de Concert for bassoon and piano. Listen Now!
129 Arriaga Chances
are, no matter how well you know classical music, that you are not
familiar with the works of Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga. He was a
Spanish child prodigy who didn't live long enough to become an adult,
but you would never guess that by listening to his string quartets, two
of which producer/host Fred Flaxman presents in this hour. Also
presented is an overture to an opera Arriaga wrote at the age of 13,
before he even had formal lessons in harmony. Listen Now!
130 Bloch-Busters The best of Ernst Bloch, including his Concerto Grosso No. 1, Schelomo, and the final movement from his Suite Modale. Dalea Atlas conducts the Atlas Camerata Orchestra in two of these three works. Schelomo features cellist Rocco Filippini with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana conducted by Alexander Vedernikov. Listen Now!
131 A Classical Christmas Producer/presenter
Fred Flaxman brings you an hour of lesser known but beautiful Christmas
compact disc discoveries, including Victor Hely-Hutchinson's A Carol Symphony, Philip Lane's Wassail Dances, Sleigh Ride by Frederick Delius, La Peregrinacion from Navidad Nuestra/Our Nativity by Ariel Ramirez, the Swedish carol Ritsch, Ratsch, Filibom!, Ave Maria by Charles Gounod (with a little help from J.S. Bach), and Christmas Dance and Carol by Vaughan Williams, performed by the Auréole Trio. Listen Now!
132 Melodious MacDowell Once one of the warhorses of the repertoire, Edward MacDowell's Piano Concerto No. 2
has been unjustly neglected in recent years. In this program, this
great romantic American work is performed by Thomas Tirino with the
Bulgarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vassil Kazandjiev. Also
in this hour is MacDowell's Suite No. 1 for Orchestra, Op. 42, with the Ulster Orchestra conducted by Takuo Yuasa, and the composer's most famous piano piece, To a Wild Rose, performed by James Barbagallo. Listen Now!
133 More Melodious MacDowell Producer/presenter Fred Flaxman brings you the Romantic American composer's Piano Concerto No. 1, played by Thomas Tirino with the Bulgarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vassil Kazandjiev. Also in this hour is the Étude de Concert, Op. 36; three excerpts from the Second Modern Suite, Op. 14; Serenata, Op. 16; Hexentanz from Two Fantasy Pieces, Op. 17; and the Hungarian Étude from Twelve Études, Op. 39. Listen Now!
134 Even More Melodious MacDowell Producer/host Fred Flaxman presents MacDowell's Second Piano Sonata as performed by Charles Fierro on a Delos compact disc; and the final movement of his Fourth Piano Sonata, three of four Forgotten Fairy Tales, and six of Twelve Virtuoso Studies,
all performed by James Barbagallo on a Naxos CD. This is the last of
three programs devoted to the music of this Romantic Period American
composer. Listen Now!
135 Score 2 for Virgil The American composer Virgil Thomson wrote the scores for two Great Depression-era U.S. government propaganda films: The Plow that Broke the Plains and The River.
Fred Flaxman presents the first complete recordings made of this
award-winning film music since the soundtracks were created in 1936 and
1937. The new all-digital Naxos CD is by Washiington, D.C.'s
Post-Classical Ensemble conducted by Angel Gil-Ordóñez. Listen Now!
136 Introducing Sandrine Fred
Flaxman's latest compact discoveries include the three CDs of the
talented young French-American pianist Sandrine Erdely-Sayo. This hour
will include works by Poulenc, Scriabin, Piazzolla, Debussy, Thalberg and Lázaro. Listen Now!
137 Americans in Paris An
hour of music devoted to Americans who were influenced by or studied
music in the City of Light, including George Gershwin, Walter Piston and Aron Copland.
The music includes An American in Paris, The Incredible Flutist and Rodeo. Listen Now!
138 Classic Korngold Erich
Wolfgang Korngold was known for his scores for several famous Hollywood
movies. But he also excelled at creating romantic, melodious symphonic
and chamber music. This hour will include his beautiful Violin Concerto, his incidental music to Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, and his Trio in D Major. Listen Now!
139 Glitzy Glazunov In this first of two hours devoted to the music of this Russian composer, producer/guide Fred Flaxman presents The Seasons, Concert Waltz No. 1, and Minstrel's Song, Op. 71. Listen Now!
140 More Glitzy Glazunov In this second of two hours devoted to the music of this Russian composer, producer/guide Fred Flaxman presents his Violin Concerto, his Five Novelettes and the "Polonaise" from his Ballet Scenes, Op. 52. Listen Now!
141 Fire and Smoke They
say that where there's smoke, there's fire, but in music there is a lot
more fire than smoke. Producer/presenter Fred Flaxman brings you
examples of both. Music includes the Ritual Fire Dance by de Falla, the Firebird Suite by Stravinsky, Dance of Spirits of Fire by Holst, Magic Fire Music by Wagner, Addinsell's Fire Over England Suite, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Kern as arranged by Frolov, and Smoke Rings sung by the Mills Brothers. Listen Now!
142 More Leroy Anderson The
composer was born on June 29, 1908, making 2008 the 100th anniversary
of his birth. To mark the occasion, producer/host Fred Flaxman presents
a second hour devoted completely to this composer's tuneful miniature
orchestral pieces, without repeating any of the works heard in Program
13. Selections include Bugler’s Holiday, A
Trumpeter’s Lullaby, Saraband, The Phantom Regiment, Serenata,
Forgotten Dreams, Song of the Bells, The Sandpaper Ballet, The Penny
Whistle Song, Mother’s Whistler, Promenade, Horse and Buggy, Home Stretch, Old MacDonald Had a Farm and Anderson's Sousa-esque rendition of Meredith Wilson’s Seventy-Six Trombones from the Broadway musical The Music Man. Listen Now!
143 Moonlight For
hundreds of years, moonlight has served as inspiration for many
composers. In this hour producer/host Fred Flaxman presents
moonlight-inspired music by Glenn Miller, Beethoven, Debussy, Robin
Milford, Charles Lucièn Lambert Sr., Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Hamilton
Harty, and Charles Davidson, as well as a Russian folk song called Such a Moonlit Night. Listen Now!
144 More Moon Music So
much music has been inspired by the moon that Producer-Host Fred
Flaxman decided to present a second hour of the best of it. He draws on
classical music, popular classics and jazz to do so. The composers
include everyone from Elgar and Tchaikovsky to Irving Berlin. The
entertaining hour even includes a spiritual and a couple of quizes for
the listeners. Listen Now!
145 Sunrise, Sunshine, Sunset Producer/Guide
Fred Flaxman presents a wide variety of classical music, semi-classical
and jazz inspired by sunrise, sunshine and sunset. Selections include
Glenn Miller's Sunrise Serenade, with which the hour begins and ends, Sunrise and Sunset from Ferde Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite, Here Comes the Sun by George Harrison of the Beatles, performed by cellist Ofra Harnoy with the Armin Electric Strings, Irving Berlin's I've Got the Sun in the Morning and the Moon at Night sung by Dean Martin, Cloud and Sunshine by the English composer Frederic Cliffe, Fritz Kreisler's transcription of Rimsy-Korsakov's Hymn to the Sun, Lennon and McCartney's I'll Follow the Sun performed by The King's Singers, On the Sunny Side of the Street played by the Michael Rose Orchestra with the Rosebuds, Irving Berlin's Some Sunny Day sung by Bing Crosby, and English composer Roger Quilter's Summer Sunset. Listen Now!
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