In 1867, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen wrote a play about a young man who spends his life avoiding responsibility. The play features amorous milkmaids, a runaway bride, a cave full of trolls, and a sojourn in the deserts of Egypt. The drama never became one of Ibsen's biggest hits, but the music that Edvard Grieg wrote for it did. On today's PT, Grieg's "Peer Gynt" suites 1 and 2, performed by the North German Radio Philharmonic.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Dmitri Shostakovich: Prelude and Fugue No. 15
Pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy
Traditional: "Chad Gadya" ("One Young Goat")
Harpist Rachel Van Voorhees
Joel Engel: "Beggar's Dance," from "The Dybbuk," Op. 35
The Biava Quartet and friends
The New York Society for Ethical Culture, New York City
Levon Eroyan: "Variations on an Anatolian Tune"
Pianist Sahan Arzruni
Merkin Concert Hall, New York City
"The Piano Puzzler": This week's contestant is Timothy Strand from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Dmitri Shostakovich: Concerto for Piano, Trumpet, and Strings in C Minor, Op. 35
Jon Kimura Parker, piano, and Mark Hughes, trumpet, with the Houston Symphony Orchestra and conductor Hans Graf
Jones Hall, Houston
Tobias Picker: "Old and Lost Rivers"
The Houston Symphony Orchestra with conductor Hans Graf
Jones Hall, Houston
Hour 2
Antonin Dvorak: Polonaise from "Rusalka"
The Minnesota Orchestra with conductor Eiji Oue
Traditional (Arranged by Mark O'Connor): "Amazing Grace"
Violinist Mark O'Connor
Field Concert Hall, Philadelphia
Edvard Grieg: "Peer Gynt," Suties No. 1 and 2, Op. 46 and 55
The North German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor Eiji Oue
Grand Studio, Hanover, Germany
Robert Schumann: Arabeske in C, Op. 18
Pianist Christian Zacharias
Spivey Hall, Morrow, Georgia
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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.
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