Poster Shostakovich
Shostakovich head shot. Resting on hand.
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Performance Today®

Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony

Ever since Dmitri Shostakovich premiered his fifth symphony in 1937, critics and musicians have been arguing over what it means. The work is powerful; no one disputes that. But is it power that defies authority, or celebrates it? That's the sticking point. You can hear the final two movements on today's show and decide for yourself. Yuri Temirkanov leads the St. Petersburg Philharmonic of Russia, in concert in Birmingham, England.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Grigoras Dinicu: "Hora Staccato"
The New York Philharmonic with conductor Leonard Bernstein

Richard Strauss: "Quick Waltz" from "Der Rosenkavalier"
The New York Philharmonic with conductor Lorin Maazel

Leopold Godowsky and Frederic Chopin: Two selections from "Studies on the Chopin Etudes"
Pianist Francesco Libetta
Miami International Piano Festival, Miami Beach

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Adagio in B-flat, K. 411
David Shifrin and Todd Levy, clarinets; Mark Dubac, Kyle Knox and James Moffitt, basset horns
Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Igor Stravinsky: "The Song of the Nightingale"
The New York Philharmonic with conductor Lorin Maazel
Avery Fisher Hall, New York City

Maurice Ravel: "Le tombeau de Couperin"
Music@Menlo faculty members
Music@Menlo, Palo Alto, California

Hour 2

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Introduction, theme and seven variations from "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini"
Pianist Dmitri Alexeev with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Yuri Temirkanov

Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Three Fugues from "The Well-Tempered Klavier" for String Quartet, K. 405
The Orion String Quartet
Music@Menlo, Palo Alto, California

Anonymous: "A New Tune"
The Palladian Ensemble
Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, St. Paul

Dmitri Shostakovich: Third and fourth movements from Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47
The St. Petersburg Philharmonic with conductor Yuri Temirkanov
Symphony Hall, Birmingham, England

Ludwig van Beethoven: Rondino in E-flat for wind octet, WoO. 25
The Chicago Chamber Musicians
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, Evanston, Illinois

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About Performance Today®

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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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