Poster Salome
Salome bronze sculpture, by Paul Manship (1915)
Paul Manship, sculptor
Performance Today®

The Dance of the Seven Veils

In nine minutes of ravishing music by Richard Strauss, Salome sheds her inhibitions along with her clothes in a dance for her step-father, King Herod. The scene from Strauss' opera Salome shocked audiences when it premiered in 1905. In today's show, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra plays Strauss' infamous Dance of the Seven Veils, in a concert from the BBC Proms in London.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Antonin Dvorak: Slavonic Dance No. 8, Op. 46
The New York Philharmonic, Kurt Masur, conductor

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Adagio in B-flat, K. 411
Festival Musicians
Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Igor Stravinsky: Le Chant du Rossignol (the Song of the Nightingale)
The New York Philharmonic, Lorin Maazel, conductor
Avery Fisher Hall, New York City

Maurice Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
Festival Musicians
Music@Menlo, Palo Alto, California

Hour 2

John Foulds: Keltic Lament, Op. 29, No. 2
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo, conductor

Ludwig van Beethoven: Egmont Overture, Op. 84
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden, conductor
Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas

Gioachino Rossini: Overture to William Tell
The Dallas Wind Symphony, Kevin Sedatole, conductor
Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas

Gary Schocker: Three Dances for Two Flutes
Eugenia Zukerman and Gary Schocker, flutes, Ran Dank, piano
Young Concert Artists Anniversary Concert, New York City

Jean-Philippe Rameau: Gavotte and Variations
The Brasil Guitar Duo
Spivey Hall, Morrow, Georgia

Michael Jackson: Billie Jean
The Anderson and Roe Piano Duo
Cooperstown Summer Music Festival, Cooperstown, New York

Richard Strauss: The Dance of the Seven Veils, from Salome
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons, conductor
The BBC Proms, London, England

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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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