Program Guide - December 2023

WWUH Classical Programming

December 2023

Sunday Afternoon at the Opera… Sundays 1:00 – 4:30 pm

Evening Classics… Weekdays 4:00 to 7:00/ 8:00 pm

Drake’s Village Brass Band… Tuesdays 7:00-8:00 pm

(Opera Highlights Below)

Friday 1st

Celebrating the lives of Stephane Grappelli and Alvin Ailey

Sunday 3d

Handel, Alcina



Monday 4th

Host’s Choice

Tuesday 5th

Diaghilev 150 – Berners: The Triumph of Neptune; Stravinsky: AppolonMusagète; Dukelsky (Vernon Duke): Zephyr et flor; Drake’s Village Brass Band John Holt Trumpet Facets Five

Wednesday 6th

Jean-Philippe Rameau: Le temple de la gloire (orchestral suite);

Jacques-Martin Hotteterre le Romain: Suite in G major, Op. 2, No. 2, for Flute and B.c.; Salamone Rossi: Hashirim asher lish'lomo (The Songs of Solomon) (excerpts); Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantata for the First Sunday in Advent [Advent 1] BWV 62: "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland"; Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: String Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20, MWV R20; Franz Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 21 in B-flat major, D. 960; Max Reger: Vier Tondichtungen nach Arnold Böcklin (Four Tone Poems after Arnold Böcklin), Op. 128; Walter Piston: Symphony No. 2; Lazar Weiner: The Art of Yiddish Song (selections).

Thursday 7th

Goetz: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B Flat Major, Op 18; Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo, Cavalleria Rusticana: Regina Coeli, Cavalleria Rusticana: Mamma quel vino; Pasquini: L'Idalma: Overture, Sonata a due bassi; Friml: Improvisation on the Donkey Serenade; 

Toch: Burlesken Op. 31; Goldman: 2 Monochromes; Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 4 in g minor, Op. 40.

Friday 8th

Remembering John Lennon with music of The Beatles

Sunday 10th

Massenet, Cendrillon



Monday 11th

Host’s Choice

Tuesday 12th

Mayr, Alberto Il Grande

Monday 13th

Host’s Choice

Tuesday 12th

A Tribute to Ernst Toch and Henry Cowell; Bernstein: Music for String Quartet; Ballard: The Four Moons Ballet; Villa-Lobos: Cello Concerto; Anna Lapwood Organ, Selections from Luna

Drake’s Village Brass Band John Zarzo Horn

Wednesday 13th

Étienne Nicolas Méhul: Héléna: Overture; Ludwig van Beethoven: Ah! perfido, Op. 65:  Franz Schubert: Die Zwillingsbruder, D. 647: Overture;  Cipriani Potter: Symphony No. 7 in F Major:  Amilcare Ponchielli: Sinfonia in B flat Minor, Op. 153 (per banda);  Johannes Brahms: 4 Gesänge, Op. 17:  Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Piano Quintet in G Minor, Op. 1; Richard Strauss: 2 Militärmärsche, Op. 57, TrV 221;  Franz Liszt: Verdi - I Lombardi: Salve Maria de Jérusalem, S431/R264 (2nd version);  Francesco Paolo Tosti: La Sera, Nos. 1 – 6 (Complete); Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek: String Quartet No. 1 in C

Minor;  Saverio Mercadante: Decimino No. 1;  Engelbert Humperdinck: Die Heirat wider Willen: Overture;  Theodore Dubois: Concerto capriccio for Piano and Orchestra; Alberto Franchetti: Nella Foresta Nera;  Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: The Snow Maiden Suite;  Sergei Lyapunov: Polonaise, Op. 16 (Encore) 

Thursday 14th

Jongen: Tableaux Pittoresques, Op. 56; Valentini: Concerto Grosso in a minor, Op. 7 No. 11; Szymanowska: Nocturnes in A-Flat Major, B Flat Major; Nelson: Danza Capriccio; Bond: Concerto No. 1 in D Major; Kozeluch: Oboe Concerto in F Major; Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43.

Friday 15th

Arnold Schoenberg's Chamber Sym No 2 and Aaron Jay Kernis' composition Color Wheel

Sunday 17th

Wheeler, Naga; Surlnach, The Owl and The Pussycat

Monday 18th

Host’s Choice

Tuesday 19th

Dupre Variation sur un vieux Noël; Goercki: O Donima Nostra; Honneger: Une Cantatade Noël; Britten: Ceremony of Carols; Vaughan Williams Fantasy on Christmas Carols; Drake’s Village Brass Band In The World of the Spirits – Christmas Classics for Wind Band Emory Symphonic Winds

Wednesday 20th

Schubert & Beethoven - Not exactly as they composed it!

