Podcasts about mussorgsky

Friedrich, Uwe www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de, Fazit

Marina Frolova-Walker's recommendation for Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

Mussorgsky ficou conhecido como o bisavô do heavy metal. O compositor russo mudou o panorama musical e contribuiu para o crescimento de um estilo "grotesco" depois de compor a célebre Baba Yaga.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Angst hielt die russische Bevölkerung schon lange vor Putin in Schach, wie in den Werken von Mussorgsky, Tschaikowski und Schostakowitsch eindrucksvoll deutlich wird. Deshalb schützen sich viele Untertanen mit Lebenslügen oder Wahnsinn, auch in Puschkins populärer Gespenstergeschichte "Pique Dame". Lorenzo Fioroni inszenierte sie an der Oper Leipzig so erschütternd wie traurig. Peter Jungblut war für BR-KLASSIK in der Premiere.

Directly after the disastrous November election in the United States, I compiled a setlist for two episodes self-explanitorially entitled “Mezzos on the Verge” and “Mezzos in Extremis.” One of the featured singers was the great Russian mezzo-soprano Irina Arkhipova, whose 100th birthday on January 2 of this year was one of the few positive things to happen in January! I happened to have a number of LPs featuring Arkhipova, and this episode features material from a number of those records, plus a CD reissue from a few years back entitled “The Art of Irina Arkhipova,” which features the 1970 recording of Mussorgsky and Rachmaninov songs that the singer made in Moscow with my teacher John Wustman while they were judges in that year's Tchaikovsky Competition. Arkhipova is also featured in songs by Tchaikovsky; Russian opera arias by Rimsky-Korsakov and Mussorgsky; and selections from both Carmen and Il Trovatore, which feature tenors Zurab Andzhaparidzye and Vladislav Piavko, the latter of whom was also Arkhipova's protégé (and later husband). Countermelody is a podcast devoted to the glory and the power of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great singers of the past and present focusing in particular on those who are less well-remembered today than they should be. Daniel's lifetime in music as a professional countertenor, pianist, vocal coach, voice teacher, and journalist yields an exciting array of anecdotes, impressions, and “inside stories.” At Countermelody's core is the celebration of great singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. By clicking on the following link (https://linktr.ee/CountermelodyPodcast) you can find the dedicated Countermelody website which contains additional content including artist photos and episode setlists. The link will also take you to Countermelody's Patreon page, where you can pledge your monthly or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.  

This episode of The Other Side of the Bell, featuring women's trumpet trailblazer, founder of the International Women's Brass Conference, and 40-year First Trumpet of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Susan Slaughter, is brought to you by Bob Reeves Brass. This episode also appears as a video episode on our YouTube channel, you can find it here: "Susan Slaughter trumpet interview"   About Susan Slaughter:   Born in McCordsville, IN, Susan Slaughter started playing trumpet at the age of 10. Graduating from Indiana University with a coveted performer's certificate, Susan auditioned for and won the Principal Trumpet position in 1967 with the Toledo, Ohio Symphony.   Susan then joined the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra in l969 and four years later became the first woman ever to be named Principal Trumpet of a major symphony orchestra.   In 1992, Susan founded the International Women's Brass Conference, an organization dedicated to provide opportunities and recognition for women brass musicians. As a fund-raising effort to support the International Women's Brass Conference, Ms. Slaughter organized and produced the very popular Holiday Brass Concerts, which are now in their second decade, and are performed each December in the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis. Other cities in the United States are holding their own Holiday Brass Concerts to help support the ever-growing International Women's Brass Conference.   In 1996, Ms. Slaughter founded Monarch Brass, an all women's brass ensemble, which has toured in the United States and Europe to critical acclaim.   Susan appears regularly in area recitals and religious programs, and has been a frequent soloist with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, as well as with several other ensembles throughout the country. Her work is represented on a number of Saint Louis Symphony releases, including the highly acclaimed recordings of Mahler's Symphony No. 2, Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5, Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, Barber's Capricorn Concerto, and most recently, John Adams' Doctor Atomic. Many of these and other recordings have been nominated for or won Grammy Awards. Susan has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Kathleen Battle, Christine Brewer, Doc Severinsen, Al Hirt in duets, amongst others.   She has served on the faculty of the Grand Teton Orchestra Seminar and the National Orchestra Institute, and has been lecture/recitalist at the International Trumpet Guild, while also serving on its board of directors.   Since the 1980's, Susan has performed the National Anthem and “God Bless America” on an annual basis for the St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Club and, at the invitation of the Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent, performed the National Anthem at Game 3 of the 1991 World Series, played in Atlanta between the Braves and Twins (link).   Some of the awards and recognition Susan has received over the years include nomination by Ladies Home Journal for its annual Woman of the Year award, a special Leadership Award in the Arts from the Young Women's Christian Association, the American Federation of Musicians, Local 2-197 Owen Miller Award for loyalty, dedication and fairness in actions and deeds, and the 2007 Arts and Education Council Award for Excellence in the Arts.   Susan has studied over the years with Herbert Mueller, Bernard Adelstein, Arnold Jacobs, Robert Nagel, Claude Gordon and Laurie Frink, and retired as Principal Trumpet from the Saint Louis Symphony on September 1, 2010.   Podcast listeners! Enter code "podcast" at checkout for 15% off any of our Gard bags! Visit trumpetmouthpiece.com for more info.     Episode Links: Holiday Brass Los Angeles Brass Alliance website https://www.instagram.com/losangelesbrassalliance/  International Women's Brass Conference, May 19-24, Hartford, Connecticut. Register: myiwbc.org Sign up sheet for valve alignments: bobreeves.com/iwbc International Trumpet Guild Conference, May 27-31, University of Utah, Salt Lake City. Sign up sheet for valve alignments: bobreeves.com/itg William Adam Trumpet Festival, June 19-22, Clarksville, Tennessee. williamadamtrumpet.com  Sign up sheet for valve alignments: bobreeves.com/williamadam Greg Wing, Reflections on a Grateful Journey, available on Apple Music   Podcast Credits: “A Room with a View“ - composed and performed by Howie Shear Podcast Host - John Snell Cover Art - Susan Slaughter Audio Engineer - Ted Cragg

No Quadro Clássicos CBN, com o Maestro Helder Trefzger, vamos responder a uma dúvida de um ouvinte (Seu Ataíde) sobre o tema de um antigo programa de rádio. Falaremos também um pouco mais da obra “Quadros de uma exposição”, escrita pelo compositor russo Modest Mussorgsky em 1874 e orquestrada pelo francês Maurice Ravel em 1922 e que se tornou um hit das orquestras sinfônicas mundo afora. Aproveitando que essa peça será apresentada nessa semana pela sinfônica do ES, trouxemos exemplos de outros trechos, diferentes daqueles mostrados na semana passada, para reforçar o convite aos ouvintes para conhecer e se familiarizar com essa obra prima! Ouça a conversa completa!

