Opening of Royal Albert Hall
W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911) & Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) "A Wand'ring Minstrel I," fr "The Mikado" D'Oyly Carte Opera Company; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Royston Nash, conductor. London/Decca 425190
Reminding you that all music was once new ® • with host John Birge
W.S. Gilbert (1836-1911) & Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) "A Wand'ring Minstrel I," fr "The Mikado" D'Oyly Carte Opera Company; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Royston Nash, conductor. London/Decca 425190
John Adams (b. 1947) The Wound Dresser Sanford Sylvan, bar;Orch. of St. Luke's;John Adams, conductor. Nonesuch 79218
Deems Taylor (1885-1966) Through The Looking Glass Suite Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz , conductor. Delos 3099 David Del Tredici (b. 1937) In Memory of A Summer Day St. Louis Symphony; Leonard Slatkin, conductor. Nonesuch 79043
Charles Ives (1874 - 1954) Symphony No. 2 New York Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein, conductor. DG 429 220
Claude Debussy (1862-1918) Pelléas et Mélisande Symphonie Suite (arr. Marius Constant) Orchestre National de Lyon; Jun Märkl, conductor. Naxos 8.570993
John Harbison (b. 1938) Olympic Dances New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble;Dr. Frank Battisti, conductor. Albany 340
Ethel Smyth (1858-1944): The Prison (Dashon Burton, b-bar; Experimental Orch and Chorus; James Blachly, conductor.) Chandos 5279
Gian Carlo Menotti (b. 1911) excerpt, from The Telephone New York Chamber Ensemble; Stephen Rogers Radcliffe, conductor. Albany 173
Elliott Carter (1908 – 2012) Partita Chicago Symphony; Daniel Barenboim, conductor. (live recording) Teldec CD 81792
Elgar (1857-1934) Romance for Bassoon and Orchestra, Op. 62 Graham Salvage, bassoon; Halle Orchestra; Mark Elder, conductor. Halle Elgar Edition HLL-7505
Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.
He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.