by Daniel Hathaway
IN THIS EDITION:
. Charnofsky hosts two long works on Monday program
. The Almanac notes the demise of Franncis Poulenc
HAPPENING TODAY:
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – Not Your Grandmother’s Classical Music, hosted by Eric Charnofsky, featuring two major mid-20th century works: Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Symphony in F-sharp, Op. 40 & Herbert Howells’ Hymnus Paradisi. Click here to listen to the internet feed or tune in to 91.1 FM in the greater Cleveland area.
ALMANAC FOR JANUARY 30:
January 30 marks the death of French composer Francis Poulenc (pictured) in Paris in 1963. His Gloria exemplifies his compositional style, aptly described by a YouTube commentator: “His ingenious ability to join the secular and the sacred, in this case, French cabaret and High liturgy is unmatched, except maybe for Mozart.” That comment was in response to a live performance by soprano Else Benoit, the Netherlands Radio Choir and Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Peter Cijksatra, that took place in Utrecht in November of 2019.
An earlier work that captures Poulenc’s urbane wit is the 1928 Concert Champêtre for harpsichord and orchestra — quite a large ensemble to pit against the soloist, but Poulenc was writing for the heavy Pleyel instruments championed by the dedicatee, Wanda Landowska, during the 20th century harpsichord revival.
Jory Vinikour was featured in the Concerto in Severance Hall with Stéphane Denève and The Cleveland Orchestra in March, 2018. Watch for that to come around on a WCLV rebroadcast, but in the meanwhile, here’s a performance by Aimée van de Wiele and the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, conducted by Georges Prêtre.
No doubt many of our readers joined the live broadcast of Poulenc’s moving Dialogues of the Carmelites two days ago from the Metropolitan Opera. Click here to watch the chilling final scene as performed by The Met during its 2018-2019 season. Conductor: Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Blanche de la Force: Isabel Leonard. Madame Lidoine: Adrianne Pieczonka. Soeur Constance: Erin Morley.