Presenting music from the Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music in the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Fleisher Discoveries Podcast began on September 2nd, 2002 as Discoveries from the Fleisher Collection, airing the first Saturday of each month from 5 to 6 p.m. on WRTI 90.1 FM in Philadelphia. Hosted by Kile Smith, curator of the Fleisher Collection from 1993 to 2011, and Jack Moore, Classical Music Director and Host at WRTI, it was produced by the Fleisher Collection, the Free Library, and WRTI. The final radio show aired July 7th, 2018 and Jack retired from WRTI.
On December 1st, 2018, the Fleisher Collection and the Free Library began production of the show as a podcast hosted by Kile, who has written all of the shows in both the radio and podcast formats. They air on the first of the month, every month. Listen to the podcasts here on SoundCloud or here on Spotify.
In Fleisher Discoveries, we uncover the unknown, rediscover the little-known, and take a fresh look at some of the remarkable treasures housed in the Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music in the Free Library of Philadelphia. The Fleisher Collection is the largest lending library of orchestral performance material in the world. (Click on each program for full details, and, for the podcasts, links to that audio.)
2023
Jan 2023 Gunther Schuller, William Russo, a New Year, a Third Stream
Feb 2023 Sibelius the Revolutionary
Mar 2023 Spring with Roy Harris, Mary Howe, Joachim Raff
Apr 2023 Unusual Anniversary for Beethoven’s Ninth
May 2023 Amy Beach, American Phenom
Jun 2023 Shostakovich’s War
Jul 2023 Frank Bridge, Summer and The Sea
Aug 2023 Leo Sowerby and the Sense of the Joy
2022
Jan 2022 George Rochberg: That Beauty Is Not Dead
Feb 2022 Richard Yardumian’s Passacaglia
Mar 2022 Easley Blackwood’s First Symphony
Apr 2022 Igor Markevitch, Ukraine, and Icarus
May 2022 The Independent Streak of Gene Gutchë
Jun 2022 Gutchë, Bloch: Industrialization and a Beach in Oregon
Jul 2022 Copland’s Unusual First Symphony
Aug 2022 A Memorial from, and for, Nicolai Berezowsky
Sep 2022 The Distant Worlds of Nancy Van de Vate
Oct 2022 Bridging Germany and Israel, Paul Ben-Haim
Nov 2022 Composers Should Thank Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Dec 2022 Christmas 2022
2021
Jan 2021 The Ultramodern Protest of John J. Becker
Feb 2021 Alfredo Casella, Seeing the New in the Old
Mar 2021 Celso Garrido-Lecca: Fleisher Brings Peru to Washington
Apr 2021 A Rough Beginning for The Tender Land of Copland
May 2021 Aurelio de la Vega: Out of Cuba
Jun 2021 Gottfried von Einem, Among the Nations
Jul 2021 Virgil Thomson’s Music of America, via Paris
Aug 2021 Alexandra Pierce: Creator of a World
Sep 2021 Walter Piston
Oct 2021 Roger Goeb, Only in America
Nov 2021 Robert Bernat, In Memoriam JFK
Dec 2021 Chou Wen-chung and the Fallen Petals
2020
Jan 2020 Gesensway’s Homage to Philadelphia
Feb 2020 William Grant Still, Darker America, Panamanian Dances
Mar 2020 Priscilla Alden Beach, Molly Kien
