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New and Returning Series
Action Speaks
Thursdays, 1:00 p.m. (beginning July 9, through July 30)
“Underappreciated dates that changed America” is the theme of this four-part series of panel discussions. Each program looks at a watershed moment from the past and asks, “What Now?” With our country mired in its worst economic collapse since the great depression, the panel discusses how history can be a guide for what actions our nation should or shouldn't take to provide for its citizens and whether or not it is time to re-set our priorities.
July 9: The Creation of the CCC; The Civilian Conservation Corps (1933)
July 16: Arthur Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’ First Produced (1949)
July 23: The Flint, Michigan United Auto Workers Sit-In (1937)
July 30: JFK Calls for the Moon! (1962)
Special
Politics Takes a Holiday, July 4th Edition
Thursday, July 2, 4:30 p.m.
Joe Biden has announced that the Capitol Steps July 4th Radio show is "the finest radio program since President Ben Franklin debated George Washington Carver, inventor of the peanut, on Morning Edition." Made possible by legislation contained in the Political Satire Recovery Act of 2009. (That’s what the Capitol Steps say, and who could doubt them?)
Discoveries at Disney Concert Hall: Los Lobos
Friday, July 3, 4:00 p.m.
Ranging from traditional Mexican and Spanish music, to rock, folk, jazz and even experimental, sonic psychedelics, the East L.A. band Los Lobos has successfully redefined their sound, collecting three Grammy awards and consistently topping the charts. This concert features songs from their album, The Town and The City -- with its poignant stories of recent immigrant arrivals -- along with tunes spanning their entire career, going back to the mid-seventies.
A Capitol Fourth
Saturday, July 4, 8:00 p.m.
The nation's biggest Independence Day celebration includes a musical and fireworks extravaganza live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. Hosted by Jimmy Smits and NPR's Lisa Simeone, this year's A Capitol Fourth features Barry Manilow with the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, international pop sensation Natasha Bedingfield, the Tony and Grammy Award-winning cast of Jersey Boys, multi-Grammy Award-nominee Michael Feinstein, and acclaimed classical pianist Andrew von Oeyen.
America Abroad: America’s Diplomacy Deficit
Wednesday, July 15, 11:00 a.m.
There's a new administration in town promising to get tough on soft power. But a lack of resources, language capacity and cultural competency make it tough to talk the talk in the field. "America's Diplomacy Deficit" travels to Hyderabad, India, and visits the first new U.S. Consulate to open in 24 years. It then looks in on the Foreign Policy Institute where the next generation of diplomats is trained.
Program Highlights
It’s Friday!
Fridays, 4:00 p.m. (Also on University Cable, channel 15.)
Live performance and conversation with local and visiting musicians (and occasionally other performers).
Fridays, 4:00 p.m. (Also on University Cable, channel 15.)
- July 3: preempted by Discoveries at Disney Concert Hall featuring Los Lobos
- July 10: Dusty Lightswitch, 5/8
- July 17: Jack Schatz, Gran Trizz
- July 24: the Knockouts, Connor Christian and Southern Gothic
- July 31: The Border Lions
Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz
Fridays, 8:00 p.m.
July 3: Julian Lage
Guitarist Julian Lage is a true jazz prodigy. Discovered by Gary Burton when he was just 12 years old, Lage has since played with Herbie Hancock, Joe Lovano and Carlos Santana. Lage shows off his amazing technique and improvisatory abilities on "My Funny Valentine" before teaming with McPartland on "You and the Night and the Music."
July 10: Barbara Carroll
Pianist and singer Barbara Carroll was McPartland's second guest during the first season of Piano Jazz. Thirty years later, Carroll makes a return appearance to reminisce with her good friend about their experiences at the Hickory House and the Oak Room. Carroll gives a charmed performance of "Very Early" and McPartland improvises a musical portrait of her guest.
July 17: Bobby Short
The Piano Jazz 30th anniversary continues with an encore broadcast from the first season featuring pianist and singer Bobby Short. Short's unforgettable voice accompanied by his unique piano playing are on display as he and McPartland explore some of the lesser-known chapters of the American Popular Songbook with Ellington's "Shout 'Em Aunt Tillie" and Jimmy McHugh's "Where Are You."
July 24: The Hot Club of Detroit
The Hot Club of Detroit is a jazz quintet that takes its inspiration from the legendary gypsy-jazz juggernaut the Quintette du Hot Club de France. Guitarist Evan Perry follows in the footsteps of Hot Club originator Django Reinhardt, and he leads his motor-city incarnation of the group on two Reinhardt classics, "Coquette" and "Nuages."
July 31: Hank Jones with guest host Bill Charlap
Legendary pianist Hank Jones was one of McPartland's first guests when she began Piano Jazz thirty years ago. To celebrate the show's milestone anniversary, McPartland asked another of her favorite pianists, Bill Charlap, to take a turn on the host's bench to catch up with Jones. The two sparkle on such duets as "Oh Look at Me Now" and Billy Strayhorn's "Lotus Blossom."
Jazzset with Dee Dee Bridgewater
Fridays, 9:00 p.m.
July 3: John Patitucci Trio at the Kennedy Center Jazz Club
There's an array of basses, guitars and drums onstage for Patitucci, Larry Koonse and Brian Blade, and an array of music by Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk and Federico Mompou (1893-1987) of Barcelona.
July 10: Chick Corea, Jack DeJohnette and Bobby McFerrin
The three creative spirits make the last stop of a nine-city all-improv tour at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Kalamazoo. McFerrin explains the game plan: "We walk onstage and start. Ninety minutes later we stop." We shape the highlights on this JazzSet exclusive.