Thursday 21st

Ziani: Il Talamo Overture; Fibich: Symphony No. 3 in e minor, Op. 53; Balakirev: Islamey - Oriental Fantasy; Capricornus: Ciaccona a 2 in d minor; Music for the Season

Friday 22d

Music of the Season

Sunday 24th

Hindemith, Die lange Weihnachts mahl; Eybler, Die Hirten beider Krippe zu Bethlehem

Monday 25th

Host’s Choice

Tuesday 26th

Penderecki: Symphony #6 “Chinese Songs”; Hovahness: Exile Symphony (#1); Harrison: Rhymes With Silver; AngèleDubeau – Signature Philip Glass; Drake’s Village Brass Band Trumpet Voluntary Music for Organ and Brass – Michael Laird Brass Ensemble

Wednesday 27th

Music for the Christmas season, including Eugene Zádor: A Christmas Overture; Philip Lane: Old Christmas Music;

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Chorale Cantata for the 3rd Day of Christmas [St John's Day], "Ich freue mich in dir", BWV 133; Gian Carlo Menotti: Amahl and the Night Visitors;

Thursday 28th

Bomtempo: Symphony No. 1 in E Flat Major, Op. 11; Rietz: Cello Concerto, Op. 16; Sessions: Adagio, Waltz for Brenda; Music for the Season

Friday 29th

Some of our favorite recordings received in 2023

Sunday 31st

Strauss, Blindekuh

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SUNDAY AFTERNOON AT THE OPERA

