←Recommendations of Capriccio Radio

I was fortunate to direct this play at Modern Classics of LI in 2023. Larry had me hooked on the first page of Capriccio Radio, and it never let me go. Capriccio Radio personalizes the crisis in classical music — and all classical art forms by extension — of finding relevance in a cultural landscape that no longer values it for its own sake. The motley crew of characters all have their own reasons for loving their music, and genuinely struggle to set aside their differences to protect the music they all love.

I love stories that explore the arts and history and the parallel journeys of all artists whether playwrights, musicians or painters. Larry Rinkel's 'Capriccio Radio' portrays the struggle between preserving classical music and succumbing to commercial pressures in the ever-changing landscape of radio and a dwindling listening audience. “How do we find this music? How does this music find us?”

Rinkel explores the evolving relationship between tradition and the necessary innovation/desire for the "new" in the arts. His well-drawn characters weather the resistance to change: “If I try something new I might like it.” Loved the ending.

LARRY RINKEL’s play, “Capriccio Radio”, deals with the pulls-and-tugs of corporate America’s desire for more wealth and the value and joy of music to society. I watched this play performed on Zoom, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend this play. Play Festivals should put this play on their Program.

In the ever changing landscape of broadcast radio, Larry Rinkel turns the dial to "Capriccio Radio", a classical radio station with a disappearing market. The station and its staff strive on to keep the music playing while battling the commercial demands of new corporate management. "Capriccio Radio" tells the importance of art verses capital and music verses the noise. This play is populated with articulate characters that can explain their passion and help the audience understand why it’s important to keep one small voice speaking to us in the swirl of modern life.

The on-air hosts and management of a classical radio station struggle to keep it afloat in the face of a commercial market and a technology that no longer supports the music that they're passionate about -- but also with the seemingly opposing drives to preserve and curate the classics, push the art form in bold new directions and encourage new work, or to make it accessible to new audiences whose primarily listen to more popular genres. A fascinating dive into the world of art and commerce as both the technologies and and culture are changing.

I enjoyed this play so much because my husband is a classical musician and we so often discuss the notion that classical music is "dying" in the same way theater is "dying" and the comparable difficulties in introducing new music and new theatrical works. To set this against the "dying" medium of radio is kind of genius and opens itself up to all kinds of possibilities!

I'm familiar with the radio business and I'm streaming an amazing classical music station as I write this, so Larry Rinkel's "Capriccio Radio" hits home with me on several levels. It's a loving and incisive look inside the box to see what makes the music come out, and the characters are just as you'd imagine in the world where money and culture clash. But in this case, the storytelling and the action make beautiful music together. Or, to steal from the title of the late Karl Haas's program, it's adventures in good music. Bravo!

The clash between high art and commerce is played out with unabashed ardor in this thought-provoking play. The characters, many of them on the downhill side of middle age, struggle to preserve their dignity (and livelihoods) in a brave new world that no longer values their intelligence or accrued knowledge. A great piece for a theatre company with seasoned, older actors, ‘Capriccio Radio’ will speak to a cultured audience that feels its tastes have been relegated to dinosaur status, but also to a new generation that wishes to learn about and appreciate the great music that is our collective legacy.

Another in the "Right brain/Left Brain" works I've been reading, "Capriccio Radio" is Rinkel at his most passionate. One line (among many) that resonated: "...there’s people out there, ...they love their music maybe more than life itself, maybe even more than you love yours." I'm sure there are. I just don't understand why that argument is always used against those who love their highbrow stuff, because surely "those" people love THEiR music more than life itself too. And if even one person's life is changed because of it, then it's worthy of respect, as Rinkel opines eloquently here.

Rinkel gives us an excruciatingly human look at those of us who have dedicated our lives to a dying art form and are finding it difficult to reconcile integrity with accessibility. The characters are all musos in their own right but the piece showcases the subtle but vast gradients of personality that run deep in even the most niche of circles. Is avant-garde art a self-congratulatory venture? Or is society at large just refusing to eat its vegetables? The answer lies in finding the middle ground, but who among us are willing to take the first step towards compromise?