Classical Stories

Take our Survey Today!

Are you a Facebook fanatic or an HD Radio addict? How often do you surf the Internet, text your "BFF" or check your email on your smartphone? What role does technology play in your life? We'd really like to know.

Please take a few minutes to fill out the WRTI 2010 Technology Survey. There are no wrong answers, so don't be shy! The survey covers everything from radio and Internet usage, including video and audio streaming, to social networking, newspaper reading, blogging, and television recording.

Nino Rota/La Strada and Concertos for Harp and Trombone

Jennifer Swartz, harp

Alain Trudel, trombone

Orchestre Metropolitan du Grand Montreal

Yannick Nezet-Seguin, conductor

Here's a CD review from WRTI's Daytime Diva Jill Pasternak. In addition to being a beloved host for WRTI, Jill is also a professional harpist who trained at Julliard.

WRTI's Labor Day Weekend Classical Countdown is Coming Up...


Who decides what 30 works you'll hear? You!

So vote for your favorite classical piece by August 22nd. And spread the word...

We want to hear what moves, thrills, or inspires you. Is it a Beethoven symphony? A Vivaldi concerto? A Puccini aria? You name it!

Join us on Saturday afternoons in August for complete performances of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. Upcoming broadcasts of LA Opera's "Ring Cycle" from the 2009/2010 season, conducted by James Conlon, are scheduled on:

August 21: Gotterdammerung at 12 noon

Watch and Listen: Videos from LA Opera's "Ring Cycle"

The eminent Australian maestro - born in Schenectady, New York - was known as an authority on the operas of Leos Janacek, and was associated with many of Britain's most prominent opera houses and orchestras. He died of cancer in London on July 14th.

WRTI's Jim Cotter met the maverick conductor once in Edinburgh, and describes him as "utterly charming, witty, and self-deprecating."

Read More

By Jim Cotter and Susan Lewis

After a three-and-a-half-year search, the Philadelphia Orchestra has a new artistic leader. The orchestra has tapped 35-year-old French Canadian Yannick Nezet-Seguin, current music director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic, and principal conductor of the Metropolitan Orchestra of Montreal since 2000. Nezet-Seguin conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2008 and 2009. When he spoke to WRTI late last year, he was enthusiastic about his early experiences with the ensemble.

Notes From The Road

Monday, May 3 to Friday, May 7

Join WRTI's Susan Lewis for a series of special reports from the Philadelphia Orchestra's 2010 Tour of Asia. We'll join the Orchestra in China - on the last week of their journey.

Listen to Susan's reports as she travels with the "Fabulous Philadelphians" in Shanghai and Beijing. We'll listen in on performances, look behind-the-scenes, and experience China through the eyes and ears of the musicians and Chief Conductor Charles Dutoit.

This year we mark the 100-year anniversary of the birth of American composer Samuel Barber - a West Chester, Pennsylvania native and Curtis graduate.

WRTI Classical Host Gregg Whiteside Opines on the Music of Frederic Chopin

Concerts from the Library of Congress

Sunday, January 10

5 to 6 pm