New Year's Eve is a big deal in Berlin. An estimated million people converge upon the center of the city every year for a celebration. And you can feel that sense of excitement in a New Year's Eve performance of Modest Mussorgsky's masterpiece by Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. Even if you've heard this piece many times before, we think that you'll find this a particularly thrilling interpretation.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: First movement from Serenade in D, K. 239
The Berlin Philharmonic with conductor Herbert von Karajan
Traditional (Iberian): "Saltarello Alfonso X el Sabio" from "Cantigas de Santa Maria"
Hesperion XXI
Musica Mundi Festival, Brussels, Belgium
Sargis Barkhudaryan: "Naz-bar" ("Coy Dance")
Pianist Sahan Arzruni
Merkin Concert Hall, New York City
Modest Mussorgsky: "Pictures at an Exhibition"
The Berlin Philharmonic with conductor Sir Simon Rattle
Philharmonie, Berlin
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Rondo in D, KV 485
Pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout
Savannah Music Festival, Savannah, Georgia
Hour 2
Franz Schubert: Allegretto in C, D. 346 from "Fragments"
Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes
John Playford: "Chestnut - Light of Love"
Lee Santana, cittern
Dresden Music Festival, Dresden, Germany
Sergei Prokofiev: Prelude in C, Op. 12, No. 7
Harpist Coline-Marie Orliac
USA International Harp Competition, Bloomington, Indiana
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 17 in G, K. 453
Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes with the Cleveland Orchestra and conductor Franz Welser-Most
Severance Hall, Cleveland
Tomaso Antonio Vitali: Chaconne in G Minor
Angele Dubeau and La Pieta
Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, Athens, Georgia
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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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