Today's show is a celebration of ambiguity, that delicious is-it-or-isn't-it uncertainty. In "ZZ's Dream," composer Osvaldo Golijov (pictured) asks the question, "Am I a man dreaming I'm a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming I'm a man?" We'll hear it from the Spoleto Festival. And from Dmitri Shostakovich, who could be maddeningly hard to pin down, we'll hear the final movement from his Fifth Symphony. Is it a celebration of the Stalinist regime, as the Soviets claimed? Or a subtly-encoded cry of opposition? And we'll hear from a man who makes his living being deliberately ambiguous. Bruce Adolphe has this week's Piano Puzzler.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Jean Sibelius: Valse Triste (Sad Waltz), Op. 44, No. 1
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Lorin Maazel, conductor
Dmitri Shostakovich: Waltz No. 2 from Jazz Suite No. 2 and Waltz from the Gadfly, Op. 97
Jan Vogler, cello, the Knights, Eric Jacobsen, conductor
Le Poisson Rouge, New York City
Dmitri Shostakovich: Two Pieces by Domenico Scarlatti, Op. 17
The Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Dmitri Kitaenko, conductor
Philharmonie, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Dmitri Shostakovich: Finale from Symphony No.5, Op. 47
The Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop, conductor
Concert Hall, Sao Paulo, Brazil
The Piano Puzzler: This week's contestant is Gary Hoffman from Ketchum, Idaho
Josef Strauss: The Dragonfly, Op. 204
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck, conductor
Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany
Hour 2
Antonin Dvorak: First movement from Wind Serenade in D Minor, Op. 44
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Musicians
Henry Purcell: Scotch Tune
Solamente Naturali, Milos Valent, violin and leader
Boston Early Music Festival, Boston
Osvaldo Golijov: ZZ's Dream
Pedja Muzijevic, piano
Spoleto Festival USA, Charleston, South Carolina
Antonin Dvorak: Three Concert Overtures (In Nature's Realm, Op. 91, B. 168, Carnival, Op. 92, B. 169, and Othello, Op. 93)
The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Marek Janowski, 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.
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