your "lyric theater" program

with Keith Brown



Programming for the month of December 2023

• SUNDAY DECEMBER 3RD Handel, Alcina Over the past three decades or so all of Handel's Italian opere serie have been recorded musically complete and in historically informed interpretations. One such was Ariodante (1735) on Virgin Classics CD's, with Alan Curtis leading his period instrument ensemble Il Complesso Barocco, which I broadcast on Sunday, October 9, 2011. Curtis lead the same group of players in Alcina (1735), another in a series of operas Handel wrote for John Rich's new theater at Covent Garden. Ariodante I had never previously presented, but Alcina I have broadcast before, first way back on Sunday, February 5, 1989 on old London LP's. It had been revived on the Covent Garden stage in 1962 with the diva Joan Sutherland in the title role. In the Italian poet Ariosto's epic poem Orlando Furioso Alcina is a sorceress and queen of an enchanted island. Like Circe in ancient Greek myth she beguiled men with her amorous charms, in Circe's case only to turn them into beasts. Alcina confronts the noble Christian knight Ruggiero, who is shipwrecked on her shores. Ruggiero manages to overcome his infatuation with Alcina. He smashes the urn wherein her powers reside. As in his recording of Ariodante, Curtis' star singer is mezzo Joyce Didonato. All of Curtis' Handel recordings have been praised. Writing in Fanfare magazine (Jan/Feb, 2010 issue), Ron Salemi says "...Curtis has assembled an outstanding group of singers. There is no weak element in the cast, and all make a strong and positive impression, equal or superior to others who have recorded this opera... Joyce Didonato sings Alcina's music with sensitivity to the role and great technique, along with the beauty of voice." Alcina was issued in 2009 on three Deutsche Grammophon/Archiv compact discs. I presented this recording on Sunday, November 13, 2011, but you listeners only got to hear the first two of the three discs. My broadcast was cut short suddenly and ended unexpectedly early to make way for a live sports broadcast. The rebroadcast of Alcina this Sunday will permit you to hear the opera in its entirety.
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• SUNDAY DECEMBER 10TH Massenet, Cendrillon How could an operatic score as beautiful as Jules Massenet's Cendrillon (1899) be so quickly forgotten? All of Massenet's thirty operas, with the sole exceptions of Manon and Thais, fell out of the repertoire after World War One, because it seems audiences no longer favored their romantic sentimentality. Now is the perfect moment to revive Cendrillon in radio broadcast, since Christmastime is a time for sentimental, romantic and enchanting fantasies. The familiar fairytale of Cinderella has been set to music many times with success. Rossini's La Cenerentola is the prime example. Massenet drew on Perrault's classic French version of the story, rather than the grisly German variant written down by the Brothers Grimm. Some of Massenet's loveliest music is reserved for the scene involving Cendrillon's fairy godmother. I broadcast Cendrillon long ago on LP's on Sunday, April 30, 1989. Soprano Frederike von Stade was heard as Cenrillon (aka Lucette) in the world premiere recording, reissued in 1979 by CBS Masterworks. Tenor Nicolai Gedda was her Prince Charming. Julius Rudel directed the Philharmonia Orchestra and Ambrosian Chorus. When Cendrillon was reissued on compact disc I featured it again on Sunday, December 10, 1995. I drew upon those same CBS Masterworks CD's again for broadcast today on this Second Sunday of Advent. The discs come on loan from the holdings of the Allen Memorial Library of Hartt College, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Hartford. 
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• SUNDAY DECEMBER 17TH Wheeler, Naga, Surinach, The Owl and The Pussycat One good operatic fairy tale deserves another, as we proceed to the Third Sunday of the pre-Christmas Advent season. So following Jules Massenet's operatic version of the Cinderella story, here's a twenty first century fantasy opera that bears comparison with Mozart's Magic Flute by contemporary American composer Scott Wheeler (b. 1952). Naga translates roughly as "the snakes," but the title of Scott Wheeler's two act opera could more rightly be rendered as The Two Magic Snakes (2016), a story of spiritual quest intertwined with two magical snake deities, like those of the Roman caduceus, whose antecedents are the serpent in the Biblical Garden of Eden, or the mythological Greek Ouroboros, or the "worm" (ie. dragon) of medieval European legend. Only in Wheeler's opera the context is Far Eastern Buddhist civilization. The young questing monk (think Tamino) encounters a wise old spiritual master like Sarastro. There's a Pamino-like young wife of the hero to round out the cast. Listen for a children's chorus,too. The White Snake and Green Snake also get to sing. Carolyn Kuan directs the five singing characters, with the White Snake Projects Chorus, the Boston Children's Chorus and White Snake Projects Orchestra. Carilyn Kuan became director of our own Hartford Symphony in 2011. Scott Wheeler's Naga was issued on two compact discs in 2021 through New World Records of Brooklyn, NY.
•     Just for fun, as a postlude to this Sunday's feature presentation, we return to the Western European tradition for a musical treatment of Edward Lear's famous whimsical poem The Owl and The Pussycat. Spanish composer Carlos Surinach (1905-97) wrote ballet music in 1977 for Martha Graham's illustrious dance troupe to act out in her choreography. The dance treatment is a distant extrapolation upon the poem, incorporating dolphins never mentioned in Lear's verse. Surinach's orchestration is curiously appropriate for "nonsense verse" - as eccentric perhaps as Lear the poet himself. Gil Rose conducts the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, with Aliana de la Guardia as the narrator, a role which also seems to be an extrapolation imposed upon the original dance composition. The Owl and The Pussycat is one of three of Surinach's ballet music compositions set forth on a brand new BMOP Sound compact disc release. 
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• SUNDAY DECEMBER 24TH Hindemith, Das lange Weihnachtsmahl, Eybler, Die Hirten bei der Krippe zu Bethlehem You listeners will be, musically speaking, spending Christmas Eve 2023 among German-speaking folk. Fond memories of Christmas dinner with family are part of the holiday idyll. What if it was possible to attend a Christmas feast that encompasses ninety years of a family's history? That's what the distinguished American playwright Thornton Wilder had in mind in his one-act play The Long Christmas Dinner (1931). German composer Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) approached Wilder about reworking his play into a suitable opera libretto. Wilder took on the challenge and gave Hindemith the permission he wanted for his last opera Das lange Weihnachtsmahl (1960/61). Hindemith himself translated Wilder's libretto into German and crafted his music so that the opera could be sung in either English or deutsch. On Sunday, December 19, 2010 I broadcast the German language version in a 2005 Wergo recording with Marek Janowski conducting the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and vocal soloists. Then on Sunday, December 20, 2015 came the English language version, as recorded live at Lincoln Center, NYC on a Bridge CD. This Sunday I revert to the German version of the Christmas dinner opera.
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•     This is also the perfect moment for a Nativity oratorio, so I again fall back on a recording I had last aired on Sunday, December 20, 2009 of Die Hirten bei der Krippe zu Bethlehem ("The Shepherds at the Manger in Bethlehem," 1794) by Joseph Leopold Eybler (1765-1846), a student and close friend of Mozart. If you like Haydn's Creation or his Seasons oratorio you'll love this Christmas seasonal work of Eybler's. The score of Eybler's oratorio is found in the Austrian National Library. Conductor Wolfgang Helbich took it up, preparing it for modern performance with instrumental parts he had to compose himself for the missing ones in the closing choral number. Helbich leads the period instrument ensemble I Febiarmonici, the choir of Bremen Cathedral, the Alsfeld Vocal Ensemble and vocal soloists. The Eybler Nativity oratorio was recorded in 1999 for the German cpo label in co-production with Radio Bremen.
• SUNDAY DECEMBER 31ST Strauss, Blindekuh Why not start your New Year's Eve festivities early by listening in the afternoon to this the least known operetta by "The Waltz King" Johann Strauss, the Younger (1825-99). Blindekuh or "Blind Man's Buff" (1878) was his sixth comic musical theaterwork. Blindekuh never took off as a big hit like Die Fledermaus.. It was withdrawn from the stage of Vienna's prestigious Theater an der Wien after only sixteen performances, but its overture was excerpted in concert, and charming melodies from the score lived on in various arrangements. This neglected charmer from the Golden Age of Viennese operetta received its world premiere recording in 2019 in live concert performance at Bulgaria Hall in Sofia. Dario Salvi directs the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, with a big singing cast. The setting for this operetta is a palace with ballroom and sumptuous gardens. A grand party is underway. By the way, among the guests at this grand affair are an American couple. The 2020 release of Blindekuh through Naxos Records was sponsored by the Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain.    

