Thursday, February 2, at 8:00 pm, and Sunday, February 5, at 10:00 pm
Dukas: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Bernstein: Serenade for Violin
Brahms: Symphony No. 1
(Marin Alsop, conductor)
Friday, February 3, at 3:00 pm
Host Mike Savage is joined by Secretary of State Cathy Cox, Public Service Commission Chairman Robert Baker, and a representative from the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs, to answer listeners' consumer questions. The number to call is 1-866-RADIO-GA (1-866-723-4642).
Friday, February 3, at 8:00 pm
Guest Nancy Marano
Vocalist Nancy Marano has been lauded as a distinctive musical talent, with impeccable technique, an unflappable sense of swing, and highly personal interpretations of songs. A committed educator, Marano has been on faculty at the Manhattan School of Music for 16 years, but she always finds the time to record with such distinguished artists as Benny Carter and Dick Hyman. McPartland and Marano match wits on "Mean To Me" and "The Folks Who Live On The Hill."
Saturday, February 4, at 1:30 pm
Franco Alfano: Cyrano de Bergerac
An opera, first performed in 1936, based on the play by Edmond Rostand. The brave Captain Cyrano, as talented with words as he is with a sword, but cursed with an over-large nose, is unrequitedly in love with his beautiful cousin Roxane. When she tells him of her love for the young cadet Christian, who is handsome but totally hopeless at expressing himself, Cyrano offers his services as ghostwriter, pouring out his own feelings in Christian's name. The two are married. Then, on the eve of a battle, Roxane confesses that while she first loved Christian's beauty, it was the soul revealed in his letters that she truly loves. Christian urges Cyrano to tell her the truth, but when Christian is killed in the battle, Cyrano cannot do so. He remains Roxane's faithful friend for years. Only when he knows he is dying does he reveal his love. Marco Armiliato is the conductor.
Sondra Radvanovsky (Roxane); Plácido Domingo (Cyrano); Raymond Very (Christian); Anthony Michaels-Moore (de Guiche); Roberto de Candia (Ragueneau)
Saturday, February 4, at 8:00 pm
Dick Wallace hosts this locally produced folk music show. Playlists are available at the Music Americana archive page.
Saturday, February 4, at 9:00 pm
Harry O'Donoghue hosts this locally produced Celtic music program. Playlists are available at the Green Island archive page.
Sunday, February 5, at 1:00 pm
From the Top visits paradise this week, with a show coming from the Hawaii Theatre in downtown Honolulu. Performers include 17-year-old violinist Laura Keller from Honolulu; pianist Andrew Ramos, age 13, from Waipahu, Hawaii; the Punahou Symphony Strings from Honolulu; double bass player Nathan Vedal, 16, from Seattle, Washington; and soprano Elizabeth Hertzberg, 16, from San Rafael, California.
Sunday, February 5, at 4:00 pm
Guest Tom Prasada-Rao
Monday, February 6, at 8:00 pm
This documentary program, narrated by Danny Glover, tells the story of York, William Clark's slave and the only African American member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. York began life as the childhood playmate of Clark, but at age 12 their relationship was transformed into that of master and slave. On the expedition, York experienced a rare level of freedom and equality, working shoulder to shoulder with white men. Upon their return, York was plunged back into bondage and subservience, which ultimately shattered his life. We know his story only through the writings of others; how he really felt about his experience remains a mystery. A look at how this "invisible man" is portrayed through history opens questions about how history is recorded, remembered, and created.
(Pre-empts first hour of Studio GPB)
Thursday, February 9, at 8:00 pm, and Sunday, February 12, at 10:00 pm
Paul Wranitzky: Symphony in D Major
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20
Mozart: Symphony No. 36 (Linz)
(Nicholas McGegan, conductor; Robert Levin, piano)
Friday, February 10, at 8:00 pm
Guest Bud Shank
Alto saxophonist Bud Shank is a West Coast jazz institution. His cool swinging sound is instantly recognizable among jazz enthusiasts. A veteran jazzman, Shank has pursued a number of musical avenues, from Latin jazz to orchestral concerts, from chamber jazz to multi-media events. Bassist Martin Wind and drummer Tim Horner back Bud and McPartland on "Lover Man" and "My Romance."
