Poster Pianist Kirill Gerstein
Pianist Kirill Gerstein
Photo: Marco Borggreve
Performance Today®

Kirill Gerstein plays Rachmaninoff

Sure, it's a flashy showpiece for piano, but Kirill Gerstein says, "If you dig deeper, it's also a sincere expression straight from the heart." On today's show, hear Kirill Gerstein play Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with conductor Hannu Lintu leading the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Carlos Simon: Requiem for the Enslaved: in paradisium (Instrumental ver.)
MK Zulu, trumpet | Carlos Simon, piano
Album: Requiem for the Enslaved
Decca Classics

Lowell Liebermann: Gargoyles, Op. 29
Clayton Stephenson, piano
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Bass Performance Hall, Fort Worth, TX

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 182
Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra | Donald Runnicles, conductor
Grand Teton Music Festival, Walk Festival Hall, Jackson Hole, WY

Luigi Boccherini: String Quintet in D, Op. 40 No. 2, G. 341 "Fandango"
Christophe Coin, cello | Gringolts Quartet
EBU, Mizmorim Festival, Schmiedenhof, Basel, Switzerland

Hour 2

Gaetano Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore: Una furtiva lagrima
Joshua Bell, violin | Orchestra of St. Luke's | Michael Stern, conductor
Album: Voice Of The Violin
Sony 97779

Henryk Wieniawski: Scherzo-Tarantelle, Op. 16
Joshua Bell, violin | Peter Dugan, piano
University of Georgia Performing Arts Center, Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, Athens, GA

Steven Banks: As I Am
Steven Banks, baritone saxophone | Pedja Muzijevic, piano
Spoleto Festival USA Chamber Music Series, Dock Street Theater, Charleston, SC

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
Kirill Gerstein, piano | St. Louis Symphony Orchestra | Hannu Lintu, conductor
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Powell Hall, St. Louis, MO

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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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