Performance Today®

The Isle of the Dead

A rocky island, surrounded by black water, with a dark sky overhead. A boatman is rowing toward an out-cropping where, presumably, his ghostly white passenger will spend the rest of time. It's a painting by Arnold Bocklin called "The Isle of the Dead." Sergei Rachmaninoff was so taken with the painting that he wrote a tone poem called "The Isle of the Dead." In the opening moments of the piece, low strings and winds rock gently but ominously back and forth. The water lapping against the rocky shores, just as in Bocklin's painting. In today's show, Alan Buribayev leads the Brabant Orchestra in a performance, from a concert at Amsterdam's Concertgebouw.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Oriental Dance, Op. 2, No. 2
Lynn Harrell, cello, Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano

Jose Luis Merlin: Joropa from Suite del Recuerdo
Jason Vieaux, guitar
Spivey Hall, Morrow, Georgia

Roland Dyens: The Wiz
Roland Dyens, guitar
Spivey Hall, Morrow, Georgia

The Piano Puzzler: This week's contestant is Marilea Butler from Bonaire, Georgia

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Isle of the Dead, Op. 29
The Brabant Orchestra, Alan Buribayev, conductor
The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Hour 2

Igor Stravinsky: Scherzo a la Russe
The Russian National Orchestra, Mikhail Pletnev, conductor

Perfchat with the King's Singers: Perfchat

John Bennet: All Creatures Now
The King's Singers
Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, St. Paul

Edward Elgar: O Happy Eyes
The King's Singers
Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, St. Paul

Traditional (Arranged by Philip Lawson): The Water Is Wide
The King's Singers
Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, St. Paul

Libby Larsen: Will You Nill You
The King's Singers
Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, St. Paul

Gioachino Rossini: Overture to La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie)
The Russian National Orchestra, Carlo Montanaro, conductor
Festival del Sole, Napa Valley, California

John Brunning: Pie Jesu
The King's Singers
Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, St. Paul

John David: You Are the New Day
The King's Singers
Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, St. Paul

Harry Connick, Jr.: Recipe for Love
The King's Singers
Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, St. Paul

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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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