Front Row Washington
A new year brings plenty of fresh opportunities, and I hope you’ll take this one to hear mostly 20th and 21st century music with clarinetist Zachary Good and pianist Natalia Kazaryan in a program they teased as having hidden gems and unexpected arrangements called Conservation/Exploration. It was last October they gave this performance at the beautiful Arts Club of Washington (formerly the home of President James Monroe), a club that promotes visual, performing, and literary arts in the nation’s capital. They played music by Jessie Montgomery, Germaine Tailleferre, Joan Tower, and Olivier Messiaen in addition to Johannes Brahms and music by the clarinetist Zachary Good himself. Join me every Monday night at 9 for exciting live concert recordings from prestigious concert series in the Washington area.
Classical Breakdown
The sounds of Hollywood are found throughout the enduring violin concerto by Korngold. John Banther and Evan Keely show you moments in the music to listen for, how Korngold does things differently, which movies ended up in this concerto, and discuss why this concerto has remained so popular!
Opera Matinee
Carmen, Bizet’s searing drama about a free-spirited Gypsy and the soldier who enters into a fateful romance with her, is an audience favorite, full of memorable melodies. This live broadcast by The Metropolitan Opera features Aigul Akhmetshina in the title role and renowned tenor Piotr Beczała as Don José.
Choral Showcase
The grandest choral work by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford is a Requiem composed as a tribute both to his late friend, Sir Frederic Leighton, and to Johannes Brahms, whose German Requiem Stanford greatly admired. Conductor Martyn Brabbins leads a sterling performance, released last fall on Hyperion.
From the Top
A teen quartet plays Mozart, a 15-year-old flutist shares why her instrument is a dependable friend, and a violinist plays Kreisler and draws connections between science and art. We also meet a percussionist from the famous LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts who gives a tour of the marimba to Peter Dugan, a 13-year-old cellist who loves both ballet and music, and a pianist who relates with the emotions of Schubert.
WETA Passport
Stream tens of thousands of hours of your PBS and local favorites with WETA Passport whenever and wherever you want. Catch up on a single episode or binge-watch full seasons before they air on TV.