This Sunday, July 12, host Brian McCreath interviews oboist Peggy Pearson and composer John Harbison on WCRB’s The Bach Hour about Lorraine Hunt Lieberson and her performance of Cantata 170 on the recording we released last fall.

For those of you not familiar with The Bach Hour, here’s a description from WCRB’s website : “The Bach Hour grows out of a tradition begun in the early 1970's by Robert J. Lurtsema of WGBH 89.7 FM. As one of the earliest sets of the complete Bach cantatas on record (Leonhardt and Harnoncourt) was being released, they became a regular fixture on each Sunday's edition of Morning Pro Musica, Lurtsema's unique daily program. Now, on The Bach Hour, those cantatas, with the rich and diverse range of performances now available, are heard on the calendar days for which they were written. Combined with recent and classic recordings of Bach's instrumental masterpieces and occasional interviews with significant interpreters, each week's program offers a chance to connect more deeply with this bedrock composer.”

John, Peggy, and Brian discuss Lorraine’s talent, her start as an instrumentalist, her devotion to Bach, what an extremely hard worker she was, and the unique blend of focus and exuberance that so defined her performances. This is a rare chance to hear this cantata on the calendar day for which it was written (the sixth Sunday after Trinity), performed by an outstanding group of musicians, and with sensitive and expert commentary by John Harbison, a top Bach scholar and Peggy Pearson, who, according to Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe, "has probably played more Bach than any other oboist of her generation; this is music she plays in a state of eloquent grace.”

Tune in to WCRB 99.5 FM Sunday morning at 6am or visit our website later that day for a link to the program. In the meantime, you can revisit Peggy’s blog post about her memories of Lorraine, or get your copy of the recording here - included on two “Best of Classical Music” lists for 2014. All proceeds from the sale of the recording go to Winsor Music’s education programs.