Philadelphia Orchestra principal guest conductor Stéphane Denève will again be on the podium for this Sunday’s Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert rebroadcast on January 26th at 1 PM. It's Part 2 of an exploration of the interactions between two bold visionaries who made incalculable contributions to the cultural life of Philadelphia between the two world wars: Leopold Stokowski and Dr. Albert C. Barnes.
Brief theatrical scenes will again be acted out as part of this “symphonic play,” which brings to the airwaves two early 20th-century French compositions, Darius Milhaud’s jazz-inflected The Creation of the World, and Francis Poulenc's Organ Concerto in G minor, one of the few non-baroque organ works in the basic repertory.
Peter Richard Conte performs the concerto on Verizon Hall’s Fred J. Cooper Memorial Organ.
Among the glories of the Barnes Foundation are early-20th century masterpieces by Matisse, Picasso, and the French Impressionists—works that were shockingly modern at the time. And no piece of music from that period caused quite the stir that Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring did.
Leopold Stokowski gave the American premiere of the work with the Philadelphians in 1922. (They also gave the U.S. premiere of the staged version of the piece, in 1930.) And it's this iconic masterpiece from the 20th century that closes the concert, appropriately enough, since Dr. Barnes himself once wrote about the strong link that he perceived between the paintings of Matisse and the music of Stravinsky.
During intermission, Debra Lew Harder speaks backstage with Peter Richard Conte, and Susan Lewis discusses this final installment of this two-part mini festival with Maestro Denève
Not to be missed, that’s Sunday, January 26th, 1 to 3 PM on WRTI 90.1, and streaming worldwide at wrti.org.
PROGRAM:
Milhaud: The Creation of the World, Op. 81
Poulenc: Concerto in G minor for Organ, Strings, and Timpani
Peter Richard Conte, organ
INTERMISSION
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring
The Philadelphia Orchestra, Stéphane Denève, conductor
David Bardeen, actor (Albert Barnes)
Nicholas Carriere, actor (Leopold Stokowski)
Didi Balle, playwright and director
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Gregg Whiteside is producer and host of the Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcasts, every Sunday at 1 PM on WRTI 90.1, streaming online at WRTI.org, and on our mobile app! Listen again on Mondays at 7 PM on WRTI HD-2
