Performance Today®

Vanessa Perez

Loving parents usually try to steer their children away from making the same mistakes they did. Thankfully, children don't always listen. Vanessa Perez's mother was a pianist who suffered from terrible stage fright, who thought that the life of a musician was just too hard. So when Vanessa asked for piano lessons, her mother said no. Eventually, she gave in, and Vanessa is now enjoying the life of a concert artist that had eluded her mother. We'll meet Vanessa Perez in today's show.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

William Walton: Princes in the Tower, from Richard III and Touch Her Soft Lips and Part, from Henry V
The Salastina Music Society
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles

George Butterworth: The Banks of Green Willow
The Halle Orchestra, Mark Elder, conductor

Ferruccio Busoni: Elegy No. 4 (Greensleeves)
Marc-Andre Hamelin, piano
Spring for Music, New York City

William Walton: Violin Concerto
Alexander Barantschik, violin, the San Francisco Symphony, Charles Dutoit, conductor
Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco

Hour 2

Frederic Chopin: Preludes No. 9 in E and No. 13 in F-sharp, Op. 28
Vanessa Perez, piano

Johann Sebastian Bach: Gigue from Solo Violin Partita No. 3 in E, BWV 1006
Hilary Hahn, violin
Salle Pleyel, Paris, France

George Frideric Handel: Aria, Laschia ch'io Pianga (Let me Weep)
Albrecht Mayer, oboe, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Carnegie Hall, New York City

Perfchat with Vanessa Perez: Perfchat

Isaac Albeniz: Granada, from Suite Espagnole
Vanessa Perez, piano
NPR Studio 4A, Washington, D.C.

Heitor Villa-Lobos: Excerpts from Prole do Bebe No. 1 (The Family of Baby Dolls)
Vanessa Perez, piano
NPR Studio 4A, Washington, D.C.

Frederic Chopin: Four Preludes, Op. 28
Vanessa Perez, piano
NPR Studio 4A, Washington, D.C.

Anatol Liadov: Baba Yaga, Op. 56
The Houston Symphony Orchestra, Hans Graf, conductor
Spring For Music, New York City

Leonard Bernstein: Mambo from West Side Story
The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, William Eddins, conductor
Spring For Music, New York City

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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.

Hosted by Valerie Kahler, 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.

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