Our week on music and literature concludes with a conversation with composer Ned Rorem and librettist J.D. McClatchy. They created an opera version of Thornton Wilder's classic play, "Our Town," and they have some interesting ideas - and some strong disagreements -- about the intersection of words and music. And we'll listen to excerpts from a Juilliard production in New York.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Frank Bridge: Second movement from Two Intermezzi from "Threads"
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales with conductor Richard Hickox
Paul Moravec: "Ariel Fantasy"
Violinist Maria Bachmann and pianist Jon Klibonoff
Merkin Concert Hall, New York City
William Bolcom and William Blake: "My Pretty Rose Tree" and "The Lily" from "Songs of Innocence and Experience"
The University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra and combined choruses with conductor Leonard Slatkin and tenor Thomas Young
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Charles Tomlinson Griffes: "The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan," Op. 8
The Buffalo Philharmonic with conductor JoAnn Falletta
Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo
Richard Strauss: "Don Juan," Op. 20
The BBC National Orchestra of Wales with conductor Thierry Fischer
Anderson Center for the Performing Arts, Binghamton, New York
Erich Korngold: "Scene in the Garden" from Suite from "Much Ado About Nothing" for Violin and Piano, Op. 11
Violinist Yoon Kwon and pianist Anthony Newman
Summerfest La Jolla, La Jolla, California
Hour 2
Ralph Vaughan Williams and William Shakespeare: "The Cloud-Capp'd Towers"
The Cambridge Singers with conductor John Rutter
Traditional Welsh: "My Sweetheart's Like Venus"
The Cambridge Singers with conductor John Rutter
Felix Mendelssohn: Scherzo from "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
The Berlin Philharmonic with conductor Andre Previn
Benjamin Britten and William Shakespeare: "I Know a Bank" from "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Countertenor James Bowman with the City of London Sinfonia and conductor Richard Hickox
Peter Tchaikovsky: "Hamlet" Overture
The Los Angeles Philharmonic with conductor Hans Graf
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles
Ned Rorem and Gertrude Stein: "I Am Rose"
Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and pianist Malcolm Martineau
Ned Rorem and J.D. McClatchy: Excerpts from "Our Town"
Singers from the Juilliard Opera Center and the Juilliard Orchestra with conductor Anne Manson
Peter Jay Sharp Theater, New York City
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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.
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