Celebrating Mozart
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
Tonight, we light the birthday candles (249 of them, to be exact) and raise a toast to the Granddaddy of Classical Music, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart!
Our evening begins with a little Mozart tribute for String Trio entitled "Mozart en route (A Little Traveling Music)," by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis. Then it's a word from the master himself as The English Concert brings us Mozart's immortal overture to "The Marriage of Figaro." We'll also hear an overture from another birthday boy tonight, the great American songwriter (and New York native) Jerome Kern. John McGlinn leads the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Kern's overture to one of his early Broadway hits, "Oh Lady! Lady!!'
Of course, we can't get through the night without a few vocal selections from our birthday celebrants. Soprano Beverly Hoch channels Mozart's ominous Queen of the Night in the aria "Der Hölle Rache" from "The Magic Flute," while Dame Kiri Te Kanawa crosses over to bring us Kern's classic "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes." As an added bonus, Violinist Mark O'Connor offers up a classical take on another Kern jazz standard, "Yesterdays." And later in the evening we'll give a nod to Kern's masterpiece (and seminal Broadway musical) "Showboat," with bass-baritone Paul Robeson's mighty rendition of "Ol' Man River."
A couple more Mozartean treats await us before the night is through. Long before the lyrics to the children's classic "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" were written, the seventeen year old Mozart used this melody in his "Variations on 'Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman'" to tease his Father for his taskmaster ways (the original words revolve around a child's complaint to his mother about "Papa wanting me to grow up and act like an adult"). Acclaimed Mozart specialist Andras Schiff brings us this little gem for piano; we'll also enjoy the more serious side of Mozart with the Piano Quartet No.1 in G Minor from Alfred Brendel and guests. Tune in and enjoy our musical birthday bash as we keep the candles burning all night long!
» View today's selected reading from "The Writer's Almanac"
   Hosted by Garrison Keillor
Our evening begins with a little Mozart tribute for String Trio entitled "Mozart en route (A Little Traveling Music)," by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis. Then it's a word from the master himself as The English Concert brings us Mozart's immortal overture to "The Marriage of Figaro." We'll also hear an overture from another birthday boy tonight, the great American songwriter (and New York native) Jerome Kern. John McGlinn leads the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Kern's overture to one of his early Broadway hits, "Oh Lady! Lady!!'
Of course, we can't get through the night without a few vocal selections from our birthday celebrants. Soprano Beverly Hoch channels Mozart's ominous Queen of the Night in the aria "Der Hölle Rache" from "The Magic Flute," while Dame Kiri Te Kanawa crosses over to bring us Kern's classic "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes." As an added bonus, Violinist Mark O'Connor offers up a classical take on another Kern jazz standard, "Yesterdays." And later in the evening we'll give a nod to Kern's masterpiece (and seminal Broadway musical) "Showboat," with bass-baritone Paul Robeson's mighty rendition of "Ol' Man River."
A couple more Mozartean treats await us before the night is through. Long before the lyrics to the children's classic "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" were written, the seventeen year old Mozart used this melody in his "Variations on 'Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman'" to tease his Father for his taskmaster ways (the original words revolve around a child's complaint to his mother about "Papa wanting me to grow up and act like an adult"). Acclaimed Mozart specialist Andras Schiff brings us this little gem for piano; we'll also enjoy the more serious side of Mozart with the Piano Quartet No.1 in G Minor from Alfred Brendel and guests. Tune in and enjoy our musical birthday bash as we keep the candles burning all night long!
» View today's selected reading from "The Writer's Almanac"
   Hosted by Garrison Keillor