July 17: Dee Dee Bridgewater's Red Earth: A Malian Journey at the Kennedy Center
JazzSet's host weaves griot songs and the blues with Malian musicians (on handmade instruments) and her jazz trio. Nina Simone's "Four Women" is a highlight. Georges Collinet from PRI's Afropop Worldwide is guest host.
July 24: Javon Jackson and Les McCann -- Swiss Movement Revisited at the Kennedy Center
Keyboardist and vocalist McCann's 1969 Swiss Movement album with Eddie Harris on sax is a classic. Saxophonist Jackson puts together a crack band to revive the music, playing "Freedom Jazz Dance," "Compared to What" and more .
July 31: Frank Wess and Terell Stafford at the KC Jazz Club
Trumpeter Stafford is a member of both of these quintets -- his own group and NEA Jazz Master Wess's band. Terell's warm sound is one reason he is so in demand, and featured on the ballad "My Old Flame." A Wess highlight is Ellington's "Cottontail."
World of Opera
Saturdays, 1:30 p.m.
World of Opera with host Lisa Simeone brings listeners compelling performances from top American and international opera companies. World of Opera encompasses the seminal operas of the 17th century; the comic, political and social satires of the 18th century; the “bel canto” masterpieces of Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini; the revolutionary 19th-century works of Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner; and, of course, operas in the “true-to-life” verismo style of Puccini and Mascagni.
World of Opera goes beyond the traditional, operatic vernacular to showcase opera as anything but an elitist form of art. As the series reveals, opera has been to past centuries what the cinema is to us today: a star-studded, multi-faceted, multi-media form of entertainment, and one that people return to over and over again.
In July, World of Opera presents the following productions:
July 4: GIOACHINO ROSSINI: The Voyage to Rheims
La Scala,
Milan
La Scala Orchestra and Chorus
Ottavio Dantone,
conductor
CAST: Patricia Ciofi (Corinna); Annick Massis (Contessa di Folleville); Carmela Remigio (Madama Cortese); Juan F. Gatell Abre (Cavalier Belfiore); Dmitry Korchak (Conte di Libenskof); Alastair Miles (Lord Sidney); Nicola Ulivieri (Don Profondo); Fabio Capitanucci (Don Alvaro)
Rossini's last Italian opera, this score was originally conceived as a one-act "occasional piece" -- nearly three hours long! -- to celebrate the coronation of a French king, and it contains some of the finest vocal writing Rossini ever produced. And don't worry: This La Scala production does include an intermission.
July 11: GIUSEPPE VERDI: Simon Boccanegra
Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Yves Abel,
conductor
CAST: Leo Nucci (Simon Boccanegra); Roxana Briban (Maria); Giacomo Prestia (Jacopo Fiesco); Mario Malagnini (Gabriele Adorno); Eijiro Kai (Paolo Albiani); Dan Paul Dumitrescu (Pietro)
At times neglected, this sombre and brooding drama -- with only one major female role -- is now widely recognized as among Verdi's most powerful and compelling operas. Leo Nucci takes the complex title role in a production from Vienna.
July 18: JOSEPH HADYN: Orlando Paladino
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam
Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic
Alessandro De Marchi, conductor
CAST: Henriette Bonde-Hansen (Angelica); Marcel Reijans (Orlando); Pietro Spagnoli (Rodomonte); Elena Monti (Alcina); Kenneth Tarver (Medoro); Nikolay Borchev (Pasquale); Martijn Cornet (Caronte); Peter Gijsbertsen (Licone); Laura Cherici (Eurilla)
Of all Haydn's operas, this was the most popular in his lifetime, and arguably his best, described as "a comedy of errors in which most of the characters are in love with the wrong partner." Orlando, literally crazy for love, goes in search of Medoro and Angelica, while Rodomonte is trying to kill him, and the witch Alcina targets him with fiendish hexes.
July 25: GAETANO DONIZETTI: The Daughter of the Regiment
Washington National Opera
Washington National Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Riccardo Frizza, conductor
CAST: JiYoung Lee (Marie); José Bros (Tonio); Victoria Livengood (La Marchise); Simone Alberghini (Sulpice Pingot); Obed Urena (Hortensius); Matthew J. Minor (Corporal); Madeleine Gray (La Duchesse)
Donizetti's "light comedy" is an opera that lives up to both halves of that description. The story may not be particularly challenging, but there are plenty of laughs and it's all conveyed through one of the composer's liveliest and most entertaining scores.
August 1: LEOS JANACEK: The Cunning Little Vixen
Houston Grand Opera
Patrick Summers, conductor
CAST: Lisa Saffer (Vixen); Hector Vasquez (Forrester); Jennifer Root (Forrester's Wife); Ekaterina Gorlova (Young Vixen); Fiona Murphy (Fox Golden-Stripe); Meredith F. Flores (Cricket); Alina Slavik (Grasshopper); Jon Kolbet (Mosquito/Schoolmaster); Allan Lawrence (Frog); Maria Markina (Lapak/Woodpecker); Laurie Lester (Pepik); Rebeka Camm (Chocholka the Hen); Albina Shagimuratova (Frantik); Alicia Gianni (Rooster/Jay); Ryan McKinny (Badger); Bradley Garvin (Parson); Beau Gibson (Pasek); Liam Bonner (Harasta); Tamara Wilson (Pasek's Wife)
Based on an illustrated tale published as a newspaper serial, this fanciful opera is one of Janacek's true masterworks -- at once charming, frightening, tragic and, in the end, life-affirming.
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