Legendary Swan Songs: the final concert performances by three 20th century masters. Leonard Bernstein was almost 72 years old in the fall of 1990, conducting a concert by the Boston Symphony. He'd been suffering from emphysema for several years. In the third movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, Bernstein began coughing and couldn't stop. The concert almost came to a halt, but somehow Bernstein controlled his coughing fit, and kept going. We'll hear the final movement from that performance...which turned out to be the last notes of Bernstein's final concert. Also, the final delicate encore from Vladimir Horowitz at age 83 in Hamburg. And highlights from the last concert by violinist Nathan Milstein, in Stockholm in 1986.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Frederic Chopin: Grande Valse in A-flat, Op. 42
Pianist Geza Anda
Salamone Rossi: Sonata No. 4 for Two Violins, Cello, and Harpsichord
Violinists Arnaud Sussmann and Erin Keefe, cellist Laurence Lesser, and harpsichordist Kenneth Cooper
Music@Menlo, Palo Alto, California
Frederic Chopin: Etude in C-sharp Minor, Op. 25, No. 7
Pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk
Miami International Piano Festival, Miami Beach
Alexander Scriabin: Etude in D-sharp Minor, Op. 8, No. 12
Pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk
Miami International Piano Festival, Miami Beach
Anton Bruckner: Scherzo and Finale from Symphony No. 4
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra with conductor Peter Oundjian
Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto, Canada
Hour 2
Frederic Chopin: Nocturne in E-flat, Op. 56, No. 3
Pianist Vladimir Horowitz
George Frideric Handel: Sonata in A, Op. 1, No. 3
Violinist Nathan Milstein and pianist Georges Pludermacher
Berwaldhallen, Stockholm, Sweden
Niccolo Paganini: Allegro from Caprice for Solo Violin, Op. 1, No. 13
Violinist Nathan Milstein
Berwaldhallen, Stockholm, Sweden
Benjamin Britten: "Four Sea Interludes," Op. 33a, from "Peter Grimes"
The Boston Symphony Orchestra with conductor Leonard Bernstein
Tanglewood Music Festival, Lenox, Massachusetts
Ludwig van Beethoven: Fourth Movement from Symphony No. 7 in A, Op. 92
The Boston Symphony Orchestra with conductor Leonard Bernstein
Tanglewood Music Festival, Lenox, Massachusetts
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Rondo in D, K. 485
Pianist Vladimir Horowitz
Laeiszhalle, Hamburg, Germany
Moritz Moszkowski: "Etincelles" ("Sparks"), Op. 36, No. 6
Pianist Vladimir Horowitz
Laeiszhalle, Hamburg, Germany
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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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