We launch our weekly Lyric Opera of Chicago 2012-2013 season encore broadcast series today at the special time of 1:30 p.m. (Normal start time is 12 noon.) The season-opening presentation of Verdi's "Simon Boccanegra," one of the composer's great, dark, dramatic achievements with superb performances by Thomas Hampson, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Frank Lopardo, and Ryan Center alum Quinn Kelsey. Sir Andrew Davis conducts. Then Larry Johnson begins his Wagner 200 tribute on "Arias and Songs" from 4:30 to 5 p.m. Enjoy!

It's Customer Appreciation day at the Ravinia Festival and Carl Grapentine will be there live from 9am - 1:30pm. We'll hear from many special guests as well as live performances from Jorge Federico Osorio, Nicole Cabell, and the Lincoln Trio! Introductions will return next week, and the first encore presentation of the Lyric Opera Of Chicago Broadcasts will begin at 1:30pm with Verdi's Simon Boccanegra with Thomas Hampson (Boccanegra); Ferruccio Furlanetto (Fiesco); Krassimira Stoyanova (Amelia); Frank Lopardo (Adorno); Lyric Opera Cho & Orch/Sir Andrew Davis.

Join us for an online-only live broadcast of the final concert of the Dranoff International 2 Piano Competition from Coral Gables, Florida this evening in 6PM CST. We'll hear duos perform a concerto (including Poulenc's Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orchestra in D Minor) with full orchestra, new music inspired by the Peruvian countryside by Berkeley, CA native Gabriela Lena Frank, music by American film and Broadway composer Jerome Moross and much more! And of course we'll learn who the new champions of the 2 piano world will be.

WFMT's free spirit Studs Terkel (1912-2008) born 101 years ago today. Here he is in an undated photo with his close friend and colleague gospel great Mahalia Jackson. WFMT broadcasts "The Best of Studs Terkel" Friday nights at 10, curated by producer Louise Frank, and you can find much more of and about Studs at the Chicago History Museum website studsterkel.org. "Take it easy, but take it."

Join host Kerry Frumkin for tonight's weekly program of performances from the 2012 Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Tonight from 8 to 9, the world première of a Santa Fe commission from Magnus Lindberg: "Acequia Madre" for clarinet and piano -- The New York Times raved about this 10-minute work. And then Schubert's "Trout": the Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667 with a mix of Festival instrumentalists. Enjoy!

"Tannhäuser" night tonight! First on the second part of a new weeklong series "Richard Wagner" on "Exploring Music" with Bill McGlaughlin at 7 p.m. And then in full as we reach Wagner's fifth stage work on the Tuesday Night Opera with Peter van de Graaff from 8 to c. 11:30 p.m. For this 1842-45 three-act "grosse romantische Oper" Peter has chosen Daniel Barenboim's 2001 Teldec Berlin Staatsoper recording with Peter Seiffert, Jane Eaglen, Thomas Hampson, Waltraud Meier, and René Pape, in the Dresden version. The latest installment of Peter's chronological survey of the complete operas of Verdi, Wagner, and Britten, "Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg" (Tannhäuser and the Singers' Contest on the Wartburg), tonight from 8 p.m. Enjoy!

A new series on RICHARD WAGNER all week on "Exploring Music" with Bill McGlaughlin starts tonight from 7 to 8 p.m. to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the composers birth. Here's a portrait of the young Wagner. And be sure to visit the new website to stream the program any time!

All day today on WFMT, "Lasting Impressions," a baker's dozen of critics, composers, and conductors choose works from the last 25 years that they believe will still be played and heard 100 years from now. 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. CDT on 98.7WFMT Chicago and wfmt.com. What would you choose? Enjoy!

The Fifth House Ensemble is warming up in our studio right now for a live edition of Relevant Tones at 5pm!Fifth House Ensemble, May 11thWe go live at 5!Fifth House Ensemble is IN the house!

The MET LIVE broadcast season comes to an end today as it traditionally does in Ring Cycle years with Wagner's "Götterdämmerung" (The Twilight of the Gods) from the earlier than usual time of 10 a.m. to c. 3:40 p.m. This also means that the second intermission holds the last Quiz of the season and WFMT is well represented with both George Preston *and* Roger Pines on the panel. And Alberich himself, Eric Owens, is special guest. c. 1:40 p.m. Next week we start our Lyric Opera of Chicago 2012-2013 season broadcasts with Verdi's "Simon Boccanegra"!

