Sunday, June 1, at 12:00 noon
Guests Hilary Hahn, violin; Natalie Zhu, piano
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Sonata No. 25, K. 301
Ernst Bloch: Sonata
Igor Stravinsky: Chanson Russe - Russian Maiden’s Song
Sunday, June 1, at 1:00 pm
From the Top helps open the inaugural season of the McCoy Community Center for the Arts in New Albany, Ohio, with the teenage Reiziger Trio from nearby Columbus, and 18-year-old violinist Philippa Jarvis from the Boston area. We'll also hear performances by: pianist Nicholas King, 18, from Marina del Rey, California; soprano Julia Mendelsohn, 18, from Cincinnati, Ohio; and double bassist Nathaniel West, 16, from Columbus, Ohio.
Thursday, June 5, at 8:00 pm, and Sunday, June 8, at 10:00 pm
Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Overture
Khachaturian: Violin Concerto
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
(Roberto Minczuk, conductor; Cecylia Arzewski, violin)
Friday, June 6, at 8:00 pm
Guest Elizabeth Doyle
Singer, pianist, and composer Elizabeth Doyle is one of Chicago's most captivating performers. She blends a dreamy vocal style with swinging piano playing, deftly accompanying herself on both classic standards and her own unique compositions. Doyle begins the hour at the piano, playing "Blame It on My Youth" before pulling together all of her talents, singing and playing on her own tune "Black Coffee Today."
Saturday, June 7, at 1:30 pm
Giuseppe Verdi: I Vespri Siciliani
If you've ever wondered why some people think an opera's not over until all the characters are dead, this piece may be the reason. It has enough deadly plotting, and enough of Verdi's finest music, for several evenings in the opera house. We hear it from the Washington National Opera, in a production led by legendary tenor (and now conductor and administrator), Placido Domingo.
Maria Guleghina (Elena); Franco Farina (Arrigo); Lado Ataneli (Montforte); Vitalij Kowaljow (Procida); Erin Elizabeth Smith (Ninetta); Robert Baker (Danieli); Corey Evan Rotz (Tebaldo); J. Austin Bitner (Manfredo); James Shaffran (Roberto); John Marcus Bindel (Bethune); Benjamin von Atrops (Vaudemont)
Saturday, June 7, at 8:00 pm
Dick Wallace hosts this locally produced folk music show. Playlists are available at the Music Americana archive page.
Saturday, June 7, at 9:00 pm
Harry O'Donoghue hosts this locally produced Celtic music program. Playlists are available at the Green Island archive page.
Sunday, June 8, at 12:00 noon
Guest Garrick Ohlsson, piano
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 32 in c minor, Op. 111: movement I
Alexander Scriabin: Etude, Op. 2, No. 1
Alexander Scriabin: Etudes, Op. 8, Nos. 4, 12
Alexander Scriabin: Etude, Op. 42, No. 5
Alexander Scriabin: Poèmes, Op. 69, Nos. 1, 2
Alexander Scriabin: Sonata, Op. 530, No. 5
Sunday, June 8, at 1:00 pm
The fifth annual "Where Are They Now Show" focuses on kids who have successfully broken into the professional music world. This highlights program combines some of the best music we've had on the program with follow-up interviews where we learn about the burgeoning professional careers of some show alumni. We'll hear from: trumpet player Matthew Muckey, now 23 and a member of the New York Philharmonic; violinist Elena Urioste, now 22 and a budding violin soloist; pianist Ji-Yong Kim, now 17 and a concert pianist; and tuba player Carol Jantsch, now 23 and the youngest female principal tuba player in a professional orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Thursday, June 12, at 8:00 pm, and Sunday, June 15, at 10:00 pm
Gonzalo Grau: Pregunta y Respuesta (world premiere)
Barber: Cello Concerto
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4
(Robert Spano, conductor; Christopher Rex, cello)
Friday, June 13, at 8:00 pm
Guest Joe Wilder
This program honors the legendary trumpeter Joe Wilder, a 2008 recipient of the Jazz Masters Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Wilder is known for his warm lyrical sound and his mastery of the trumpet, whether he's playing jazz or classical music. In this encore broadcast, Wilder and bassist Rufus Reid join McPartland for "It's Easy to Remember" and "Far Away Places."