No quadro Clássicos CBN, com o Maestro Helder Trefzger, iremos abordar um hit da música clássica, a obra “Quadros de uma exposição”, composta pelo russo Mussorgsky em 1874. A obra, originalmente escrita para piano, é inspirada em quadros, desenhos, pinturas e maquetes do arquiteto Victor Hartmann, amigo do compositor, e que havia falecido um ano antes. Posteriormente, em 1922, o compositor francês Ravel fez a versão orquestral da obra que se tornou um grande sucesso. Teremos ainda uma entrevista com o maestro Felipe Prazeres, do Rio de Janeiro, que se apresentará em Vitória no próximo domingo, juntamente com a Orquestra Petrobras Sinfônica. Ouça a conversa completa!

One of the great personal revelations for me in the early years of producing Countermelody was discovering the great Chinese American bass Yi-Kwei Sze (斯義桂). As the first Chinese singer to pursue a career in Western classical music, his historical significance is undisputed. What I hope to demonstrate in this episode is that his importance extends to artistic, vocal, and musical matters as well. When Sze first came to the United States, he studied under the great Ukrainian bass Alexander Kipnis, and over the course of his long career, he bore that mantle proudly. Today's episode once again explores the hidden corners of Sze's recorded legacy, which yields enormous treasures, and includes recordings of operatic (and quasi-operatic) excerpts by Verdi, Gounod, Mozart, Berlioz, and Mussorgsky as well as an excerpt of a legendary live performance of Shostakovich's “Babi Yar” Symphony, one of the first in the West. Also heard are live and studio recordings of Russian songs by Mussorgsky, Dargomizhsky, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and Balakirev; and song recordings by Poulenc, Schumann, Schubert, Tcherepnin, Xuean Liu, Dvořák, and Brahms. Countermelody is a podcast devoted to the glory and the power of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great singers of the past and present focusing in particular on those who are less well-remembered today than they should be. Daniel's lifetime in music as a professional countertenor, pianist, vocal coach, voice teacher, and journalist yields an exciting array of anecdotes, impressions, and “inside stories.” At Countermelody's core is the celebration of great singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. By clicking on the following link (https://linktr.ee/CountermelodyPodcast) you can find the dedicated Countermelody website which contains additional content including artist photos and episode setlists. The link will also take you to Countermelody's Patreon page, where you can pledge your monthly or yearly support at whatever level you can afford.  

O que é que a peça "Quadros de uma Exposição" de Mussorgsky terá em comum com este episódio de podcast, o último "9" do ano, gravado mais de 250 anos depois? É também um passeio que vos propomos, uma visita guiada a uma exposição. Não uma qualquer, a exposição "Do industrial ao orgânico" da artista plástica Inês Amorim, na igreja dos Redentoristas, no Porto. Sim, é isso mesmo. Uma exposição de arte contemporânea está a acontecer neste momento em diálogo com a casa onde uma Igreja se reúne e celebra todos os domingos. A Inês conversa hoje connosco, e dá-nos o privilégio de uma visita guiada pelo seu olhar, pelo seu processo criativo, pelo diálogo das peças com o lugar. Fá-lo com uma mestria rara: mostra-nos apenas lampejos do que ali está, abrindo-nos possibilidades, nunca fechando dentro de uma explicação nenhuma obra. “Do industrial ao orgânico” – o nome que deu à sua exposição que está dentro do ciclo “Matéria e transcendente”, que contará com concertos de piano, encontro de coros, conversas, poesia e a própria liturgia de cada domingo inserida neste espaço onde os opostos dialogam num harmonioso conflito, como iremos ouvir a Inês dizer algumas vezes. É um presente de Natal antecipado que vos oferecemos, esperamos que gostem. Muito.

durée : 00:16:23 - Le Disque classique du jour du vendredi 29 novembre 2024 - Récits enchanteurs et légendes éternels, tel est le fil conducteur de cet album, conçu par le Duo Jatekok : Naïri Badal and Adélaïde Panaget se transforment en sorcières à quatre mains et deux pianos, mais des sorcières bien aimées, entre pacte faustien, magie et monde de l'enfance…

durée : 00:16:23 - Le Disque classique du jour du vendredi 29 novembre 2024 - Récits enchanteurs et légendes éternels, tel est le fil conducteur de cet album, conçu par le Duo Jatekok : Naïri Badal and Adélaïde Panaget se transforment en sorcières à quatre mains et deux pianos, mais des sorcières bien aimées, entre pacte faustien, magie et monde de l'enfance…

El baix bar

El baix bar

Anna Williams joins me to talk  about a couple of selections from Mussorgsky join us to hear what we had to say.  https://www.instagram.com/neavetrio/ For more Beyond the Playlist https://twitter.com/JHammondC https://www.facebook.com/groups/Beyondtheplaylist/ Theme music by MFTJ Featuring MIke Keneally and Scott Schorr - to find more of MFTJ go to https://www.lazybones.com/ https://mftj.bandcamp.com/music http://www.keneally.com/

Zu Modest Mussorgskys „Bildern einer Ausstellung“ scheint alles gesagt zu sein. Oder doch nicht? Die ukrainische Pianistin Anna Fedorova, die mit Rachmaninow-Interpretationen auf YouTube Erfolge feiert, hat eine Neuaufnahme vorgelegt, die sich markant von anderen unterscheidet.

