What do you get when you combine twelve opera highlights with eleven popular holiday tunes and ten brass players from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra? "Santa and Isolde," of course! On Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear a performance of Bruce Adolphe's new holiday classic.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Peter Tchaikovsky (arr. Alexander Gauk): The Seasons Op. 37a: 12. December: Christmas-tide
Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra; Leonid Grin, conductor
Tchaikovsky: The Seasons / Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra
Ondine 782
Traditional English: God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
Ensemble Galilei: Carolyn Surrick, viola da gamba; Isaac Alderson, wood flute; Jackie Moran, banjo; Ryan McKasson, fiddle
Surrounded by Angels - A Christmas Celebration with Ensemble Galilei
Dorian 92173
Traditional: Good King Wenceslas
Ensemble Galilei: Carolyn Surrick, viola da gamba; Isaac Alderson, wood flute; Jackie Moran, banjo; Ryan McKasson, fiddle
Surrounded by Angels - A Christmas Celebration with Ensemble Galilei
Dorian 92173
Josef Suk: Meditation on the old Bohemian Chorale "St. Wenceslas," Op. 35a
James Ehnes, violin; Amy Schwartz Moretti, violin; Richard O'Neill, viola; Robert deMaine, cello
Seattle Chamber Music Society Winter Festival, Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA
Eric Ewazen: Pastorale
Kevin Cobb, trumpet; John Rojak, trombone; Susan Grace, piano
The Colorado College Summer Music Festival, Packard Hall, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO
Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Noels pour les Instruments: 1. Joseph est bien Marie; 2. Or nous dites Marie; 3. Laissez paitre vos betes; 4. Vous qui desirez sans fin; 5. A la venue de Noel; 6. O Createur; 7. Une jeune pucelle; 8. Ou s'en vont ces gais bergers?
Masques; Olivier Fortin, director
Noel baroque
Analekta 9908
Bruce Adolphe: Santa and Isolde
Metropolitan Opera Brass
Waltzes, Songs, and Festive Scenes
Hour 2
Harold Darke: In The Bleak Midwinter
Mark Flynn and Devin Drerup, soloists; St. Paul's Choir School; John Robinson, conductor
Cathedral Church of St. Paul's, Boston, MA
Christmas in Harvard Square
London/Decca 20969
Frederic Chopin: Waltzes, Op. 64: No. 1 in D-flat Major, "Minute"; No. 2 in C-sharp Minor; No. 3 in A-flat Major
Rafal Blechacz, piano
Union College Concert Series, Union College, Memorial Chapel, Schenectady, NY
Tomas Luis de Victoria: O Magnum Mysterium
St. Paul's Choir School
Christmas in Harvard Square
Traditional: Ding Dong Merrily On High
St. Paul's Choir School; John Robinson, conductor and organist
Christmas in Harvard Square
H.J. Gauntlett: Once In Royal David's City
St. Paul's Choir School; John Robinson, conductor and organist
Christmas in Harvard Square
Richard Wagner: Siegfried Idyll
New Century Chamber Orchestra; Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, music director and concertmaster
First Congregational Church, Berkeley, CA
Hugh Martin/Ralph Blane (arr. Clarice Assad): Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
New Century Chamber Orchestra; Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, music director
Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, CA
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About Performance Today®
To find a station near you on our Stations Listings page, click here.
American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.
Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.
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