Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata (Violin Sonata No. 9) has primed the creative pumps of plenty of other artists. Tolstoy wrote a book about it. Prinet painted this picture of it. Leos Janacek wrote a string quartet about it. There was even a silent movie, starring Hollywood vamp Theda Bara. Today, we'll hear a bit of the original, plus the Janacek version, from a performance at Washington's Smithsonian.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Leos Janacek: Second Movement from Sonata for Violin and Piano
Violinist Josef Suk and pianist Jan Panenka
Johann Sebastian Bach: Concerto for Violin and Oboe, BWV 1060
Violinist Brian Lewis and oboist Alecia Lawyer with the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra and conductor Tanya Ratner
St. John the Divine Episcopal Church, Houston
Cesar Franck: Prelude, Fugue, and Variations
Pianist Anastasia Markina
Katzin Concert Hall, Tempe, Arizona
Leos Janacek: String Quartet No. 1 ("The Kreutzer Sonata")
Violinists Miho Saegusa and Jessica Lee, violist Mark Holloway, and cellist Na-Young Baek
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Ludwig van Beethoven: Finale from Violin Sonata No. 9 in A, Op. 47 ("Kreutzer")
Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter
Hour 2
Igor Stravinsky: "Ragtime for 11 Instruments"
The London Sinfonietta with conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen
Claude Debussy: "Fireworks" Prelude
Pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin
Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, St. Paul, Minnesota
Marc-Andre Hamelin: "Little Nocturne"
Pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin
Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, St. Paul, Minnesota
Charles Trenet (Arranged by Alexis Weissenberg): "Un Avril a Paris"
Pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin
Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, St. Paul, Minnesota
Igor Stravinsky: Suite from "The Soldier's Tale" ("L'Histoire du Soldat")
The London Sinfonietta
The International Chamber Orchestra Festival, Minneapolis
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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.
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