Mussorgsky - The Oxcart (Bydlo) by Ruach Breath of Life

Mussorgsky - The Village by Ruach Breath of Life

Last week on July 25th, the music world was saddened by the death of the Cornish baritone Benjamin Luxon at the age of 87. I began collecting recordings of this exceptional artist a few years ago with the intention of producing an episode in his honor at some point. Here is that episode, albeit a posthumous effort now. In an episode I produced in the first few months of Countermelody in 2019, I featured the French baritone Gérard Souzay and called him “a modern troubadour.” There are very few singers of recent years to whom one could accurately apply that appellation, but Ben Luxon is emphatically one of them. Music and words simply flowed out of him, and he sang with equal aplomb in an extraordinary number of different styles: opera, oratorio, art song, Broadway, crossover, and, perhaps most immediately and delectably, folk. In opera alone his range was exceptional, covering key roles in Mozart, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Berg, and Britten, who wrote the title role of his television opera Owen Wingrave expressly for Luxon. In song as well he covered a vast array of repertoires, including Russian, German, and British (including Victorian ballads), including, again, many contemporary composers. Luxon's career hit a snag in the late 1980s, when he first began experiencing hearing loss which eventually resulted in him putting a stop to his singing career. But he hardly retired: moving to the Berkshires, he became actively involved in the artistic life of the region, and founded a theatre troupe, the Sandisfield Players, while continuing to give poetry readings and spoken word performances. The program today attempts to recreate his profound versatility, and range from folk song to pop song; from orchestral song cycles to world premiere creations; art songs by Hugo Wolf, Mussorgsky, George Butterworth, Schubert, and John Ireland; to late career narration and poetry projects. Collaborators include artists such as Benjamin Britten, Bill Crofut, Galina Vishnevskaya, Leonard Bernstein, Robert Tear, Janet Baker, Seiji Ozawa, Ileana Cotrubaș, Jill Gomez, Klaus Tennstedt, Mstislav Rostropovich, and his most frequent recital collaborator, pianist David Willison. Countermelody is a podcast devoted to the glory and the power of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great singers of the past and present focusing in particular on those who are less well-remembered today than they should be. Daniel's lifetime in music as a professional countertenor, pianist, vocal coach, voice teacher, and journalist yields an exciting array of anecdotes, impressions, and “inside stories.” At Countermelody's core is the celebration of great singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. By clicking on the following link (https://linktr.ee/CountermelodyPodcast) you can find the dedicated Countermelody website which contains additional content including artist photos and episode setlists. The link will also take you to Countermelody's Patreon page, where you can pledge your monthly support at whatever level you can afford. Bonus episodes available exclusively to Patreon supporters are currently available and further bonus content including interviews and livestreams is planned for the upcoming season.

(In Italian) Marfa: Irina Arkhipova Emma: Rita Talarico Susanna: Clara Petrella Andrei Khovansky: Giorgio Merighi Ivan Khovansky: Nicolai Ghiaurov Dosifei: Paolo Washington Golitsin: Giampaolo Corradi Shaklovity: Lorenzo Saccomani Scribe: Piero de Palma Conductor: Gianandrea Gavazzeni Teatro alla Scala 25 January 1971 Broadcast

Episode: 2858 Hearing Pictures: Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.  Today, hearing pictures.

The NYC group Zelenaya mixes traditional folk music with heavy metal in ways that are both surprising and convincing. Haunting three part harmonies, doom-laden guitars, pummeling drums – somehow it all comes together in Zelenaya's debut album, called simply, Folk Songs. The band has both confused and carried away audiences at campground diasporic folk festivals and at death metal shows; serving up music for those who are into Ukrainian choirs, Mussorgsky, math rock and Tuareg guitar bands, Black Sabbath, and Bolt Thrower. In what is likely the first instance of a blast beat and a wall of amps in the Soundcheck Studio, Zelenaya sculpts Eastern European folk tunes into doom metal-laden arrangements, sung in Ukrainian and Georgian, in-studio. (-John Schaefer/Caryn Havlik) Set list: 1. Hora Za Horoyu (Ukrainian) (Mountain Beyond Mountains) 2. Okro Mch'edelo (Georgian) (Goldsmith) 3. Oy Letilo Kupailo (Ukrainian) (Oh, Kupalo Flew)

As a young girl growing up in Kentucky, Constance Grayson was drawn to and influenced by traditional handcrafts. She learned traditional quilting techniques from her Appalachian aunts and was fascinated, even as a young child, with the interplay of color, form and texture. Although she no longer utilizes the traditional techniques she learned as a child, she is still fascinated with the process of creating something from bits and pieces of the almost nothings that she comes across. Most of her work utilizes techniques of collage to create a new whole from these bits and pieces. Her work results from the bringing together of handmade paper, commercial paper, and found objects with additions of paint and ink.​Constance's interest has always been in color, form and texture and the ways in which those three elements interact with one another. She does not strive to have her finished work resemble any object or person in a realistic way. Instead, she wants to see whether she can successfully create energy and mood through the colors, forms and textures she uses in the piece.Her work has been displayed in U.S. galleries, museums and exhibits in Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York, including academic institutions in New York (St. John's University), Arkansas (Crittenden County Community College) and Tennessee (Christian Brothers University). She has participated in international solo and invitational exhibits in Fabriano, Gubbio, Milan and Foligno, Italy as well as Spa, Belgium. One of her fabric collages was the cover image for, as well as the subject of an article in, the August/September 2014 edition of Quilting Arts magazine. Her art has also been featured in the May/June 2015 edition of Kentucky Home and Gardens magazine and the March 2010 issue of ArteCulture, an Italian monthly magazine. Currently, her art is in the permanent collections of Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee; the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky; Christ Church Cathedral in Lexington, Kentucky; LeBonheur Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee and the Jessamine County Public Library, Nicholasville, Kentucky as well as in numerous private collections.PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION - New Editions Gallery until mid July 2024This is an interpretive art exhibition based on Modest Mussorgsky's piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition. Listening to each of the 10 movements and the recurring and varied Promenade theme, Constance created 15 energetic abstracts depicting her reaction to Mussorgsky's virtuoso masterpiece. 

This week, NYCB Music Director Andrew Litton leads us on a promenade through the Modest Mussorgsky score to Alexei Ratmansky's 2014 ballet Pictures at an Exhibition. Beginning with a little background on the composer's short but complicated life, colored by contemporary critiques of his "disregard" for musical conventions, Litton is joined by Piano Soloist Stephen Gosling as he demonstrates the ways in which Mussorgsky captured the subjects of a beloved artists' paintings in remarkably challenging piano pieces. (23:31) Edited by Emilie Silvestri Music: Symphony in Three Movements (1945) by Igor Stravinsky Pictures at an Exhibition (1874) by Modest Mussorgsky

