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Performance Today®

Retro and Radical

Nobody could combine retro and radical like Italian composer Ottorino Respighi. He called for both old and new in his orchestral tone poem, "The Pines of Rome." Roman trumpets depicting the march of ancient soldiers along the Appian Way. And a newfangled audio recording of a real nightingale, which shocked audiences in 1924. In today's show, old meets new in a concert performance of Respighi's "Pines of Rome" from Amsterdam.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Ottorino Respighi: Excerpts from Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 3
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Neville Marriner, conductor

Jan Dismas Zelenka: Excerpts from Missa Dei filii, ZWV 20
The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Collegium Vocale Ghent, soloists, Marcus Creed, conductor
Konzerthaus, Freiburg, Germany

Anonymous (arranged by Henrik Goldschmidt): En rose sa jeg skyde (I saw a Rose in Bud)
The Middle East Peace Orchestra, Danish Radio Vocal Ensemble, Henrik Goldschmidt, conductor
Christianskirken, Copenhagen, Denmark

Michael Praetorius: Lo, how a Rose e'er Blooming
The Harvard Glee Club, Radcliffe Choral Society, Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum, Jameson Marvin, conductor
Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Ottorino Respighi: Pines of Rome
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, David Zinman, conductor
The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Hour 2

Kenneth Jennings: Noel: Christmas Eve
Charles Gray, viola, the St. Olaf Choir, Anton Armstrong, director
St. Olaf Christmas Festival, Northfield, Minnesota

Delvyn Case: Rocket Sleigh
The Dallas Wind Symphony, Jerry Junkin, conductor
Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas

Traditional (arranged by Reginald Jacques): Away in a Manger
New York Polyphony
Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church, Minneapolis

George Frideric Handel: Gavotte from Concerto Grosso in B-flat, Op. 3, No. 2, HWV 313
Ensemble Zefiro, Alfredo Bernardini, director
Broadcasting Hall, Bremen, Germany

Johann Sebastian Bach: Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland
The Amstel Saxophone Quartet
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles

John Vergin: Carol: There is no Rose of Such Virtue
In Mulieribus, Anna Song, director
St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, Portland, Oregon

Fulvio Caldini: Beata Viscera (Blessed is the Womb) and Clockwork Toccata
Quartet New Generation
Ojai Music Festival, Ojai, California

Anatoly Liadov: A Musical Snuffbox, Op. 32
Denis Matsuev, piano
Barbican Hall, London, England

Anonymous: Maria Virgo Semper Laetare
Ars Coralis Coeln, Maria Jonas, director
Frauenkirche, Nuremberg, Germany

Carolyn Jennings: A New Magnificat
The St. Olaf Combined Choirs, St. Olaf Orchestra, Sigrid Johnson, conductor
St. Olaf Christmas Festival, Northfield, Minnesota

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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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