The 12 International Dranoff 2 Piano Competition semifinals begin this morning at 9AM central time and WFMT is streaming the performances live online! We're looking forward to some dazzling music for two pianos by tremendously talented young musicians. Listen in by clicking here starting at 8:55AM:International 2 Piano Competition - 98.7WFMT - Classical and Folk Music Radio Streaming Onliwww.wfmt.comThe Dranoff International 2 Piano Competition cycle spans 18 months and features top scholars and performers as judges of hundreds of young artist applicants vying for cash and performance awards. Two piano artist teams must prepare four hours of repertoire for four rounds of competition. The Dranof...

What better way to mark Wagner month than with the rebroadcast tonight at 10 p.m. of Birgit Nilsson in conversation with Studs Terkel in November 1961? Miss Nilsson was in town appearing as Leonore in "Fidelio" at Lyric Opera of Chicago opposite Jon Vickers. Enjoy!

Today we focus on "Ten Pieces of Music That Changed the World" from 9 in the morning through 7 in the evening: (in broadcast order) Monteverdi's. "L'Orfeo," Gluck's "Orfeo ed Euridice," Beethoven's Third "Eroica" Symphony, Liszt's Piano Sonata in b minor, Berlioz's "Symphonie fantastique," Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire," Beethoven's Ninth "Choral" Symphony," Stravinsky's "Le sacre du printemps" (The Rite of Spring), Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde," and Debussy's Prelude to "The Afternoon of a Faun." What pieces might you add to or substitute in this list? Remember, these are pieces that changed the world of music and culture, this is not a list of "Ten Greatest" or "Ten Favorite" works! Your response and name may be read on the air.

WTTW Channel 11 will air "10 Buildings That Changed America" on Sunday at 9:00PM. Tomorrow on WFMT we will have our own countdown of the "10 Pieces That Changed the World." Which compositions would be on your list? Responses and names below may be read on air.

Tonight it's Verdi's ninth opera, the 1846 dramma lirico "Attila," on Peter van de Graaff's chronological survey of all the stage works of Verdi, Wagner, and Britten on the Tuesday Night Opera. Many great basses have sung the title role of the King of the Huns, but American Samuel Ramey made it his own over a long period including at its first modern revival at New York City Opera in 1981. Peter has chosen Ramey's 1989 EMI recording with none other than the great Verdian Riccardo Muti as conductor and the Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala. 8 to c. 10:30 p.m.

We are thrilled to announce that after years of planning and months of development and research, Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin is now available for listening online: By subscribing to the Exploring Music site, you will receive unlimited access to the more than 850 hours of programming that Bill McGlaughlin has produced. Check out the new site and let us know what you think!

We enjoyed our live "Impromptu" broadcast with this pianist so much that we made a video of it w/ full audio quality! Enjoy!

Tonight on "Critical Thinking," Andrew Patner welcomes German conductor Christian Thielemann who was in Chicago last month for an acclaimed concert with his new orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle. This was Thielemann's first performance in Chicago in 14 years and he discusses his work since then in Bayreuth, Vienna, his home town of Berlin, and Dresden. 10 to 11:05 p.m. Enjoy!

Today at 6PM: The arrival of spring can bring out the desire to travel in nearly everyone, and that’s the theme of our next Ryan Opera Center recital. In “Wanderlust” five of the men from the Ryan Opera Center are joined by alumnus, baritone Quinn Kelsey, and pianist Eric Weimer, to perform music about all kinds of travel. Songs by Schubert, Mahler, Vaughan Williams, and Bernstein.

Find us at 12:15pm today for a LIVE broadcast from the Chicago Cultural Center with The Chicago Chamber Musicians!

Henry Fogel plays recordings on "Collectors' Corner" by the great Bolognese baritone Riccardo Stracciari (1875-1955) whose elegant, 19th century technique gave him a 45-year stage career from 1899-1944, mostly in Italy, Spain, and Argentina, but also in the early 20th century at the Metropolitan Opera and in Chicago. 8 to 10 p.m. tonight. Enjoy!

