Nacocast: Classical Music Podcast With Sean Rice

Percussion playing is not just a matter of indiscriminate crashing and banging. NAC Orchestra percussionists Jon Wade and Ken Simpson explain the finer points of playing in an orchestral percussion section. It's MUCH more complicated than you think! Tchaikovsky - 4th Symphony Rimsky-Korssakoff - Capriccio espagnol Op. 34 Arturo Sandoval - Conga Leonard Bernstein - Mambo Tchaikovsky - Marché Slav Op. 31

Nick continues his discussion of some of the great "gold medal" singers of the past.

On the eve of the 2014 Olympic winter games, Nick shares his enthusiasm for some of the great singers of the past.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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 t

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

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: http://radio.nac-cna.ca/podcast/NACOcast/NACOcast_Salieri-DamagingWinds.pdf ePub: http:

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

Nick talks about how French horn playing has developed over the years with his colleagues in the horn section of the NAC Orchestra.

Paul Wells speaks with Canadian Composer Alexina Louie about her work, "Take The Dogsled", and touring Canada's North with the NAC Orchestra.

In this first in a series of podcasts which will look at the business and administration of symphony orchestras, NACOcast host Christopher Millard talks with husband-and-wife team Margo and Greg Hodgson, principal librarian and assistant principal librarian of the NAC Orchestra, about the complexities of their profession, and their life together in music.

Fascinating Rhythm: Nick talks to Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly about the works of George Gershwin and his role in the development of American music.

Eric Friesen, acclaimed author, speaker and broadcaster sits down with Maestro Pinchas Zukerman to discuss playing Elgar's Violin Concerto.

In this edition of the NACOcast, founding host, Chris Millard reprises his role with the NACOcast while on tour with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Cananda’s North. Chris is joined by Inuit throat singers Evie Mark and Akinisie Sivuarapik. They discuss throat singing history and technique ... and its intersection with Western classical music in Canadian composer Alexina’s work, “Take the Dog Sled”, currently being performed by the NAC Orchestra in Nunuvat, the Northwest Territories and the the Yukon.

Nick's back with a brand new episode. In this edition of the NACOcast, Nick explores what brass players and singers have in common. He uses one of the great turn-of-the-century opera singers, Tito Schipa, to show how vocal techniques can be applied to playing brass instruments.

Guest host Robert Harris, author and CBC host, speaks on "Beethoven The Revolutionary".