• Home
  • Listen Online
  • What's Playing
  • Cable and Satellite
  • Partner Stations
  • Listener Survey
• News
• Features
• About Us
• Contact Us
• Site Map

WCPE Home Page

WCPE Opera House

A pair of short nineteenth-century German operas are featured on this week’s WCPE Opera House: Peter Cornelius’ Der Barbier von Bagdad and Albert Lortzing’s Die Opernprobe. The common denominator is tenor Nicolai Gedda, who stars in both works. In Der Barbier von Bagdad (The Barber of Baghdad), Nureddin (Gedda) is in love with Margiana (soprano Elizabeth Schwarzkopf), daughter of the Cadi (tenor Gerhard Unger). Bostana (mezzo-soprano Grace Hoffmann), approving of Nureddin, helps him to woo Margiana by making himself presentable. The barber Abdul Hassan (bass Oskar Czerwenka) is summoned, and he adopts the role of co-conspirator in the romance.

Margiana waits for Nureddin in the women’s quarters. The Cadi wants to marry her off to a rich friend, but when he leaves, Nureddin enters. A traditional farcical plot then unfolds, with the Barber breaking in, Nureddin hiding in a treasure chest and being carried away by servants, and a happy ending when the Caliph (baritone Hermann Prey) arrives, Nureddin is released, and Margiana is allowed to marry him.

Read More »

Erich Leinsdorf conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus in this 1957 Angel/EMI recording. Albert Lortzing’s fame rests chiefly upon two operas: Zar und Zimmermann and Der Wildschütz. His Die Opernprobe (The Opera Rehearsal) was based on a popular comedy by Johann Friedrich Jünger, a mild mockery of the minor aristocracy, who carry the musical interest of their class to ridiculous extremes, aping the courts of the kings and princes. It’s the story of two sets of lovers—the young Countess Louise (soprano Kari Lovaas) and Baron Adolph (Gedda)—who fall in love during an opera rehearsal, not realizing that they were in fact already engaged by their parents (baritone Klaus Hirte and contralto Gisela Litz); and their respective servants—the chambermaid Hannchen (soprano Regina Marheineke), who doubles as orchestra conductor, and the blustery manservant Johann (bass Walter Berry). Otmar Suitner conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Bavarian State Opera in this 1974 CPO recording.

Here’s a 1953 live performance of the Overture to Der Barbier von Bagdad, played by the Bavarian State Orchestra under the baton of maestro Hans Knappertsbusch:

Please join me next week, September 9, for a pair of early Rossini one-act operas: La Scala di Seta (The Silken Ladder) and Il Signor Bruschino. You’ve heard the overtures; now you can enjoy these youthful examples of Rossiniana in their entirety.

The WCPE Opera House is heard every Thursday evening at 7 o’clock in the Eastern time zone on 89.7 FM in central North Carolina, and we’re streaming online here.

— W. Robert Chapman, Host of the WCPE Opera House

« Read Less

Seiji Ozawa (b. September 1, 1935)

Seiji Ozawa was born on September 1, 1935 to Japanese parents in the city of Shenyang, China, while it was under Japanese occupation. When his family returned to Japan in 1944, he began studying piano with Noboru Toyomasu, heavily studying the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. After graduating from the Seijo Junior High School in 1950, Ozawa sprained his finger in a rugby game. Unable to continue studying the piano, his teacher at the Toho Gakuen School of Music (Hideo Saito), brought Ozawa to a life-changing performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, which ultimately shifted his musical focus from piano performance to conducting.

Almost a decade after the sports injury, Ozawa won the first prize at the International Competition of Orchestra Conductors in Besançon, France. His success in France led to an invitation by Charles Münch, then the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, to attend the Berkshire Music Center (now the Tanglewood Music Center). In 1960, shortly after his arrival, Ozawa won the Koussevitzky Prize for outstanding student conductor, Tanglewood's highest honor. Receiving a scholarship to study conducting with famous Austrian conductor, Herbert von Karajan, Ozawa moved to West Berlin. Under the tutelage of von Karajan, Ozawa caught the attention of prominent conductor, Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein then appointed him as assistant conductor of the New York Philharmonic where he remained for the next four years. While with the New York Philharmonic, he made his first professional concert appearance with the San Francisco Symphony in 1962.

