Letter V Classical Radio this week

A special program, with studio guests: pianist Alexander Paley and his spouse and piano four-hands partner, Pei-Wen Chen. They will be joined by cellist Rebecca Zimmerman and clarinetist Charles West in the 17th annual edition of Paley’s Richmond festival, Sept. 26-28 at a new location, St. Luke Evangelical Lutheran Church, 7757 Chippenham Parkway.

During the show, we’ll survey the festival’s history, discuss the music to be featured this year, and hear some of the pianists’ live and studio recordings – including a sample from a soon-to-be-released disc of suites by the 18th-century French master Jean-Philippe Rameau, played by Paley on piano.

Sept. 25
noon-2 p.m. EDT
1600-1800 UTC
1700-1900 GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Chopin: Sonata in B minor, Op. 58 – scherzo
Alexander Paley, piano (Blüthner)

Chopin: Étude in F major, Op. 25, No. 3
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano (Decca)

Rameau: Suite in G minor (“l’Egyptinne”) – excerpt
Alexander Paley, piano (Harmonia Mundi France)

Dvořák: “From the Bohemian Forest” – “Silent Woods”
Alexander Paley &
Pei-Wen Chen, piano four-hands
(2004 Paley Festival, live recording)

Rossini: “The Barber of Seville” Overture
Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Claudio Abbado (Deutsche Grammophon)

Past Masters:
Rachmaninoff: Symphony
No. 3 in A minor
Philadelphia Orchestra/
Sergei Rachmaninoff
(Dutton Laboratories)
(recorded 1939)

Prokofiev: “Romeo and Juliet” – excerpts
Alexander Paley, piano (Blüthner/Hänssler Classic)