A terrific Chicago Symphony Orchestra concert from March for you this afternoon. Yefim Bronfman plays a knock your socks off Bartók Second Piano Concerto and guest conductor Cristian Macelaru also leads more Bartók, the Divertimento for String Orchestra, Stravinsky's "The Song of the Nightingale," and Debussy's "Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun" with principal flute Mathieu Dufour. 1 to 3 p.m. Enjoy! Photo: © Todd Rosenberg Photography

Schedule changes for an exciting afternoon and evening of programming on WFMT: 3:00PM - The Gilmore Keyboard Festival presents Peter Serkin in part of Beethoven's "Diabelli Variations," Alon Goldstein in excerpts from Chopin's Preludes and Richard Goode in Beethoven's "Scherzo." 4:30PM - "Arias and Songs" celebrates soprano Montserrat Caballé at 80 5:00PM - Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Kevin Puts is our guest on Relevant Tones 6:00PM - An early, LIVE Folkstage featuring Francophile singer Lois Morton 7:15PM - Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! LIVE from Lyric Opera of Chicago Tune in and enjoy!

Schedule changes for an exciting morning of programming! 9:30AM - Introductions featuring the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in music by Dvorak, Rimsky-Korsakov and more from their March concert at the Chicago Public Library's Harold Washington Library Center. 10:30AM - The Metropolitan Opera presents Poulenc's Dialogues Of The Carmelites with Patricia Racette, Felicity Palmer and Isabel Leonard. Louis Langrée conducts this dramatic work with one of the most haunting final moments in opera. ...more changes this afternoon and evening. Stay tuned!

Happy 93rd birthday Pete Seeger! We're celebrating tonight at 10 with a rebroadcast of one of his many conversations with Studs Terkel. This one took place in December 1961 when Studs hosted a round-table discussion featuring three members of the very musical, articulate and creative Seeger family: Pete, and his siblings, Peggy and Mike, from December 1961.

Florence B. Price (1887-1953) was the first Black woman composer to have a symphony played by a major American Orchestra when Frederick Stock programmed and led her Symphony in E minor here in 1933. Ms. Price, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, and an honors graduate (composition, organ, and teaching) from the New England Conservatory, later studied and worked in Chicago from 1927 until her death. She is the subject tonight of "The Price of Admission," a one-hour special from our friends at WNYC, hosted by Terrance McKnight. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor Mei-Ann Chen will perform her 1930s "Mississippi River Suite" at concerts May 9 to 14. Tune in tonight, 9 to 10 p.m. And enjoy!

We come tonight to Benjamin Britten's fourth opera, "Albert Herring" (1947), in Peter van de Graaff's Tuesday Night Opera chronological survey of the stage works of Verdi, Wagner, and Britten. Britten's first comic opera (of only two), and his only opera given a contemporary setting, "Albert Herring" is based on a satirical story of social hypocrisy by Guy de Maupassant which translates easily to Britten's own East Suffolk. In this three-act chamber opera, a grocer's clerk is crowned King of May when no town girl appears virtuous enough to the town elders to be their Queen. The composer conducts the English Chamber Orchestra in 1964 with his partner tenor Peter Pears in the role he originated 17 years before and a buoyant cast including soprano Sylvia Fisher as the autocratic Lady Billows in this Decca recording. 8 to 11 p.m. Enjoy!

Help infuse our day with poetry by submitting your classical haiku! A haiku is a short Japanese poem with three lines of up to 17 syllables. The basic haiku is composed of 17 sounds: 5+7+5, producing a poem that can be uttered in a single breath. Haikus and names posted below may be read on air until 7pm today (Tuesday).

Tonight on "Critical Thinking," Andrew Patner talks with Rondi Charleston as she shares her new CD "Signs of Life" on the Motéma label. The latest jazz foray of the New York-based, Hyde Park native, proud product of the Chicago Public Schools (Bret Harte, Kenwood, and Metro), Juilliard trained (undergrad and graduate) in voice/opera, Emmy Award-winning television journalist (with Diane Sawyer for ABC's "Primetime Live"), and now songwriter and vocalist. Andrew and Rondi listen to some of her originals and some of her unusual discoveries. 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. CDT. Enjoy!

