Felix Mendelssohn was 20 years old, and on holiday in Scotland. Visiting a ruined castle, he wrote, "Everything around is broken and mouldering, and the bright sky shines in. I believe that today I've found the beginning of my Scottish Symphony." From the shards of that ruined place, Mendelssohn created a work of great wholeness and beauty. Today, we'll go to a concert in Berlin to hear the German Symphony Orchestra perform it.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Felix Mendelssohn: Songs Without Words, Op. 19, No. 2 in A Minor, and Op. 19, No. 3 in A ("Hunting Song")
Pianist Daniel Barenboim
Scott Tennant and Simon Jeffes: "Daya's Spin,""Music for a Found Harmonium," and "The Cat-Cow Reel"
The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
Kaul Auditorium, Portland, Oregon
Frederic Chopin: "Three Ecossaises," Op. 72
Pianist Arthur Greene
Britton Recital Hall, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in A Minor, Op. 56 ("Scottish")
The German Symphony Orchestra, Berlin, with conductor Kent Nagano
Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany
Hour 2
Ludwig van Beethoven: March for Piano, Four Hands, Op. 45
Pianists Cecile Licad and Mieczyslaw Horszowski
Marlboro Festival, Marlboro, Vermont
Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto Grosso Op. 3, No. 11, RV 565
The Australian Chamber Orchestra with violinist and conductor Richard Tognetti
Lobero Theatre, Santa Barbara, California
Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in E-flat, Op. 64, No. 6
Musicians from Marlboro
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Gyorgy Ligeti: "Concerto Romanesc"
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with conductor Antonio Pappano
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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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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