Classical Music

Director of Learning and Engagement Jenn Minchin just about to appear on Classics Unwrapped

The Met Opera radio channel on Sirius XM (channel 74) will have a special marathon this weekend in honor of James Levine's 70th birthday. Program is after the cut. Of special interest are the rarely-heard Ghosts of Versailles at noon Saturday and Idomeneo at noon on Sunday, as well as the Vespri that follows Idomeneo. It's a shame they can't get it together for Moses und Aron or Wozzeck, and it is bizarre that no Wagner is among the operas being broadcast.Saturday, June 22, 20136 a.m. ETUn Ballo in Maschera (Verdi) from January 26, 1991. Levine conducts Aprile Millo (Amelia), Luciano Pavarotti (Riccardo), Leo Nucci (Renato), Florence Quivar (Ulrica), Harolyn Blackwell (Oscar).9 a.m. ETSalome (Richard Strauss) from January 5, 1974. Levine conducts Grace Bumbry (Salome), Ragnar Ulfung (Herod), Regina Resnik (Herodias), Lawrence Shadur (Jochanaan), William Lewis (Narraboth).12 p.m. ETThe Ghosts of Versailles (Corigliano) from January 4, 1992. Levine conducts Teresa Stratas (Marie Antoinette), HåkanHagegård (Beaumarchais), Gino Quilico (Figaro), Marilyn Horne (Samira), Graham Clark (Bégearss), Renée Fleming (Rosina).3 p.m. ETFidelio (Beethoven) from January 6, 2001. Levine conducts Karita Mattila (Leonore), Ben Heppner (Florestan), Sergei Leiferkus (Don Pizarro), René Pape (Rocco), Hei-Kyung Hong (Marzelline), Matthew Polenzani (Jaquino).6 p.m. ETFalstaff (Verdi) from April 5, 1975. Levine conducts Cornell MacNeil (Sir John Falstaff), Evelyn Lear (Alice Ford), Thomas Stewart (Ford), Fedora Barbieri (Dame Quickly), Benita Valente (Nannetta), Douglas Ahlstedt (Fenton).9 p.m. ETDie Zauberflöte (Mozart) from February 9, 1991. Levine conducts Kathleen Battle (Pamina), Francisco Araiza (Tamino), Luciana Serra (Queen of the Night), Kurt Moll (Sarastro), Manfred Hemm (Papageno), Barbara Kilduff (Papagena).12 a.m. ETPelléas et Mélisande (Debussy) from January 22, 1983. Levine conducts Dale Duesing (Pelléas), Jeannette Pilou (Mélisande), José Van Dam (Golaud), Jerome Hines (Arkel), Jocelyne Taillon (Geneviève).Sunday, June 23, 20136 a.m. ETLa Forza del Destino (Verdi) from March 12, 1977. Levine conducts Leontyne Price (Leonora), Plácido Domingo (Don Alvaro), Cornell MacNeil (Don Carlo), Martti Talvela (Padre Guardiano), Rosalind Elias (Preziosilla), Renato Capecchi (Fra Melitone).9 a.m. ETCarmen (Bizet) from March 21, 1987. Levine conducts Agnes Baltsa (Carmen), José Carreras (Don José), Ileana Cortrubas (Micaëla), Samuel Ramey (Escamillo).12 p.m. ETIdomeneo (Mozart) from December 21, 1991. Levine conducts Ben Heppner (Idomeneo), Dawn Upshaw (Ilia), Susanne Mentzer (Idamante), Carol Vaness (Elettra), Peter Kazaras (Arbace).3 p.m. ETI Vespri Siciliani (Verdi) from March 9, 1974. Levine conducts Montserrat Caballé (Elena), Nicolai Gedda (Arrigo), Sherrill Milnes (Guido di Monforte), Justino Díaz (Giovanni da Procida).6 p.m. ETThe Rake’s Progress (Stravinsky) from January 17, 1998. Levine conducts Jerry Hadley (Tom Rakewell), Dawn Upshaw (Anne Trulove), Samuel Ramey (Nick Shadow), Stephanie Blythe (Baba the Turk).9 p.m. ETThe Bartered Bride (Smetana) from December 2, 1978. Levine conducts Teresa Stratas (Marenka), Nicolai Gedda (Jeník), Jon Vickers (Vasek), Martti Talvela (Kecal).12 a.m. ETStiffelio (Verdi) from March 5, 1994. Levine conducts Plácido Domingo (Stiffelio), Sharon Sweet (Lina), Vladimir Chernov (Stankar), Paul Plishka (Jorg), Peter Riberi (Raffaele).

Starting now on @bbcradio3: our tribute to our beloved former President Sir Colin Davis. Listen live online here

Never mind 'Yeezus,' here's Unlocking the Truth.

figures… the one day i have a flight from PHL > PDX. flight cancelled.

At five o’clock on June 25, jut when the kettle’s boiling, they are introducing Andris Nelsons at a free concert of the Pops Brass Ensemble. Best practice? We don’t think so. In Birmingham, he was introduced by the entire orchestra. Details here.     Let’s give a Boston Welcome to Andris Nelsons! Free and Open to the [...]

Musicians from the Athens scrapheap have wrapped their heart-breaking final performance with suggestions of how the world can help to save their country from the end of civilisation. Watch.

Want to get your family into the arts? Check out @familyartsfest, 18 Oct - 3 Nov, launched today. Our contribution:

Island of Color: Where Juneteenth Started; Izola Ethel Fedford Collins; AuthorHouse (2004) Izola Collins writes: I have to respond to your last item by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. since I am the author of the only book that tells the true story of Juneteenth. I still live in Galveston, Texas, which is where Juneteenth started. My grandfather, Reverend Ralph Albert Scull, was a five year old boy when his father, Horace Scull brought the family to live here in Galveston, right after General Granger read the order no. 3, which you have quoted. My grandfather was in the first group of African Americans who were taught how to read and write in my own church, Reedy Chapel A.M.E. Church. My grandfather went to school in Wilberforce after that, and came back to become the first male, and his sister Clara, the first female African American person to comeback here and teach in the public school system. My grandfather kept a composition book full of the details of the freed African Americans after he completed 52 years of teaching here. I grew up in the house with him, and wrote this book, based on the information that he wrote, plus eyewitness accounts from many persons who lived during that period of time, plus my own observations. My book is titled "Island of Color", subtitled "Where Juneteenth Started". You can get it from AuthorHouse, www.authorhouse.com or Amazon or Barnes and Noble, or directly from me, with my autograph. I would love to meet Henry Louis Gates, Jr, since I have followed his documentaries with great interest, buying several. I have also had an item on your site before. Tomorrow, I will be directing my Galveston Heritage Chorale in selections in a program designed to commemorate our historic Juneteenth. By the way, our Juneteenth commemorates not only the 19th of June, but also the 17th, which is when the wharf workers first heard the news themselves, and it spread by word of mouth from there. Galveston is a natural deepwater port, because it is an island, facing the Gulf of Mexico. Izola Ethel Fedford Collins Ph. 409-974-4425 iefedco@sbcglobal.net

yeah dude I’m playing Oboe !!