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Performance Today®

"The Bourgeois Gentleman"

Today marks the Performance Today debut of Houston's River Oaks Chamber Orchestra. Conductor JoAnn Falletta leads them in a recent performance of Richard Strauss' suite, "The Bourgeois Gentleman." Written for a play by Moliere, it's music about a commoner who aspires to join the nobility. Strauss manages to make fun of both along the way.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Overture to "La Clemenza di Tito"
The Lausanne Chamber Orchestra with conductor Yehudi Menuhin

Claude Debussy: "Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum" from "Children's Corner"
Pianist Michel Dalberto
Chopin Manor, Duszniki Zdroj, Poland

Maurice Ravel: "Ondine" from "Gaspard de la Nuit"
L'Octuor de France
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

"The Piano Puzzler": This week's contestant is Pat Girardot from Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Divertimento for Oboe and Orchestra
Oboist Beat Anderwert with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra and conductor Christian Zacharias
Metropole Hall, Lausanne, Switzerland

Franz Schubert: "Kupelwieser" Waltz
Pianist Michel Dalberto
Chopin Manor, Duszniki Zdroj, Poland

Hour 2

Aaron Copland: Prelude for Piano Trio
Pianist Michael Boriskin, violinist Nicholas Kitchen, and cellist Wilhelmina Smith

Charles Trenet: "April in Paris" and "Street Corner"
Pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin
Grand Theatre, Quebec, Canada

Richard Strauss: "Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme," Op. 60
The River Oaks Chamber Orchestra with conductor JoAnn Falletta
The Church of St. John the Divine, Houston

Aaron Copland: "Simple Gifts" from "Appalachian Spring"
Prairie Winds
Dennos Museum Center, Traverse City, Michigan

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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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