A spirit haunting the British Library needs a helping hand.Content Warnings: Mentions of death and extensive discussion of gradual loss of ability.Today's episode discusses a fictional book by a fictional author. It is, however, inspired by one of my all-time favourite books, The Story of Silence by Alex Myers. If the story discussed in this episode intrigues you, I'd highly reccommend checking out this one!Transcript: https://tellnotalespod.com/transcripts/transcript-s2-e6-ghostwriter/Written and produced by Leanne Egan. In this episode you heard the voices of Leanne Egan as Leo Quinn, Chelsea Krause as Renée Lewis, and Shannon Kelly as Julia.Intro and outro music by LumehillThe conveniently public domain music that Leo chose to listen to today was Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition - II. Il Vecchio Castello. Performance sourced from Musopen.org Atmospheric music: Untold Story by Johannes Bornlof. Music and sound effects sourced from Epidemic Sound and Soundsnap.Art by Ana BalaciFind more info on our website tellnotalespod.com or at @tellnotalespod on Tumblr or TwitterDistributed by Twin Strangers Productions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of my best and truest friends in the business is the phenomenal pianist, coach, and conductor Thomas Bagwell. Our friendship really developed back in the days when we curated a series of recitals for the Lotte Lehmann Foundation, which Thomas also (brilliantly) accompanied. Since then we are both carving out different lives for ourselves on the other side of the pond, me as your intrepid Berlin-based podcaster, and Thomas as a valued coach and conductor on the music staff of the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen. Thomas is no doubt remembered by my listeners for his scintillating commentary on my Marni Nixon tribute episode last season. Years ago there was one a peculiar Facebook questionnaire about what would be the last thing you grabbed as you fled your burning home and Thomas answered, “My Bernard Kruysen records.” At that time, I knew the Dutch singer Bernard Kruysen (1933-2000) by name only but I had no clear idea of who he was as an artist. Because of Thomas's enthusiasm, however, I began my own collection of Bernard Kruysen recordings, from which followed this episode, first heard in 2021, so it is only appropriate that Thomas should be reintroducing this episode today. Bernard Kruysen's voice exemplifies that now nearly extinct vocal category, the baryton martin. I discuss just what constitutes a baryton martin and why in his prime Kruysen such was an ideal representative. I also discuss the larger question of the performance of the French art song, the mélodie, and why Kruysen was also exceptional in this regard, using as an example his 1960s recorded performances of three complete song cycles by Claude Debussy, Gabriel Fauré, and Francis Poulenc. I also feature the artist singing art songs by Schumann and Mussorgsky and works by Bach, Quirinus van Blankenburg, and Jan Mul. Thomas's introduction is prefaced with a live recording from those Lotte Lehmann Foundation concerts back in 2011, this one featuring our phenomenal friend, spinto soprano Tami Petty. Countermelody is a podcast devoted to the glory and the power of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great singers of the past and present focusing in particular on those who are less well-remembered today than they should be. Daniel's lifetime in music as a professional countertenor, pianist, vocal coach, voice teacher, and journalist yields an exciting array of anecdotes, impressions, and “inside stories.” At Countermelody's core is the celebration of great singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. By clicking on the following link (https://linktr.ee/CountermelodyPodcast) you can find the dedicated Countermelody website which contains additional content including artist photos and episode setlists. The link will also take you to Countermelody's Patreon page, where you can pledge your monthly support at whatever level you can afford.

With his Ninth Symphony, Shostakovich delivered a tragicomic work with nods to Haydn and circus tunes. Uzbek pianist Behzod Abduraimov makes his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Tchaikovsky's thrilling First Piano Concerto. Mussorgsky's radiant Khovanshchina prelude and Saariaho's ethereal Winter Sky round out the program. Learn more: cso.org/performances/23-24/cso-classical/tchaikovsky-and-shostakovich

Im Stadttheater Baden gibt man derzeit Puccinis „Bohème“. Nicht „La Bohème“, sondern „Die Bohème“. Gesungen wird nämlich auf Deutsch. Und das ist gut so. Nie kann ein Opern-Neuling besser ermessen, wie bunt und aufregend so ein Musikdrama sein kann, wie punktgenau die Musik Handlung und Text illustriert, als wenn er ebendiesen Text verstehen kann.

Jess's guest this week is the composer Kate Whitley.Kate is an award-winning composer and pianist, who also runs the Multi-Story Orchestra. The orchestra was born in a multi-story car park in Peckham, and perform in car parks around the country, as they wanted to take classical music out of formal concert halls. They also create hugely powerful musical projects like the RPS Award-winning The Endz that involve the local community and young people in their music making.Kate and Jess settle in for a listening party of the music they love including a beautiful work by Caroline Shaw and Bjork, the biggest of brass by Mussorgsky, bluegrass courtesy of the Goat Rodeo and a contender for greatest ever cover version by the Pet Shop Boys.Playlist:CAROLINE SHAW – Partita for 8 Singers: 2. Sarabande [Roomful of Teeth] MUSSORGSKY – Night on Bald Mountain [Philadelphia Orchestra, Riccardo Muti (conductor)] BJORK: Pneumonia GOAT RODEO - Attaboy [Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, Chris Thile, Yo Yo Ma] VIVALDI – La Folia [Apollo's Fire, Jeannette Sorell] SON LUX - This is a Life [Mitski, David Byrne] GABRIELE MIRABASSI – Girotondo [Gabriele Mirabassi [clarinet), Luciano Biondini (accordion)] PET SHOP BOYS: Always on My Mind

Today, Christmas Day 2023, is also the 93rd birthday of my teacher, the great John Wustman. I can think of no better way to conclude Season Four of Countermelody than with a tribute to the man who had the greatest influence on my development as a musician. He's probably best-known for his work with Luciano Pavarotti and as the accompanist in more than thirty Music Minus One LPs from the early 1960s, as well as for his pioneering teaching of scores of accompanists. He has been called “the dean of American accompanists” and many other things, but to me he is and remains primarily my dear friend and mentor. From the late 1950s through the 1980s and beyond, he appeared with nearly all of the greatest singers on the planet, from Richard Tucker, William Warfield, Eleanor Steber, and Jennie Tourel; to Birgit Nilsson, Carlo Bergonzi, Régine Crespin, Nicolai Gedda, and Renata Scotto. He and Russian mezzo-soprano Irina Arkhipova won the 1973 Gran Prix du Disque for their legendary (and matchless) recording of Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death, only one of his many commercial recordings. I have been searching the internet for sound documents of his many live recordings and I'm pleased to say that I have found some rare ones to complement my reminiscences of studying with him in the late 1980s. He wrote to me just this past week that he is currently preparing another live performance of Schubert's Winterreise in early 2024. I am so thrilled to pay tribute to the man who, through his powerful example and influence, forever changed the way I play, sing, talk about, think about, and hear music. Countermelody is a podcast devoted to the glory and the power of the human voice raised in song. Singer and vocal aficionado Daniel Gundlach explores great singers of the past and present focusing in particular on those who are less well-remembered today than they should be. Daniel's lifetime in music as a professional countertenor, pianist, vocal coach, voice teacher, and journalist yields an exciting array of anecdotes, impressions, and “inside stories.” At Countermelody's core is the celebration of great singers of all stripes, their instruments, and the connection they make to the words they sing. By clicking on the following link (https://linktr.ee/CountermelodyPodcast) you can find the dedicated Countermelody website which contains additional content including artist photos and episode setlists. The link will also take you to Countermelody's Patreon page, where you can pledge your monthly support at whatever level you can afford. Bonus episodes available exclusively to Patreon supporters are currently available and further bonus content including interviews and livestreams is planned for the upcoming season.

