Tribute from the Wanamaker Grand Court #1936
…an after-hours concert at Macy’s Center City commemorating Philadelphia organist Michael Stairs.
Hour 1
LEO SOWERBY: Pageant of Autumn. ENGLEBERT HUMPERDINCK (trans. Lemare): Hansel & Gretel Prelude. EDWIN H. LEMARE: Rondo Capriccio, Op. 64. ANTONIN DVORAK (trans. Stafford): Allegro con brio (i.), fr Symphony No. 8, Op. 88 –Joshua Stafford, organist (r. 9/29/18)
Filler – HUMPERDINCK (see above)
Hour 2
ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER: Memory, fr Cats –Michael Stairs (1930 Aeolian/Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA) DTR 8605
CESAR FRANCK: Choral No. 1 in E. ALBERT KETELBY (trans. Ware): In a Monastery Garden. HUBERT PARRY (trans. Alcock): Bridal March, fr The Birds of Aristophanes. GIACOMO PUCCINI (trans. Ellis): Nessun Dorma, fr Turandot. FRITZ KREISLER (trans. Stairs): Variations on a Theme of Corelli. ARTHUR SULLIVAN (trans. Barret): The Lost Chord. ENNIO MORRICONE: Gabriel’s Oboe, fr The Mission –Andrew Ennis, flugelhorn; Peter Richard Conte, organist (r. 9/29/18)
Filler – DVORAK (see above)
This special after-hours program, presented at Macy’s Center City by the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ, honored the life of a well-loved fixture of the Philadelphia music scene. Click here for a superb YouTube documentary in celebration of and tribute to the extraordinary Michael Stairs.
The next after-hours concert featuring the Wanamaker Organ at Macy’s celebrates the Leopold Stokowski ‘Symphony of 15,000’ Centennial, with masterworks for organ and orchestra performed by soloist Peter Conte and the Symphony in C conducted by Stilian Kirov (Saturday, September 28 at 8 p.m.).
