Morning Classics

Here’s an update. Yes, this is how my Elf on the Shelf greeted me early this morning. But did he bring treats? Nope. Maybe next time haha…

Does he call this place his “Ivanhome?

If you were here with me yesterday you might have heard about my new visitor to the studio—my personal Elf on the Shelf—you can go back to yesterday’s post here to see a photo. Anyway, I’d asked listeners if they might have a clever name for him and, indeed, James came through with this great suggestion: Ivanhoe at KVNO!

Anyway, this morning I find Ivanhoe not on my microphone but rather in my cookie jar—where I keep my tea.

So this fine fellow greeting me in the wee hours today. But would should we call him? Ike on the Mic? Rudio in the Studio? Have a suggestion? Email me: jkoterba@unomaha.edu

This Halloween morning, upon arrival at the studio, I encountered…well, a good many rubber ducks! Was this a trick? Or a treat? Both? Either way, it made me laugh out loud. Now, I have to tell you there was no accompanying note taking responsibility. But I have my suspicions as to who it was…and her initials are “S.B.”

Will keep you updated on this developing story…

The evidence…

And no, unlike that recent heist at The Louvre, no works were stolen for the making of this week’s Jeff Around Town. The story, however, does begin there.

First, for many years I’ve attended a festival for cartooning in Limoges, France (about three hours southwest of Paris), which includes cartoonists not from Europe but a few of us from the United States. Anyway, several years back at the festival, my cartoonist buddy, Ed Wexler, joked that he’d seen me in The Louvre in Paris a few days earlier (Ed worked for Disney for many years). When I said that I hadn’t been to the Louvre in several years, he was insistent. “Here’s a photo,” he said.

Indeed, it wasn’t yours truly at The Louvre, but rather, a doppelgänger, you might say. In the form of a self-portrait by Christian Seybold, a German painter in the Baroque style. As it turned out, I was wearing the hat in the photo so Ed quickly snapped a photo. I would later post that photo to Facebook along with Ed’s photo of the painting in The Louvre.

Christian Seybold self-portrait (left). Jeff Koterba (right).

And then I’d forget about all of that.

Until several weeks ago, when a longtime friend, Jacki Cser, would message me that she’d made a sketch of me, based on that photo of me next to the Seybold photo.

Jacki Cser (left), the artist behind the sketch of Jeff Koterba (right).

She wanted to gift me the drawing—which I happily accepted. When we met for coffee I also interviewed her. You can hear the interview at 9am CDT at 90.7 FM in the Omaha metro or streaming worldwide on our app, your smart speaker, or at KVNO.org.

On today’s French Friday Feature we’re playing music from Frédéric Chopin, who died on this day, October 17, 1849, in Paris. He was buried at Cimetière du Père-Lachaise in Paris, although his heart was transported—secretly—in cognac to Poland.

I had a chance to visit his grave last December…

Here’s a photo I took of Chopin’s grave in Paris last December.

Today on Morning Classics I’m playing a work I’m not sure I’ve played for you before. It’s from the 1954 British comedy film, The Belles of St. Trinian’s. The film focuses on students and teachers at a fictional school and was inspired by the work of cartoonist, Ronald Searle. Oh, and apparently, there’s a scheme involving a racehorse. I haven’t seen the film but I’m thinking I should check it out.

Have you seen it? If so, ping me: jkoterba@unomaha.edu

Here’s a story about Ronald Searle, including some of his work.

As you might have heard on Jeff Around Town this morning, my guest, Matt Barnett, is a longtime broadcaster who now is also a cartoonist, including writing for Dennis the Menace. Here are some of this ideas brought to life!

This morning at 7am we’re playing the very first sign on when KVNO first went on the air 53 years ago today. And to celebrate our birthday, during Symphonic Sunrise, we’re playing Berko’s Journey, a wonderful work by Stacy Garrop commissioned by KVNO to commemorate our 50th anniversary. Stacy chose to honor Omaha’s rich immigrant history by composing a work that tells the story of her great-grandfather’s journey from Russia to Omaha.

Listen to an interview Sherry Brownrigg did with Garrop in 2022 here.

And find more on Berko’s Journey here.