A panorama of ancient pagan rituals, Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring put modernism squarely on the map. Experience the swaggering and suspenseful ballet score that drove Parisian audiences to riot at its 1913 premiere. Leonidas Kavakos brings an “intense, silken, mercurial” sound (The Guardian) to his rendition of Szymanowski's folk-inspired Second Violin Concerto. Mussorgsky's fiery depiction of a witches' sabbath opens the program. Learn more: cso.org/performances/23-24/cso-classical/the-rite-of-spring-and-kavakos

Mussorgsky was inspired by some pictures at an exhibition. Mendelssohn, Strauss, and Tchaikovsky, among others, were inspired by their sojourns in Italy. In this podcast, Jay leads an enjoyable and enriching tour. Mussorgsky, “Pictures at an Exhibition” Mendelssohn, Symphony No. 4, Saltarello Strauss, “Aus Italien,” “Neapolitan Folk Life” Tchaikovsky, “Capriccio italien” Verdi, “Va, pensiero,” from “Nabucco” Mozart, “Ave verum corpus” Sibelius, “The Swan of Tuonela” Mozart, “Alleluia” from “Exsultate, jubilate”

SynopsisOn today's date in 2010, at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music in Nashville, the ALIAS ensemble gave the premiere performance of a new chamber world by American composer Gabriela Lena Frank. It was titled Hilos — the Spanish word for “threads” — and scored for piano, violin, cello and clarinet.Now, it's not unusual for composers to tap their particular cultural background for inspiration, but Gabriela Lena Frank has a pretty wide variety of options in that regard: Her father is an American of Lithuanian Jewish heritage and her mother is Peruvian of Chinese descent. They met when her father was a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru in the 1960s, and Frank herself grew up in Berkeley, California."There's usually a story line behind my music," says Frank. Regarding Hilos, she noted, “There are similarities to [Mussorgsky's] ‘Pictures at an Exhibition' in that each movement tells a different story … Hilos refers to the ‘threads' that make up Andean textiles and how these threads weave together.”Each movement of Hilos has an evocative title, such “Canto del Altiplano” (Song of the Highlands), “Zumballyu” (Spinning Top), or “Juegos de los Niños” (Games of the Children).Music Played in Today's ProgramGabriela Lena Frank (b. 1972) Hilos Lee Carroll Levine, cl; Zeneba Brown, vn; Matt Walker, vcl; Gabriela Lena Frank, p. Naxos 8.559645

SynopsisOn today's date in 1806, Ludwig van Beethoven offered his publisher Breitkopf and Härtel three new string quartets—works we know today as the three Razumovsky Quartets, that were eventually issued as Beethoven's Opus 59.In Beethoven's day, Vienna was swarming with Russian, Polish, and Hungarian aristocrats with a taste for music. Among them was Count Andreas Kyrilovich Razumovsky, the Russian ambassador to Vienna. The count was an amateur violinist who occasionally played in a string quartet he maintained at his own expense.The count commissioned Beethoven to write three string quartets, stipulating that they should incorporate Russian melodies, real or imitated. The most recognizable of the Russian tunes, Beethoven employed occurs in the scherzo of the second quartet: It's the same theme that was later quoted by Mussorgsky in the coronation scene of his opera “Boris Godunov.”When these Razumovsky Quartets were premiered in Vienna in 1807, one contemporary review noted, “These very long and difficult quartets… are profoundly thought-through and composed with enormous skill, but will not be intelligible to everyone.”When one Italian violinist confessed to Beethoven that he found them incomprehensible, Beethoven retorted: ‘Oh, they are not for you, but for a later age.'Music Played in Today's ProgramLudwiv van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) Razumovsky Quartet, Op. 59, no. 2 Emerson String Quartet DG 479 1432

Maurice Ravel the Magician, the Swiss Watchmaker, the aloof, the elegant, the precise, the soulful, the childlike, the naive, the warm, the radical, the progressive. These are all words that were used to describe a man of elegant contradictions throughout his life and into today. I talked a lot about Ravel's skill with orchestration last week when we discussed Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, but Ravel's brilliance and creativity in terms of orchestral sound is absolutely unparalleled in musical history. But Ravel is somebody I've very rarely covered on the show, partly because he didn't write very many large scale works that would cover a whole hour long episode. Well, it took 6 years for me to figure it out, but I realized a little while ago that I could cover two of Ravel's shorter pieces and put them together on a double bill, so to speak. So today I'm going to tell you about Ravel's most beloved and most despised piece, Bolero, and about my favorite piece of Ravel's, La Valse. These are two pieces that could not be more different in their aims, in their constructions, and in their impacts on the audience. They are both thrillingly exciting, but in completely different ways. A good performance of Bolero should make you want to jump out of your seat with excitement, while a good performance of La Valse should terrify you to your core. Join us to learn all about it!