Saturday, June 14, at 1:30 pm
Daniel Catán: Salsipuedes, a Tale of Love, War and Anchovies (World Premiere Production)
A thumbnail synopsis of this opera by Mexican composer Daniel Catán reads like a cross between Mozart's Cosí fan tutte and Mel Brooks' fictional broadway creation Springtime for Hitler! Salsipuedes joins Catán's popular previous opera Florencia en al Amazonas among the many Houston Grand Opera world premieres to have been featured on World of Opera. Guido Maria Guida is the conductor.
Ana Maria Martinez (Lucero); Zheng Cao (Magali); Chad Shelton (Ulises); Scott Hendricks (Chucho); James Maddalena (Colonel/Madame Collette); Oren Gradus (Captain Magallanes); Nicholas Phan (El Chino); Laquita Mitchell (Orquidea); Heidi Stober (La China); Joseph Evans (General Garcia); Pablo Bracho (Sergeant Guzmán)
Saturday, June 14, at 8:00 pm
Dick Wallace hosts this locally produced folk music show. Playlists are available at the Music Americana archive page.
Saturday, June 14, at 9:00 pm
Harry O'Donoghue hosts this locally produced Celtic music program. Playlists are available at the Green Island archive page.
Sunday, June 15, at 12:00 noon
Guests Colin Carr, cello; Lee Luvisi, piano
Robert Schumann: Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70
Johann Sebastian Bach: Cello Suite No. 6 in D major: Sarabande
Johannes Brahms: Sonata No. 1 for Cello and Piano in e minor, Op. 38
Sunday, June 15, at 1:00 pm
This week, From the Top heads to the Rocky Mountains for one of America's best summer music venues, the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado. Highlights include the inspiring story of the discovery by a generous American couple of young Ukranian pianist Dasha Bukhartseva, age 14, and Brahms' Violin Sonata performed by outstanding 17-year-old violinist Ryan Meehan, from Winnetka, Illinois. Our other young performers are: oboe player Xuanbo Dong, 17, from Beijing; double bassist Nicholas Schwartz, 18, from Brookline, Massachusetts; and the Trillium Trio, violinist Caroline Goulding, 14, from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, cellist Alina Lim, 17, from Toronto, and pianist Sijing Ye, 15, from New York City.
Thursday, June 19, at 8:00 pm, and Sunday, June 22, at 10:00 pm
Barber: School for Scandal Overture
Schumann: Piano Concerto
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5
(Hugh Wolff, conductor; Nicholas Angelich, piano)
Friday, June 20, at 3:00 pm
A special live call-in program. Host Rickey Bevington is joined by Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond and other Labor Department officials, to take calls and answer questions about Georgia's economy and the current state of the job market. Tune in to find out about the best employment resources, free education programs, the latest tips for job hunting, and more. The number to call toll-free during the program is 1-866-RADIO-GA (1-866-723-4642).
Friday, June 20, at 8:00 pm
Guest Warren Vache
Warren Vache is a remarkable horn player - proficient on the trumpet, cornet, and flugelhorn. With a warm tone, astounding chops, and his own unique style, Vache has a strong sense of his jazz lineage. His mastery of the traditional jazz repertoire is evident as he joins McPartland, bassist Gary Mazzaroppi, and drummer Glenn Davis for "Basin Street Blues" and "Louisiana."
Saturday, June 21, at 1:30 pm
Camille Saint-Saëns: Samson and Delilah
Ella Fitzgerald once sang a tune with the line "Delilah was a floozy!" - or at least she was until she met "this buckaroo named Sam." And that's not a bad summation of Saint-Saëns's colorful biblical blockbuster. The Washington National Opera brings it to us in a production featuring the splendid soprano Olga Borodina as the one-time floozy, and Karl Tanner as the man who brings down the house - literally. Giovanni Reggioli conducts.
