The most compelling stories to come out of the London Olympics are the ones of triumph over adversity. Hard-fought victories, athletes overcoming setback or injury to win medals. Sergei Rachmaninoff battled overwhelming criticism and self-doubt when he was writing his second piano concerto. He even did what many athletes do to improve their mental game. He consulted a hypnotherapist. Today, we'll visit the other big event going on in London right now, the Proms. Kirill Gerstein plays Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Prelude in G Minor, Op. 23, No. 5
The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Sergiu Comissiona, conductor
Richard Strauss: Sextet from Capriccio, Op. 85
Lorenza Borrani and Daniel Hope, violins, Carla Maria Rodrigues and Philip Dukes, violas, Keith Robinson and Jonathan Cohen, cellos
Savannah Music Festival, Savannah, Georgia
Johann Paul von Westhoff: Imitazione del Liuto (Imitation of the Lute), from Violin Sonata No. 2
Daniel Hope, violin, Paul O'Dette, lute
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New York City
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor
Kirill Gerstein, piano, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo, conductor
The BBC Proms, London, England
Hour 2
Felix Mendelssohn: Scherzo from Octet in E-flat, Op. 20
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Pinchas Zukerman, conductor
Joseph Haydn: Two movements from Aus des Ramlers Lyrischer Blumenlese, Hob. XXVb/c
Sarah Shafer, soprano, Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano, Karim Sulayman, tenor, John Moore, baritone, Richard Goode, piano
Marlboro Music Festival, Marlboro, Vermont
Vasen (Arranged by the Punch Brothers): Flippen (The Flip)
The Punch Brothers
Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, Athens, Georgia
Felix Mendelssohn: String Quintet No. 2 in B-flat, Op. 87
Ying Fu and Lucy Chapman, violins, Mary Sang-hyun Yong and Kyle Armbrust, violas, Bronwyn Banerdt, cello
Marlboro Music Festival, Marlboro, Vermont
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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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