Click here for the edited video version of this podcast episode on the Talking with Painters YouTube channel The exhibition of Francis Giacco's paintings now showing at Australian Galleries in Sydney has been a long time coming. Covid pushed back the scheduling but it was worth the wait! I met Francis at the gallery and we walked through the exhibition talking about several key works which cross portraiture, still life and landscape. Apart from the Archibald, Francis has won the Percival Portrait Painting prize (and other awards) and has been a People's Choice winner in the S.H.Ervin's Salon des Refuses.  Titled 'Recent works: Pictures at an Exhibition (apologies to Mussorgsky)', the show is a combination of recent work and major paintings from the 80s and 90s. It includes Francis' enigmatic multi-figured portrait which won the Archibald prize in 1994. Several other works hanging in this first room were shortlisted in the Archibald and Doug Moran National Portrait Prize.  Influenced by Vermeer and the early Renaissance masters, his work exudes beauty and vitality. He's a keen observer of the effects of light, whether it's streaming from behind a still life or fracturing through a bamboo curtain and the way he depicts detail in the illuminated subject often pushes the real into the abstract. Francis (also known as Frank to those who know him) was my first podcast guest and in the past also taught at Julian Ashton Art School where I first met him. Many of his students have gone on to make paintings which have hung in the Archibald prize themselves and I can think of at least three who are finalists in this year's exhibition.  The exhibition continues at Australian Galleries until 2 July 2023. To hear the episode click on 'play' above. Click here to watch the shorter 8 minute video version of this episode. Links YouTube video of this episode My first podcast interview with Francis in 2016 Francis Giacco at Australian Galleries Francis Giacco on Instagram Francis Giacco on Facebook Johannes Vermeer Subscribe to the TWP newsletter https://youtu.be/csBvbFfcwUc Homage to John Reichard (1994) egg emulsion on marine plywood, 202cm x 188cm Archibald Prize Winner, 1994 Image courtesy of the artist and Australian Galleries Lee Lin Chin (1993) egg emulsion on marine plywood, 163cm x 127cm, Archibald Prize Finalist, 1993; Doug Moran Finalist, 1995. Image courtesy of the artist and Australian Galleries White widow 1999-2000 egg emulsion on marine plywood, 132cm x 119cm Image courtesy of the artist and Australian Galleries The piano 1984 oil on canvas, 96cm x 89cm Image courtesy of the artist and Australian Galleries Jenny's garden #25 – the altar 2020-23 oil on marine plywood, 122cm x 128.5cm Image courtesy of the artist and Australian Galleries Jenny's garden #20 – commotion 2020-23 oil on marine plywood, 43cm x 88cm Image courtesy of the artist and Australian Galleries Balthus' cats 2020-23 oil on marine plywood, 122cm x 126cm Image courtesy of the artist and Australian Galleries The audition 1990 egg emulsion and oil on marine plywood, 60cm x 60cmImage courtesy of the artist and Australian Galleries Bondi Pavilion 1988 oil on canvas, 76cm x 61cm Image courtesy of the artist and Australian Galleries Self portrait #3 – after Rembrandt c. 1980 oil on canvas, 31cm x 27cm Image courtesy of the artist and Australian Galleries Rushcutters Park – bushfire smoke c. 1990 oil on canvas on board, 39cm x 35cm Image courtesy of the artist and Australian Galleries

Have you ever been to an art museum and wished that you had music to accompany your experience?  Music that made the art you were looking at more vivid, more immediate, and more emotionally intense?  Well, Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is the piece for you.  Inspired by his late friend Victor Hartmann's paintings and designs, Mussorgsky composed a series of 10 miniature pieces for piano based on Hartmann's works.  Unlike many other collections of miniature pieces that have thematic or structural connections, Pictures at An Exhibition doesn't feature that at all, keeping with Mussorgsky's often rebellious ways as a composer.  Instead, the music is connected by movements called Promenades, as if Mussorgsky literally walks you to the next painting at the exhibition. Mussorgsky's remarkably imaginative piece is justly famous and often played by pianists, but what is perhaps the most fascinating thing about this piece is the creativity that it has inspired in other composers. Pictures at an Exhibition, or parts of it, has been arranged more than 50 times for any number of configurations of musicians. So today, we're going to explore each picture in detail, talking about what Mussorgsky actually does to make these works of art come to life in such a compelling way.  At the same time, we're going to compare the original piano piece to some of the arrangements, focusing of course on the most famous of them all, the explosion of color that is Maurice Ravel's arrangement.  We'll also talk about Mussorgsky himself, his compositional reputation at the time, and the brilliant creativity of this one of a kind piece.

Tijl opent met zijn nieuwe, koninklijke banden sinds zijn ontmoeting met Eloise van Oranje, maar wil er tegelijkertijd ook weer niks over kwijt. Ruben van der Meer stipt aan dat we vaker dankbaar mogen zijn, op elk vlak van ons prachtige leven. Deze dankbaarheid gebruikt de heren dan ook meteen om sombrero Daan in het zonnetje te zetten. Na zijn dankwoord van een minuut, die dan opeens erg lang aanvoelt, neemt Ruben Nicolai de dobbelsteen over en dobbelt het geschreven woord. Al heeft zijn onderwerp niet de strekking van het menselijk geschreven woord maar de darkside of AI. Na een gegenereerde lofzang over Tijl sluit hij af met de prachtige muziek van Pictures at an Exhibition.

A smorgasbord of music, from the light and Viennesey to the angular and modern. Bacewicz, Overture for Orchestra Vustin, “Lamento” Sæverud, “Ballad of Revolt” Johnston/Burke, “Pennies from Heaven” Escaich, “Nun komm” Helmesberger, “Entr’acte Valse” Mussorgsky, Serenade, from “Songs and Dances of Death” Strauss, Eduard, “Mit Extrapost — Polka schnell” Giordano, “Amor ti vieta,” from “Fedora”... Source

Good News: Free childcare in the UK will expand dramatically in the near future! Link HERE. The Good Word: A classic and well-known quote from the great Mister Rogers. Good To Know: A fascinating bit of historical trivia about the month of March… Good News: A tech startup has teamed with a local public pool […]

