NACOcast: A Classical Music Podcast

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**NACOcast: A Classical Music Podcast**

Explore the world of classical music with members of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra and special guests.

Latest Episodes:

The Oboe - Beyond the 'A' Dec 16, 2013

Show notes

Beyond the 'A' : Everything you need to know about the oboe, with Charles 'Chip' Hamman and Anna Peterson Sterns.

Shostakovich and music in Soviet Russia Dec 09, 2013

Show notes

Recorded on location in Toronto as the Orchestra makes its annual appearance at Roy Thomson Hall, Nick talks to NAC Orchestra violinist Lev Berenshteyn about Shostakovich's 10th Symphony and music composed in the shadow of Stalin.

China Tour Remembered Nov 15, 2013

Show notes

Nick gives an insider's view of the NAC Orchestra's recent China tour, which included a performance in a giant egg and a walk along the Great Wall.

Spanish Music Oct 01, 2013

Show notes

In this first episode of a new season of NACOcasts, host Nick Atkinson examines some of the influences on Spanish music as it has developed and travelled around the world.

The Slavic Bass Jul 10, 2013

Show notes

In this last edition of this season of the NACOcast, Nick gives us the lowdown on Eastern Europe with The Slavic Bass … He explores the curious fact that Slavic countries tend to produce excellent tenors.

Music in this episode:

Epistle to the Romans - Liturgical Music from the Russian Cathedral
Dinev: The Judicious Villain - Music from the Slavonic Orthodox Liturgy
Borodin: Khan Konchak's Aria - Chaliapin: Great Scenes from Boris Godunov
Rimsky-Korsakov: Song of the Viking Guest - Chaliapin: Great Scenes from Boris Godunov
Mozart: Don Giovanni, Madamina! il catalogo è questo - Boris Christoff: Opera Arias
Ariodante: Al sen ti stringo e parto - Alexander Kipnis
Mozart: La Flûte Enchantée, acte 2: In diesen heiligen Hallen - Alexander Kipnis
Brahms: Sapphische Ode, Op. 94, No. 4 - Alexander Kipnis
Brahms: Vier Ernste Gesaenge, Op. 121 No. 3, Oh Tod, o Tod, wie bitter bist du - Alexander Kipnis

Maestro Mario Bernardi remembered (2006 Interview) Jun 04, 2013

Show notes

The National Arts Centre mourns the loss of Maestro Mario Bernardi, the founding conductor of the NAC Orchestra. Maestro Bernardi passed away peacefully in Toronto on June 2. In this episode of the NACOcast we pay tribute to the great music director by reprising a previous edition of the NACOcast featuring an interview conducted by Christopher Millard at the maestro's home in Toronto in 2006.

A conductor, and accomplished pianist, Mario Bernardi was born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario in 1930. He moved to Italy when he was six years old with his mother, living in the small city of Treviso, near Venice, where they remained throughout the war.

He studied at the Venice Conservatory and excelled in the keyboard instruments of piano and harpsichord. A man of many musical talents, he was considered among the best of Canada’s promising young musicians emerging in the postwar period—a group that included Glenn Gould.

He began his professional career with the Royal Conservatory Opera School in Toronto. He first began to conduct in his mid-twenties at the Canadian Opera Company. In 1963, he moved to London, England where he was recruited by the Sadler’s Wells Opera Company (now the English National Opera). He served as Music Director of Sadler’s Wells before being enticed back to Canada to become the founding conductor of the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada from 1968-1982.

From the original podcast show notes: As a tribute to Walter Prystawski, the NAC Orchestra's founding concertmaster who is retiring after 37 years at the first desk, Christopher talks to founding NACO music director Mario Bernardi as well as three of Walter's original orchestra colleagues. The conversations touch on the core classical repertoire of the orchestra, NACO's signature sound and the critical role Walter Prystawski played in shaping that sound.

The Noble Trombone May 30, 2013

Show notes

Nick talks to National Arts Centre Orchestra principal trombone player Don Renshaw about the various musical roles played by the orchestral trombonist.

The Strange Case of Antonio Salieri with author Ian Kyer (free ebook included) Apr 08, 2013

Show notes

Antonio Salieri was a successful composer, who wrote about forty operas; he was an excellent teacher, whose students included Beethoven, Schubert and Liszt, and he was, for a time, the most powerful musician at the Vienna court of the Habsburgs. He lived from 1750-1825 – not bad going if you think of Mozart, Schubert, Chopin and Mendelssohn, all of whom died young, but not so impressive if you consider the enduring fame of the composers who lived only half as long. Salieri, if he is remembered at all nowadays, is best known for his association with Mozart, and, most especially, as a suspect in Mozart’s death.

In this edition of the NACOcast, Nick talks to Ian Kyer, whose book on Salieri shows that the oft-maligned composer deserves a lot more respect! And as a very special bonus for NACOcast listeners, Ian Kyer has graciously allowed us to make available the full text of his novel as a downloadable PDF. Get it here:

PDF: https://radio.nac-cna.ca/podcast/NACOcast/NACOcast_Salieri-DamagingWinds.pdf
ePub: https://radio.nac-cna.ca/podcast/NACOcast/NACOcast_Salieri-DamagingWinds.epub

Music is this edition of the NACOcast:

Armida: Aria of Armida: "Tremo, dell'idol mio"
Artist: Chen Reiss, L'arte Del Mondo, Werner Ehrhardt
Album: Liasions
Composer: Antonio Salieri
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/liasions/id473691865

La Fiera Di Venezia - Vi Sono Sposa E Amante
Artist: Cecilia Bartoli; Adám Fischer: Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment
Album: The Salieri Album
Composer: Antonio Salieri
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/cecilia-bartoli-salieri-album/id79134963

Les Danaïdes - Act 2: Par Les Larmes Dont Votre Fille
Artist: Mojca Erdmann; Andrea Marcon: La Cetra
Album: Mozart's Garden
Composer: Antonio Salieri
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/mozarts-garden/id467451230

Scottish Folk Songs, Haydn, Beethoven and Robbie Burns Feb 04, 2013

Show notes

Inspired by Robert Burns's Birthday on January 25, Nick presents a selection of Scottish folk songs in arrangements by Haydn, Beethoven and others.

Featured music in this episode:

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau - Maggy Lauder
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau - O köstliche Zeit
Lois Marshall - The Bonnie Banks O' Loch Lomond
Lois Marshall - The Cockle Gatherer
Isobel Baillie & Kathleen Ferrier - Comin' through the rye
Kathleen Ferrier - Ca' the yowes
Kenneth McKellar - Afton Water
Kenneth McKellar - Ae fond kiss
Kenneth McKellar - My love is like a red, red rose