We're so happy to present the perfect Christmas soundtrack for a joyous Christmas holiday! Here are highlights from our carefully chosen selection of classical holiday favorites through January 1, 2018. Season's greetings from all of your friends at WRTI 90.1.
Highlights include: The Nutcracker in its entirety starting at 11 am on Friday, December 22nd. On Christmas Day, you'll hear a series of very special programs—the perfect soundtrack for opening presents and Christmas feasts! And of course, on New Year's Day at 11 am it's New Year's Day from Vienna, the annual LIVE New Year’s concert of the Vienna Philharmonic, in works by the Strauss family from the Musikverein, Vienna, conducted by Riccardo Muti.
Here's a sampling from our schedule:
Friday, December 22nd
10 am: Antonio Vivaldi, Gloria in D, Wren Orchestra, St. John’s College Choir and soloists, George Guest, cond.
10:30 am: Robert Russell Bennett, Many Moods of Christmas, Suite No. 2, RCA Victor Symphony, Robert Shaw Chorale, Robert Shaw, cond.
11 am to 12:30 pm: Peter Iliych Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker, complete ballet in two acts, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Royal Philharmonic
2 pm: Handel's Messiah, the famous 1958 recording with The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir led by Eugene Ormandy
Saturday, December 23rd
6 am to 12 noon: A Special Classical Coffeehouse for Christmas!
1 pm: The Metropolitan Opera, Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
4:30 pm: An Operavore’s Christmas
Sunday, December 24th - Christmas Eve
10 am: A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
Michael Barone presents this live service of spoken-word and music (choral and organ) broadcast from the chapel of King's College in Cambridge, England. The 30-voice King's College Choir performs the legendary Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols service of Biblical readings and music.
3 pm: A Handel & Haydn Society Christmas
Celebrate the season with this hour-long special featuring Christmas choral music from America’s oldest continuously performing ensemble, Boston’s Handel & Haydn Society. Founded in 1815, the Society is celebrating their bicentennial season. The program features music from the 15th century to the late 20th; a Christmas for all times.
4 pm: Center Stage from Wolf Trap: Boston Brass Holiday Concert
From the Barns at Wolf Trap, America's National Park for the Performing Arts, in Vienna, Virginia, comes a holiday special featuring the Boston Brass performing traditional and contemporary holiday favorites.
5 pm: Hollywood Holiday
Host Lynne Warfel presents an hour-long musical retrospective of some of Hollywood's most cherished Christmas-themed movies.
6 pm: The Canadian Brass: Christmas Time is Here - Classical Stream only
7 pm: Christmas with the King's Singers - Classical Stream only
8 pm: WRTI 90.1’s A Christmas Carol
9 pm: Handel’s Messiah from Trinity Church, New York - Classical Stream only
12 midnight to 6 am: Christmas through the Night - Classical Stream only
Monday, December 25th - Christmas Day
6 am: Welcome Christmas!
It's a perennial Christmas favorite from VocalEssence, one of the world's premier choral ensembles. Tune in for an hour of traditional carols and new discoveries, including the world premiere of two carols from the annual Christmas Carol Contest.
7 am: A Choral Christmas With Stile Antico
Celebrate Christmas with the sound of soaring voices! Stile Antico, the award-winning choir from London, pays a visit to St. Paul’s church on Harvard Square for a concert of radiant sacred music for the Christmas season by the most acclaimed composers of the Renaissance. Hear the group’s luminous blend of voices sing the intricately woven music of Thomas Tallis and William Byrd.
8 am: Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
The world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir continues its tradition of great artistry this holiday season, with touching arrangements of familiar carols, and lesser-known melodies that are fast becoming the new classics. It's an annual favorite!
9 am: A Chanticleer Christmas
Hear why this superb 12-man ensemble is called "an orchestra of voices," as they perform holiday classics and new favorites.
10 am: The Crossing @ Christmas
WRTI 90.1 invites you to experience The Crossing chamber choir’s 2017 Christmas concert, recorded live on Friday, December 15th at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill. This annual performance is known for creating an aura of tranquility, and has become a holiday tradition for many vocal music lovers throughout our region.
12 pm: St. Olaf Christmas Festival
This service in song and word has become one of the nation's most cherished holiday celebrations. The festival includes hymns, carols, choral works, as well as orchestral selections celebrating the Nativity and featuring more than 500 student musicians in five choirs, and the St. Olaf Orchestra.
2 pm: A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
Michael Barone presents this live service of spoken-word and music (choral and organ) broadcast from the chapel of King's College in Cambridge, England. The 30-voice King's College Choir performs the legendary Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols service of Biblical readings and music.
4 pm: Carols and Cheer
The Minnesota-based choral ensemble, The Singers, review their favorite carols this holiday season, from holiday classics to contemporary hits. You'll love singing along as you hear their top picks for the Christmas season, performed by today's leading artists and ensembles.
5 pm: Christmas with Morehouse and Spelman Glee Clubs
One of the great holiday traditions in America, the choirs of Morehouse and Spelman Colleges—two of the most prestigious, historically black institutions in the nation—get together to present a spine-tingling concert program. It's a joyous celebration of the schools' tradition of singing excellence, with their trademark mixture of spirituals and carols.
6 pm: An Anonymous 4 Christmas - Classical Stream only
7 pm: The Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert on WRTI: Glorious Sound of Christmas - Classical Stream only
9 pm: Fiesta! Latin American Christmas Carols - Classical Stream only
Tuesday, December 26th
10 am: J. S. Bach, Christmas Oratorio, Part 1
3 pm: J. S. Bach, Christmas Oratorio, Part 2
Wednesday, December 27
3 pm: J. S. Bach, Christmas Oratorio, Part 3
Monday, January 1
10 am: J. S. Bach, Christmas Oratorio, Part 4
11 am: New Year's Day LIVE from Vienna. Riccardo Muti returns to conduct the annual concert by the Vienna Philharmonic in their traditional concert of music by the Strauss family and friends. Recorded earlier New Year’s day in the Musikverein.
The King's Singers and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir have fun with "The Twelve Days of Christmas"