Saturday, November 1, at 1:30 pm
Portman: The Little Prince
Houston Grand Opera has become known for its commitment to bringing new works to the operatic stage. This week we hear the world-premiere production of one of the world's most popular stories, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's "child's fable for adults," brought to new life in the opera house by Academy Award winning composer Rachel Portman.
Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Patrick Summers, conductor; Teddy Tahu Rhodes (Pilot); Nathaniel Irvin (The Little Prince); Marie Lenormand (The Fox); Robert Mack (The Snake/Vain Man); Scott Scully (Lamplighter/Drunkard/Baobab/Hunter); Kristin Reiersen (The Rose); Laquita Mitchell (The Water); Joshua Winograde (The King/Baobab/Hunter); Ethan Watermeier (Geographer/Baobab/Hunter); Aaron Judisch (Businessman/Baobab/Hunter).
Saturday, November 1, at 8:00 pm
Harry O'Donoghue hosts this locally produced Celtic music program. Playlists are available at the Green Island archive page.
Thursday, November 6, at 7:00 pm, and Sunday, November 9, at 1:00 pm
This week's From the Top features the New England Conservatory's Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, the premier orchestra for the NEC Preparatory School, under the direction of Benjamin Zander, for an all-orchestra show.
Saturday, November 8, at 1:30 pm
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
It's hard to think of an operatic heroine whose fate is more heartbreaking than that of Donizetti's Lucia in the compelling, and at times lurid, drama based on Sir Walter Scott's 1819 novel The Bride of Lammermoor.
Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Patrick Summers, conductor; Laura Claycomb (Lucia); Vinson Cole (Edgardo); Chen-Ye Yuan (Enrico); Raymond Aceto (Raimondo); Scott Scully (Normanno); Nicholas Phan (Arturo); Marjorie Owens (Alisa).
Saturday, November 8, at 8:00 pm
Harry O'Donoghue hosts this locally produced Celtic music program. Playlists are available at the Green Island archive page.
Saturday, November 8, at 9:00 pm
Dick Wallace hosts this locally produced folk show. Playlists are available at the Music Americana archive page.
Tuesday, November 11, at 7:00 pm
Narrated by Senator John McCain, this program recounts army veteran Ken Porwoll's traumatic experience as one of 10,000 American and almost 60,000 Filipino soldiers on the Bataan Death March of World War II, and his ensuing three years as a Japanese prisoner of war.
(Pre-empts Harmonia)
Tuesday, November 11, at 8:00 pm
In this special broadcast, recorded at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Choral Arts Society and the members of the Washington Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys perform Benjamin Britten's War Requiem. Britten was commissioned to write a piece for the consecration of a new cathedral in Coventry, England, built beside the ruins of the original millennium-old cathedral, which was destroyed in World War II. The War Requiem was first performed at the ceremony in May, 1962. The text is based on the Latin Mass for the Dead and the poetry of Wilfred Owen. The majestic score integrates the sorrows of war with the reconciliation of hope. Conducted by Norman Scribner, music director of the Choral Arts Society of Washington, and Douglas Major, organist and choirmaster of the Washington National Cathedral, the performance features soloists Amanda Halgrimson, soprano; Karl Dent, tenor; and Hakan Hagegard, baritone.
(Pre-empts Detroit Symphony)
Thursday, November 13, at 7:00 pm, and Sunday, November 16, at 1:00 pm
From the Top comes to you this week from Wheaton College's Weber Theatre in Norton, Massachusetts. You'll hear an outstanding 11-year-old pianist play Copland's playful The Cat and the Mouse, and you'll meet a saxophone-playing teen who found a way to turn a tragedy into a triumph. A trio member will test his wits in a music memorization challenge, and you'll learn what it's like to attend a "reed hoedown"!
Saturday, November 15, at 1:30 pm
Puccini: La Bohème
"Reality" shows may be a new thing on TV, but we've heard them in the opera house for a century or more. At the opera, such shows are called "verismo," and nobody handled the genre with more genius, or more raw emotion, than Puccini in La Bohème.
Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, conductor; Ana Maria Martinez (Mimi); Roberto Aronica (Rodolfo); Earle Patriarco (Marcello); Ainhoa Arteta (Musetta); Oren Gradus (Colline); Daniel Belcher (Schaunard); Richard Sutliff (Benoit/Alcindoro).
Saturday, November 15, at 8:00 pm
Harry O'Donoghue hosts this locally produced Celtic music program. Playlists are available at the Green Island archive page.
