The piano is essentially a percussion instrument. You press a key, a hammer hits the corresponding string, and a note is produced. But is that all there is? There must be more to playing the piano than that. Today, we'll hear from three terrific pianists, Vladimir Feltsman, Nelson Freire, and Garrick Ohlsson. Ohlsson weighs in on the difficulties of the piano, calling it "a box full of diminuendos." But with those three in the driver's seat, we prefer to think of it as a box full of exquisite possibilities.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Manuel de Falla: Excerpts from Seven Popular Spanish Songs
Kim Kashkashian, viola, Robert Levin, piano
George Frideric Handel: Entrance of Queen of Sheba, from Solomon
The Windham Festival Chamber Orchestra, Robert Manno, conductor
Windham Chamber Music Festival, Windham, New York
Ferdinand Rebay: Six Variations on a Sarabande by George Frideric Handel
SoloDuo
St. John the Baptist Church, Ottawa, Ontario
Alessandro Scarlatti: Fugue from Sonata in C
Tempesta di Mare
Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Fantasia in D Minor, K. 397
Vladimir Feltsman, piano
Bass Hall, Fort Worth, Texas
Manuel de Falla: Nights in the Gardens of Spain
Nelson Freire, piano, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Ivan Fischer, conductor
The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Hour 2
Astor Piazzolla: Adagio from Suite for Oboe and String Orchestra
Andres Spiller, oboe, the Camerata Bariloche Chamber Orchestra of Argentina
Traditional Corsican: Maria
Barbara Furtuna and L'Arpeggiata
Zankel Hall, New York City
Astor Piazzolla: The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, violin and leader, the New Century Chamber Orchestra
Herbst Theatre, San Francisco
George Frideric Handel: Keyboard Suite in B-flat, Vol. 2, No. 1
Garrick Ohlsson, piano
Strathmore Music Center, North Bethesda, Maryland
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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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