WGBH - Classical Concerts RSS

Keith Lockhart and the Londoners, Part 2

Mon, 06 May 2013 18:49 PM +0000

Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart leads his British orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra, on tour in America.

On-demand at Classical New England

POSTPONED: Boston Philharmonic Honors Bombing Victims

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 19:07 PM +0000

Benjamin Zander conducts Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as tribute to the bombing victims.

POSTPONED to October 4, 2013

Classical New England will broadcast the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra’s live performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The performance will recognize the tremendous strength of Bostonians and pay tribute to victims of Monday’s bombing at the Boston Marathon finish line. This will be the first live broadcast in the Boston Philharmonic’s storied history.

“Our region was shaken by the tragic events on Monday afternoon. During moments like these, people find comfort in music,” said CNE Managing Director Benjamin Roe. “Tomorrow, we look forward to celebrating Boston’s resilience with a live broadcast of one of the most recognized, inspiring and healing works ever written, and performed by one of the most talented and celebrated ensembles in the world.”

BPO Music Director Benjamin Zander has described the revered Ode to Joy conclusion of Beethoven’s Ninth as “the simplest, most direct expression of human beings’ ability to dream, to change themselves and the world, and also to heal.” Zander will conduct the BPO’s performance of the iconic Symphony No. 9 with soloists Sam McElroy (baritone), Sarah Heltzel (mezzo-soprano), Michelle Johnson (soprano) and Yeghishe Manucharyan (tenor). The performance will also feature the Chorus Pro Musica, directed by Betsy Burleigh.

All six New England states will be able to hear the broadcast, carried on all Classical New England signals and the stations of the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. Vermont Public Radio, New Hampshire Public Radio and WMNR-Fine Arts Network in Monroe, Conn. will air the performance on a delayed basis over the weekend. Cathy Fuller and James David Jacobs will host the broadcast.

This special performance is made possible through cooperation of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO), the Boston Musicians’ Association, the American Federation of Musicians, Symphony Hall and others.

Viva Verdi!

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 20:37 PM +0000

In celebration of the bicentennial of the birth of composer Giuseppe Verdi, Daniel Barenboim conducts the orchestra of La Scala, one of several recent concert performances from Europe.

On-demand at Classical New England

Bach Keyboard Journeys

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 20:28 PM +0000

Harpsichord, fortepiano, lautenwerk, grand piano, and harp (an honorary keyboard instrument) are all included in a special Classical New England celebration of Bach.

On-demand at Classical New England

Rene� Fleming and Susan Graham Live at Carnegie

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:21 PM +0000

Carnegie Hall (photo by Jeff Goldberg-Esto, courtesy of Carnegie Hall)

Join two stars of the opera stage for an informal evening of French songs, as Carnegie Hall is transformed into a Parisian salon.

Tune in at 8pm, with hosts Fred Child of APM's Performance Today and Jeff Spurgeon of WQXR.

Barenboim and West-Eastern Divan Musicians in Concert

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 19:57 PM +0000

Members of the Arab-Israeli youth orchestra founded by conductor Daniel Barenboim and the late Edward Said perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Today at 2 on Classical New England

Celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr., with the Boston Children's Chorus

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 21:20 PM +0000

Every January, Classical New England joins the rest of the nation in celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year's celebration features the Boston Children's Chorus and director Anthony Trecek-King.

To hear the program, click on "Listen" above.

A visionary whose convictions singularly fueled cultural change, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was himself inspired by the voices and the music that were part of his life from an early age. The son of a choir director (they held rehearsals in the front parlor of the King home) and himself a young singer with a “fine clear voice,” Dr. King often expressed his vision of a society in musical metaphors. That included one of his more famous utterances: “Life’s piano can only produce melodies of brotherhood when it is recognized that the black keys are as basic, necessary, and beautiful as the white keys.”

For this year’s celebration we’ve partnered with the Boston Children’s Chorus to present a “preview concert” in our Fraser Performance Studio of the BCC’s 10th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute Concert. This year’s program at the New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall, is titled “The Content of Character,” and features special guest soloists Samantha Barnes Santana and Melinda Doolittle.

Melinda Doolittle (photo by Cheryl Willoughby)

In our Fraser Studio, morning host Laura Carlo welcomes Artistic Director Anthony Trecek-King, and the 70-strong voices of the BCC’s Young Men’s Ensemble and Premier Choir, for a program of songs that honor Dr. King’s life and legacy.

