Times were tough for Mozart in the summer of 1788. His financial life was a shambles, and he was reduced to writing a series of pitiful letters to a friend, pleading for money. But at the same time, he was also writing his final three symphonies, each of them a masterpiece. He churned them out over the course of two months that summer. We'll hear Mozart's Symphony Number 39, from a concert by James Levine and the Boston Symphony.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Jean Francaix: Second movement from Quintet No. 1 for Woodwinds
The Dorian Wind Quintet
Georges Bizet: Danse Boheme, from Carmen
Marie-Nicole Lemieux, contralto, the French National Orchestra, Fabien Gabel, conductor
Theatre des Champs-Elysees, Paris, France
Richard Strauss: Dreams in the Twilight
Arnold Steinhardt, violin, Seymour Lipkin, piano
Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, Athens, Georgia
The Piano Puzzler: This week's contestant is Fred Orelove from Richmond, Virginia
Fulvio Caldini: Clockwork Toccata
Quartet New Generation
Ojai Music Festival, Ojai, California
Jean Francaix: L'Horloge de Flore (the Flower Clock)
Joseph Robinson, oboe, the Bellingham Festival Orchestra, Michael Palmer, conductor
Bellingham Festival of Music, Bellingham, Washington
Hour 2
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Rondo from Quartet in F for Oboe and Strings, K. 370 (368b)
The Boston Symphony Chamber Players
Claude Debussy: Excerpts from Suite Bergamasque
The Calefax Reed Quintet
Haarlem Church, Haarlem, the Netherlands
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 39 in E-flat, K. 543
The Boston Symphony Orchestra, James Levine, conductor
Symphony Hall, Boston
Joseph Joachim: Romance in B-flat
Dimitri Murrath, viola, Vincent Planes, piano
Jordan Hall, Boston
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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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