Meltdown! Mornings this week on Classical 91.5

photo by StoriedEye

First of all, please allow me to say thank you to all the listeners who sent in cards and notes over the holidays.  Getting up day after day in the winter is a terrific challenge, and your support and enthusiasm for fantastic music on the radio is a constant source of inspiration!

So here we are.  Mid-January. Do you have a touch of cabin fever?  Are you dispirited by the cold, monochromatic weather?

WXXI is here to help pull you out of winter hibernation with concert previews, interviews, arts news, and the latest headlines -- everything you need for a great start to the day.   Now that the cold snap is over, I’m looking forward the first RPO Philharmonics concert of 2014 this weekend!  I invite you to share in the daily joy of great music on the radio or streaming at wxxi.org.

Here’s what’s coming this week . . .

Monday, January 13

Monday’s playlist includes recordings by outstanding Rochester artists: Gibbs & Main, Paul O’Dette, Pegasus Early Music, and the Rochester Pops. On the Composer’s Datebook, Prokofiev takes the Fifth in Moscow.  On the Writer’s Almanac, Garrison recalls the secret life of a writer whose books had a powerful influence on America's self-concept as a land of rags-to-riches success stories.

Tuesday, January 14

Meet composer, percussionist, and rock drummer Ivan Trevino, whose cello-rock band Break of Reality is performing on WXXI’s Backstage Pass this Thursday at 1 p.m. and in concert in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre at 8 p.m. Friday night.  The Composer’s Datebook explores harp concertos by Villa-Lobos and Rautavaara.  On Writer’s Almanac, Garrison remembers a woman whom The New Yorker called "a forgotten American literary treasure."

Wednesday, January 15

Singer Andrea Folan has just fulfilled a long-term dream project. You’ll hear about that, and music by two great composer sisters, Nadia and Lili Boulanger.  The Composer’s Datebook recounts a Messiaen premiere in a German prisoner of war camp.  On the Writer’s Almanac, Garrison tells a sad story from the life of the father of French comedic theatre.

Thursday, January 16

Puppets! Magic! Toys!  Wake up with music that evokes unearthly things.   Also, we’ll hear Beethoven’s joyful Choral Fantasy and introspective works by Rachmaninoff and Caleb Burhans. WXXI’s Julia Figueras previews the next RPO concert with guest conductor Hugh Wolff and Rochester Oratorio Society director Eric Townell.  On the Composer’s Datebook, the birth of "Les Six."

Friday, January 17

We’ll hear from amazing Rochester artists; violinist Pia Liptak, baritone Jan Opalach, composer Ivan Trevino, member of the ensemble Break of Reality.  On the Composer’s Datebook, Mozart's "Exsultate, Jubilate." 

Oh, and if you're a Downton Abbey fan, what are your thoughts on Kiri Te Kanawa's appearance as Dame Nellie Melba?