Synopsis Many music lovers will confess they prefer to hear symphonies or operas in the comfort of their own home rather than live in person at a concert hall or theater. On today's date in 1911, the famous French novelist, hypochondriac, and notorious homebody Marcel Proust wrote to his friend, the composer Reynaldo Hahn, that he had just listened to a live afternoon performance of the whole first act of Wagner's opera Die Meistersinger tucked up in bed and planned to hear Debussy's still-new opera Pelléas and Mélisande later that same evening, once again snugly secure in his Parisian apartment. Now, these days with radio, TV, and multiple live-streaming devices, this would be no big deal – but in 1911 how could that be possible? Well, for 60 francs a month -- a small fortune in 1911 -- wealthy Parisians could hear live performances of operas and plays relayed by a special phone line to a home receiver called the “théâtrophone.” First demonstrated in Paris in 1881, by 1890, the “théâtrophone was commercialized and the service continued 1932. Of course, even an enthusiastic subscriber like Proust had to admit the phone line sound quality was “très mal” (“really bad” in plain English) and hardly the same as being there in person. Music Played in Today's Program Claude Debussy (1862-1918) Pelléas et Mélisande Symphonie Suite (arr. Marius Constant) Orchestre National de Lyon; Jun Märkl, conductor. Naxos 8.570993 On This Day Births 1801 - Czech composer Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda, in Prague; 1836 - French composer Léo Delibes, in St. Germain du Val, Sarthe; 1844 - French composer and organist Charles Marie Widor, in Lyons; Deaths 1996 - American composer and conductor Morton Gould, age 82, in Orlando, Fla. Premieres 1727 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 52 ("Ich habe genug") performed on the Feast of the Purification as part of Bach's third annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1725/27); 1744 - Handel: oratorio “Semele,” in London (Julian date: Feb. 10); 1749 - Handel: oratorio “Susanna” in London (Julian date: Feb. 10); 1886 - Mussorgsky (arr. Rimsky-Korsakov): opera “Khovanschchina,” posthumously, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Feb. 9); 1907 - Delius: opera, "A Village Romeo and Juliet," in Berlin; 1909 - Liadov: “Enchanted Lake” for orchestra, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Feb. 8); 1917 - Rachmaninoff: “Etudes-tableaux,” Op. 39 (Gregorian date: March 6); 1920 - Milhaud: ballet "Le Boeuf sur la toît," in Paris; 1929 - Respighi: orchestral suite, "Roman Festivals," by the New York Philharmonic, Toscanini conducting; 1946 - Roy Harris: "Memories of a Child's Sunday," by the New York Philharmonic with the composer conducting; 1948 - Cowell: Suite for Woodwind Quintet, by an ensemble at the McMillan Theater of Columbia University in New York City; This work was written in 1933 for the French flutist Georges Barrère, but the score and parts remained lost until 1947. Links and Resources On Debussy On the Théâtrophone

Escape is an American radio drama. It was radio's leading anthology series of high-adventure radio dramas, airing on CBS from July 7, 1947 to September 25, 1954. Since the program did not have a regular sponsor like Suspense, it was subjected to frequent schedule shifts and lower production budgets, although Richfield Oil signed on as a sponsor for five months in 1950. Despite these problems, Escape enthralled many listeners during its seven-year run. The series' well-remembered opening combined Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain with this introduction, as intoned by William Conrad and later Paul Frees: "Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you... Escape!" Following the opening theme, a second announcer (usually Roy Rowan) would add: "Escape! Designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half-hour of high adventure!" Adaptations: Of the more than 230 Escape episodes, most have survived in good condition. Many story premises, both originals and adaptations, involved a protagonist in dire life-or-death straits, and the series featured more science fiction and supernatural tales than Suspense. Some of the memorable adaptations include Daphne du Maurier's "The Birds", Carl Stephenson's "Leiningen Versus the Ants", Algernon Blackwood's "Confession", Ray Bradbury's oft-reprinted "Mars Is Heaven", George R. Stewart's Earth Abides (the program's only two-parter), Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz". John Collier's "Evening Primrose", about people who live inside a department store, was later adapted to TV as a Stephen Sondheim musical starring Anthony Perkins. William Conrad, Harry Bartell and Elliott Reid were heard in the chilling "Three Skeleton Key" (broadcast on 15 November 1949), the tale of three men trapped in an isolated lighthouse by thousands of rats; the half-hour was adapted from an Esquire short story by the French writer George Toudouze and later remade for the March 17, 1950 broadcast starring Vincent Price, Harry Bartell and Jeff Corey and again for the August 9, 1953 broadcast starring Paul Frees, Ben Wright and Jay Novello. Actors on the series included Elvia Allman, Eleanor Audley, Parley Baer, Michael Ann Barrett, Tony Barrett, Harry Bartell, Ted Bliss, Lillian Buyeff, Ken Christy, William Conrad, Ted deCorsia, John Dehner, Don Diamond, Paul Dubov, Sam Edwards, Virginia Gregg, Lou Merrill, Howard McNear, Jess Kirkpatrick, B.J. Thompson, Shep Menken, Frank Gerstle, George Neece, Jeanette Nolan, Dan O'Herlihy, Barney Phillips, Forrest Lewis, Robert Griffin, Alan Reed, Bill Johnstone, Sandra Gould, Junius Matthews, Carleton G. Young, Marvin Miller, Frank Lovejoy, Berry Kroeger, Vic Perrin, Elliott Lewis, Eleanore Tanin, Herb Vigran, Jack Webb, Peggy Webber and Will Wright. Music was supplied by Del Castillo, organist Ivan Ditmars, Cy Feuer, Wilbur Hatch and Leith Stevens. The announcers were Paul Frees and Roy Rowan. A television counterpart aired on CBS TV for a few months during 1950. The program's opening announcement—"Tired of the everyday grind?"—was employed as a slogan for the counterculture magazine, New Escapologist.

If you listened to my show last week about Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird, you know that Stravinsky's life was never the same after the premiere of the ballet in 1910. Sergei Diaghilev, the founder of the Ballets Russes and Stravinsky's greatest collaborator, said just before the premiere, “this man is on the eve of celebrity.” Diaghilev was absolutely right, as The Firebird made Stravinsky a Parisian household name practically overnight. Of course, immediately everyone wanted to know what was next. Stravinsky did too, and he was thinking that he needed to stretch himself even more, as even though the Firebird had caused a sensation, he still felt that it was too indebted to his teachers of the past like Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov and other Russian greats like Borodin or Mussorgsky. At first, Stravinsky dreamed of a pagan Rite, but quickly he changed course, wanting to write something that was NOT ballet music, and in fact would be a concerto for Piano and Orchestra. But instead of just a straight ahead abstract piece, Stravinsky had yet another story in mind. This time it was this: “In composing the music, I had in mind a distinct picture of a puppet, suddenly endowed with life, exasperating the patience of the orchestra with diabolical cascades of arpeggios. The orchestra in turn retaliates with menacing trumpet blasts. The outcome is a terrific noise which reaches its climax and ends in the sorrowful and querulous collapse of the poor puppet.” Diaghilev visited Stravinsky in Lausanne Switzerland expecting to hear more about the pagan rituals Stravinsky had been so excited about, but instead Stravinsky played him this strange piano concerto. But Digahliev, ever the visionary, saw the potential in this story and in this music for dance as well, and convinced Stravinsky to turn the piano concerto into a ballet, and Petrushka was born. Within a few months, Petrushka was written, performed, and was yet another sensation. Today, we'll talk all about the brilliant music that Stravinsky composed for the ballet, the integration of choreography and music, and the radical changes that this music heralded for the western music world.

