Loving parents usually try to steer their children away from making the same mistakes they did. Thankfully, children don't always listen. Vanessa Perez's mother was a pianist who suffered from terrible stage fright, who thought that the life of a musician was just too hard. So when Vanessa asked for piano lessons, her mother said no. Eventually, she gave in, and Vanessa is now enjoying the life of a concert artist that had eluded her mother. We'll meet Vanessa Perez in today's show.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Bela Bartok: Fourth movement from Concerto for Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
Tomas Breton: Prelude from La Verbena de la Paloma
Los Romeros
92nd Street Y, New York City
Jeremy Cavaterra: Fantasy on Arturo Marquez's Danzon No. 2
The Salastina Music Society
Colburn School of Music, Los Angeles
The Piano Puzzler: This week's contestant is Jay Williams from Marietta, Georgia
Bela Bartok: Fifteen Hungarian Peasant Songs, BB 79, Sz. 71
The Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fischer, conductor
Carnegie Hall, New York City
Sergei Prokofiev: Finale from Symphony No. 1 in D, Op. 25
The Orchestra of St. Luke's, Ivan Fischer, conductor
DiMenna Center for Classical Music, New York City
Hour 2
Frederic Chopin: Preludes No. 9 in E and No. 13 in F-sharp, Op. 28
Vanessa Perez, piano
Johann Sebastian Bach: Gigue from Solo Violin Partita No. 3 in E, BWV 1006
Hilary Hahn, violin
Salle Pleyel, Paris, France
George Frideric Handel: Aria, Laschia ch'io Pianga (Let me Weep)
Albrecht Mayer, oboe, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Carnegie Hall, New York City
Perfchat with Vanessa Perez: Perfchat
Isaac Albeniz: Granada, from Suite Espagnole
Vanessa Perez, piano
NPR Studio 4A, Washington, D.C.
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Excerpts from Prole do Bebe No. 1 (The Family of Baby Dolls)
Vanessa Perez, piano
NPR Studio 4A, Washington, D.C.
Frederic Chopin: Four Preludes, Op. 28
Vanessa Perez, piano
NPR Studio 4A, Washington, D.C.
Anatol Liadov: Baba Yaga, Op. 56
The Houston Symphony Orchestra, Hans Graf, conductor
Spring For Music, New York City
Leonard Bernstein: Mambo from West Side Story
The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, William Eddins, conductor
Spring For Music, New York City
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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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