Saturday, February 11, at 1:30 pm
Giuseppe Verdi: La Traviata
One of Verdi's best-loved operas, based on the novel La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas the younger. Courtesan Violetta Valéry enjoys a life of freedom and pleasure, shadowed only by her incipient consumption. Then she meets young Alfredo Germont, with whom she hopes to find true love. They live happily together, until Alfredo's disapproving father appears, demanding that Violetta give him up to avoid scandal. She decides to make the sacrifice to protect Alfredo, but allows him to believe that she has left him for another man. Angry, Alfredo denounces her. Eventually, his father tells him the truth, but it is too late. The lovers reconcile just before Violetta dies of tuberculosis. Marco Armiliato conducts.
Angela Gheorghiu (Violetta); Jonas Kaufmann (Alfredo); Anthony Michaels-Moore (Germont)
Saturday, February 11, at 8:00 pm
Dick Wallace hosts this locally produced folk music show. Playlists are available at the Music Americana archive page.
Saturday, February 11, at 9:00 pm
Harry O'Donoghue hosts this locally produced Celtic music program. Playlists are available at the Green Island archive page.
Sunday, February 12, at 1:00 pm
The beautiful Moody Concert Hall at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa is the site for this week's From the Top. Audiences will meet a trio of violin-playing siblings, and a young organist from California who performs Bach's first Trio Sonata. Also on the show, a piano duo whose combined age is 22 perform a work written by the younger of the two (he's only 10!).
Sunday, February 12, at 4:00 pm
Guests Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer
Monday, February 13, at 8:00 pm
Host Roger Cooper presents a sampling of the music created by African American composer Florence Price, who was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1887. She published her first compositions while still in high school, later graduating from the New England Conservatory of Music. From 1907 to 1910, she taught music at Shorter College in Little Rock, and taught at Clark University in Atlanta from 1910 to 1912. Struggling to support two children after a failed marriage, Ms. Price returned to composition, and was rewarded in 1932 with multiple Wanamaker Prizes, including the top prize for symphonic composition. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed her Symphony in E-minor at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933, the first time a symphony by a black woman had been performed by a major orchestra. Join us for this special program celebrating the work of a pioneering American artist.
(Pre-empts Studio GPB)
Thursday, February 16, at 8:00 pm, and Sunday, February 19, at 10:00 pm
Respighi: The Fountains of Rome
Knussen: Violin Concerto
Mussorgsky/Stokowski: Pictures at an Exhibition
(Oliver Knussen, conductor)
Friday, February 17, at 8:00 pm
Guest Nat Hentoff
No one has gotten to the heart of jazz and jazz musicians better than writer Nat Hentoff. His instrument is the electronic typewriter, but his contribution to jazz is extraordinary; and, this year, the National Endowment for the Arts anointed him with its very first Jazz Master award for non-musicians, Jazz Advocate. The rich history of jazz is all around as McPartland and Hentoff reflect on the power of this music and share personal remembrances of Ellington, Coltrane, Monk, and Mingus.
Saturday, February 18, at 1:30 pm
Giuseppe Verdi: Aïda
An ancient Egyptian love triangle. Noble young Egyptian warrior Radamès is in love with the beautiful slave Aïda, who is actually the daughter of the king of Ethiopia. Aïda's mistress Amneris, the Pharaoh's daughter, is also in love with Radamès, and bitterly jealous. When Radamès is appointed Egyptian commander and wins a great victory over Ethiopia, Pharaoh gives him Amneris' hand as a reward. But Aïda's father the Ethiopian king is now also a captive, and he forces her to betray her love and induce Radamès to reveal military secrets. Caught by the jealous Amneris, Radamès is condemned as a traitor, and the two lovers die together, leaving Amneris alone and repentant. James Conlon conducts this performance.
Andrea Gruber (Aïda); Olga Borodina (Amneris); Johan Botha (Radamès); Juan Pons (Amonasro, King of Ethiopia); Kwangchul Youn (High Priest Ramfis); Hao Jiang Tian (Pharaoh)
Saturday, February 18, at 8:00 pm
Dick Wallace hosts this locally produced folk music show. Playlists are available at the Music Americana archive page.
Saturday, February 18, at 9:00 pm
Harry O'Donoghue hosts this locally produced Celtic music program. Playlists are available at the Green Island archive page.
