Season’s Greetings and Happy Holidays, Everyone!!
All of us at GotRadio are wishing you and your families a restive and festive holiday season. And looking ahead, we wish you all a happy and healthy New Year in 2012!
We’ve continued to build up the Classical and Classical Voices libraries lately, and for the holidays, we have programmed some great music to accompany your Christmas and Channukah festivities at home or the office.
What to Listen for this Holiday Season
Here are some highlights of what you’ll hear in the coming holiday weeks on GotRadio’s Classical and Classical Voices channels:
Classical
• Nutcracker Ballet – Peter Tchaikovsky: This perennial favorite needs almost no introduction. Based on the E.T.A. Hoffmann story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”, Tchaikovsky’s ballet was not an immediate success, but the ballet suite was. We’ll hear Richard Bonynge conduct the National Philharmonic
Classical Voices
• Christmas Oratorio – Johann Sebastian Bach: Bach’s 6-part oratorio lasts nearly three hours and tells the story from Jesus’ birth, to the family’s flight to Egypt and the Adoration of the Magi. Bach incorporated some of his previously written music. We’ll hear highlights with Geza Oberfrank conducting the Failoni Chamber Orchestra and the Hungarian Radio Chorus
• L’enfance du Christ – Hector Berlioz: This beautiful oratorio recounts the early childhood of Christ and the story of the Flight to Egypt and the Adoration of the Magi. Berlioz requires the chorus and narrator to sing the quietest Amen possible at the end – barely audible and quite moving. Jean-Claude Casadesus conducts his Lille National Orchestra
• Ceremony of Carols – Benjamin Britten: composed at sea while he was returning to England in 1943, Britten’s Ceremony is comprised of 11 numbers based on poems written in Middle English, originally conceived as individual songs which were later unified. Ronald Corp leads the New London Children’s Choir
• Mass for Christmas Eve – Marc-Antoine Charpentier: the title says it all. We’ll hear Kevin Mallon conduct this baroque masterpiece with the Aradia Ensemble
• Judas Maccabaeus – Georg Friedrich Handel: Judah Maccabee is known for leading the Israelites to defeat the Seleucid army and reclaim the Great Temple of Jerusalem, as celebrated during Channukah. Handel’s oratorio tells of the Judah’s rise as leader and his defeat of the armies of Antioch of Epiphanes. Charles Mackerras conducts.
• Messiah – Georg Friedrich Handel: Most listeners are familiar with this perennial favorite, but it is rarely heard in its 1751 scoring. Alhough successful in its first performance in Ireland in 1743, Messiah wasn't as popular in London. Handel continually modified the score. For the 1751 version, instead of a large mixed chorus, Handel wrote for a smaller chorus of boys and young men. The result? More transparent orchestration and clearer choral textures. Performances of this version were very successful. We’re playing a Naxos recording of that 1751 score.
• La Boheme – Giacomo Puccini: Acts 1 and 2, of this most famous of Puccini’s operas, take place on Christmas Eve in the Latin Quarter of Paris. Georg Solti conducts.
• Czech Christmas Mass – Jakub Ryba: This lovely mass is comprised of Czech folk tunes and has a very distinctive, simple and affective style. Frantisek Thuri conducts the Chorus and Orchestra of the Czech Madirgalists
• Hodie – Ralph Vaughan Williams: Written in 1953, Vaughan William’s cantata, Hodie (ho-dee-ay) – “This day” – is made of 16 movements and illustrates key parts of the Christmas story. It features Vaughan Williams’ use of modal harmonies giving the music an Old English feel at times. David Willcocks conducts the London Philharmonic and Bach Choir
• Fantasia on Christmas Carols – Ralph Vaughan Williams: RVW interweaves several very well-known carols in this gem. You’ll hear Come all ye Worthy Gentlemen, The Truth Sent from Above, The First Noel, On Christmas Night, and others. See if you can detect them all; Richard Hickox conducts the London Symphony Orchestra and Choristers of St. Paul’s Cathedral
I wish you a Merry Christmas! A Happy Chanukah! And a very Happy and Healthy New Year to All!
Thanks for listening to GotRadio classical music!
Ron -
