Sarasota Opera stars perform live on WSMR

   Classical music station WSMR (89.1 and 103.9 FM) has been doing some really wonderful live broadcasts featuring the stars of local operas, and two more are coming up next week.
   At 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 10, Maestro Victor DeRenzi and principal artists from Sarasota Opera will present excerpts from the current production of Puccini’s "Tosca."
   On Thursday, DeRenzi returns with cast members from "The Marriage of Figaro."

A scene from Sarasota Opera's "Tosca"

   Host Russell Gant will interview DeRenzi and the Sarasota Opera artists as they present well known arias and duets from the two productions.
   Selections from "Tosca" include Cavaradossi’s famous Act III aria “E lucevan le stelle” and Tosca’s Act II aria “Vissi d’arte,” which you'll recognize even if you're not an opera fan.
   Thursday's selections include Figaro’s Act I aria “Non più andrai” and the famous Act II duet “Sull’aria,” sung by the Countess Almaviva and Susanna.
   "Tosca" runs through March 28 and "The Marriage of Figaro" through March 27 at the Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave,, Sarasota, Call 941-328-1300 or go to sarasotaopera.org..

Sarasota Opera to perform live on WSMR Thursday

   If you're thinking about seeing the upcoming Sarasota Opera production of "Don Carlos" but you're just not sure, you can get a free sample Thursday morning (Feb. 26).
   At 11 a.m., Maestro Victor DeRenzi, the Sarasota Opera's artistic director, will be in the studios of classical music station WSMR (89.1 FM) with cast members from "Don Carlos."

A scene from "Don Carlos"
(Photo by Rod Millington)

They'll chat with host Russell Gant and perform live selections from the opera.
  Selections will include such famous arias as Eboli’s “O Don Fatal” and Élisabeth’s "A Toi qui sus le néant." Artists who will sing on-air include Jonathan Burton (Don Carlos), Michelle Johnson (Élisabeth de Valois), Mary Phillips (Eboli) and Marco Nisticò (Rodrigue). They'll be accompanied on piano by John Spencer IV.
   "Don Carlos" is Giusseppi Verdi's powerful drama, set in Renaissance Spain at the time of the Inquisition, about the ill-fated attraction between Don Carlos and Élisabeth, the wife of his father, King Philip of Spain. It's considered one of opera’s masterpieces.
   The live production of "Don Carlos" opens March 7 and continues in rotation with other operas in the Sarasota Opera Winter Festival through March 24. Tickets prices range from $19 to $130. Call : 941-328-1300 or go to sarasotaopera.org. 

WUSF devotes evening to St. Peterburg's Kenny Drew Jr.

   Kenny Drew Jr., the son of a major figure in jazz, was himself one of the greatest jazz pianists of his era, with a virtuosic sound that was instantly recognizable. He made more than 20 recordings of ensembles that he led himself, and he recorded worked with the Mingus Big Band, Stanley Turrentine and others. He also played classical recitals in Europe.

Kenny Drew Jr.

   In recent years he made his home in St. Petersburg. Drew's health had been deteriorating, and he died earlier this week at age 56.
   This weekend, Bob Seymour will devote his "Saturday Night Jazz" program to Drew, with music from his own groups, a number of collaborations and a few pieces that have never before been heard on the radio.
   Saturday Night Jazz  starts at 9 p.m. on WUSF-FM, 89.7.

WSMR broadcasts live from Sarasota Music Festival

   You can experience the Sarasota Music Festival tonight without leaving your home.

Russell Gant

   Radio station Classical WSMR (89.1 or 103.9 on the dial, depending on where you live ) will broadcast this evening's concert live from the Sarasota Opera House. It starts at 8 p.m.
   Russell Gant, the classical music director of WUSF Public Media (of which WSMR is a part) will be on stage interviewing performers during the Friday Festival Concert.
   The concert's called “Love,” and the program explores the various facets of love, with music by Glinka ("Trio Pathetique"), Richard Strauss ("Sextet from Capriccio") and Brahms ("Horn Trio in E-flat Major).
   This year marks the 50th anniversary of both WUSF and the Sarasota Music Festival.
  If you're not near a radio this evening, you can listen to the concert at wsmr.org.
  And if you prefer to attend the concert in person, tickets are $25, $32 and $40. The Sarasota Opera House is at 61 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota. For more information, go to sarasotaorchestra.org/festival. Read my feature story on the festival in Sunday's A&E section in the Bradenton Herald.

Radio theater returns to Bradenton airwaves

   Radio theater is largely a relic of decades past, but it has seen a tiny bit of a resurgence in recent years.
   Some intriguing plays are coming to local airwaves in the coming days. It's an interesting (and free) way to experience theater and it's worth a listen.
  At 8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17, WUSF (89.7 FM) is airing "Holy Matter," a new one-hour play by Tampa playwright Denis Calandra. It's a mystery based around John F. Kennedy's visit to Tampa 50 years ago, days before his death, and a fictional Tampa mob family.

Calandra

   Calandra is the authorized translator of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's plays. He wrote the acclaimed play "Cuban Bread" about Tampa's cigar workers and co-wrote an adaptation of Carl Hiassen's "Lucky You" that got great reviews in London and Edinburgh.
   At 7 p.m. Monday, Nov, 18, WMNF (88.5 FM) and St. Petersburg's Studio@620 kick off the fifth season of their "Radio Theatre Project" with an installment of “The Continuing Adventures of Noel Berlin, Cabaret Detective” by Paul Wilborn and Matt Cowley and “The Last Radio Drama” by Ludy Marvin Wilkie, directed by area theater stalwart Jim Wicker.
   "The Last Radio Drama" is about actors in a 1950s radio soap opera who face the cancellation of their show as radio loses audience to television.
   "Noel Berlin" is in its second season and features old-fashioned cliff-hanger episodes set in St Petersburg with cabaret music and stunning sound effects. 
   You can see the WMNF plays as they're performed by going to the Studio@620, at 620 First Ave. S. in St. Petersburg. It's a pay-what-you-can arrangement.
   Go to www.radtiotheatreproject.org for more information about the WMNF series.

Sarasota's Nick Wallenda guests on "Wait Wait"

   Sarasota tightrope walker Nik Wallenda is the guest contestant on NPR's "Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me" this week. He's on the "Not My Job" segment playing a game called "Whoops."

Wallenda

   The episode featuring Wallenda aired Saturday morning, but it repeats at 10 a.m. Sunday, June 9, on WUSF-FM, 89.7. You can also hear it by downloading the podcast here. (The "Wait Wait" podcast usually becomes available late Sunday or early Monday.) Or you can listen online here.
   Wallenda is preparing to cross the Grand Canyon June 23. He'll walk about 1,500 across the canyon, about 1.500 feet above the ground.