Sunday, February 19, at 1:00 pm
From the Top heads to Atlanta, Georgia, to record in the beautiful Schwartz Center for Performing Arts at Emory University, where audiences will hear the Atlanta Youth Choir, and a 12-year-old violinist from Pennsylvania playing a violin concerto by Samuel Barber. Also pianist Jennifer Huang, age 16, from Alpharetta, Georgia; baritone James Onstad, 17, from Santa Fe, New Mexico; and alto saxophonist Andrew Hall, 17, from Durham, North Carolina.
Sunday, February 19, at 4:00 pm
Guest Jack Williams
Monday, February 20, at 8:00 pm
Each February, to mark Black History Month, we hear the magnetic cadences of Dr. Martin Luther King's most famous speech, "I Have a Dream." King was a remarkable orator, and he was not alone. He was nurtured in a centuries-old African American tradition of spoken narrative and oral persuasion. This dramatic and moving program highlights a selection of landmark sermons, speeches, and broadcasts by African American orators over the past century. We'll hear the stirring words of African American leaders, from Booker T. Washington and Marcus Garvey, to Fannie Lou Hamer and Malcolm X, to Shirley Chisholm and Julian Bond, as they call for action on civil rights and the unmet promise of democracy.
(Pre-empts Studio GPB)
Thursday, February 23, at 8:00 pm, and Sunday, February 26, at 10:00 pm
Prokofiev: Overture on Hebrew Themes
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10
(Roberto Abbado, conductor; Jon Kimura Parker, piano)
Friday, February 24, at 8:00 pm
Guest Freddie Redd
Pianist and composer Freddie Redd is one of the original bebop players. He cut his teeth gigging in 1950s Harlem with the likes of Mingus and Coleman Hawkins. Though superstar fame has been elusive for Freddie Redd, he's constantly being rediscovered by jazz aficionados. Redd has stayed true to his bop roots, as he demonstrates on Ellington's "Perdido" and Coltrane's "Naima."
Saturday, February 25, at 1:30 pm
Camille Saint-Saëns: Samson et Dalila
Based on a story from the book of Judges in the Old Testament. Samson, the leader of the Hebrews, is incredibly strong, but he has a weakness for Philistine women. Samson also has a secret: if he ever cuts his hair, God will rob him of his strength. When the Philistine commander denounces Jehovah, Samson kills the man, inspiring the enslaved Hebrews. Alarmed, the Philistine priest of Dagon uses Samson's former lover, the beautiful Philistine Dalila, to seduce Samson into giving up his secret. The plot succeeds, and Samson is captured and blinded. When Dalila and the priest force him to kneel to Dagon, he asks a boy to lead him to the two main pillars of the temple. Samson prays to Jehovah to restore his strength, and with a mighty effort he pulls down the pillars and the temple, crushing himself and his enemies. This production is conducted by Emmanuel Villaume.
Olga Borodina (Dalila); Plácido Domingo (Samson): Jean-Philippe Lafont (High Priest)
Saturday, February 25, at 8:00 pm
Dick Wallace hosts this locally produced folk music show. Playlists are available at the Music Americana archive page.
Saturday, February 25, at 9:00 pm
Harry O'Donoghue hosts this locally produced Celtic music program. Playlists are available at the Green Island archive page.
Sunday, February 26, at 1:00 pm
From the Top is in beautiful Rockport, Maine, as guests of the renowned Bay Chamber Concerts Series. The show will feature three students from the same high school in Maine, as well as a horn player from Texas and a clarinetist from California.
Sunday, February 26, at 4:00 pm
Guest Eliza Gilkyson
Sunday, February 26, at 8:00 pm, and Sunday, March 5, at 10:00 am
This month, in celebration of Black History Month, St. John Flynn welcomes David Dudley to the show to talk and take listener questions about his recently-published novel The Bicycle Man (Clarion Books, 2005). Set in rural south Georgia in 1927, it's the story of a young black girl and her mother whose lives are transformed by a wandering, older black man who comes to town on a shiny new bicycle. David Dudley is a professor of African American Literature at Georgia Southern University and a former Lutheran minister. The toll-free number to call to take part in the program is 1-866-RADIO-GA (1-866-723-4642).
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Page updated 2/1/06