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Boomer's Paradise

Monday's 1-4 PM with your host, The Turtle Man

Hard to believe 2023 is almost over but here we are at year's end. We've shared a lot of great music with you here on Boomers Paradise with your host, The Turtle Man on Mondays from 1-4 pm and December will be no exception.

We'll start the month looking back to December 1973 to hear tracks from albums released that month. We'll delve into the Billboard Top 40 One Hit Wonders once again along with another peak into the great music catalogue of Steve Winwood.

Next up is another trip to the Land Down Under and music from Australian and New Zealand bands. From there we move to songs with titles relating to the subject of money.

Moving on we'll go back to hear what was playing on the radio in the years 1964 to 1966 as well as song titles that relate to the subject of numbers.

On Christmas Day we'll explore music song titles with colors as well as song titles relating to wind, breeze, storms and other movements of air.

From all of us here at WWUH we thank you for your continued support of our mission to bring you the all best of public alternative radio. We wish you a happy and joyous holiday and good health and happiness in 2024.

Always remember that you're never alone when you have music

Tune in on the radio (91.3 FM) or streaming online at wwuh.org.

The mission of the Connecticut Symphony Orchestra is to provide opportunities for advanced musicians and emerging professionals to perform a high level of repertoire while engaging and collaborating with diverse communities in mutual growth through the joy of making music.

Coming Up

The Connecticut Symphony Orchestra presents “Home for the Holidays” Saturday, December 8, 2023 at 7 pm. at the West Hartford Town Hall Auditorium, West Hartford, CT. The orchestra will be under the direction of CSO principal trumpet, Kevin Kinsall. On the program are excerpts from The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky, Fantasia on Greensleeves by Vaughan Williams, Holcombe’s Festive Sounds of Hanukka and Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson. Additionally, the CSO Brass will be featured ringing in the season with holiday favorites such as The Christmas Song, Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah by Handel, Carol of the Bells, and conclude with a rendition of Up on the Housetop with the aid of children from the audience, replete with jingle bells! A Christmas carol sing-a-long with full orchestra will end the evening.

Connecticut Symphony Orchestra

The West Hartford Symphony Orchestra

In collaboration with the WWUH Classical Programming we are pleased to partner with the West Hartford Symphony Orchestra to present their announcements and schedule to enhance our commitment to being part of the Greater Hartford Community.

Richard Chiarappa, Music Director 860.521.4362

Visit www.whso.org for tickets and Covid protocols.

whso.org

The Musical Club of Hartford

The Musical Club of Hartford is a non-profit organization founded in 1891. Membership is open to performers or to those who simply enjoy classical music, providing a network for musicians from the Greater Hartford area. Club events take place normally on selected Thursday mornings at 10:00 a.m, Fall through Spring. The usual location is the sanctuary at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2080 Boulevard, West Hartford, CT (between Ridgewood and Mountain Avenues). Information on time and location is given at the bottom of each event description.