Included in the program are the spirituals “Deep River,” “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho” and “Wade in the Water,” the latter featuring a searing vocal by Melinda Doolittle. Also, the BCC performs a song in tribute to the Sandy Hook shooting victims called “When the Sun Rose Up This Morning," by 23-year-old Winchester, MA native Stephen Feigenbaum.

On the program:

Battle of Jericho - arr. Moses Hogan
   Premier Choir, Young Men's Ensemble

When the Sun Rose Up This Morning - Stephen Feigenbaum
   Premier Choir, Young Men's Ensemble

Ho Boys Cancha Line 'Em - arr. Leonard De Paur, edited by Anthony Trecek King
   Young Men's Ensemble, Branden Miles, soloist

Deep River from "A Child of Our Time" - arr. Michael Tippett
   Premier Choir, Young Men's Ensemble

Strange Fruit - Abe Meeropol, arr. Kristina G. Boerger
   Premier Choir

"Dreams" from Dream Trilogy - Rollo Dilworth
   Premier Choir; Sarah Koonce, piano; David Wade, guitar; Kyle Miles, bass; Pieter Struyk, percussion

Wade in the Water - arr. Moses Hogan
   Premier Choir; Young Men's Choir; Melinda Doolittle, vocals

A Journey Through The Nutcracker

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 10:40 AM +0000

Join James David Jacobs and Boston Ballet to explore Tchaikovsky's iconic ballet.

On-demand at Classical New England

Boston Camerata's American Christmas

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 15:16 PM +0000

Boston Camerata and director Anne Azema perform seasonal music from the Colonial era and early United States.

On-demand at Classical New England

Boston Baroque's Messiah

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 13:22 PM +0000

Join Laura Carlo for Handel's Messiah, with Boston Baroque and founder and conductor Martin Pearlman, in concert at Jordan Hall in Boston.

On-demand at Classical New England

Holiday Pops at Symphony Hall!

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 22:47 PM +0000

Holiday favorites ring out with the Boston Pops and conductor Keith Lockhart, with special guests Melinda Doolittle and a certain fellow in a red suit!

On-demand at Classical New England

Love is Better than Wine, with the Tallis Scholars

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 15:18 PM +0000

The legendary British vocal ensemble sings a program of British and French music from the Renaissance, in concert at St. Paul Church in Cambridge, Mass.

On-demand at Classical New England

Boston Camerata's Medieval Christmas

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 08:41 AM +0000

Step back in time with Boston Camerata and director Anne Azéma for music from the 15th century and before, in concert at First Parish Church in Newbury, Mass.

Tonight at 7pm on Classical New England

Holiday Joy from Boston Children's Chorus

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:35 PM +0000

December 8, 2012 was a very special day at the Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston – it was the building’s birthday! The church, which was at one time the largest Roman Catholic church in New England, was dedicated onDecember 8, 1875.

As in so many cases in Boston, the very old joined with the very young on December 8. The Boston Children’s Chorus presented its tenth annual holiday concert in the Cathedral, with the largest audience it has ever had.

The Chorus’s mission is to harness the power and joy of music to unite the city’s diverse communities and inspire social change. Singers in the Chorus come from over 80 different communities in the Boston area, creating what has become known as a celebration for all of Greater Boston. The BCC and its 450-plus chorus members are grouped into twelve choirs in five locations, and the program on this concert included all of them.

We’ve saved you a seat in this packed audience, so join us as the Boston Children’s Chorus celebrates the holiday season!

To hear the program, click on "Listen" above, and enjoy the slideshow from the concert above and a video from BCC's appearance on CNE's Drive Time Live below:

Eternal Echoes for Hanukkah

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 19:43 PM +0000

Join James David Jacobs for conversation and music with violinist Itzhak Perlman, klezmer musician Hankus Netsky, and Cantor Yitzhak Meir Helfgot in celebration of the Festival of Lights.

On-demand at Classical New England

A Choral Christmas with Stile Antico

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 22:36 PM +0000

Classical New England's Cathy Fuller brings you the British ensemble's performance of seasonal music from the Renaissance, in concert at St. Paul's Church in Cambridge, Mass.

Tonight at 7pm on Classical New England

Handel's Messiah, from Boston

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 09:02 AM +0000

Harry Christophers leads the Handel and Haydn Society in Handel's masterpiece, with soprano Karina Gauvin, countertenor Daniel Taylor, tenor James Gilchrist, and bass Sumner Thompson, in concert at Symphony Hall in Boston.