Thank you for being here for this incredible journey…and here’s to another 53 years!

For many years, composer Francis Poulenc lived across from Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. During a visit to France earlier this summer I couldn’t help but wonder if the composer was inspired by the beauty of the gardens. Not only will I be talking about that during this week’s French Friday Feature, I even made a video for you while I was in Paris. You can watch it here.

And then tune in Friday at 8am for French Friday!

Yours truly in Luxembourg Gardens…

The facade of the apartment building in Paris where Francis Poulenc lived for many years…

A closer look…

This morning on French Friday, I’m taking you to the original “sunken cathedral”—Mont-Saint-Michel. It’s a centuries-old gothic abbey sitting hit atop a tidal island off the coast of Normandy, France. The idea for this magical place came in a dream to an archbishop in the 8th century and took over 1,300 years to build.

More recently—relatively speaking!—Claude Debussy constructed his own magical cathedral, one that would appear and disappear into the sea off the coast of Britany, France. “La Cathédrale Engloutie” is a dreamlike and magical piece of music based on an ancient Breton myth in which a cathedral, submerged off the coast an island, rises up from the sea on clear mornings.

A coincidence? Who can say. Either way, both Mont-Saint-Michel and Debussy’s music, are dreamlike and magical.

Also, earlier this summer I was fortunate to find myself at Mont-Saint-Michel. If you’ve been you know how incredible this place is. If you haven’t, I hope you can visit one day. And if that’s not possible, allow Debussy’s music to take you there—either to his imagined sunken cathedral, or to Mont-Saint-Michel. But then, most great classical music can transport you to wherever you wish to go.

Here’s a view of Mont-Saint-Michel from earlier this summer…

Yours truly!

 Getting closer…

View from the top!

Special thanks to Becky Lowe, development associate at KVNO, who brought me these lovely flowers from her garden!

Here’s hoping that you have some lovely flowers in your life!

During a recent trip to Paris, while strolling past a church in the Latin Quarter, I had an extraordinary experience that exemplifies the power of music. I even made a video about it just for you! You can watch it here. Enjoy!

As mentioned during our chat this morning, here’s the new shirt Gabriel Escalera’s daughter brought back for him from the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam.

If you’ve been there, you know how beautiful it is. I was fortunate to have visited there for the first time just two weeks ago. I was there co-leading a tour of my French conversation group.

So what does this magical abbey have to do with today’s French Friday Feature? Be sure to tune in to Morning Classics today at 9am CDT.

Here’s the blog I mentioned this morning on the show! Go here.

And here’s a Rick Steves video on Sainte-Chapelle.

As mentioned on today’s Pass the Popcorn on Arts Today, this wonderful animated film, Christo the Civilized Barbarian made its world premiere at the Omaha Film Festival.

It’s now playing festivals everywhere and hopefully, one day, we’ll see it come to life as an animated series.

Check out the eight-minute version here.

Today on Morning Mozart we featured music from Mozart’s “A Musical Joke.” In a way, this music brings to mind this work by Hogarth called, “The Enraged Musician.” I love the cartoonish quality of this image.

Today on KVNO’s Morning Classics we’re playing Claude Debussy’s Children’s Corner, performed by Isata Kanneh-Mason. In 2015, she and her siblings took part in Britain’s Got Talent who blew away the judges. Indeed, Simon Cowell called the Kanneh-Mason family the “most talented family in the world.”

You can watch a video of their performance here.

Enjoy!

Today on Morning Classics, we have a selection by Belgian composer, Eugène Ysaÿe. As mentioned on the show, here’s a fun caricature of him from 1913 drawn by Ber Zalkind, a Lithuanian Jewish painter who studied in Paris. I especially love the shape of the hair…

This morning on French Friday Feature we played great music from Marin Marais, known for his compositions for the viola de gamba—Italian for “leg fiddle.” However, I found this image of Marais interesting as he’s holding it like a guitar (the instrument IS fretted like a guitar, so perhaps he sometimes played it that way).