Live at 8PM: Duo-pianists Claire Aebersold and Ralph Neiweem will play a piano-duet setting of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, which had its sensational premiere in 1913, 100 years ago.

The legendary cellist and teacher János Starker died this morning at his home in Bloomington, Indiana, at 88. The Budapest-trained Hungarian-Jewish émigré was principal cellist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Fritz Reiner from 1953 to 1958 when he reëstablished his solo career and joined the Indiana University faculty. Do you have special memories of the Hungarian-Jewish émigré? Favorite recordings? (This morning Dennis Moore shared works by Fauré and Walton and, of course, the first Bach Suite.). Here is the full announcement, too, from Indiana:

"Giulio Cesare," Handel's most popular opera, is LIVE from the METropolitan Opera TODAY with an early start of 11 a.m. and running until about 3:40 p.m. David Daniels, Natalie Dessay, Christophe Dumaux, Patricia Bardon, and Alice Coote are in the excellent cast and Harry Bicket is the fine conductor of this 1724 work. This is the famous 2005 David McVicar Glyndebourne production that had its Amercan début at Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2007. It's a hoot so you will be hearing audience laughter as well as applause! And there *is* a Quiz, at the first intermission, around 12:30 p.m. Chicago time. Special guest is the MET's Siegfried, Jay Hunter Morris, he of both Wagnerian stamina and a charming Paris (Texas) accent. Enjoy!

LIVE today: John Corigliano is our guest at 3pm with George Preston. Do you have any questions for him? Corigliano was the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's first Composer-in-Residence from 1987-90 and came back to Chicago this week for a 75th birthday celebration with The Chicago Chamber Musicians that took place last night. He recently joined us on Relevant Tones and here's the story he told about how he became a composer:

On this week's "Critic's Choice," Andrew Patner shares his take on the current Sunday New York Times Book Review cover piece ostensibly about three books on Chicago. 5 1/2 minute audio clip. (Flash player NOT required.) Airs again on Saturday afternoon after the MET Opera and Sunday morning at 8:30.

Here's the real reason why the damning critique of Chicago in Sunday's New York Times Book Review is so troubling, according to Critic-at-Large Andrew Patner:

Sometime in the next 24 hours we'll hear performances from this concert hall on WFMT. Can you name the venue?

We've come tonight to Verdi's eighth and perhaps least known opera, "Alzira," written for Naples in 1845 and based on a play by Voltaire about the confrontations between Peruvian Indians and their Spanish conquerors. For his Tuesday Night Opera survey of all the stage works of Verdi, Wagner, and Britten, Peter van de Graaff has chosen the 1999 Philips release with Ramón Vargas and with Fabio Luisi conducting L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the chorus of the Grand Théatre de Genève. 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Be intrigued!

"Let there be no noise made, my gentle friends; Unless some dull and favourable hand Will whisper music to my weary spirit." Happy 449th Birthday, William Shakespeare! We are celebrating all day on WFMT, and our friends at Chicago Shakespeare Theater are offering WFMT members 2-for-1 tickets to "Othello: The Remix" through April 28.Sprout Social PhotosHappy 449th Birthday, William Shakespeare! In celebration, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has declared today Talk Like Shakespeare Day. Join the fun and learn more at TalkLikeShakespeare.org.

Today's weekly Chicago Symphony Orchestra broadcast draws on two sleeper hit concerts of last season's "Keys to the City" festival curated by Emanuel Ax. Harpsichordist-conductor Trevor Pinnock (pictured) was joined by an array of young soloists in a program with an orchestration of a Debussy rarity, "Marche écossaise"; the Beethoven "Triple" Concerto with Stefan Jackiw, violin, Pavel Gomziakov, cello, and Kristian Bezuidenhout, piano; the Mendelssohn "Scottish" Symphony; and Mozart's Concerto for Three Pianos with Pinnock, Bezuidenhout, and Benjamin Hochman. 1 to 3 p.m. Enjoy!

