Meyerbeer's "African Maid"
Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791 – 1864) O paradis, from L'Africaine Ben Heppner, tenor; London Symphony; Myung-Whun Chung, cond. DG 471 372
John Birge
YourClassical MPR
Composers Datebook®
Reminding you that all music was once new ® • with host John Birge
Stravinsky goes dancing
Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971) Apollon musagète Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Riccardo Chailly, cond. London 448 142 Igor Stravinsky (1882 – 1971) Jeu de Cartes Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Neeme Järvi, cond. Chandos 9014
Gabrieli and Harbison
Giovanni Gabrieli (1553 - 1612) Canzon Duodecimi Toni No. 2 London Symphony Brass; Eric Crees, cond. Naxos 8.554129 John Harbison (b. 1938) Concerto for Double Brass Choir and Orchestra Los Angeles Philharmonic; Andre Previn, cond. New World 80395
Beethoven waits for Liszt
Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886) Reminiscences de Robert le Diable Leslie Howard, piano Hyperion 66861
A Hymn by Paulus
Stephen Paulus (b. 1949) Pilgrims' Hymn, from The Three Hermits Dale Warland Singers American Choral Catalog 123
Arthur Farwell
Arthur Farwell (1872 – 1952) Navajo War Dance and Song of Peace Dario Muller, piano Marco Polo 223715
Tchaikovsky's "strange themes" in Manhattan
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) Symphony No. 4 Berlin Philharmonic; Claudio Abbado, cond. DG 471 882 Frederic Chopin (1810 – 1849) Piano Con. No. 1 Krystian Zimerman, piano; Polish Festival Orchestra DG 459 684 Peter Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893) Fantasy-Overture "Romeo and Juliet" Kirov Orchestra; Valery Gergiev, cond. Philips 456 580
Prokofiev's First
Sergei Prokofiev (1891 – 1953) Symphony No. 1 (Classical) Orpheus Chamber Orchestra DG 423 624
The Ondes Martinot
Olivier Messiaen (1908 – 1992) Turangalila Symphony Tristan Murail, Ondes Martenot; Philharmonia Orchestra; Esa-Pekka Salonen, cond. Sony 53473
Webern conducts Berg
Alban Berg (1885 – 1935) Violin Concerto Louis Krasner, violin; BBC Symphony; Anton Webern, cond. Testament/Continuum 1004
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.