On Friday's Performance Today, we're exploring music inspired by bird song. First, we'll head to this summer's BBC Proms in London to hear Maurice Ravel's imitation of a sad blackbird. Then, we'll hear the sounds of doves, hens, nightingales and cuckoos from a concert in Los Angeles.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Piano Sonata in F-sharp minor - I. Allegro Adagio
Mikhail Pletnev, piano
CPE Bach: Sonatas & Rondos
DG 459614
Antonin Dvorak: Piano Quintet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 81, B. 155: 3. Scherzo (Furiant): Molto vivace; 4. Finale: Allegro
Anne-Marie McDermott, piano; Benjamin Beilman, Alexander Sitkovetsky, violins; Paul Neubauer, viola; Narek Hakhnazaryan, cello
Music@Menlo, The Center for Performing Arts at Menlo-Atherton, Menlo Park, CA
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Concerto for Fortepiano and Harpsichord in E-flat Major: 1. Allegro molto 2. Larghetto 3. Presto
Robert Levin, harpsichord; Ya-Fei Chuang, fortepiano; Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; Nicholas McGegan, conductor
First Congregational Church, Berkeley, CA
Francesco Geminiani: Concerto Grosso 'La follia'
B'Rock - Baroque Orchestra Ghent; Dmitry Sinkovsky, solo violin and conductor
BBC Proms, Cadogan Hall, London, England
Hour 2
Maurice Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales: 8. Epilogue: Lent
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra; Yannick Nezet-Seguin, conductor
Ravel: Ballet and Dance Music
EMI Classics 66342
Peter Tchaikovsky: Valse-Scherzo, Op. 34
Andrey Baranov, violin; Swiss Italian Orchestra; Alexander Vedernikov, conductor
Martha Argerich Project, Congress Palace, Lugano, Switzerland
Osvaldo Golijov: Night of the Flying Horses
The Knights; Eric Jacobsen, conductor
Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Maurice Ravel: Oiseaux tristes, "Sad birds"
Marius Van Paassen, piano
The Animal In The 20th Century Piano Music
Attacca Babel 8950
Maurice Ravel (arr. Colin Matthews): Oiseaux tristes
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Nicholas Collon, conductor
BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall, London, England
Ottorino Respighi: Gli Uccelli (The Birds): Movements 1-5
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra; Jeffrey Kahane, music director
Royce Hall, Westwood, CA
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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.
Hosted by Valerie Kahler, 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.
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