Apr 2020 Stravinsky Faces a Pandemic
May 2020 Victor Herbert Honoring Harrell, Daniels, Grolnic
Jun 2020 Jeremy Gill, Before the Wresting Tides
Jul 2020 John Sebastian, the Harmonica Champion of Philadelphia, and His Russian Concerto
Aug 2020 The Vaughan Williams “Pastoral” Is Not What You Think
Sep 2020 The Uncertainty and Hope of Ernest Bloch
Oct 2020 The Un-Classical Janáček Sinfonietta
Nov 2020 The Idea of America in the Ives Holidays Symphony
Dec 2020 Foss, A Symphony of Chorales, a Historic Recording Project
2019
Jan 2019 William Henry Fry, Christmas Symphony: Santa Claus
Feb 2019 Julius Bittner, Symphony No. 1 in F minor
Mar 2019 Lili Boulanger, Elinor Remick Warren, Joelle Wallach, Gloria Coates, Fanny Mendelssohn
Apr 2019 Elinor Remick Warren
May 2019 Ricardo Castro’s Piano Concerto
Jun 2019 Ricardo Castro, Oithona, and Romanticism
Jul 2019 A Great American Symphony by…Paul Hindemith
Aug 2019 It’s Only a Waltz, by Ravel
Sep 2019 The Great Schubert, with a Twist
Oct 2019 Mennin & Converse, Melville & Whitman
Nov 2019 What Ulysses Kay and Paul Hindemith Have in Common
Dec 2019 Voice with Orchestra: Beethoven, Wagner, Ravel
2018
Jan 6, 2018 Silvestre Revueltas: A Real and Imagined Mexico
Feb 3, 2018 At 100: What Bernstein Is All About
Mar 3, 2018 Mahler and Voices
Apr 7, 2018 American Romantics: Chadwick, Foster, and Busch
May 5, 2018 American Romantics 2: Bird, Chadwick, and Foote
Jun 2, 2018 American Romantics, Other Cultures, the Beginning of the Collection: Cadman, Busch, Branscombe, Burleigh
Jul 7, 2018 MacDowell and Strausses
Fleisher Discoveries Podcast begins
Dec 2018 Florence Price, Symphony No. 1 in E minor
2017
Jan 5, 2017 100th Anniversaries of Robert Ward and Richard Yardumian
Feb 4, 2017 Charles Koechlin and the Law of the Jungle
Mar 4, 2017 Mackenzie, Holbrooke, and British Music Coming into Its Own
Apr 1, 2017 Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Home at Last
May 6, 2017 Poulenc Couldn’t Believe What Ravel Said about Saint-Saëns
Jun 6, 2017 The Dance of Ravel and Satie
Jul 1, 2017 Charles Ives and Independence
Aug 5, 2017 The Stealth Populism of William Schuman and Jaromir Weinberger
Sep 2, 2017 The Connections of Niels Gade
Oct 7, 2017 The Symphony’s Declaration of Independence: Johann Stamitz
Nov 4, 2017 Reformation and Mendelssohn and Bach
Dec 2, 2017 1917 in Review: Andreae, Villa-Lobos, Prokofiev
2016
Jan 2, 2016 Bristow and the Beginning of American Orchestral Music
Feb 6, 2016 The Surprising Connections of John Knowles Paine
Mar 5, 2016 Discovering Beethoven?
Apr 2, 2016 George Chadwick, Horatio Parker, Josef Rheinberger
May 7, 2016 American Music on Its Own Two Feet: Chadwick
Jun 4, 2016 The Greatness of Edward MacDowell
Jul 2, 2016 America Returns the Favor: Theodore Thomas
Aug 6, 2016 Anton Seidl and New Music in the New World
Sep 10, 2016 Enrique Granados Had Just Conquered America
Oct 1, 2016 Setting the Stage with Richard Wagner
Nov 4, 2016 The Music of Presidents (A Century Ago)
