Podcast 21 Jerry Willard's Night at the Opera

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Show number 21 of the Lyrichord Early and Classical Show Podcast features a new engaging interview with guitarist and lutenist Jerry Willard and guest host Mark Greenberg - musician, writer, and proprietor of Upstreet Productions, specializing in traditional folk music and oral history. Willard's newest recording on the Lyrichord Early Music Series, "Jerry Willard's Night at the Opera" is the star of this edition. The album features rare arrangements of movements from the operas by Rossini, Verdi, and Bellini by masters Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829) and Johann Mertz (1806-1856). Willard performs these masterworks on an original instrument tuned to low pitch A=415 made by one of the greatest guitar makers of the early 19th century: Rene Francois Lacote of Paris in 1820. Jerry and Mark discuss the technical challenges of adapting operatic and other works to the guitar, the differences between the 19th century and the modern guitar, and the long overlooked genius of these two composer/arrangers, Giuliani and Mertz. A true guitar lover's delight!

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Listen to Lyrichord Early & Classical Music Show #21 now!

*Mark Greenberg also teaches American vernacular music history at the University of Vermont.
Click here to visit hisUpstreet Productionswebsite.