Wednesday, May 16

Smoke from the South Georgia fires is wafting as far north as Atlanta, giving distant parts of the state a taste of what many Georgians have been enduring for weeks. For tomorrow I'll program water-related music as a kind of rain dance.

Meanwhile, here's an East European first hour (alighting in Russian, Czech and Estonian lands), a French second hour (note that the poems for this Carnival of the Animals were written by Bruce Adolphe, of PT Piano Puzzler fame, and are read by a violinless Itzhak Perlman) and a return to Czech territory to close.

11 AM

  • Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme. Sol Gabetta, Munich Orch, Rasilainen (RCA 75912)
  • Friml: Dumka. Chase, Buechner (Koch 7662)
  • Janacek: Violin Concerto "The Wandering of a Little Soul." Baiba Skride, Berlin Radio Sym, Janowski (SonyBMG 731462)
  • Vasks: Dona Nobis Pacem. Estonian Phil Chamber Choir, Tallinn Chamber Orch, Hillier (Harmonia Mundi 907311)
12 N
  • Ravel: Piano Trio in A minor. Trio Con Brio Copenhagen (Azica 71240)
  • Saint-Saens: Carnival of the Animals. Atlanta Sym, Perlman, Levi (Telarc 80443)
1 PM
  • Liszt: Totentanz. Louis Lortie, Residentie Orch The Hague, Pehlivanian (Chandos 10371)
  • Dvorak: Violin Concerto in A minor. Pamela Frank, Czech Phil, Mackerras (London 289 460 316)