"This is the mark of a true genius." So says conductor Riccardo Chailly about a quick sketch the 20 year-old Felix Mendelssohn made during a trip to Scotland in 1829. Mendelssohn kept that scrap of paper for 13 years, then finally used that idea as the opening of his Symphony No. 3, his "Scottish" Symphony. Riccardo Chailly talks about the connection between the sketch and the final symphony, and leads Mendelssohn's own orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, in both the sketch and the finished version of the piece.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Igor Stravinsky: Suite No. 1
The London Sinfonietta with conductor Riccardo Chailly
Traditional: Dulaman
Chanticleer
Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, Athens, Georgia
Traditional: Solbonn
Trio Mediaeval
Fitzgerald Theater, St. Paul
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in A Minor (Scottish)
The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra with conductor Riccardo Chailly
Gewandhaus, Leipzig, Germany
Johann Sebastian Bach: Prelude in B Minor, BWV 855a
Pianist Eduard Kunz
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Fort Worth, Texas
Hour 2
Robert Schumann: Second movement from Symphony No. 4 in D Minor
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink, conductor
Niccolo Paganini: Perpetual Motion
Jonathan Cohler, clarinet
FJean-Baptiste Arban: Carnival of Venice, Theme and Variations
Roger Webster, cornet, the Brass Band of Battle Creek, James Gourlay, conductor
W.K. Kellogg Auditorium, Battle Creek, Michigan
Robert Schumann: String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 41, No. 1
Musicians from the Taos School of Music
Fort Burgwin, Talpa, New Mexico
Music in Prison: Transformations
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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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