Winter Orgy® Period 2016

WHRB's Winter Orgy® period began on December 1 with the Warhorse Orgy. Now they are into the Dvořák Orgy®, which will run through December 9, generally from midmorning until 10:00 p.m. — with interruptions for things like the Metropolitan Opera on Saturday, church service o Sunday, Harvard sports events, etc. See the program guidehttps://www.whrb.org/programming/program-guide for specifics, including the approximate timing of works to be played.

Other classical music orgies include

     Menhuin Orgy®, Dec. (after the opera) - 12;
     New York School Orgy, Dec. 13;
     Steve Reich Orgy, Dec. 14;
     Marriner Orgy, Dec. 15-19 (with the first two days all Mozart); and
     Reger Orgy, Dec. 20-21.

Again, see the program guide for specifics. After the Reger Orgy, they return to regular programming, with music for Christmastime through the 25th. You can listen on line (go to the station's homepage) or on air in places reached by their signal on 95.3 FM.

Fortunately, this is happening at a time when the Boston Symphony is off, and Holiday Pops takes over Symphony Hall. WCRB will be broadcasting reruns of previous seasons' concerts. So you don't have to give up a live concert broadcast in order to hear an orgy that interests you.

For new readers, the WHRB orgy periods originated in the 1940's. WHRB is a student run station, and during exam periods, rather than carefully selecting the pieces to be played they came up with the idea of just running through all the records they had by one composer, or performer, and then all by another. And they've been doing it ever since, although it has transformed into a major undertaking, tracking down as much of the orgy subject's music as possible, selecting among recordings of the same piece, and scheduling them in order of composition, as much as practicable.

BSO — 2011/04/28-30; Met — 04/30

As I write, the Met is broadcasting "Il Trovatore," by Verdi. Give it a listen if you can.

This is the next to last week of BSO concerts for the season. Quoth the website:

The young Macedonian pianist Simon Trpčeski makes his Boston Symphony Orchestra debut under the baton of frequent guest conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos performing Liszt’s exciting Piano Concerto No. 2, an innovative, sparkling, one-movement work. 2011 marks the bicentennial of Liszt’s birth. Two orchestral showpieces bookend the concerto. The German composer Max Reger (1873-1916) was a transitional figure between the Romantic and the modern eras, but had a strong sense of the Germanic musical tradition. His Variations and Fugue employ a theme from one of Mozart’s most beloved piano sonatas, the A major K.331. Ravel’s familiar but exotic Boléro completes the program.

The Globe liked it, especially Mr. Trpčeski's performance, as did the Boston Musical Intelligencer. I wasn't there on Thursday, so I can't add my own impressions, but it sounds as if it's worth listening to on WCRB.

And, as usual there are resources you can use to preview of follow up, both at the BSO website, and at WCRB.

Enjoy.