Pianist Paul Wittgenstein lost his right arm during World War I, but he was determined to continue his career in music. Wittgenstein developed new playing techniques, arranged pieces for left hand alone and eventually began to give public concerts. Then he asked composer Maurice Ravel to write a piano concerto for left hand only. On Tuesday's Performance Today we'll go to a concert in Germany to hear it played by pianist Kirill Gerstein and the North German Radio Symphony.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Franz Schubert: German Dance, D 783, No. 10; Landler D 790, No. 3; Moment Musical D 780, No. 3
Gil Shaham, violin, Goran Sollscher, guitar
Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in g minor
Ana Belen Tejedor, mandolin; Yiannis Sofos, guitar
Studio C, GRERT Radio, Athens, Greece
Franz Schubert: Quartet No. 15 in G Major, D. 887 - 3. Scherzo: Allegro vivace - Trio: Allegretto; 4. Allegro assai
Jupiter String Quartet
Spivey Hall, Morrow, GA
Maurice Ravel: Piano Concerto in D Major for the Left Hand
Kirill Gerstein, piano; North German Radio Symphony Orchestra; Semyon Bychkov, conductor
Laeiszhalle, Hamburg, Germany
Hour 2
Edward Elgar: La Capricieuse, Op. 17
Pinchas Zukerman, violin; Marc Neikrug, piano
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 28 in C Major, K. 200
Orchestra of the Suisse Romande; Marek Janowski, conductor
Batiment des Forces Motrices, Geneva, Switzerland
Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita No. 1 in B-flat Major, BWV 825
Simone Dinnerstein, piano
Studio 4A, NPR; Washington, D.C.
Edward Elgar: Nimrod, from 'Enigma Variations'
Danish National Symphony Orchestra; Thomas Dausgaard, conductor
Old Opera, Frankfurt, Germany
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About Performance Today®
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American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.
Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.
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