Olga Borodina (Dalila); Karl Tanner (Samson); Alan Held (High Priest); Kyle Ketelson (Abimelech)
Saturday, June 21, at 8:00 pm
Dick Wallace hosts this locally produced folk music show. Playlists are available at the Music Americana archive page.
Saturday, June 21, at 9:00 pm
Harry O'Donoghue hosts this locally produced Celtic music program. Playlists are available at the Green Island archive page.
Sunday, June 22, at 12:00 noon
Guests Enso String Quartet
Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in D Major, Op. 20, No. 4: movements II, IV
Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet in D Major, Op. 18, No. 3
Robert Schumann: Quartet in A major, Op. 41, No. 3: movement I
Sunday, June 22, at 1:00 pm
This week's program comes from the Virginia Arts Festival in Newport News, Virginia. Performers to be announced.
Thursday, June 26, at 8:00 pm, and Sunday, June 29, at 10:00 pm
Sibelius: Tapiola
Theofanidis: The Here and Now
Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe
(Robert Spano, conductor; Hila Plitman, soprano; Richard Clement, tenor; Nathan Gunn, baritone)
Friday, June 27, at 8:00 pm
Guest Stephane Grappelli
Piano Jazz celebrates the centennial of Stephane Grappelli, one of the jazz world's greatest violinists. Grappelli first found fame in France with Django Reinhart's Quintette du Hot Club. He went on to an illustrious career playing with everyone from Oscar Peterson to Paul Simon to Yo-Yo Ma. In this encore program, the always elegant and ever-witty Grappelli joins McPartland on "Pennies from Heaven" before showing off his keyboard skills on a piano duet of "Anything Goes."
Saturday, June 28, at 1:30 pm
Giuseppe Verdi: La Traviata
When the diva dies just as the final curtain falls, it may seem like an operatic cliché - but not in the hands of Giuseppe Verdi. He made the final scene of La Traviata one of the most profound of them all, and also created one of opera's greatest romantic characters, Violetta Valery. Renato Palumbo conducts this production from the Vienna State Opera.
Krassimiria Stoyanova (Violetta); Piotr Beczala (Alfredo Germont); Zeljko Lucic (Giorgo Germont); Sophie Marilley (Flora); Gergely Nemeti (Gastone); In-Sung Sim (Douphol); Eijiro Kai (D'Obigny); Alfred Sramek (Doctor Grenvil)
Saturday, June 28, at 8:00 pm
Dick Wallace hosts this locally produced folk music show. Playlists are available at the Music Americana archive page.
Saturday, June 28, at 9:00 pm
Harry O'Donoghue hosts this locally produced Celtic music program. Playlists are available at the Green Island archive page.
Sunday, June 29, at 12:00 noon
Guests Hesperion XXI
Anonymous Trecento manuscript: Lamento de Tristano
Jewish lullaby (Israel): Noumi, noum yaldatii
Traditional (Afghanistan): Nastaran
Sephardic (Turkey): La dama y el pastor
Arianna Savall: L'Amor
Traditional (Catalonia): La Canco de Lladre
Traditional Bretagne (France): Gwerz
Traditional (Catalonia): El Testamen d’Amelia
Santiago de Murcia: Jota
Tarquinio Merula: Sentirete una canzonetta
Sunday, June 29, at 1:00 pm
The Ravinia Festival in suburban Chicago plays host to this week's From the Top. We feature a tiny violinist from Seattle who is a big Harry Potter fan, 11-year-old Simone Porter, and the 2007 Junior Division winners of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the Vesta Trio from Wisconsin. We'll also hear: cellist Mindy Park, 17, from Palatine, Illinois; marimba player Jingchen Sun, 17, from Forest Hills, New York; and pianist Daniel Walden, 18, from Berkeley, California.
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Page updated 5/26/08