Poster Nicola Benedetti
Nicola Benedetti, violin
Nicola Benedetti
Performance Today®

The Lark Ascending

A single lark swoops and flits, hovers and circles, all the while rising higher and higher over the English countryside. It's Ralph Vaughan Williams' much-loved work for violin and orchestra, "The Lark Ascending." We'll hear Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti in a performance at a London Proms concert a couple of weeks ago. Then we'll be the ones doing the ascending, riding the gondola to the top of the mountain at the Aspen Music Festival. We'll hear Dvorak's Carnival Overture, from a concert last summer at Aspen.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Arcangelo Corelli: Sonata for Strings in A Minor, Op. 1, No. 4
The Purcell Quartet and friends

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 2 in D, K. 211
Gil Shaham, violin, the Aspen Festival Orchestra, David Zinman, conductor
Aspen Music Festival, Aspen, Colorado

The Piano Puzzler: This week's contestant is Gary Hoffman from Ketchum, Idaho

Francesco Geminiani: Concerto Grosso in D Minor for Strings and Continuo, after Corelli's Op. 5, No. 12 (La Folia)
Musicians from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
Alice Tully Hall, New York City

Hour 2

Peter Tchaikovsky: Polonaise from Eugene Onegin
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, David Zinman, conductor

Vincent Persichetti: Excerpts from Serenade No. 10 for Flute and Harp, Op. 79
Aralee Dorough, flute, Paula Page, harp
International Festival-Institute at Round Top, Round Top, Texas

Antonin Dvorak: Carnival Overture, B. 169, Op. 92
The Aspen Festival Orchestra, David Zinman, conductor
Aspen Music Festival, Aspen, Colorado

Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
Nicola Benedetti, violin, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Donald Runnicles, conductor
The BBC Proms, London, England

Stephen Sondheim: Send in the Clowns, from A Little Night Music
Judi Dench, singer, the BBC Concert Orchestra, David Charles Abell, conductor
The BBC Proms, London, England

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About Performance Today®

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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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