Escape is an American radio drama. It was radio's leading anthology series of high-adventure radio dramas, airing on CBS from July 7, 1947 to September 25, 1954. Since the program did not have a regular sponsor like Suspense, it was subjected to frequent schedule shifts and lower production budgets, although Richfield Oil signed on as a sponsor for five months in 1950. Despite these problems, Escape enthralled many listeners during its seven-year run. The series' well-remembered opening combined Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain with this introduction, as intoned by William Conrad and later Paul Frees: "Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you... Escape!" Following the opening theme, a second announcer (usually Roy Rowan) would add: "Escape! Designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half-hour of high adventure!" Adaptations: Of the more than 230 Escape episodes, most have survived in good condition. Many story premises, both originals and adaptations, involved a protagonist in dire life-or-death straits, and the series featured more science fiction and supernatural tales than Suspense. Some of the memorable adaptations include Daphne du Maurier's "The Birds", Carl Stephenson's "Leiningen Versus the Ants", Algernon Blackwood's "Confession", Ray Bradbury's oft-reprinted "Mars Is Heaven", George R. Stewart's Earth Abides (the program's only two-parter), Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz". John Collier's "Evening Primrose", about people who live inside a department store, was later adapted to TV as a Stephen Sondheim musical starring Anthony Perkins. William Conrad, Harry Bartell and Elliott Reid were heard in the chilling "Three Skeleton Key" (broadcast on 15 November 1949), the tale of three men trapped in an isolated lighthouse by thousands of rats; the half-hour was adapted from an Esquire short story by the French writer George Toudouze and later remade for the March 17, 1950 broadcast starring Vincent Price, Harry Bartell and Jeff Corey and again for the August 9, 1953 broadcast starring Paul Frees, Ben Wright and Jay Novello. Actors on the series included Elvia Allman, Eleanor Audley, Parley Baer, Michael Ann Barrett, Tony Barrett, Harry Bartell, Ted Bliss, Lillian Buyeff, Ken Christy, William Conrad, Ted deCorsia, John Dehner, Don Diamond, Paul Dubov, Sam Edwards, Virginia Gregg, Lou Merrill, Howard McNear, Jess Kirkpatrick, B.J. Thompson, Shep Menken, Frank Gerstle, George Neece, Jeanette Nolan, Dan O'Herlihy, Barney Phillips, Forrest Lewis, Robert Griffin, Alan Reed, Bill Johnstone, Sandra Gould, Junius Matthews, Carleton G. Young, Marvin Miller, Frank Lovejoy, Berry Kroeger, Vic Perrin, Elliott Lewis, Eleanore Tanin, Herb Vigran, Jack Webb, Peggy Webber and Will Wright. Music was supplied by Del Castillo, organist Ivan Ditmars, Cy Feuer, Wilbur Hatch and Leith Stevens. The announcers were Paul Frees and Roy Rowan. A television counterpart aired on CBS TV for a few months during 1950. The program's opening announcement—"Tired of the everyday grind?"—was employed as a slogan for the counterculture magazine, New Escapologist.

Escape is an American radio drama. It was radio's leading anthology series of high-adventure radio dramas, airing on CBS from July 7, 1947 to September 25, 1954. Since the program did not have a regular sponsor like Suspense, it was subjected to frequent schedule shifts and lower production budgets, although Richfield Oil signed on as a sponsor for five months in 1950. Despite these problems, Escape enthralled many listeners during its seven-year run. The series' well-remembered opening combined Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain with this introduction, as intoned by William Conrad and later Paul Frees: "Tired of the everyday grind? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you... Escape!" Following the opening theme, a second announcer (usually Roy Rowan) would add: "Escape! Designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half-hour of high adventure!" Adaptations: Of the more than 230 Escape episodes, most have survived in good condition. Many story premises, both originals and adaptations, involved a protagonist in dire life-or-death straits, and the series featured more science fiction and supernatural tales than Suspense. Some of the memorable adaptations include Daphne du Maurier's "The Birds", Carl Stephenson's "Leiningen Versus the Ants", Algernon Blackwood's "Confession", Ray Bradbury's oft-reprinted "Mars Is Heaven", George R. Stewart's Earth Abides (the program's only two-parter), Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" and F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz". John Collier's "Evening Primrose", about people who live inside a department store, was later adapted to TV as a Stephen Sondheim musical starring Anthony Perkins. William Conrad, Harry Bartell and Elliott Reid were heard in the chilling "Three Skeleton Key" (broadcast on 15 November 1949), the tale of three men trapped in an isolated lighthouse by thousands of rats; the half-hour was adapted from an Esquire short story by the French writer George Toudouze and later remade for the March 17, 1950 broadcast starring Vincent Price, Harry Bartell and Jeff Corey and again for the August 9, 1953 broadcast starring Paul Frees, Ben Wright and Jay Novello. Actors on the series included Elvia Allman, Eleanor Audley, Parley Baer, Michael Ann Barrett, Tony Barrett, Harry Bartell, Ted Bliss, Lillian Buyeff, Ken Christy, William Conrad, Ted deCorsia, John Dehner, Don Diamond, Paul Dubov, Sam Edwards, Virginia Gregg, Lou Merrill, Howard McNear, Jess Kirkpatrick, B.J. Thompson, Shep Menken, Frank Gerstle, George Neece, Jeanette Nolan, Dan O'Herlihy, Barney Phillips, Forrest Lewis, Robert Griffin, Alan Reed, Bill Johnstone, Sandra Gould, Junius Matthews, Carleton G. Young, Marvin Miller, Frank Lovejoy, Berry Kroeger, Vic Perrin, Elliott Lewis, Eleanore Tanin, Herb Vigran, Jack Webb, Peggy Webber and Will Wright. Music was supplied by Del Castillo, organist Ivan Ditmars, Cy Feuer, Wilbur Hatch and Leith Stevens. The announcers were Paul Frees and Roy Rowan. A television counterpart aired on CBS TV for a few months during 1950. The program's opening announcement—"Tired of the everyday grind?"—was employed as a slogan for the counterculture magazine, New Escapologist.

Photo: No known restrictions on publication. La Scala orchestra arriving NYC 1920 @Batchelorshow #Italy: La Scala opens with the Mussorgsky opera, Boris Godunov, attended by PM Meloni, President Mattarella, President van der Leyen  and Ukrainian protesters. Lorenzo Fiori, Ansaldo Foundation. https://apnews.com/article/putin-entertainment-music-europe-9ded0d381bb2cc6f9228aa308501360c

Episode: 2858 Hearing Pictures: Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.  Today, hearing pictures.