Dec 3, 2016 Two Composers Defining America: Frederick Shepherd Converse, Carl Busch
2015
Jan 3, 2015 David Diamond 100th Anniversary
Feb 7, 2015 1915: Waldteufel, Taneyev
Mar 7, 2015 1915: Karl Goldmark
Apr 4, 2015 Paul Dukas 150th Anniversary
May 2, 2015 1915: Strauss Alpine Symphony
Jun 6, 2015 1915: Jacques Ibert 125th Anniversary
Jul 4, 2015 The Fleisher Collection’s New Curator (plus Turina, Weinzweig, and Hill)
Aug 1, 2015 The Symphonic Randall Thompson
Sep 5, 2015 Virgil Thomson: Creating the Sound of American Music
Oct 3, 2015 Walter Piston, Rising Above Fashion
Nov 11, 2015 Aaron Copland’s Birthday
Dec 5, 2015 The Acceptance of Samuel Barber
2014
Jan 4, 2014 Machines and Dreams, 1914: John Alden Carpenter, Ralph Vaughan Williams
Feb 1, 2014 Mexico and Cuba: Candelaria Huizar, José Rolón, Amadeo Roldán
Mar 1, 2014 Any Friend of Brahms…: Ignaz Brüll
Apr 5, 2014 Shakespeare’s 450th: Balakirev, Gade
May 3, 2014 Leó Weiner
Jun 7, 2014 Opening and Closing Centuries: Prokofiev, Reger
Jul 5, 2014 Our Town Holidays with Ives and Copland
Aug 2, 2014 Symphony Club Philadelphia Premieres: Suk, Novák
Sep 6, 2014 Philadelphia Premieres: Four Composers, Three Countries
Oct 4, 2014 Bach Old and New
Nov 1, 2014 The Taste of Bach and Harpsichords
Dec 6, 2014 Bach Secular and Sacred
2013
Jan 5, 2013Charles Tomlinson Griffes
Feb 1, 2013 Percy Grainger
March 9, 2013 Frederick Delius
April 6, 2013 Edvard Grieg
May 4, 2013 Sergei Prokofiev
June 1, 2013 Joseph Haydn
July 6, 2013 Englishmen in Germany: Balfour Gardiner, Roger Quilter, Cyril Scott
August 3, 2013 1935: Ginastera, Berg, Prokofiev
September 7, 2013 1813: Wagner, Vanhal, Beethoven
October 5, 2013 1913: Popper, Butterworth, Britten, Lutosławski
November 2, 2013 Shakespeare: Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Elgar
December 7, 2013 Shakespeare: Verdi, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Edward German
2012
Jan 7, 2012 Béla Bartók
Feb 4, 2012 Igor Stravinsky
Mar 10, 2012 Howard Hanson
Apr 7, 2012 Zoltan Kodály
May 5, 2012 Paul Hindemith
Jun 2, 2012 Ralph Vaughan Williams
Jul 7, 2012 John Philip Sousa
Aug 4, 2012 Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy
Sep 1, 2012 Schubert, Brahms, Bach transcriptions
Oct 13, 2012 Karol Szymanowski
Nov 3, 2012 William Grant Still
Dec 1, 2012 Havergal Brian, Carl Nielsen
2011
Jan 8, 2011 Igor Stravinsky, David Finko, Louis Gruenberg
Feb 12, 2011 Aaron Copland, Charles-Marie Widor
Mar 5, 2011 Ferruccio Busoni
Apr 2, 2011 Richard Wagner, Robert Volkmann
May 7, 2011 Ferdinand David, Ignaz Moscheles, Felix Mendelssohn
Jun 4, 2011 Friedrich Gernsheim, Engelbert Humperdinck
Jul 2, 2011 Claude Debussy
Aug 6, 2011 Ignaz Pleyel, Dmitri Shostakovich
Sep 3, 2011 Guillermo Uribe Holguín, Theodoro Valcárcel Caballero, Manuel Gómez Carrillo, Francisco Mignone
Oct 1, 2011 Aleksander Scriabin
Nov 5, 2011 Lili Boulanger, Vivian Fine, Florence Price
Dec 3, 2011 Jean Sibelius
2010
Jan 2, 2010 Alexander Glazunov
Feb 6, 2010 Edward Elgar, Dorothy Howell, Edward MacDowell
Mar 6, 2010 Elinor Remick Warren
