Arts

Circumstances Beyond My Control

February 24, 2015 - 11:30am

February 24, 1876, brought the debut of a collaboration between Norway’s greatest playwright and Norway’s greatest composer. Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt, with more than an hour of music by Edvard Grieg, became a classic, but in a letter he wrote almost thirty years after the premiere in Christiania, Grieg reflected on the...

Go Behind The Scenes With 'The Weather Guys'

February 23, 2015 - 11:45am

The Weather Guys, Photo: UW-Madison University Communications

"Weather Guys" Steve Ackerman and Jon Martin come on "The Larry Meiller Show" the last Monday of every month. The University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists are some of the most popular regular guests, where they answer listeners’ questions, explain recent weather phenomena and share exciting research happening at the University of...

The Peril You Overlooked

February 23, 2015 - 11:30am

Albert Spalding was sixteen years old at the time of his Paris debut. He played the Violin Concerto in B minor by Saint-Saëns, the Bach Chaconne, the Romance in F by Beethoven, and the flashy Zigeunerweisen by Pablo de Sarasate. The audience, mostly invited, had nothing but compliments for the young violinist.

But Spalding had misgivings.

He realized...

Vintage Wisconsin: Tunneling Out Of A Wisconsin Winter

February 23, 2015 - 8:15am

This winter has brought its share of cold, if not snow on the magnitude of New England, this year. But, we’ve certainly had our years of deep snow, as this image of a man tunneling out of a drift in Hurley in 1899 attests.

The earliest account of...

A Revolutionary Wedding

February 22, 2015 - 11:30am

In the politically charged year of 1848 César Franck was a twenty-five-year-old pianist and composer living in Paris. When his father took him to task for wasting his time dedicating a song to one of his female students, he and his father exchanged harsh words and his father retaliated by...

Round Two

February 21, 2015 - 11:30am

As a student at the Paris Conservatory, Hector Berlioz had experienced at least one run-in with its feisty director, Luigi Cherubini. In his autobiography, Berlioz tells of a second encounter.

He had applied for a professorship of harmony at the Conservatory and received word that Cherubini wanted to see him....

Vote Now: Which Film Will Win The Oscar For Best Picture?

February 20, 2015 - 4:15pm

Who do you think is going to take home to most prestigious award of the night on Sunday?

The Portent

February 20, 2015 - 11:30am

Because it was politically sensitive, Giuseppe Verdi’s new opera Un ballo in maschera made the Italian censors nervous. They forced Verdi to change the action to someplace farther from home.

He chose seventeenth-century Boston. The King of Sweden became the Governor of Boston.

When Un ballo in maschera came to the United States in...

Broken Windows

February 19, 2015 - 11:30am

On February 20, 1816, a combination of miscalculations and mishaps had brought about a disastrous debut for Rossini’s operaThe Barber of Seville. At the end of the contentious first act, Rossini sat at the piano and applauded the singers, but some in the audience thought he was praising his own opera, which made...

Wisconsin To Launch Largest Statewide Bird Survey Ever, And You Can Help

February 18, 2015 - 4:20pm

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and various state birding groups are coming together to launch the largest bird survey in state history. The coordinator behind Wisconsin's Breeding Bird Atlas II talks about the information the survey is looking to collect, and how amateur birdwatchers can get involved.

A Close Shave for the Barber

February 18, 2015 - 11:30am

Giovanni Paisiello had crafted a popular opera from a play by Beaumarchais in 1782, but in 1816 Gioachino Rossini went ahead and wrote his own version of The Barber of Seville. Some Roman opera-goers were partial to the Paisiello and considered young Rossini an upstart for thinking he could improve upon it. The...

Richard Davis

February 17, 2015 - 4:00pm

We talk to the music professor and legendary bass player about jazz in New Orleans and what drew him to the instrument.

Writer Explores Drama Of Ordinary Midwestern Life In Extraordinary Ways

February 17, 2015 - 3:20pm

His latest book, "The Heart of Things: A Midwestern Almanac," John Hildebrand proves himself a master of the everyday. The book features 52 essays grouped by month that manage to engage all your senses in three short pages on such familiar topics as football games, family reunions, compost piles, and the end...

Sticking With It

February 17, 2015 - 11:30am

At the age of twelve, Daniel Barenboim was a poised, accomplished pianist with three years of major concerts to his credit. In the summer of 1955, he was taking a conducting class at the Salzburg Mozarteum. The school had brought in a series of guest teachers, conductors who were working...

Who Gets Your Vote? Choosing Greatest President In U.S. History

February 16, 2015 - 2:00pm

Most historians consistently rank George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt at the top of their lists.

Top Notes

February 16, 2015 - 11:30am

In his memoirs Ignacy Jan Paderewski tells of a concert during which he learned a hard lesson about showmanship.

In 1890 Paderewski was making a name for himself as one of Europe’s leading pianists, but he discovered that when it came to exciting audiences, a performer needed more than musicianship....

Vintage Wisconsin: When The White House Came To Wisconsin

February 16, 2015 - 11:25am

President Coolidge fishing on the Brule River.

It’s Presidents Day, and while Wisconsin might not lay claim to a president, it does boast a "Summer White House." President Calvin Coolidge escaped to Wisconsin...

Oops!

February 15, 2015 - 11:30am

Many a performer has been forced to cancel a concert when the rigors of an intensive schedule led to a physical or emotional breakdown. Occasionally a concert goes awry because of a smaller problem–simple confusion.

Consider a news item in The Philadelphia Inquirer regarding the case of Thomas Zehetmair, who was slated to...

Lover or Priest?

February 14, 2015 - 11:30am

The lover or the priest? An incident from early in the life of Franz Liszt suggests that even as a teenager he had the impulses of both.

By the age of sixteen Liszt had long since made a name for himself as one of Europe’s great pianists. In Paris he...

I Have No Time!

February 13, 2015 - 11:30am

When Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s sister Nannerl chided him for not writing more often, he sent her a reply that explained where all his time had gone. He wrote on February 13, 1782:

Our father, when he has finished his duties in church, and you, when you’re through with your students, can do...

Menu

Listen Live

Program Schedule

Program Notes

Program Schedule

Music Playlists

Program Schedule

Music Playlists

Circumstances Beyond My Control

Go Behind The Scenes With 'The Weather Guys'

The Peril You Overlooked

Vintage Wisconsin: Tunneling Out Of A Wisconsin Winter

A Revolutionary Wedding

Round Two

Vote Now: Which Film Will Win The Oscar For Best Picture?

The Portent

Broken Windows

Wisconsin To Launch Largest Statewide Bird Survey Ever, And You Can Help

A Close Shave for the Barber

Richard Davis

Writer Explores Drama Of Ordinary Midwestern Life In Extraordinary Ways

Sticking With It

Who Gets Your Vote? Choosing Greatest President In U.S. History

Top Notes

Vintage Wisconsin: When The White House Came To Wisconsin

Oops!

Lover or Priest?

I Have No Time!

Search form

The Ideas Network

Program Schedule

Program Notes

NPR News & Classical Network

Program Schedule

Music Playlists

All Classical Network

Program Schedule

Music Playlists

Subscribe To WPR Newsletters