On Tuesday's Performance Today, Louis Langree conducts the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra with pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk playing Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. And then... Gavrylyuk gives a dazzling souped-up solo encore.
Rebecca Clarke was an English composer and violist who grew up at a time when there weren't many opportunities for female composers and musicians. Happily, she lived long enough to see her work played and appreciated around the world. On Monday's Performance Today, hear Rebecca Clarke's 'Morpheus', a piece that she debuted in 1918 under the pen name of... Anthony Trent.
Aaron Copland was from Brooklyn. He was a city slicker who captured and, to a certain degree, created what we think of as the sound of the old American west. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear selections from his cowboy ballet, "Billy the Kid."
Composer Laurence Sherr has dedicated his career to sharing the musical history of the Holocaust. in 2014, Sherr wrote a piece that borrowed melodies from several Jewish resistance songs. On Friday's Performance Today, hear 'Myr zaynen do!' (We are here!) by Laurence Sherr.
Russian composer Alexander Scriabin was innovative and complex man. Leo Tolstoy described his music as "a sincere expression of genius"... and Scriabin himself would likely have agreed. On Thursday's Performance Today, learn more about Alexander Scriabin and hear his "Poem of Ecstasy" performed in concert by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.
Aaron Copland was from Brooklyn. He was a city slicker who captured and, to a certain degree, created what we think of as the sound of the old American west. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear selections from his cowboy ballet, "Billy the Kid."
We're celebrating Independence Day with a full hour of music by American composers, including Aaron Copland's 'Lincoln Portrait'. On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear 'Lincoln Portrait' played by the Minnesota Orchestra with narrator Alan Page.
Serge Koussevitzky was famous as a 20th century conductor, but he was also a composer... and a virtuoso on the double bass. On Monday's Performance Today, hear Koussevitzky's double bass Concerto, with Robin Kesselman on double bass, in concert with the Houston Symphony.
Nino Rota is one of those composers whose music you know... even if you don't know you know it. He composed music for 150 film soundtracks, including The Godfather (1 & 2) and numerous films by Federico Fellini, but he was also a prolific composer of concert works. On Saturday's Performance Today, hear the 'Sonata for Flute and Harp' by Nino Rota, from a concert in Madrid.