Apr 3, 2010 Hugo Alfvén
May 1, 2010 Edward MacDowell, Curt Cacioppo, Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate
Jun 5, 2010 Paul Kletzki, Johannes Brahms
Jul 3, 2010 Ferde Grofé
Aug 14, 2010 Henry Cowell, interview with Gary Galván
Sep 4, 2010 Louis Spohr, Henri Vieuxtemps, interview with Misha Keylin
Oct 2, 2010 Mieczysław Karłowicz
Nov 6, 2010 Xaver Scharwenka
Dec 4, 2010 Paul Juon
2009
Jan 3, 2009 Julián Aguirre, Jenö Hubay
Feb 14, 2009 William Grant Still, William Dawson
Mar 7, 2009 Ferdinand Hiller, Max Bruch
Apr 4, 2009 Albert Hurwit, Felix Draeseke
May 16, 2009 John Davison, Joel Mandelbaum, Aleksandr Grechaninov
Jun 6, 2009 Josef Holbrooke, Ralph Vaughan Williams
Jul 4, 2009 Anton Rubinstein
Aug 1, 2009 Camille Saint-Saëns, Paul Jeanjean
Sep 5, 2009 Romeo Cascarino, Maurice Wright
Oct 3, 2009 Victor Herbert, George Chadwick
Nov 7, 2009 Salomon Jadassohn, Gloria Coates
Dec 5, 2009 Ignaz Brüll, Walter Burle Marx
2008
Jan 5, 2008 Irving Schlein
Feb 9, 2008 John Knowles Paine
Mar 1, 2008 Carl Ruggles
Apr 5, 2008 Louis Spohr
May 3, 2008 Horatio Parker
Jun 14, 2008 Carlos López Buchardo, Silvestre Revueltas, Alejandro García Caturla, Mozart Camargo Guarnieri, interview with Gary Galván
Jul 5, 2008 Alan Hovhaness, Benjamin Godard, David Heuser
Aug 2, 2008 Harry Hewitt, Zygmunt Stojowski
Sep 6, 2008 Miklós Rózsa, Robert Russell Bennett
Oct 4, 2008 Ma Szû-tsung, Josef Suk
Nov 1, 2008 Josef Suk
Dec 6, 2008 Tibor Serly, David Heuser
2007
Jan 6, 2007 W.A. Mozart, Engelbert Humperdinck, Nicolai Berezowsky, J.S. Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, Johann Michael Bach, Michael Praetorius, Ottorino Respighi
Feb 3, 2007 Franz Strauss, Nicolai Lopatnikoff
Mar 3, 2007 Harold Davidson, Gerald Strang, William Russell, John J. Becker, Johanna Beyer, John Cage, interview with Christopher Shultis
Apr 7, 2007 Joel Suben, Alan Hovhaness
May 5, 2007 Friedrich Kalkbrenner, Louis Moreau Gottschalk
Jun 2, 2007 Wilhelm Bernhard Molique, Louis Gesensway
Jul 7, 2007 Florencio Asenjo, George Frederick Bristow
Aug 4, 2007 David Raksin, Nancy Van de Vate
Sep 1, 2007 Johann Strauss Jr., Victor Herbert, Stephen Cohn
Oct 20, 2007 Amy Beach
Nov 3, 2007 Joaquín Rodrigo
Dec 1, 2007 Gene Gutchë
2006
Jan 7, 2006 Ilja Hurník
Feb 4, 2006 Vladimir Ptushkin, interview with conductor Gavriel Heine
Mar 4, 2006 Jerzy Gablenz, interview with Thomas and George Gablenz
Apr 1, 2006 Lili Boulanger, Vivian Fine, Florence Price
May 6, 2006 Thomas Schnauber, Anton Rubinstein, interview with Jason Love
Jun 3, 2006 Josef Reicha, Eugen D’Albert, interview with Jeffrey Solow
Jul 1, 2006 Charles Ives
Aug 5, 2006 Carlo Gesualdo, Kile Smith
Sep 2, 2006 Miklós Rózsa, Robert Russell Bennett
Oct 7, 2006 Pablo Sarasate, Sir John Blackwood McEwen, Rachel Barton Pine / Alasdair Fraser, interview with Rachel Barton Pine
Nov 4, 2006 Tibor Serly, Geoffrey Peterson, interview with Geoffrey Peterson
Dec 2, 2006 Louis Gesensway, Jules Massenet
2005
Jan 8, 2005 Karl Stamitz, Clermont Pépin, interview with Clermont Pépin
