"Beethoven's" Jena Symphony
Friedrich Witt (1770 – 1832) Jena Symphony in C Westphalian Symphony; Hubert Reichert, cond. Turnabout LP TV-S 34409
John Birge
YourClassical MPR
Composers Datebook®
Reminding you that all music was once new ® • with host John Birge
Stravinsky in C Major
Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971) Symphony in C Chicago Symphony; Sir Georg Solti, cond. London 458 898
Beethoven and Brusa take it slow
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) Symphony No. 7 Berlin Philharmonic; Claudio Abbado, cond. DG 471 490 Elisabetta Brusa (b. 1954) Adagio Ukraine National Symphony; Fabio Mastrangelo, cond. Naxos 8.555267
The Minneapolis Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra
Dominick Argento (b. 1927) A Ring of Time Minnesota Orchestra; Eiji Oue, cond. Reference 91
Schoenberg and Sheng
Arnold Schoenberg (1874 – 1951) A Survivor from Warsaw Simon Callow, narrator; London Symphony; Robert Craft, cond Koch 7263 Bright Sheng (b. 1955) String Quartet No. 3 Shanghai Quartet BIS 1138
Rimsky-Korsakov's bee takes flight
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 – 1908) Flight of the Bumble Bee, from Tsar Saltan Philharmonia Orchestra; Vladimir Ashkenazy, cond. London 460 250 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Flight of the Bumble Bee Budapest Clarinet Quintet Naxos 8.553427 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Flight of the Bumble Bee Itzhak Perlman, violin; Samuel Sanders, piano EMI 54882
Verdi and Bach on wine
Giuseppe Verdi (1813 – 1901) Libiamo (Brindisi), from La Traviata Frank Chacksfield Orchestra London 436 849
Handel and the Bible
George Frederic Handel (1685 – 1759) Israel in Egypt King's College Choir; Brandenburg Consort; Stephen Cleobury, cond. London 452 295
Schoenberg arrives for "Trick or Treat"
Arnold Schoenberg (1874 – 1951) Violin Concerto, Op 36 Zvi Zeitlin, violin; Bavarian Radio Symphony; Rafael Kubelik, cond. DG 431 740
Rorem's "Nantucket Songs"
Ned Rorem (b. 1923) Nantucket Songs Phyllis Bryn-Julson, soprano; Ned Rorem, piano CRI 670
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.