May 13-14, 2017: Recently I've discovered several new classical works I want to share with you. A friend and colleague here at KKRN suggested a symphony by British composer Ralph Vaughn Williams called the “Sinfonia Antarctica”. This symphony is cold, stark, lonely and beautiful all at the same time, and features a narrator and soprano soloist as well as full symphony orchestra. Also included tonight is a piano work by another modern British composer, Benjamin Britten, this being his first piano concerto. A set of “American Preludes” by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera will complete tonight’s program, along with the beautiful “First Cuckoo in Spring” by Frederick Delius.
Hour 1:
Intro: Villa Lobos- Assobio a Jato (Jet Whistle) for flute and cello [2.55]
Britten-Piano Concerto No. 1 (USSR State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Evgeny Svetlanov
with Sviatoslav Richter,piano [32.20]
Ginastera-American Preludes Opus 12 (Alberto Portugheis, piano) [15.46]
Hour 2:
Vaughn Williams-Symphony 7-Sinfonia Antarctica (London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult with Sir John Gielgud, narrator, and Margaret Richie, soprano) [44.40]
Delius-First Cuckoo in Spring (Orchestra of St. John’s Smith Square conducted by John Lubbock) [7.04]
Program No. 249