Read More »

Between the years of 1964 and 1973, he directed various orchestras until he became music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1973. His tenure at the BSO was maintained for 29 years, the longest tenure of any music director, surpassing the 25 years held by Serge Koussevitzky. Ozawa won his first Emmy Award in 1976, for the Boston Symphony Orchestra's PBS television series, "Evening at Symphony." In 1994, the BSO dedicated its new Tanglewood concert hall "Seiji Ozawa Hall" in honor of his 20th season with the orchestra. In 1994, he was awarded his second Emmy for Individual Achievement in Cultural Programming for "Dvorák in Prague: A Celebration."

On February 1, 2006, the Vienna State Opera announced that he had to cancel all his 2006 conducting engagements because of illness, including pneumonia and shingles. He returned to conducting in March 2007 at the Tokyo Opera Nomori. Ozawa is scheduled to step down from his post at the Vienna State Opera in 2010, to be succeeded by Franz Welser-Möst. In October 2008, Ozawa was honored with Japan's Order of Culture; and an awards ceremony for the Order of Culture will be held at the Imperial Palace. He is a recipient of the 34th Suntory Music Award (2002) and the International Center in New York's Award of Excellence.

On January 7, 2010, Ozawa announced that he was canceling all engagements for six months in order to undergo treatments for esophageal cancer. The doctor with Ozawa at the time of the announcement said it was detected at an early stage. He returned to work on July 26, 2010.

(cc) Wikipedia®

« Read Less

Itzhak Perlman (b. August 31, 1945)

Perlman was born in Tel Aviv, in what was soon to be Israel, where he first became interested in the violin after hearing a classical music performance on the radio. He studied at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv before moving to the United States to study at the Juilliard School with the great violin pedagogue, Ivan Galamian, and his assistant Dorothy DeLay.

Perlman contracted polio at the age of four. He made a good recovery, learning to walk with the use of crutches. Today, he generally uses crutches or an Amigo POV/Scooter for mobility and plays the violin while seated.

Read More »

He made his debut at Carnegie Hall in 1963 and won the prestigious Leventritt Competition in 1964. Soon afterward he began to tour extensively. In addition to an extensive recording career, he has made occasional guest appearances on American television, starting in the 1970s on shows such as The Tonight Show and Sesame Street, as well as playing at a number of functions at the White House.

While primarily a solo artist, Perlman has performed with a number of other notable musicians, including Yo-Yo Ma, Jessye Norman, Isaac Stern, and Yuri Temirkanov at the 150th anniversary celebration of Tchaikovsky in Leningrad in December 1990. He has also performed (and recorded) with good friend and fellow Israeli violinist Pinchas Zukerman on numerous occasions over the years.

Perlman plays on the antique Soil Stradivarius violin of 1714, formerly owned by Yehudi Menuhin and considered to be one of the finest violins made during Stradivari's "golden period", as well as the Sauret Guarneri del Gesu of c.1743.

(cc) Wikipedia®

« Read Less

Online playlists "What was that beautiful piece of music??" Find out now by browsing through a week's worth of playlists!

Meet the Announcer Ever wonder what your favorite voice looks like? See photos and read brief biographies of WCPE's announcers!

"Quarter Notes" WCPE's Member Magazine Published quarterly, this magazine and listener guide offers featured works and program highlights for the WCPE season to come, plus station news, reviews, interviews and other articles designed to enhance your classical music journey. Quarter Notes is sent to WCPE members in print version, and members may also choose to view this website's "green" online version. To become a WCPE member (your gift is tax-deductible!) and receive a year's subscription to Quarter Notes, click here.

Donate your car to WCPE! If your automobile (truck, boat, motorcycle, RV, or aircraft) is no longer of use to you, it can still go a long way as a donation in support of the Great Classical Music you rely on from WCPE. Learn how!

Buy CDs and Benefit WCPE! Each time you click one of our links to ArkivMusic, The Source for Classical Music and buy a classical CD or DVD, you'll be benefitting The Classical Station!

Tell us how you feel about WCPE! Record your message on the WCPE Listener Comment Line. Please phone (919) 570-0204 and tell us what WCPE means to you. You can also submit a comment online by visiting our "What You're Saying" page.

Volunteer! Find out more about a fun way to support your home for Great Classical Music.

Live Metropolitan Opera Saturday radio broadcasts can be heard on this website. To see the Metropolitan Opera schedule click here.