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A Doubleheader! Basic Bach, and a Seder Different From Any Other Seder

When Bach wrote his Inventions and Sinfonias BWV 772-801, he described them this way, "An Honest Guide by which lovers of the clavier, and particularly those with a desire to learn, are shown a plain way, not only (1) to learn and play neatly in two parts, but also, with further progress, (2) to play correctly and well in three obligato parts; and, at the same time, not only to obtain good musical themes, but also to develop them well; above all, however, to achieve a cantabile style of playing, and along with it, to gain a strong foretaste of composition."

In Simone Dinnerstein's latest Sony Classical CD, she returns to the Inventions and Sinfonias of Bach with an updated insight into the works, looking and playing them as a mature performer, not a student.  The result is magnificent.  No longer just for teaching purposes, Dinnerstein makes the pieces worth listening to just to listen, no learning needed.

In the first part of the program, Jill speaks with Simone to ask, "Why the Bach Inventions and Sinfonias?" We'll also hear some of the cuts from that CD.

http://youtu.be/en0qTJctDsY

In part two of this week's Crossover, Jill speaks with Elijah Dornstreich of Philadelphia Seder, one of the minds behind the third-annual, Seder The Musical.  Being celebrated at the Gershman Y in Center City on March 30th, this is a seder different from any other seder, to paraphrase the traditional seder question.

For the uninitiated, a seder is a Jewish ritual feast involving a retelling of the story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover.  Seder customs include drinking four cups of wine, eating matzah, partaking of symbolic foods placed on the Passover Seder plate, and reclining in celebration of freedom.  

The Seder is performed in much the same way by Jews all over the world, except in Seder The Musical, where the celebration is punctuated at various points by musical performances.  This year's performers include jazz violinist Diane Monroe, storyteller Charlotte Blake Alston, singer-songwriter Chana Rothman, flutist Chana Datskovsky and more.

Punctuating our program will be segments from the CD, A Passover Story, with Theodore Bikel and the Western Wind.

Find out more about Seder The Musical here ?or at 215-545-4400. Tell them we sent you! By the way, the event is open to anyone of any faith, so join the celebration!

Crossover, Saturday morning at 1130 am on WRTI-FM, with an encore Friday evening at 7 pm on WRTI-HD2.  Both airings are available on the All-Classical stream at wrti.org.

It's his parents' fault. For Joe's sixth birthday, they gave him a transistor radio. All of a sudden, their dreams of having a doctor or lawyer (or even a fry cook) in the family went down the tubes.