Letter V Classical Radio this week

The second of the New Year anniversary shows, this one marking even-numbered anniversaries of a remarkable variety of memorable and influential compositions – none more so than Richard Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde,” introduced 150 years ago. The “Tristan chord” of its Prelude (notation at right) resonates powerfully in the harmonic language of late-romantic and modern music.

Prélude: In a week when the civilized world rallies around France as she mourns her dead and defies terrorists, we’ll open with longtime Boston Symphony flutist Doriot Anthony Dwyer playing Claude Debussy’s haunting “Syrinx.”

Jan. 15
11 a.m.-2 p.m. EST
1600-1900 UTC/GMT
WDCE, University of Richmond
90.1 FM
www.wdce.org

Past Masters:
Debussy: “Syrinx”
Doriot Anthony Dwyer, flute
(Deutsche Grammophon)
(recorded 1970)

Haydn: Symphony
No. 31 in D major (“Hornsignal”) –
I: Allegro (1765)
Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra/Dennis Russell Davies
(Sony Classical)

Schubert: Symphony No. 3 in D major (1815)
Vienna Philharmonic/
Carlos Kleiber (Deutsche Grammophon)

Frescobaldi: “Toccata undécima” (1615)
Gustav Leonhardt, harpsichord (Philips)

Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2 (“Concord, Mass.,
1840-1860”) – IV: “Thoreau” (1915)
Marc-André Hamelin, piano; Jamie Martin, flute (Hyperion)

Frescobaldi: “Partite sopra Folia” (1615)
Gustav Leonhardt, harpsichord (Philips)

Past Masters:
De Falla: “El amor brujo” (1915)
Shirley Verrett,
mezzo-soprano
Philadelphia Orchestra/
Leopold Stokowski (Sony Classical)
(recorded 1960)

Weber: Concertino in E minor, Op. 45 (1815)
Hermann Baumann, French horn
Gewandhaus Orchestra, Leipzig/Kurt Masur (Newton Classics)

Past Masters:
Wagner: “Tristan und Isolde” – Prelude & “Liebestod” (1865)
Berlin Philharmonic/
Wilhelm Furtwängler (Biddulph)
(recorded 1938)

Schubert: “Der Erlkönig” (1815)
(Max Reger orchestration)
Thomas Quasthoff, baritone
Chamber Orchestra of Europe/Claudio Abbado (Deutsche Grammophon)

Brahms: Horn Trio in E flat major, Op. 40 (1865)
William Purvis, French horn
Daniel Phillips, violin
Richard Goode, piano
(Bridge)

Bernstein: “Chichester Psalms” (1965)
Thomas Kelly, treble
Elizabeth Franklin-Kitchen, soprano
Victoria Nayler, alto
Jeremy Budd, tenor
Paul Charrier, bass
Bournemouth Symphony Chorus
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Marin Alsop (Naxos)