Golijov's "St. Mark Passion"
Osvaldo Golijov (b. 1960) La Pasión según San Marcos Cantoria Alberto Grau; La Pasión Orchestra; Maria Guinand, cond. Hännsler 98 404
John Birge
YourClassical MPR
Composers Datebook®
Reminding you that all music was once new ® • with host John Birge
Tchaikovsky and Glass at the movies
Peter Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893) Swan Lake Ballet Montréal Symphony; Charles Dutoit, cond. London 436 212 Philip Glass (b. 1937) Dracula filmscore excerpt Kronos Quartet Nonesuch 79542
Schoenberg's "Take Five?"
Arnold Schoenberg (1874 - 1951) Five Pieces, Op. 16 BBC Symphony; Pierre Boulez, cond. Sony Classical 48463
On the road with Rota
Nino Rota (1911 - 1979) La Strada Ballet La Scala Orchestra; Riccardo Muti, cond. Sony Classical 66279
Mozart "dissed" by Dittersdorf?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) String Quartet in G, K.387 Emerson String Quartet DG 439 861 Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739 - 1799) String Quartet No. 4 in C Gewandhaus Quartet Berlin Classics 9261
Johann Strauss, "right" and "left"
Johann Strauss Sr. (1804 – 1849) Radetzky March Johann Strauss Orchestra; Christopher Warren-Green, cond. Black Box 1059
Barber's "scandalous" Overture
Samuel Barber (1910 – 1981) School for Scandal Overture Baltimore Symphony; David Zinman, cond. Argo 436 288
Saariaho at the Proms
J.S. Bach (1685 – 1750) arr. Henry Wood Toccata and Fugue in D minor BBC Symphony; Andrew Davis, cond. Teldec 97868 Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952) Graal Theatre Gidon Kremer, violin; BBC Symphony; Esa-Pekka Salonen, cond. Sony Classical 60817
Gershwin's operatic flop
George Gershwin (1898 – 1937) Blue Monday Cincinnati Pops; Erich Kunzel, cond. Telarc 80434
Rameau's "Pygmalion"
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 – 1764) Pygmalion La Petite Bande; Gustav Leonhardt, cond. BMG/Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 77143
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.