[#1/100] Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

The results are in, the #1 place in the 2017 KUSC Top 100 Countdown is...

(drum roll)

FYI, the playlist seems to be hiding #6 and #5.  The must be a conspiracy against certain works.  :)

But I digress...

(drum roll continued)

... Beethoven's 9th!  For the third year in a row, the symphony also scored first in 2016 and 2015!  You can see why Jim Svejda always plays it at the end of every pledge drive.

I don't know since when, but they play the choral symphony in Japan every end-of-the-year.  The Pacific Symphony played it last summer.  It is spread everywhere, no wonder it is so popular!  :)

"Symphony #9 "Choral" in d Op 125" by Ludwig van Beethoven

Performance by Gundula Janowitz, soprano, Hilde Rossel-Majdan, alto, Waldemar Kmentt, tenor, Walter Berry, baritone, Vienna Singverein, Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Herbert von Karajan.

Buy this piece from ArkivMusic to support KUSC.

You can sample the album on Amazon, too.

Ellis Island: An American Dream

We went to the Pacific Symphony's Sunday concert last weekend!  :)

Listen to Alan Chapman's preview on SoundCloud.

The Saturday night performance will broadcast on Classical KUSC on July 2, 2017, and it was also recorded for PBS's "Great Performances" next season!

A small statue of liberty stood in the lounge, right above the winding staircase.

Music director Carl St.Clair conducted, with 7 actors.  Visuals were projected on a big screen behind the orchestra, like an IMAX!  This was like a documentary, when I hear it on KUSC, I may think it was a normal radio show, and not a concert performance!  :)

Peter Boyer: Ellis Island: The Dream of America

Actors

Helen Cohen (Poland):  Lesley Fera

James Apanomith (Greece):  Johnathan McClian

Lillian Galletta (Italy):  Samantha Sloyan

Lazarus Salamon (Hungary):  Dean Chekvala

Helen Rosenthal (Belgium):  Kira Sternbach

Manny Steen (Ireland):  Barry Bostwick

Katherine Beychok (Russia):  Lyn Greene

Composer Peter Boyer started the project with an idea of having 10 pieces, 2 minutes each and with 1 minute interludes.  But deciding the stories could not fit in that size, came down to these 7.  He said he considered diversity and balance, to pick and choose the immigrants.

I think he was saying this was going to be the 170th performance of this piece, definitely a big hit for a living composer!

Here's an interview from ABC.