"Don Giovanni" in Prague (and Vienna)
Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791) Don Giovanni Michele Pertusi (as Leporello); London Philharmonic; Sir Georg Solti, cond. London 455 500
John Birge
YourClassical MPR
Composers Datebook®
Reminding you that all music was once new ® • with host John Birge
Strauss goes mountain-climbing
Richard Strauss (1864-1949) An Alpine Symphony Vienna Philharmonic; André Previn, cond Telarc 80211
Villa-Lobos meets the harmonica
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) Harmonica Concerto Robert Bonfiglio, harmonica; New York Chamber Orchestra; Gerard Schwarz, cond. RCA/BMG 7986
Elgar gets short-changed
Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934) Cello Concerto, Op. 85 Jacqueline du Pré, cello; Philadephia Orchestra; Daniel Barenboim, cond. Sony 60789
Tchaikovsky plays "Who Wants to Premiere a Concerto?"
Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Piano Concerto No. 1 Van Cliburn, piano; RCA Symphony; Kirill Kondrashin, cond. Philips 456 748
Of Crumb and the Crash
George Crumb (b. 1929) Musica Apocalyptica, fr Star-Child Warsaw Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra; Thomas Conlin, cond. Bridge 9095
Night music by Delius and Danielpour
Frederick Delius (1862-1934) Summer Night on the River BBC Symphony; Andrew Davis, cond. Teldec 90845 Richard Danielpour (b. 1956) Celestial Night Philharmonia Orchestra; Zdenek Macal, cond. Sony 60779
Musical Carpentry?
John Alden Carpenter (1876-1951) Symphony No. 2 National Symphony of Ukraine; John McLaughlin Williams, cond. Naxos 8.559065
Offenbach puts a critic to work
Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) Orpheus in the Underworld English National Opera Orchestra and Chorus; Mark Elder, cond. MCA 6325
Lou Harrison's Piano Concerto
Lou Harrison (1917-2003) Piano Concerto Keith Jarrett, piano; New Japan Philharmonic; Naoto Otomo, cond. New World 366
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.