Birdsong
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
Evening Music takes flight tonight with some bird-themed works, including Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara's concerto for birds and orchestra, the "Cantus Arcticus."
Before we go completely to the birds, however, we'll spend time with a slightly more conventional instrument. Cellist Mishka Maisky (with a little help from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra) returns to his musical roots in Tchaikovsky's Andante Cantabile for Cello and Orchestra, while Dutch virtuoso Pieter Wispelwey and the Florilegium ensemble take a classical turn in Haydn's Cello Concerto in C.
In the second hour of our program, we'll hear the Lahti Symphony Orchestra (under Osmo Vanska) in Einojuhani Rautavaara's "Cantus Arcticus," a beautifully expressive work that combines taped birdsong with a full orchestra (New York-area listeners can enjoy the Lahti Symphony live at Avery Fisher Hall on January 30th). We'll also serve up a couple of other gems for you bird-watchers: Tenor Ben Heppner sings the lovely song "Birdsongs at Eventide" by British composer Eric Coates, while the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra makes a solo appearance this time in Respighi's classic "Gli uccelli" (The Birds).
The final part of our evening highlights the artistry of Kurt Weill. First, legendary songstress Lotte Lenya performs the "Ballad of the Drowned Girl" from Weill's "Berlin Requiem," in a recording from 1955. After that, Marianne Faithful and Hudson Shad tempt fate with Weill's "Seven Deadly Sins," from a live performance in 1997 featuring the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dennis Russell Davies.
Before we go completely to the birds, however, we'll spend time with a slightly more conventional instrument. Cellist Mishka Maisky (with a little help from the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra) returns to his musical roots in Tchaikovsky's Andante Cantabile for Cello and Orchestra, while Dutch virtuoso Pieter Wispelwey and the Florilegium ensemble take a classical turn in Haydn's Cello Concerto in C.
In the second hour of our program, we'll hear the Lahti Symphony Orchestra (under Osmo Vanska) in Einojuhani Rautavaara's "Cantus Arcticus," a beautifully expressive work that combines taped birdsong with a full orchestra (New York-area listeners can enjoy the Lahti Symphony live at Avery Fisher Hall on January 30th). We'll also serve up a couple of other gems for you bird-watchers: Tenor Ben Heppner sings the lovely song "Birdsongs at Eventide" by British composer Eric Coates, while the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra makes a solo appearance this time in Respighi's classic "Gli uccelli" (The Birds).
The final part of our evening highlights the artistry of Kurt Weill. First, legendary songstress Lotte Lenya performs the "Ballad of the Drowned Girl" from Weill's "Berlin Requiem," in a recording from 1955. After that, Marianne Faithful and Hudson Shad tempt fate with Weill's "Seven Deadly Sins," from a live performance in 1997 featuring the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dennis Russell Davies.