On-demand at Classical New England

The National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba in Concert

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 16:54 PM +0000

Pianist Nachito Herrera (photo courtesy of the artist)

WDAV's Frank Dominguez takes you behind the scenes with the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Mass. To hear the program, click on "Listen" above.

The historic 2012 tour of the United States by the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba takes the ensemble to a total of 20 cities, ranging from the wide-open spaces of the Midwest to the industrial North; from the major metropolitan areas of the East Coast to sunny stretches of Florida. But of all those places, I chose to catch the orchestra in the charming Southern town of Aiken, South Carolina.

Part of the reason was practical: Aiken is less than a three-hour drive from Davidson, North Carolina, where I host and produce Concierto, the nation’s first bi-lingual (English/Spanish) program celebrating the Latin contribution to classical music. But I was also intrigued to experience how the orchestra would go over in the South.

I awaited them backstage at the Etheredge Center, on the University of South Carolina campus in Aiken, where the orchestra performed on Friday, November 2nd. A studio theater had been set up as their green room, and a modest catered meal of sandwiches had been laid out in the passageway between the auditorium and their temporary lounge. The orchestra was late in arriving, but, given the punctuality of my Cuban-American relatives, I wasn’t surprised. Besides, they were coming from Opelika, Alabama, a pretty far stretch of travel even on a clear, mild autumn day.

When they arrived, I could tell this was a group that been touring hard and spending a lot of time on a bus. Though already dressed for the concert, they were otherwise subdued and quiet, and like good Cubans, headed straight for the coffee urn, and then the food. But soon they were filling the studio space, the passageways backstage, and the stage of the concert hall itself with scales and practicing. As soon as I introduced myself to one of them, any vestige of exhaustion disappeared and the musician became warm and animated, thrilled to offer a fellow cubano an expressive greeting and delighted to learn about Concierto and my interest in their tour.

To a person, they were all pleased with the tour and the reception given them by American audiences. In many of the places they played there was a large Cuban-American presence in the audience, with boisterous cries of “Viva Cuba!” and waving of the Cuban flag. Other venues were more reserved, but the audiences nonetheless were just as appreciative and welcoming.

That was certainly the case in Aiken at the concert that night. The auditorium was nearly full with, what appeared to my practiced eye, a mostly Anglo audience. But the standing ovations started early, when the orchestra played the Star-Spangled Banner and the Cuban National anthem, La Bayamesa, and came often.

Hear The National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba play La Bayamesa, the Cuban National Anthem:

Hear pianist Nachito Herrera and the National Symphony Orchestra play the Danzón by Alejandro Garcia Caturla:

By the time the audience was rewarded with a classic Danzón for an encore, the crowd was ready to take the orchestra home for dinner. From what I’ve observed, it was a typical performance and audience reaction on a tour that is anything but typical.

And for me personally, it couldn’t help but be nostalgic and somewhat bittersweet. The Cuban numbers the orchestra played, including Ernesto Lecuona’s La comparsa, were pieces I first heard as a child in my parents’ home.

Hear pianist Paris Ameriqy and the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba play La Comparsa by Ernesto Lecuona:

And when guest pianist Nachito Herrera and the ensemble launched into that Danzón finale, I was reminded of my late father’s treasured LPs of the legendary Orquesta Aragón. It’s that strong connection to family and place that forms such a strong bond with the island in the typical Cuban heart, and no doubt what has made this tour by the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba so special.

Hear pianist Nachito Herrera’s final encore: Son de La Loma by Miguel Matamoros:

To hear the program, click on "Listen" above.

Playlist:

Francis Scott Key - The Star Spangled Banner
Enrique Perez Mesa, conductor

Perucho Figuedero - La Bayamesa
Enrique Perez Mesa, conductor

George Gershwin - Cuban Overture
Enrique Perez Mesa, conductor

George Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue
Guido Lopez-Gavilan conductor
Nachito Herrera, piano

Guido Lopez-Gavilan - Guaguanco
Guido Lopez-Gavilan conductor
Nachito Herrera, piano

Ernesto Lecuona - La Comparasa
Enrique Perez Mesa, conductor
Paris Ameriqy, piano

Alejandro Garcia Caturia - Danzon
Guido Lopez-Gavilan conductor
Nachito Herrera, piano

Live from Carnegie Hall: the Belcea Quartet

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 02:41 AM +0000