Poster Lilacs (Syringa vulgaris)
Lilacs (Syringa vulgaris)
Photo by John O'Neill
Performance Today®

Lilacs for Rachmaninoff

On Monday's Performance Today, Nikolai Lugansky plays music that deeply inspired an admirer of Sergei Rachmaninoff. The admirer's calling card was a humble bouquet of lilacs, anonymously left in all of his dressing rooms for nearly 10 years. The winter can be long, so close your eyes and listen... musical lilacs will bloom.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Frederic Chopin: Preludes Op. 28, No. 13 in F-sharp Major & No. 21 in B Major
Martha Argerich, piano
Music of the Night
Deutsche Grammophon 457992

Emmanuel Chabrier: Espana, Rhapsodie
Aspen Festival Orchestra; Miguel Harth-Bedoya, conductor
Aspen Music Festival and School, Benedict Music Tent, Aspen, CO

Frederic Chopin: Barcarolle in F-sharp major, Op. 60
Benjamin Grosvenor, piano
Spivey Hall, Clayton State University, Morrow, GA

Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 5, "The Reformation", Op. 107
London Symphony Orchestra; Sir John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
The Barbican, London, England
**Classical Live - available on Google Play**

Hour 2

Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 6 in A major: Allegretto
Nikolai Lugansky, piano
Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas 4 & 6; Ten Pieces from Romeo and Juliet
Warner Classics 61255

William Boyce: Sonata No. 5 in D Major
REBEL Ensemble for Baroque Music
Spivey Hall, Clayton State University, Morrow, GA

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Lilacs, Op. 21/5
Nikolai Lugansky, piano
Konzerthaus, Vienna, Austria

Nikolai Kapustin: Pastorale, from "Eight Concert Etudes, Op. 40'
Nikolai Lugansky, piano
Konzerthaus, Vienna, Austria

Robert Schumann: Symphony No. 3 ("Rhenish"), Op. 97
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, NY

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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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