Performance Today®

Stravinsky's Ode

Composer Igor StravinskyGeorge Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress

October 07, 2021

Natalia Koussevitzky was passionate about the arts and music. When she died, her husband, composer and conductor Serge Koussevitzky, established a foundation in her name...and asked a friend to write music in her honor. On today's show, hear Igor Stravinsky's "Ode" to Natalia Koussevitzky, from a recent concert in Berlin.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Frank Bridge: The Dew Fairy and Heart's Ease
Stephen Hough, piano
Album: Steven Hough's English Piano Album
Hyperion 67267

Igor Stravinsky: Ode, elegiacal chant for orchestra
Berlin Radio Symphony; Vladimir Jurowski, conductor
RBB Broadcasting House, Berlin, Germany

Alfredo Piatti: Fantasy on the Themes from Il Trovatore, by Giuseppe Verdi
Zlatomir Fung, cello; Dina Vainshtein, piano
Friends of Chamber Music, Bryan, TX (Virtual Event)

Stephen Hough: Piano Sonata No. 4 (Vida Breve)
Stephen Hough, piano
Aspen Music Festival and School, Harris Concert Hall Aspen, CO

Hour 2

Camille Saint-Saens: Ballet Airs
Julia Bogorad-Kogan, flute; Margo Garrett, piano
Album: Flute Music of the Paris Conservatory
Ten Thousand Lakes 121

WanChun Shi: Festive Overture
National Ballet of China Symphony Orchestra; Zhang Yi, conductor
National Centre for the Performing Arts Concert Hall, Beijing, China

Ernest Bloch: Abodah for Violin and Piano
Danbi Um, violin; Orion Weiss, piano
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Rose Studio, New York, NY

Camille Saint-Saens: Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Op. 103 (Egyptian)
Louis Lortie, piano; German Radio Symphony, Berlin; Yutaka Sado, conductor
Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany