NSO Showcase

Can’t you just picture it? “Noseda bouncing in place with his arms outstretched like a Marionette.” That’s how The Washington Post described Gianandrea Noseda conducting the NSO (National Symphony Orchestra) in Nino Rota’s ballet suite from La Strada. Commissioned in 1966, the one-act ballet is based on the Oscar-winning1954 Fellini film about an innocent young girl who is sold to an abusive circus strongman.  

July’s NSO Showcase continues with a stunning performance by 3-time Grammy Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn of Brahms’ Violin Concerto (which she will reprise with the NSO next month at Wolf Trap).

The program ends with not with the 1812 Overture so popular at this time of year, but with his passionate Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Festival Overture. 

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hahn

Opera Matinee

Based on Biblical story of Herod, Salome and John the Baptist, Strauss' Salome shocked audiences at its premiere in 1905 -- a traumatic and erotic tale of a princess who requests murder as a reward, along the Dance of the Seven Veils.  A production of Vienna State Opera, with Malin Byström in the title role and Gerhard Siegel as Herod, conducted by Philippe Jordan.

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Salome

Choral Showcase

The glories - and the stories - of Renaissance Florence are sung this weekend on Choral Showcase, with laudas and canzoni relating the city's history and times. Composers Philippe Verdelot, Guillaume Dufay, Gilles Binchois, and Henricus Isaac wove music that touched on the people and places of that era, such as Lorenzo de Medici ("Lorenzo the Magnificent"), Machiavelli, Savonarola, and the Duomo (pictured above). With performances by The Orlando Consort, Cinquecento, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Alamire, and The Tallis Scholars.

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From the Top

A teenage flutist’s playful performance of Carmen Fantasie kicks off this week’s program. We also meet a young marimba player who’s a star member of one of the strongest marching bands in Texas, and a teenage pianist who performs the music of Chopin. Finally, we travel to one of Boston’s great churches to hear a young organist perform the music of J.S. Bach.

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Classical Sunrise

This week's offerings for the perfect start to your day:

  • Monday 6:05AM Mussorgsky - Dawn on the Moskva River
  • Tuesday 6:05AM Copland - Buckaroo Holiday
  • Wednesday 6:05AM Bach - Courante from Cello Suite No. 6
  • Thursday 6:05AM Holst - Dance from Brook Green Suite
  • Friday 6:05 Bach/Rachmaninoff - Suite from Violin Partita: Preludio

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