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January 6, 2009
The Firebird
It was an unlikely chain of events that brought Igor Stravinsky and "The Firebird" together. The Ballet Russes first considered four other composers before turning, in desperation, to the young, unknown Stravinsky. The result was a masterpiece, and Stravinsky became an overnight star. Today we'll hear the Netherlands Symphony perform a suite from Stravinsky's ballet.
Today's Playlist
hour 1 Listen
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Antonio Vivaldi
Third and Fourth Movements from Concerto in D Minor for Recorders and Strings, RV 535
Matthias Maute, recorder and conductor, with Ensemble Caprice
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Duke Ellington
"Jump for Joy"
Calefax
The Frick Collection, New York City
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George Gershwin
"Blues" from "An American in Paris"
The Italian Saxophone Quartet
Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa, California
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Harold Arlen
"Over the Rainbow"
Soprano Renee Fleming and pianist Richard Bado
Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, St. Paul, Minnesota
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Somei Satoh
"Birds in Warped Time II"
Violinist Theresa Salomon and pianist Kathrun Woodard
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
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Igor Stravinsky
Suite from "The Firebird"
The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra with conductor Gerd Albrecht
The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
hour 2 Listen
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Joseph Haydn
Presto from Quartet No. 27 in D, Op. 20, No. 4
The Mendelssohn String Quartet
Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, St. Paul, Minnesota
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Joseph Haydn
Piano Sonata in B Minor, Hob. XVI:32
Pianist Chu-Fang Huang
Strings Music Festival, Steamboat Springs, Colorado
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Aaron Copland
"Three Latin American Sketches"
The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Carnegie Hall, New York City
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Juan Crisostomos Arriaga
String Quartet No. 3 in E-flat
The Miro Quartet
Alice Tully Hall, New York City
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Antonin Dvorak
Vivace from String Quartet No. 12 in F, Op. 96 ("American")
The Guarneri Quartet
2008: The Year of Lang Lang
Posted at 10:18 AM on December 30, 2008 (3 Comments)
2008 was a great year for Gil Shaham, for Leila Josefowicz, for Gustavo Dudamel. The NY Phil went to North Korea, Valery Gergiev supported the Russian Army, Leonard Bernstein has had a big revival year in New York.
But no one in classical music has had a bigger year than the 26 year-old Chinese pianist Lang Lang. In fact, Lang Lang's 2008 may be unique in the history of musical personalities.
You can listen to our "2008, Year of Lang Lang" feature (produced by PT's Chris Danforth) by clicking here.
Let's run down the list:
In February, Lang Lang played live at the Grammy Awards, a duet with Herbie Hancock.
He released his autobiography...wait, make that his SECOND autobiography in eight languages. (This in the year he turned 26.)
In June, he played in front of a Vienna palace with the Vienna Philharmonic, a concert celebrating the end of the 2008 European Soccer Championships.
He played a concert in Central Park with the New York Philharmonic, for an audience of about 60,000. (He later tried to sell the red Steinway from that concert on eBay to raise money for earthquake relief in China. There were no bids, but Lang Lang raised $3 million for Red Cross earthquake relief by playing benefit concerts.)
He was on the Sesame Street float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. (If you follow the link, Lang Lang is wearing the red scarf.)
He played for a live global audience of...what, maybe four billion?...during the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. ("It's kind of like you're playing in the universe," said Lang Lang.)
He created a foundation to support young musicians, with the goal of doling out $5 million dollars a year.
He got his own line of Adidas sneakers. (Even after I read news reports about this, I didn't believe it. But I am now the proud owner of a pair of black, size 10 Lang Lang Gazelle shoes. Golden graphic of Lang Lang on the outside of each heel.)
And to top it off, Lang Lang made People Magazine's list of the sexiest men alive, alongside Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig, Zac Efron, and Michael Phelps.
As we celebrate the New Year, and look back on 2008, this year's song is...Auld Lang Lang Syne.
Call 1-866-943-4450
You may think you know every Christmas carol in the books by now, but listen to this performance and interview with the Rose Ensemble, a vocal and instrumental group, and you're sure to hear something new. Or old. Led by director Jordan Sramek, the Rose Ensemble specializes in early music. They recently joined Fred Child in our studios for holiday music of the Americas.
Mexican Baroque Christmas
Early American Christmas
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma has a new holiday CD for 2008: "Songs of Joy and Peace." It's a set of collaborations with a wide range of classical players, but also with Dave Brubeck, James Taylor, and Alison Krauss.
Listen to Yo-Yo Ma talk about his new CD
London-based Gramophone magazine asked an international panel of critics to vote on their choices for the world's best orchestras. Here's a Washington Post story that features the list of the top 20.
This fall the Beaux Arts Trio said farewell in an unforgettable last American concert at Tanglewood in Massachussetts. Throughout their final concert tour, the trio sent us audio blogs from each city and PT host Fred Child emceed an exclusive live webcast of the concert. Now the Beaux Arts Trio have graciously given Performance Today permission to share that moving last concert as a free download.
Concert Audio
Listen to the concert or download the free podcast on our Beaux Arts Trio feature.
The Trio Con Brio Copenhagen joined us in the studio recently. Though the musicians are young, they've already racked up years of playing together: the violinist and cellist are sisters and the cellist and pianist are married. Those familial ties create a musical communication that seems to require no words.
Listen to their performance
In 2005 composer John Adams wrote a new opera called Doctor Atomic based on the story of Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist who created the atomic bomb. Doctor Atomic had its New York premiere this fall and the Metropolitan Opera will broadcast a live performance this weekend to movie theaters across the country. We talked with Adams and Gerald Finley, the baritone who has sung the role of Oppenheimer in every performance of Doctor Atomic, about this complicated man.
"Doctor Atomic"
On Nov. 9, 1938, Nazi sympathizers burned nearly 1,000 synagogues and destroyed 7,000 Jewish businesses in Germany on a night that became known as 'the night of the broken glass,' or Kristallnacht. Violinist Daniel Hope's family lived in Berlin at the time. He talks about a special concert in Berlin he organized to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the event that launched the Holocaust.
Listen to the interview
Sir James Galway is one of our most celebrated classical flutists, but now he has taken on a new challenge. Galway has teamed up with Cuban jazz band Tiempo Libre and its leader Jorge Gomez for a new CD called O'Reilly Street that's a little classical, a little jazzy, a little Latin and lots of syncopated fun.
Galway and Gomez talk about their new CD
Violinist Leila Josefowicz has been awarded a MacArthur Genius grant for expanding the instrument's repertoire and captivating audiences with her original programming. Brian Newhouse managed to talk with Leila as her phone was ringing off the hook with well-wishers.
Listen to Leila's reaction to the news
Find out how Alex got the news
The Piano Puzzler® with Bruce Adolphe is now available for download and as a podcast.
Performance Today is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts - which believes that a great nation deserves great art - and also by The Huss Foundation, the Mardag Foundation, the Katherine B. Andersen Fund of The Saint Paul Foundation, the Phyllis S. Poehler / Walter E. Stremel Trust, and Emily Anne & Gedney Tuttle, and the Friends of Performance Today: Cy and Paula DeCosse, Connie and Dan Kunin.
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