No doubt about it: opening night of Hector Berlioz's opera Benvenuto Cellini was a spectacular disaster. Berlioz sarcastically wrote that the audience "hissed with admirable energy and unanimity." Part of the problem was the conductor, who ignored Berlioz's directions. The composer reworked the overture, renamed it and led the re-premiere himself. This time, Berlioz sent a note to the first conductor: "THAT is how the music goes." We'll hear the Roman Carnival Overture the way Berlioz intended it, on Monday's Performance Today.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Hector Berlioz: Rakoczy March, from the Damnation of Faust
The New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, conductor
Franz Schubert: Auf dem Wasser zu singen (Singing on the Water), D. 774
Bryn Terfel, bass-baritone, Llyr Williams, piano
Verbier Festival and Academy, Verbier, Switzerland
Franz Schubert: Gretchen am Spinnrade (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel), Op. 2, D. 119
Yuja Wang, piano
Bass Performance Hall, Fort Worth, Texas
Mauro Giuliani: Grand Overture
Chaconne Klaverenga, guitar
Legacy Hall, Columbus, Georgia
Francois C. de Blamont: Les Fetes Grecques et Romaines (Greek and Roman Festivals)
Les Ombres
Capucine Church, Fribourg, Switzerland
Hector Berlioz: Roman Carnival Overture, Op. 9
The San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco
Hour 2
Antonin Dvorak: Humoresque No. 1 in E-flat Minor, Op. 101, B. 187, and Humoresque No. 2 in B, Op. 101, B. 187
Radoslav Kvapil, piano
Johann Christian Bach: Sinfonia in B-flat , Op. 18, No. 2 (Overture to Lucio Silla)
The San Francisco Symphony, Alexander Barantschik, violin and leader
Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco
Bohuslav Martinu: Variations on a Slovak Folksong
Matt Haimovitz, cello, Christopher O'Riley, piano
Redpath Hall, Montreal, Quebec
Antonin Dvorak: Serenade in D Minor, Op. 44, B.77
The RTE National Symphony Orchestra, John Finucane, conductor
National Concert Hall, Dublin, Ireland
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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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