Ravel and Zaimont
Maurice Ravel (1875 -1937) La Valse Boston Symphony; Charles Munch, cond. RCA 6522 Judith Lang Zaimont (b. 1945) Symphony No. 1 Czech Radio Symphony; Leos Svarovsky, cond. Arabesque 6742
John Birge
YourClassical MPR
Composers Datebook®
Reminding you that all music was once new ® • with host John Birge
Bizet and Menotti on TV in the 1950s
Georges Bizet (1838-1875) Carmen Suite No. 1 Orchestre National de France; Seiji Ozawa, cond. EMI 63898 Giancarlo Menotti (b. 1911) March, from Amahl and the Night Visitors New Zealand Symphony; Andrew Schenck, cond. Koch 7005
Puccini's Wild West show at the Met
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) La Fanciulla del West excerpt Carol Neblett, s; Sherrill Milnes, bar; Covent Garden Opera; Zubin Mehta, cond. DG 435 407
Lou Harrison takes "Old Granddad" out for a ride
Lou Harrison (1917-2003) Suite for Violin and American Gamelan David Abel, violin; American Gamelan; John Bergamo, cond. New Albion 15
Beethoven and Kernis in a somber mood
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Symphony No. 7 Vienna Philharmonic; Carlos Kleiber, cond. DG 447 400 Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960) Meditation (in memory of John Lennon) Eberli Ensemble Phoenix 142
The Philharmonic does Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Symphony No. 5 Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique; John Eliot Gardiner, cond. DG Archiv 439 900
Brubeck, sacred and profane
Dave Brubeck (b. 1920) Blue Rondo a la Turk The Dave Brubeck Quartet Columbia 40585 Dave Brubeck (b. 1920) La Fiesta del Posada Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Dennis Russell Davies, cond. Columbia Legacy 64669
A wild night with Berlioz
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 Cleveland Orchestra; Pierre Boulez, cond. DG 453 432
Tchaikovsky and North endure unkind cuts
Peter Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Violin Concerto, Op. 35 Itzhak Perlman, violin; London Symphony; Alfred Wallenstein, cond. Chesky 12 Alex North (1910-1991) Unused "Opening Theme," for 2001: A Space Odyssey National Philharmonic; Jerry Goldsmith, cond. Varese Sarabande 66225
Gershwin's Jazz Age concerto
John Harbison (b.1938) Remembering Gatsby Baltimore Symphony; David Zinman, cond. Argo 444 454 George Gershwin (1898-1937) Piano Concerto in F Peter Jablonski, piano; Royal Philharmonic; Vladimir Ashkenazy, cond. London 430 542
About Composers Datebook®
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.