WRTI Spotlight

Join us Sunday at 1 pm (one hour earlier than usual) as Garrick Ohlsson plays Brahms, and Yannick returns to the podium to conduct a performance of the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 and two lush orchestral works by Richard Strauss - Death and Transfiguration, and a suite from his opera, Der Rosenkavalier!

On the anniversary of his 85th birthday this Sunday, we'll remember bandleader and trumpeter Maynard Ferguson on Big Band Jazz. Stan Kenton added the Canadian born trumpet titan in 1950 to his Innovations in Modern Music band. A few years later, he started his own band. We'll feature recordings from his Birdland Dream Band to Be Bop Nouveau. And of course those famous high-end solos! Sunday, May 5, 7 to 8 pm.

Join us on Sunday at 3 pm as Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) presents Giuseppe Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera. Drama takes center stage in this opera of political intrigue, based on a true historical event: the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden. The king falls in love with the wife of his best friend and most trusted advisor. A love triangle turns deadly as jealousy leads to conspiracy, murder, and betrayal at a masked ball. Sunday, May 5, 3 to 6 pm.

Poulenc’s masterpiece makes a rare return to the repertory with a fine cast led by Patricia Racette, Felicity Palmer, and Isabel Leonard. Louis Langrée conducts this dramatic work with one of the most haunting final moments in opera. Saturday, May 4, *11:30 am to 3 pm (*note early start time).

Francis Poulenc: Dialogues des Carmelites

Synopsis

Cast:

Conductor: Louis Langrée
Blanche de la Force: Isabel Leonard
Mme Lidoine: Patricia Racette
Constance: Erin Morley
Mère Marie: Elizabeth Bishop
First Prioress: Felicity Palmer
Chevalier de la Force: Paul Appleby