Thursday, November 20, at 7:00 pm, and Sunday, November 23, at 1:00 pm
From the Top this week comes from the plains of West Texas, on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Audiences will hear two chamber groups, one of them a pair of siblings from California. The other group, from Georgia, plays an original composition by one of its members. Also a saxophonist from down the road in Austin.
Saturday, November 22, at 1:30 pm
Lehar: The Merry Widow
Composer Franz Lehar may have been a "one hit wonder," but what a hit it was! The Merry Widow may be the most popular operetta ever. Merry widow Hanna Glawari, heiress to millions, is wooed by all the eligible bachelors in Paris, but has eyes only for her former beau Count Danilo.
Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Patrick Summers, conductor; Susan Graham (Hanna Glawari); Bo Skovhus (Count Danilo); Dale Travis (Baron Mirko Zeta); Laquita Mitchell (Baroness Valencienne Zeta); Chad Shelton (Camille de Rosillon); Jason Graae (Njegus); Brooks Almy (Praskovia).
Saturday, November 22, at 8:00 pm
Harry O'Donoghue hosts this locally produced Celtic music program. Playlists are available at the Green Island archive page.
Wednesday, November 26, at 1:00 pm
Lifeline to Health can be heard the fourth Wednesday of each month and features interactive call-in segments, health and fitness news, and feature stories on timely health issues particularly as they relate to ethnic minorities and medically under-served populations in Georgia. Hosted by Carol Snype Crawford, Executive Director of Georgia's Office of Minority Health, Lifeline to Health encourages listeners to reduce health risks and become active in improving and maintaining their health. The call-in number is 1-866-RADIO GA (866-723-4642). For more information, visit the Lifeline to Health website.
(Pre-empts third hour of Midday Music)
Thursday, November 27, at 1:00 pm
A Thanksgiving audio feast, hosted by Larry Massett, with stories all about eating. Includes: Annie Cheney's touching document of her eating disorder. Scott Carrier tours a turkey farm. Joe Frank describes a typically twisted Thanksgiving dinner. Dean Olsher trips through the Twin Cities with Chowhound Jim Leff. Susan Stone cuts up a classic cookbook. And Todd Colby will do absolutely anything for some cake.
Thursday, November 27, at 7:00 pm, and Sunday, November 30, at 1:00 pm
This week's From the Top was recorded at Strom Auditorium in Rockport, Maine. You'll hear outstanding musicians from 13 to 18 years old, including a young bassoonist from "just down the road a piece" in Kennebunk playing a movement from the Saint-Saëns Sonata, and a violist from that other Portland (the one in Oregon) playing from the Suite for Viola and Piano by Ernest Bloch. Also, you'll get a lesson from Roving Reporter Hayley Goldbach on how to most effectively bribe your teenager!
Friday, November 28, at 3:00 pm
Activists dedicated to promoting and protecting universal human rights attend a conference at the Carter Center this month to discuss their work to defend fundamental freedoms. These human rights defenders from around the world often are targeted as part of increased security measures prompted by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. They share personal reflections about the challenges they now face.
(Pre-empts Georgia Gazette)
Saturday, November 29, at 1:30 pm
Mozart: Cosi fan Tutte
At first, Mozart's drama seems a silly farce of mistaken identities, and maybe it is. But as usual with Mozart it's also more than that. Underneath, the opera tells a disquieting story of human weakness, betrayal and - perhaps - forgiveness.
Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Patrick Summers, conductor; Christine Goerke (Fiordiligi); Joyce DiDonato (Dorabella); Richard Croft (Ferrando); Nathan Gunn (Guglielmo); Alfonso Antoniozzi (Don Alfonso); Judith Christin (Despina).
Saturday, November 29, at 8:00 pm
Harry O'Donoghue hosts this locally produced Celtic music program. Playlists are available at the Green Island archive page.
Saturday, November 29, at 9:00 pm
Dick Wallace hosts this locally produced folk show. Playlists are available at the Music Americana archive page.
Sunday, November 30, at 8:00 pm
St. John Flynn welcomes St. Simon's Island author Tina McElroy Ansa to the program to talk and take listener calls about her latest novel You Know Better. As the small town of Mulberry, Georgia, celebrates its spring Peach Blossom Festival, three women in the Pines family, grandmother, mother, and daughter, learn to face the pain of their lives and, with the guidance of the spirits of three renowned Mulberry women, discover that with reconciliation comes healing. We'll also discuss "Willie Bea and Jaybird," Ansa's story in After O'Connor: Stories from Contemporary Georgia, a new short story collection from the University of Georgia Press. The toll-free number to call is 1-866-RADIO-GA (1-866-723-4642).
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Page updated 11/19/03