Coming Up

A Morning of Chamber Music to Welcome Winter

On Thursday, December 14, 2023, at 10 a.m., the Musical Club of Hartford presents a lively and eclectic concert to welcome winter and the holiday season with music for voice, violin, and piano, as well as viola da gamba, hammered dulcimer, recorders, harp and kantele! The concert – performed by Musical Club members and guests – will be followed by an informal reception with light refreshments to which all audience members are warmly invited. As always, this Musical Club morning program will be held in the spacious sanctuary at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 2080 Boulevard, West Hartford. (The reception will be held in the large hallway outside the sanctuary.) Ample free off-street parking and wheelchair accessible entry are available. The concert will run without intermission for about 60 minutes and will include:

• Three songs for mezzo-soprano and piano, performed by Susan Mardinly (mezzo-soprano) and Bridget de Moura Castro (piano). The set will include Orfeo ed Euridice by Gluck; Veni, Jesu, Amor Mi by Cherubini; and Must the Winter Come Soon by Barber
• Violin Sonata No. 18 in G Major, K. 301 by Mozart, performed by Marcia Lehninger (violin) and Bridget de Moura Castro (piano)
• Geistliches Wiegenlied for voice, viola, and piano by Brahms, performed by Susan Mardinly (mezzo-soprano), Marcia Lehninger (violin), and Bridget de Moura Castro (piano)
• Winter music from across centuries and genres, arranged and performed by Eclectica – Kasha Breau (voice, harp, kantele, percussion), Carrie Crompton (hammered dulcimer, accordion, viola da gamba, percussion), Monika Kinstler (violin, viola, viola da gamba, percussion), and Deborah Robin (recorders). Eclectica’s set will include There is No Rose of Such Virtue (English, 15th c), Largo from “Winter“ (Vivaldi), three dances from The Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky), Winter Weather (Shapiro), and more!

Visit www.musicalclubhartford.org for updated program information

musicalclubhartford.org

Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra

The Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra is the state’s premier professional chamber orchestra dedicated to presenting both traditional and contemporary classical chamber works to the public. The Orchestra, led by Founder and Artistic Director Adrian Sylveen, continues to grow in size and repertoire, presenting approximately 35 times a year in many major performing arts centers throughout Connecticut and New York.

Connecticut Virtuosi: “Visi d’Arte” with Jurate Svedaite



http://thevirtuosi.org/

Beth El Temple Music & Art

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WHERE ELSE COULD MUSIC BE THIS HEAVENLY? Music at Beth El Temple in West Hartford is under the direction of The Beth El Music & Arts Committee (BEMA). With the leadership of Cantor Joseph Ness, it educates and entertains the community through music. The BEMA committee helps conceive and produce musical performances of all genres, while supporting the commemoration of Jewish celebrations and prayer services.

https://www.bethelwesthartford.org/community/get-involved/bema

Farmington Valley Symphony Orchestra

Farmington Valley Symphony Orchestra is one of Connecticut’s premier community orchestras dedicated to promoting musical excellence. We believe that classical music provides a magical experience that inspires, delights, and brings our community together.

Founded in 1981, the Farmington Valley Symphony Orchestra performs 6-7 concerts each season with a variety of classical, romantic and popular holiday favorites. The orchestra serves Farmington, Canton, Avon, Simsbury, Burlington, Bloomfield, West Hartford & Hartford, as well as Greater Hartford and the Connecticut River Valley. We are your local, civic orchestra and look forward to seeing you at one of our concerts!

Coming Up

"Joyous Sounds" - FVSO Family Holiday Pops

Saturday, Dec. 2, 3:00 p.m., Northwest Catholic High School, West Hartford

The Farmington Valley Symphony Orchestra will present its annual December Family Pops concert, "Joyous Sounds," on Saturday, Dec. 2, 3:00 p.m. at Northwest Catholic High School, 29 Wampanoag Dr., West Hartford. Soprano Lisabeth Miller will be the guest soloist offering arias from Handel's "Messiah," and such classics of the season as "Silent Night," "White Christmas" and "O Holy Night." Among the orchestral highlights will be Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite No. 1," Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride" and "A Christmas Festival," and such popular tunes as "Frosty the Snowman" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

Further information is available at FVSO.org or by calling 800-975-FVSO.

www.fvso.org

The New Britain Symphony Orchestra

The New Britain Symphony Orchestra is a professional orchestra which presents several concerts each season in the Greater New Britain area, performing works from all periods in a wide range of musical styles. In addition to its full orchestra concerts under the direction of Music Director and Conductor, Toshiyuki Shimada, including a free concert for children, members of the orchestra perform in various free chamber music concerts during the concert season.

https://newbritainsymphony.org/