Project 366 - Dates on the Musical Calendar for June 2020

Project 366 continues in 2019 with "Dates on the Musical Calendar". Read more here.

Highlights

• 2-Jun     Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II (OTD 1953) [Guide # 254]
• 17-Jun   HB Igor Stravinsky (* 1882) [Guide #297]
• 20-Jun   Father's Day (North America) [Guide # 345]
• 21-Jun   Summer Solstice (Northern Hemisphere) [Guide # 346]
• 24-Jun Fête Nationale du Québec (St-Jean-Baptiste) [Guide #347]

Filler listener guides for June revisit posts from the Modern era and the piano concertos of Wolfgang Mozart. Two new operas are also added to our series: Maskarade (Nielsen, Guides # 343 & 344) and Louise (Charpentier, Guides # 348 & 349)

Your Listener Guides

Listener Guides # 343 & 344 - Maskarade (Nielsen)

Any opera lover worth his or her salt will see right through the plot of this opera: Leander is something of a party animal, which displeases his father Jeronimus to no end. Jeronimus has struck a gentleman’s agreement with Leonard (a well-to-do Copenhagen resident) that Leander will marry Leonard’s daughter Leonora. Leander, meanwhile, has met a wonderful girl at a masquerade ball, and is determined to marry her and not Leonora (whom he’s not formally met). At Leonard’s house, the mirror-image of the story is revealed. Now, one has to wonder who it is that both of these young people have met – as if you don’t know, but why spoil the antics that will invariably ensue… (Once or Twice a Fortnight - Feb 7 2013)

[L/G # 343 - Acts 1 &2, L/G #344 - Act 3]

Listener Guide # 345 - Father's Day

I don;t know if it;s just me, but why is it that composers, writers and other artists seem to have strained relationships with their fathers? Leopold and Wolfgang Mozart, Johan Strauss (father and son), Alexandre Dumas (father and son), Emile and David Nelligan, Richard and Franz Strauss (no relation with the other ones) (ITYWLTMT Montage #10 - June 17, 2011)

Listener Guide # 346 - Summer

All across Canada, French Canadians express their cultural pride and rich heritage through colourful parades and lively parties on June 24 marking Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day. These festivities combine the ancient rites of the summer solstice - a period of light and hope - with the traditional celebration in honour of the Patron Saint of French Canadians. So, we mark the Summer Solstice with a podcast montage dedicated to “everything Summer" with a few selections from French Canada to also mark "La Saint-Jean".  (ITYWLTMT Montage #11 - June 24, 2011)

Listener Guide # 347 - Québec sait chanter

The title of today’s post, Québec sait chanter (loosely translated as Quebec can sing), makes reference to an old television show from my youth, where host Yoland Guérard would welcome great operatic voices, share anecdotes and would feature their voices in studio. Names like Raoul Jobin, Robert Savoie, André Turp, Huguette Tourangeau and the husband and wife duo of Pierrette Alarie and Léopold Simoneau – most of whom featured today – had their turn on television with Mr. Guérard. (ITYWLTMT Montage #315 - June 28, 2019)

Listener Guides # 348 & 349 - Luoise (Charpentoer)

Paul Dukas once wrote of Louise: "The first and last acts are those of a master; the other two are those of an artist; the whole is the work of a man." Louise is an opera that may be known today as a work with only one hit "Depuis le jour" to its credit, but at one time it was a staple at the great opera houses of the world and was reputed to be a favorite of the Metropolitan Opera's Sir Rudolf Bing who could never remember its name and referred to it as "the one with the girls and the sewing machines." (Once or Twice a Fortnight - June 15, 2014)

[L/G # 348 - Acts 1 &2, L/G #349 - Acts 3 & 4]