Felix Mendelssohn was so excited to travel to Italy for the first time. On the day he arrived, he wrote home to his family, saying: "Ahhhh, Italy at last! I am basking in happiness!" Hear the London Symphony Orchestra play Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony, in a concert from London, on Saturday's Performance Today.
The Paris Trumpet Society asked Camille Saint-Saens to write something for small ensemble, featuring trumpet. Saint-Saens... well, he declined. He thought the trumpet would overpower the group. A year later, he reconsidered. On Friday's Performance Today Saint-Saens' Septet, featuring the trumpet, from a concert in Lugano, Switzerland.
Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, by Richard Strauss, is a musical fairytale... a 15-minute orchestral romp that celebrates a crass, anti-establishment prankster. Hear the Los Angeles Philharmonic perform the piece, as well as other concert highlights from around the world, on Thursday's Performance Today.
In 1914, things were going well for Danish composer Carl Nielsen... so well that he quit a good conducting job so he could focus on writing music. At that time, events in Europe were taking a dark turn, and Nielsen poured his energy into a new piece of music. It's a fervent symphony that expresses his belief that, despite horrific darkness, life and light can prevail. On Wednesday's Performance Today, hear a concert performance of Symphony No. 4, "The Inextinguishable", by Carl Nielsen.
Pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams got her start in the jazz world in 1917, at the age of 7, playing at parties around her neighborhood in Pittsburgh. In a field dominated by men, she quickly became a star. At age 13, she played with Duke Ellington, and later was the first woman hired by Benny Goodman. On Tuesday's Performance Today, the Ancia Saxophone Quartet plays selections from Zodiac Suite, by Mary Lou Williams.
On Monday's Performance Today, Nikolai Lugansky plays music that deeply inspired an admirer of Sergei Rachmaninoff. The admirer's calling card was a humble bouquet of lilacs, anonymously left in all of his dressing rooms for nearly 10 years. The winter can be long, so close your eyes and listen... musical lilacs will bloom.
In 1928, Maurice Ravel spent some time hanging out with George Gershwin in Harlem jazz clubs. The sounds Ravel heard in Harlem made their way into some of his subsequent compositions. On Saturday's Performance Today, pianist Inon Barnatan joins the New York Philharmonic to play Ravel's jazz-influenced Piano Concerto in G Major.
Composer and organist Rued Langgaard felt at odds with his Danish contemporaries... and he didn't keep it a secret. He was a prolific composer, but his work wasn't truly recognized until after his death. Hear more about Rued Langgaard's life and music on Friday's Performance Today.
At the age of 34, Richard Strauss wrote a symphony in celebration of a hero. That hero was... Richard Strauss. He said "I don't see why I should not compose a symphony about myself; I find myself as interesting as Napoleon." The Orchestre of Paris plays "Ein Heldenleben - A Hero's Life" by Richard Strauss on the Thursday's Performance Today.
