Poster Andras Schiff
Andras Schiff Pianist Hagen Quartet
Chris Lee
Performance Today®

Andras Schiff and Bach

We all have our little morning rituals. Sometimes it's just habit. But when it's intentional, the way you start your day says a lot about you. For Pianist Andras Schiff, it's almost always the same. He spends an hour or so playing preludes and fugues from J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. Schiff never tires of it. He says, "As long as I live and I am lucky to be in good health, I want to continue to explore the mysteries of this music." Today marks the start of a four-day series of music and conversation with Andras Schiff and PT host Fred Child, on Bach's vast and mysterious Well-Tempered Clavier.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Sergei Prokofiev: Song from Lieutenant Kije Suite, Op. 60
The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Andre Previn, conductor

Gabriela Montero: Improvisation on George Gershwin's Summertime
Gabriela Montero, piano
The Martha Argerich Project, Lugano, Switzerland

Robert Schumann: Fantasiestucke, Op. 73
Gautier Capucon, cello, Gabriela Montero, piano
Wigmore Hall, London, England

Antonio Vivaldi: Recorder Concerto in F, RV 442 (Pastorale)
Erik Bosgraaf, recorder, Cordevento XL
The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Georg Philipp Telemann: Excerpts from Suite in A Minor, TWV 55:a 2
Erik Bosgraaf, recorder, the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic, Thierry Fischer, conductor
The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Antonin Dvorak: Scherzo Capriccioso
The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Christopher Koenig, conductor
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles

Hour 2

Johann Sebastian Bach: Excerpts from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I
Andras Schiff, piano

Igor Stravinsky: Pastorale
Isabelle Faust, violin, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Opera House, Sydney, Australia

Andras Schiff and the Well-Tempered Clavier, Part I: Andras Schiff and the Well-Tempered Clavier

Johann Sebastian Bach: Excerpts from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I
Andras Schiff, piano

Antonin Dvorak: Slavonic Dance No. 15 in C, Op. 72, No. 7
The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Simon Rattle, conductor
Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany

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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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