Richard D. Hedgecock, the father of CMD's founder, Ken Hedgecock, passed on January 26, 2020.

Richard was a great man, who was completely loyal to his wife and family, passed peacefully while taking a nap, waiting for the time to go to church.

As our long time listeners know, whenever a family member passes, we usually play Durufle's "Requiem" in honor of that person. However, since Richard was a life-long lover of all things Western, we thought of playing music from his favorite movies, songs, and TV shows would be more appropriate.

Dad, you will always be in our hearts, every day.

You can view this on YouTube which includes track name and photos from Richard's life. View on YouTube at https://youtu.be/3yy7WJ2XNAo

The original score for Spartacus was composed and conducted by six-time Academy Award nominee Alex North. It was nominated by the American Film Institute for their list of greatest film scores. It is a textbook example of how modernist compositional styles can be adapted to the Hollywood leitmotif technique. North's score is epic, as befits the scale of the film. After extensive research of music of that period, North gathered a collection of antique instruments that, while not authentically Roman, provided a strong dramatic effect. These instruments included a sarrusophone, Israeli recorder, Chinese oboe, lute, mandolin, Yugoslav flute, kythara, dulcimer, and bagpipes. North's prize instrument was the ondioline, similar to an earlier version of the electronic synthesizer, which had never been used in film before. Much of the music is written without a tonal center, or flirts with tonality in ways that most film composers would not risk. One theme is used to represent both slavery and freedom, but is given different values in different scenes, so that it sounds like different themes. The love theme for Spartacus and Varinia is the most accessible theme in the film, and there is a harsh trumpet figure for Crassus.

In this broadcast, CMD has gathered numerous recordings from LP and Tape (from the 1960's) to assemble one of the most complete soundtracks available of Spartacus.

This broadcast is also available on YouTube at:
https://youtu.be/Y6NXzKncBho

Prelude to La Musica
February 4, 2020
5:00 PM
Sarasota Yacht Club
Sarasota, Florida

Join us for cocktails, hor d'oeuvres and a concert by La Musica favorites Daniel Avshalomov (viola) and Derek Han (piano).

Purchase tickets at:
https://www.lamusicafestival.org/

Boccaccio, oder Der Prinz von Palermo (Boccaccio, or the Prince of Palermo) is an operetta in three acts by Franz von Suppé to a German libretto by Camillo Walzel and Richard Genée, based on the play by Jean-François Bayard, Adolphe de Leuven, Léon Lévy Brunswick and Arthur de Beauplan, based in turn on The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio.

The opera was first performed at the Carltheater, Vienna, on 1 February 1879.

Joana Filipe Martinez - conductor/producer
CMD Grand Opera Company of Barcelona Spain

This broadcast is also available on YouTube at:
https://youtu.be/RjS0nPcYdxE

Die schöne Galathée (The Beautiful Galatea) is an operetta in two acts by Franz von Suppé to a German libretto by the composer and 'Poly Henrion' (the pseudonym of Leonhard Kohl von Kohlenegg).

In the early 1860s, French operettas by Jacques Offenbach were first presented in Vienna. Franz von Suppé was obliged to compete with them by taking the time-honored traditions of Vienna and combining it with the new style of Offenbach. Die schöne Galathée was Franz von Suppé's first critical success.

Dominique Beaulieu, conductor
CMD Paris Philharmonic in Orleans

Emilia di Liverpool is a dramma semiserio, ("half-serious") dramatic opera, in two acts with music by Gaetano Donizetti. Giuseppe Checcherini wrote the Italian libretto after the anonymous libretto for Vittorio Trento's Emilia di Laverpaut, itself based on Stefano Scatizzi's play of the same name. It premiered on 28 July 1824 at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples.

Conducted by Joana Filipe Martinez
CMD Grand Opera Company of Barcelona

This broadcast is also available on YouTube at:
https://youtu.be/X9jGDUdAAJc

This broadcast has been archived to our YouTube Channel and is now available at:
https://youtu.be/tW7g1INxxiA

Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers) is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was premiered on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in its initial run. Set in ancient times on the island of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the opera tells the story of how two men's vow of eternal friendship is threatened by their love for the same woman, whose own dilemma is the conflict between secular love and her sacred oath as a priestess. The friendship duet "Au fond du temple saint", generally known as "The Pearl Fishers Duet", is one of the best-known in Western opera.

Dominique Beaulieu, conductor
CMD Philharmonic and Chorus of Paris in Orleans

Listen on YouTube at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpKZVLi7ja0&feature=youtu.be

A detailed analysis of Bizet's "Carmen"

Georges Bizet composed L'Arlésienne as incidental music to Alphonse Daudet's play of the same name, usually translated as The Girl from Arles. It was first performed on 1 October 1872 at the Vaudeville Theatre (now a cinema known as the Gaumont Opéra). Bizet's music consists of 27 numbers (some only a few bars) for voice, chorus, and small orchestra, ranging from short solos to longer entr'actes. Bizet himself played the harmonium backstage at the premiere performance.

Dominique Beaulieu, conductor
CMD Paris Philharmonic of Paris in Orleans