If you sat through Richard Wagner's four-opera "Ring" cycle start to finish, it would take close to a day. It's tough to break that down into bite-sized portions, but there are a few "Ring" excerpts that make their way into the concert hall. On today's show, we'll hear orchestral excerpts from the final opera in the cycle, "Gotterdammerung," or "The Twilight of the Gods," featuring Simon Rattle and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Johann Sebastian Bach: Fugue No. 4 in C-sharp Minor, BWV 849
Pianist Helene Grimaud
Ron Ford: "Motet"
Calefax
The Frick Collection, New York City
Joseph Guy Ropartz: Prelude, Marine, and Chanson for Flute, Harp, and Strings
Flutist Gretchen Pusch, harpist Hannah Lash, violinist Jorja Fleezanis, violist Zoltan Toth, and cellist Emilio Colon
Round Top Festival, Round Top, Texas
Johann Sebastian Bach: Prelude and Fugue No. 9 in E, BWV 878, Prelude in E, BWV 1006, and Prelude, BWV 872
Pianist Helene Grimaud
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: "The Calendar Prince," from "Scheherazade"
The Buffalo Philharmonic with violinist Michael Ludwig and conductor JoAnn Falletta
Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, New York
Hour 2
Traditional: "The Gift to be Simple"
The King's Singers
Paul Simon: "April Come She Will"
The King's Singers
Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto in D for Two Oboes, Two Violins, and Bassoon, RV 564a
Members of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with conductor Rachel Podger
International Chamber Orchestra Festival, Minneapolis
Richard Wagner: "Siegfried's Rhine Journey" and "Siegfried's Funeral Music," from "Gotterdammerung"
The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic with conductor Simon Rattle
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, England
Igor Stravinsky: Third Movement from "Symphony of Psalms"
The Berlin Philharmonic and Berlin Radio Choir with conductor Simon Rattle
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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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