Austrian pop singer Falco, in the video for 'Rock Me Amadeus'

Mostly Mozart (Fringe) Festival : #2501 “Rock Me Amadeus,” Part 1

New Sounds | Aug 9, 2020

As part of our week-long Mostly Mozart fringe festival to augment Mostly Mozart on WQXR, listen to the first of a multi-part series “Rock Me Amadeus.” Hear from the unclassifiable cult musician Pascal Comelade, who has worked with PJ Harvey and Robert Wyatt, among others, in his long career as a non-musician who reclaims the subversive, iconoclastic and ironic spirit of the “avant-garde.” Expect something prog-rockish perhaps with toy instruments, as the Frenchman sets to music a letter from Mozart to his young cousin. Mozart and his music are also treated rudely by German electronic pioneer Edgar Froese (Tangerine Dream), American computer music wiz Carl Stone, and French world music producer Hughes Courson. Plus, composer/bassist Edgar Meyer bases his double concerto for himself and Yo-Yo Ma on an earlier Mozart double concerto, and a solo banjo arrangement of Mozart by Bela Fleck. Also, savor the sounds of the Austrian musician Falco's sexy sax-laden, roto-tom heavy ode to Mozart, and the title of this three-part series of shows... "Rock Me Amadeus."

Program #2501, Rock me Amadeus, Part 1   (First aired Weds. 1/24/06)

ARTIST: Falco 
WORK: Rock Me Amadeus [3:00]
RECORDING: Rock Me Amadeus single
SOURCE: A & M #15105 LP 
INFO: Reissued in 2016 for the 30th anniversary of the song. Available via Amazon.com AppleMusic or Spotify

ARTIST: Hughes de Courson et al 
WORK: Yaman Hawa / Thamos, King of Egypt [4:47]
RECORDING: Mozart L’Egyptien
SOURCE: Virgin Classics #71727
INFO: French import CD. Available at Amazon.com, Spotify, AppleMusic

ARTIST: Hughes de Courson et al 
WORK: Symphonie Egyptienne #25 [6:21]
RECORDING: Mozart L’Egyptien
SOURCE: Virgin Classics #71727
INFO: French import CD. Available at Amazon.com, Spotify, AppleMusic

ARTIST:  Pascal Comelade
WORK: Lettres de Mozart a sa petite cousine [1:35]
RECORDING: Sentimientos
SOURCE: Dys #05 LP | Reissue on LP is due out Aug. 29, 2020
INFO: superiorviaduct.com

ARTIST:  Edgar Froese
WORK: Drunken Mozart In The Desert  [9:53]
RECORDING: Stuntman
SOURCE: Virgin #V-2139 LP
INFO: Re-recorded in 2005 and available at edgarfroese.com

ARTIST: Cho-Liang Lin, Jaime Laredo, et al
WORK: Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante, 3rd movement [:44]
RECORDING: Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante K. 364 / Concertone, K. 190
SOURCE: Sony Classical #47639
INFO: www.sonyclassical.com

ARTIST: Edgar Meyer
WORK: Double Concerto, 3rd movement  [6:45]
RECORDING: Meyer / Bottesini Concertos
SOURCE: Sony Classical #60956
INFO: www.sonyclassical.com

ARTIST: Carl Stone
WORK: Sonali [5:01]
RECORDING: Four PIeces
SOURCE: EAM Discs #201
INFO: www.sukothai.com

ARTIST: Falco 
WORK: Rock Me Amadeus [1:56]
RECORDING: Miracle Hits
SOURCE: Medalist #30967
INFO: Reissued in 2016 for the 30th anniversary of the song. Available via Amazon.com AppleMusic or Spotify

ARTIST: Various artists: Bela Fleck
WORK: Rondo, Sonata in A [1:34]
RECORDING:  A Different Mozart
SOURCE: Imaginary Road /Phillips #534065
INFO: Available via Amazon.com AppleMusic or Spotify

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