The Vivace Christmas Special

This Friday, we'll broadcast the Vivace Christmas Show, a mixture of classical and Christmas music. 

We start with the Czech Christmas Eve Mass by Jan Ryba, a perennial favorite, followed by some piano music by Beethoven.

We'll devote the first part of the 7 o'clock hour to Suites 3 and 4 of The Many Moods of Christmas, the seminal 1963 work by Robert Russell Bennett. We have the 1983 recording by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.  

After concertos by Albinoni and Vivaldi, we have the brand-new best-selling recording of Angels from the Realms of Glory by cellist Steven Sharp Nelson and The Piano Guys.

There's more Christmas music in the 8 o'clock hour, culminating, as usual with selections from Messiah by Handel.  

You're most welcome to sing along, but above all, I hope you'll join me here on WTJU-Charlottesville for Christmas Vivace, Friday morning, 6-9 am.  And finally, let me wish you and all those you love a peaceful, joyful Christmas and a very happy new year.

Another vivacious double-dose!

Once again this week, I'll have the joy of presenting Classical Cafe, serving up some delicious music to start your Thursday on just the right note.

The first hour features a well-known work, which is not, perhaps, aired quite so often, the Piano Concerto No. 3 by Beethoven: we have a sparkling version from the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg.

 

Haydn and Kozeluch

At 7 am, we'll have an oboe concerto that wasn't written by Joseph Haydn, though many people think it was. It was, in fact, the work of Johann Antonin Kozeluch.

We'll also enjoy a Piano Trio by Josef Rheinberger.

After 8 o'clock, we'll hear a musical parody by Dmitri Shostakovich all about the challenging housing conditions in the Soviet Union of the 1950s in the Cheryomushki Suite, and we'll end with the Concertone, which means big concert or concerto by Mozart.

There are plenty of delicious treats in store in the Classical Cafe, this Thursday morning.  I hope you'll join me.

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On Vivace this Friday, the first hour features some peaceful music:  the String Octet by Mendelssohn and a  symphony by Vanhal.

At 7 am, I'd like to introduce you to the music of Giuseppe Antonio Capuzzi, a largely-forgotten Italian violinist and composer who was born on August 1, 1755.  We'll hear his delightful Concerto for double bass and orchestra in D-Major.

The Capuzzi concerto and Mr. Albrechtsberger

After that, we have another equally delightful work: the Partita in C-Major for harp, flute and cello by Johann-Georg Albrechtsberger, who was a classmate of Michael Haydn, and taught music theory to Johann Hummel, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Xaver Mozart. 

Austrian composer and organist Hans Rott also has a birthday this Friday and of course, we'll celebrate it, with his Pastoral Prelude in F Major.  We'll round out the hour with music of Gottfried Heinrich Stolzel.

The great horn player, Hermann Baumann (right), celebrates his 80th birthday this Friday.  Before the champagne is opened, he will join us to play the Mozart Horn Concerto No. 2.

And we'll end with one of those enchanting guitar and piano duos by Ferdinando Carulli.

I hope you'll join me Thursday and Friday mornings, 6-9 am, to start your days with that touch of je ne sais quoi, here on WTJU-Charlottesville.

Vivaldi: Return of Angels

Vivaldi: Return of the Angels 
 Ensemble Caprice
Matthias Maute, conductor
Analekta

“The Return of Angels” is billed as a collection of Vivaldi’s sacred music arranged in an attractive program. The Ensemble Caprice under Matthias Maute perform these works with a lightness and transparency that make for an enjoyable listening experience.

The disc starts with Juditha triumphans, one of Vivaldi’s four surviving oratorios. Originally, this music was performed by girls of the orphanage where he directed the music program. Ensemble Caprice also uses an exclusively female cast, giving the drama a serene, otherworldly feel. By cutting out the long stretches of secco recitative, the Ensemble pares this large work down to a compact and appealing suite.

The motet O qui coeli terraeque serenitas (RV 631) is a study in contrasts, both in vocal style and orchestral writing. Soprano Gabriele Hierdeis floats effortlessly above the busy ensemble, turning in an appealing performance.

In addition to some psalms and the Et in terra pax from the “Gloria” (RV 588), there are also some excerpts from the oratorio Gesu al cavario by Vivaldi’s colleague in Dresden, Jan Dismas Zelenka. Zelenka’s music compares favorably to Vivaldi’s – without looking at the program notes, the casual listener might not hear the difference.

Also included is a Vivaldi concerto for two recorders (RV 566) and another for Trumpet and Oboe (RV563). Both works are ably played by the Ensemble Caprice, and provide a nice contrast to the vocal selections.