Part of conductor's job is to be a glorified traffic cop, to make sure the music doesn't come apart at the seams. But even more important than that, it's to be a leader and a unifier, to convey an artistic vision to the orchestra. If the first part of the job description seems better-suited to younger people, it's the second part that has historically swung the baton in favor of the senior generation. Pablo Heras-Casado is a 34-year-old Spaniard who seems to have both halves in good order. Today, he leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Stravinsky's Firebird Suite.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Women's Dance, from Aleko
The London Symphony Orchestra, Andre Previn, conductor
Johann Sebastian Bach: Aria from the Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
Andras Schiff, piano
Schwetzingen Festival, Schwetzingen, Germany
Hugo Wolf: Italian Serenade
The New Century Chamber Orchestra, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, violin and leader
Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, California
Richard Wagner: Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin
The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14
Gautier Capucon, cello, Gabriela Montero, piano
Rozsa Centre, Calgary, Alberta
Felix Mendelssohn: Cello Sonata No. 2 in D, Op. 58
Gautier Capucon, cello, Gabriela Montero, piano
Rozsa Centre, Calgary, Alberta
Hour 2
Igor Stravinsky: Menuetto and Finale from Suite Italienne
Cho-Liang Lin, violin, Andre-Michel Schub, piano
Kurt Weill: Lost in the Stars
Chanticleer
Beaches Fine Arts Series, Jacksonville Beach, Florida
Traditional (Arranged by Glenn Haynes): My Lord, What a Morning
The New Century Saxophone Quartet
Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Rockport, Massachusetts
Clyde Davenport: Five Miles from Home
The New Century Saxophone Quartet
Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Rockport, Massachusetts
Anonymous (Arranged by Milos Valent): A New Horn-Pipe
Solamente Naturali, Milos Valent, director
Boston Early Music Festival, Boston
Francesco Geminiani: The Last Time I Came o'er the Moor, from Sonata No. 3 for Two Violins and Basso Continuo
Solamente Naturali, Milos Valent, director
Boston Early Music Festival, Boston
Henry Purcell: Scotch Tune
Solamente Naturali, Milos Valent, director
Boston Early Music Festival, Boston
Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite
The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pablo Heras-Casado, conductor
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles
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