Smaro gregoriadou biography of martin

If you are not familiar with Greek guitarist and composer Smaro Gregoriadou you are in for a treat. She is a wonderful player who is equally comfortable playing music from 500 years ago and music from today. This Video Pick straddles those two epochs: Czech composer Štěpán Rak’s piece is modern, yet, as the title indicates, it is steeped in the music of another time.  I’ve been watching Gregoriadou’s videos semi-obsessively for a couple of weeks now (there are lots on YouTube), and between her confident musicianship and her large collection of beautiful and unusual instruments crafted by Kersopoulos Aesthetics, I’ve been transfixed.  Gregoriadou has put out three CDs on the Delos label, the most recent of which is called El Aleph: 20th and 21st Century Guitar Music and includes the Rak piece.    —Blair Jackson

Chamber Music

Thursday, December 10, 2020

This evening the Thursday Night Opera House presents Hector Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust. In a nutshell, the plot involves an aged philosopher, Faust, who sells his soul to the devil, Méphistophélès, in exchange for another shot at youth, then seduces the beautiful Marguerite. The curtain goes up at 7 p.m. Eastern with host Bob Chapman.

Join us this evening at 6 p.m. Eastern for a special program of music to celebrate the beginning of Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. Rabbi Amy Feder of Temple Israel in Saint Louis, Missouri, will offer the introduction and Blessing. We’ll present additional seasonal selections throughout the eight-day observance of Chanukah.

We also invite you to enjoy a conversation with Rabbi Eric Solomon of Beth Meyer Synagogue here in Raleigh, North Carolina, about Chanukah, its history, its customs and its music. You can listen to and download this podcast here. Happy Chanukah! Hanukkah sameach!

Photo: Menorah in the Arch of Titus/thetorah.com

On December 10 we observe the birthdays of Belgian-born French composer César Franck (1822-1890), French composer Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992), American composer Morton Gould (1913-1996, and British pianist Kathryn Stott (1958-).

While César-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was born in what is now Belgium, he took French citizenship when he was appointed to the faculty of Conservatoire de Paris in 1872. He composed four operas, several oratorios, as well as orchestral and chamber works. His music for organ is a staple of every organist’s repertoire. Besides being a composer and organist, Olivier-Eugène-Prosper-Charles Messiaen was an ornithologist. He is widely considered one of the great composers of the 20th century. Richmond Hill, New York native Morton Gould published his first composition at the age of six. He wrote symphonies, film scores, Broadway musicals, and much mor