Feb 19, 2005 Amy Beach, Ernst Bacon, interview with Ellen Bacon
Mar 5, 2005 John Powell, interview with Rolf Charlston
Apr 2, 2005 Maurice Wright, François-Joseph Gossec, interview with Maurice Wright
May 7, 2005 Eugen d’Albert, Gösta Nystroem, interview with Nystroem daughter Mona Batt
Jun 4, 2005 Harold Boatrite, Antonio Rosetti, interview with Boatrite and harpsichordist Temple Painter
Jul 2, 2005 Jeremy Beck, George Chadwick, interview with Jeremy Beck
Aug 6, 2005 Mily Balakirev, César Cui, interview with pianist Joseph Banowetz
Sep 3, 2005 Josef Geringer, Jerzy Gablenz, interview with Geringer daughter Lilly Drukker
Oct 8, 2005 Harry Hewitt, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Meyer Kupferman
Nov 5, 2005 Aaron Copland, David Dzubay, Emma Lou Diemer, interview with David Dzubay
Dec 3, 2005 Gardner Read, Ann Wyeth McCoy
2004
Jan 3, 2004 Joseph Achron, Emma Lou Diemer, interview with Emma Lou Diemer
Feb 7, 2004 Arthur Foote, Karl Boelter, Lou Harrison
Mar 6, 2004 Clara Schumann, Hans Huber
Apr 10, 2004 John Biggs, George Lloyd
May 1, 2004 Marcel Farago, interview with Marcel Farago and conductor Rossen Milanov
Jun 5, 2004 Jacobo Ficher, Henry Hadley, interview with Jacobo Ficher son Miguel Ficher
Jul 3, 2004 Florencio Asenjo, Franz Lachner, interview with Florencio Asenjo
Aug 7, 2004 William Henry Fry, Dean Rishel, interview with Dean Rishel
Sep 4, 2004 Dudley Buck, Raoul Pleskow, Adolph Weiss, interview with Raoul Pleskow and saxophonist Marshall Taylor
Oct 16, 2004 Frederick Shepherd Converse, Lee Hoiby, interview with Lee Hoiby and Free Library Director Elliot Shelkrot
Nov 6, 2004 Stephen Dodgson, interview with Stephen Dodgson and flutist Robert Stallman
Dec 4, 2004 Ignaz Moscheles, Joseph Kasinskas, Frank James Staneck, interview with Joseph Kasinskas, violinist Bridget Kasinskas, Frank James Staneck, and conductor Philip Travaline
2003
Jan 4, 2003 Louis Spohr, Peter Zagar
Feb 1, 2003 Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Ernst Bacon, Fridrich Bruk
Mar 1, 2003 Ferruccio Busoni, Gene Gutchë
Apr 5, 2003 Emanuel Leplin
May 3, 2003 Arne Running, David Finko, interview with Arne Running, David Finko, and conductor James Freeman
Jun 7, 2003 Victor Herbert, George Szell
Jul 5, 2003 Louis Gruenberg, Harl McDonald
Aug 2, 2003 Romeo Cascarino, George Chadwick
Sep 6, 2003 Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Wolfgang Mozart, interview with Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and conductor Donald Spieth
Oct 4, 2003 Clifford Vaughan, Henry F. Gilbert
Nov 1, 2003 George Frederick McKay, Henry Vieuxtemps
Dec 6, 2003 Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, William Henry Fry, interview with violinist Rachel Barton Pine
2002
Sep 7, 2002 William Henry Fry, Lou Harrison, Jules Massenet
Oct 5, 2002 Aaron Avshalomov, Jacob Avshalomov, Burnet Tuthill, interview with conductor JoAnn Falletta, clarinetist Robert Alemany
Nov 2, 2002 Horatio Parker, George Chadwick, John Biggs
Dec 7, 2002 Joachim Raff, Clermont Pèpin, Lee Hoiby