Maurice Ravel was 31 when he began writing a piece that he called simply, "La Valse," a light tribute to carefree Viennese waltzes. He set the piece aside, then saw the agony of World War I firsthand. When the 45-year-old Ravel came back to his waltz, the world was different place. He was a different man. And La Valse was no longer a light tribute. Hear pianist Alex Beyer perform Ravel's "La Valse", on Thursday's Performance Today.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Maurice Ravel: Three Hebraic Melodies: II. Mejerke, main Suhn
Liat Cohen, guitar; Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra; Frederic Chaslin, conductor
The Jewish Soul: Liat Cohen, guitar and The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra
Centaur 2537
Edward MacDowell: Piano Concerto No. 2 Op. 23
Andre Watts, piano; The Nashville Symphony; Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
The Nashville Symphony, Laura Turner Hall, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville, TN
William Bolcom: Incineratorag
Escher String Quartet
UGA Performing Arts Center and CMSLC, Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, University of Georgia Performing Arts Center, Athens, GA
Maurice Ravel: La Valse
Alex Beyer, piano
Performance Today Young Artist in Residence, Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, St. Paul, MN
Hour 2
Antonin Dvorak: Humoresque, Op.101, No. 3
Orion Weiss, piano
Dvorak, Bartok, Prokofiev
Bridge 9355
Antonin Dvorak: Othello Overture Op 93
Nashville Symphony; Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
Nashville Symphony, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville, TN
Alexandre Tansman: Septet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Trumpet, Viola, & Cello
Ransom Wilson, flute; Nicholas Stovall, oboe; Jonathan Gunn, clarinet; Kristin Wolfe Jensen, bassoon; Ray Riccomini, trumpet; Susan Dubois, viola
Round Top Festival Institute, Festival Concert Hall, Round Top, TX
Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonata in C Major XVI:48
Marc-Andre Hamelin, piano
The Aspen Music Festival and School, Harris Hall, Aspen, CO
Jay Ungar: Ashokan Farewell
Miro Quartet
Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, The Breakers - Gold Room, Palm Beach, FL
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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.
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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