Pay no attention to the ghost of Mozart haunting our music library. As we head into Halloween, WRTI is celebrating the sweet as well as the spooky side of the holiday.
Start the party during the witching hours, 2 to 6 a.m. Saturday morning, as Ariana Elyse plays songs for the season by Samara Joy ("Sweet Pumpkin"), Ella Fitzgerald ("Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead") and Louis Armstrong ("The Skeleton in the Closet").
During the day, Classical hosts Mark Pinto and Edirin Oputu will bring an overflowing basket of classical Halloween treats, including favorite jump scares from Saint-Saëns (Danse Macabre), Rachmaninoff (The Isle of the Dead), and Berlioz (Symphonie fantastique) and lesser-known, but no less terrifying frights from William Bolcom (his rags “Graceful Ghost” and “The Poltergeist”), Edward MacDowell (Hexentanz), and Henriette Renié (Danse des lutins).
Then as the trick-or-treaters assess their haul on Halloween night, Julian Booker brings back his yearly Halloween dance party on The Get Down, with funky and freaky selections by Fela Kuti ("Zombie"), Johnny Hammond ("Witchy Woman"), Aretha Franklin ("Evil Gal Blues") and many more.
And in case you missed it, check out Ariana's recent Halloween-themed episode of Sunday Rotation, available now for a limited time on WRTI Replay.
