Puccini's triple premiere in New York
Giacomo Puccini (1858 - 1924) Gianni Schicchi Angela Gheorghiu, soprano; London Symphony; Antonio Pappano, cond. EMI 56587
John Birge
YourClassical MPR
Composers Datebook®
Reminding you that all music was once new ® • with host John Birge
Chopin is smitten
Frederic Chopin (1810 – 1849) Polonaise in c#, Op. 26 Garrick Ohlsson, piano Arabesque 6642
Brahms and the clarinet
Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115 Charles Neidich, clarinet; Juilliard String Quartet Sony 66285
The Cleveland Orchestra opens with Victor Herbert
Victor Herbert (1859 - 1924) American Fantasia Cincinnati Pops; Erich Kunzel, cond. Vox Box 3035
Chadwick's "New World" Symphony?
George Whitefield Chadwick (1854 – 1931) Symphony No. 2 Detroit Symphony; Neeme Järvi, cond. Chandos 9334
Miakovsky's last symphony
Nikolai Miaskovsky (1881 – 1950) Symphony No. 27 USSR Academic Symphony; Yevgeny Svetlanov, cond. Olympia 168
Mr. Gershwin goes to Washington
George Gershwin (1898 – 1937) Of Thee I Sing soloists; Orchestra of St. Luke's; Michael Tilson Thomas, cond. Sony 42522
Harrison's "Elegiac" Symphony
Lou Harrison (1917-2003) Symphony No. 2 (Elegiac) American Composers Orchestra; Dennis Russell Davies, cond. MusicMasters 60204
Bright Sheng says: "What's in a name"
Bright Sheng (b. 1955) Postcards Singapore Symphony; Lan Shui, cond. BIS 1122
Libby Larsen for Strings
Libby Larsen (b. 1950) Symphony No. 4 (String Symphony) Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Joel Revzen, cond. Koch International 7481
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.