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Welcome back, Little Theatre!
This weekend, one of Rochester’s architectural and cultural gems will reopen after a year. To celebrate, we’ll enjoy iconic film scores from movies screened there before the pandemic.
Monday, April 12
Switch on WXXI Classical when you wake for revival music, a Holst suite for band, and a new recording of Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances by Yannick Nezet-Seguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra. We’ll revisit the 1947 wedding at Westminster Abbey in London and enjoy music from the splendid ceremony uniting Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh. (Monday at 8:00 p.m. on WXXI-TV, the PBS Newshour will look at Prince Philip's life, legacy and his influence within the royal family, throughout the United Kingdom and around the world.)
Tuesday, April 13
You’re invited to wake with pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout, organist Eduardo Bellotti, and members of Pegasus Early Music performing music of Mozart, Pasquini, and Fiorenza. Leonard Slatkin conducts Copland’s film score for the story of a boy gifted with a colt, The Red Pony.
Wednesday, April 14
Wake with two joyful spirituals sung by Jeffrey McGhee with pianist Michael Landrum. We’ll also hear rousing barn dances, Liszt’s first piano concerto, and recordings featuring the RPO, the Eastman Wind Ensemble, and chamber choir Madrigalia singing lines from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream set to music by Cary Ratcliff.
Thursday, April 15
Hear new recordings from the Brabant Ensemble, the Azuline Duo, and Rochester pianist Levi Gangi. Paul O’Dette plays Queen Elizabeth’s Gaillard. Composers on the playlist include Franz Joseph Haydn, Robert Schumann, and Beata Moon.
Friday, April 16
You’re invited to wake with film scores by Philip Carli, Jeff Beal, and Henry Mancini. We’ll enjoy Eric Townell and the Rochester Oratorio Society recorded live in concert with soprano Elena O’Connor singing a Grand Mass by Amy Beach.