Two active composers are featured this evening: John Corigliano (pictured) turned 75 this year and is Seth Boustead's guest and subject on "Relevant Tones" at 5 p.m. The first Chicago Symphony Orchestra composer-in-residence (1987-90) Corigliano is being fêted here all this coming week with concerts and programs downtown Monday through Thursday by Gaudete Brass, Roosevelt University, Fulcrum Point, Chicago Chamber Musicians, and Pianoforte Foundation with Ursula Oppens. And at 6 p.m. 18 year old Urbana, Illinois native Conrad Tao plays both Chopin and his own works on this week's Gilmore International Keyboard Festival 2012 broadcast. Enjoy!

It's SIEGFRIED time, LIVE from the Metropolitan Opera. 10 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., third of four parts of Wagner's RING Cycle. With tenor Jay Hunter Morris in the title role, Deborah Voigt, Eric Owens, Mark Delavan, Meredith Arwady, et al. And the first intermission holds the MET Opera Quiz, after 11:20 a.m.! Irish mezzo Patricia Bardon, Cornelia in next week's GIULIO CESARE, is special guest. Enjoy!

WFMT has made its spring membership drive goal of $800,000!!

The spring membership drive will end *today*! Here's a photo of school librarian Elly Schook & fifth grade teacher Carolyn Peters at Jamieson School receiving a Bach to School gift from one of our members. For $1000, you can donate the complete works of Bach, Beethoven or the Vienna Phil's 50-cd set to a school on our list:

Does this describe you or someone you know? If so, here's our number: 773-279-2100. Or pledge on wfmt.com to help us finish the drive (today or tomorrow)!

We come tonight to the first of the ten canonical operas of Richard Wagner on Peter van de Graaff's Tuesday Night Opera chronological survey of Verdi, Wagner, and Britten. For "Der fliegende Holländer" (The Flying Dutchman) of 1840-41, Peter has selected a classic 1959 studio recording with a great cast headed by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the title role, Gottlob Frick as Daland, Fritz Wunderlich as the Steersman, and Marianne Schech as Senta. The Berlin Staatsoper, Staatskapelle, and Chorus are led by the too-neglected East German conductor Franz Konwitschny (1901-1962). 8 to 11 p.m. Be thrilled!

Here is Laura Miller's beautiful Dazzling Diva necklace. Want it? Tune in to 98.7 or wfmt.com to find out more!

Tonight at 10 on Critical Thinking: Andrew Patner's 2005 interview with the late Studs Terkel, discussing Studs's book "AND THEY ALL SANG: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey." "It is the only interview that I know of done with Studs where he discusses in detail his passion for opera and opera singers including Rosa Raisa, Lotte Lehmann, and 'his' diva, Claudia Muzio. Studs also talks about his disc jockey days in general and the music editions of The Studs Terkel Program on WFMT. We play opera scenes with Raisa, Lehmann, Muzio, and a song by Woody Guthrie as well." -Andrew

Schedule Change: Tonight from 7-9:00 we'll rebroadcast a Tribute to Bud Herseth, originally produced for the occasion of Herseth's retirement from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and hosted by Don Tait. Exploring Music –- part one of "The Roaring Twenties" –- will follow from 9:00 to 10:00 pm. Critical Thinking with Andrew Patner will air at 10:00 pm (as usual) and feature Andrew's 2005 interview with Studs Terkel discussing Studs's book "AND THEY ALL SANG: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey." It is the only interview that we know of done with Studs where he discusses in detail his passion for opera and opera singers including Rosa Raisa, Lotte Lehmann, and "his" diva, Claudia Muzio. [Photo: CSO Rosenthal Archives]

Carl is waiting to hear from you on this last Monday morning of our Spring Membership Drive! 773-279-2100 or wfmt.com/support.

We mourn the death of Adolph "Bud" Herseth, the greatest orchestral trumpet player of modern times, and one of the greatest orchestral musicians of the 20th century. Bud died peacefully last night at the age of 91, according to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. His beloved wife Avis was at his side. Bud Herseth was appointed principal trumpet in Chicago in 1948 and held that position for an astonishing 53 years, staying on with the CSO as principal emeritus for three more seasons until his retirement in 2004. Bud was one of a kind in more ways than once can count. His work on the orchestra's most well-known recordings from Reiner through Boulez is a permanent legacy as are the standards of brass playing he built and maintained in the orchestra. We offer our heartfelt condolences to Avis and son Stephen. The world of music was blessed by his presence and his long and wonderful life. We will miss him greatly, too, as a person and a friend.