Some have called French composer, Jacques Ibert, “unconventional,” and “eclectic.” And while that may be true, his music was—and is—fantastic. It’s unfortunate that a composer like Ibert, who leaned into experimentation, isn’t better known. In part, it’s because he didn’t automatically adhere to the musical styles of his time. So his music doesn’t easily fit into any particular category. Let’s hear it for being unique and striving to be different—in a good way!

He’s definitely a composer you should know—because his music is delightful. I’ll be playing music from Ibert at 8am today on French Friday Feature!

We’re playing the overture from La Belle Hélène this morning. And as promised, here’s a drawing that was published for the 1864 Paris premiere of this wonderful opera by Jacques Offenbach.

It’s film composer John William’s birthday, February 8th! And to celebrate I’ve created this short time lapse caricature of the Oscar-winning composer.

Watch the video here.

Crank up your favorite Williams soundtrack or watch while listening to KVNO’s Morning Classics today as I’ll be weaving in a few pieces by Williams into the program.

Either way, enjoy!

This morning we heard from violinist, Anne Akiko Meyers performing Suite Popular Espagnole by Manuel de Falla. She was joined by Sandra Rivers on Piano.

As mentioned on Morning Classics, here’s a video of her appearance from back in the day on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Watch it here.

It’s Mozart’s birthday today—he was born in Salzburg, Austria, January 27, 1756. And to celebrate, I thought I’d create this drawing just for you! 🙂

As mentioned today on Morning Classics, the great French flutist once performed with Miss Piggy on The Muppets. See the video here.

On today’s French Friday Feature, we talk about French robots and how robots relate to the music of Jacques Offenbach–in particular, The Tales of Hoffman. As mentioned on the feature, here’s a photo of Le Grant Élephant of Nantes…

And here’s a video yours truly took a few years back. Enjoy!

On today’s French Friday Feature (8am CST) we celebrate the birthday of composer, Francis Poulenc, born on January 7, 1899. Although early on his love of beautiful melodies went against the common aesthetics of the day (he was considered a “farceur”—a jokester, a comic), he would not only go on to become a member of that famed group of French composers known as “Les Six,” he would also eventually composed more poignant and religious music.

Having said that, he did often sport a smile, which may have given some the impression that he wasn’t to be taken seriously. But what a smile, don’t you think? Maybe we should all smile a bit more…

Happy Friday! Or should I say, Happy French Friday!

It’s National Ugly Sweater Day and as promised on air this morning, here’s a photo of mine! How about you? Have any photos of ugly sweaters you’d care to share? If so, send them my way! Jkoterba@unomaha.edu.

This morning, when introducing a work by Antonín Dvořák, I mentioned a couple of Dvořák’s hobbies: Trainspotting and keeping pigeons. Moments later, KVNO listener, Charlie Duckworth, sent a few photos from his HO scale model railroad. Photos of model pigeons on model boxcars and buildings.

How about you? What kind of hobbies do you have and do you ever pursue those hobbies while listening to KVNO? I’d love to hear from you: jkoterba@unomaha.edu.

Oh, and thanks to Charlie, here are those photos!

This morning on KVNO, we’re playing for the first time a recently-discovered waltz by Chopin. It was also exactly a week ago today that I had a chance to visit for the first time, Chopin’s grave at Cimetière du Père-Lachaise in Paris.

I’m also a big fan of Edith Piaf, so here, also, is a photo of her grave. The cemetery is probably most famous for the grave of Jim Morrison. Indeed, you can see from the photo that his grave is fenced off.

Have you been to this cemetery? If so, I’d love to hear from you! Get in touch at jkoterba@unomaha.edu.

On this week’s French Friday Feature, we’re celebrating the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. As luck would have it, I was there last Friday evening and just happened to encounter the ringing of the bells. See—and hear—the bells here.

Afterwards, we encountered a magical little Christmas market, complete with a magical little ballet performance!

Have you been to Paris? How about Notre-Dame? I’d love to hear about your experiences. Get in touch: jkoterba@unomaha.edu

On my second day after taking over Morning Classics, while playing Beethoven, this little fella showed up. So, I’ve been calling him Ludvig. One listener also suggested Otis 13, which I like as well. Still, I’m leaning towards Ludvig the Possum. Ludvig has been back only a few other times. Will we see him again?