Poster Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park
Lamar Valley, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Wikimedia Creative Commons, user: Acroterion
Performance Today®

Life and death and transfiguration

Music can reflect our greatest hopes, our struggles, and our most profound revelations. The young Richard Strauss was aiming for all of that when he wrote his monumental piece, "Death and Transfiguration." On Tuesday's Performance Today, listen in and experience the emotions of a life on the cusp, from a concert in Copenhagen Denmark. You'll also hear music from "Considering Matthew Shepard", a deeply reflective composition by Craig Hella Johnson, featuring the vocal ensemble Conspirare.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Richard Strauss: Wiegenlied (Lullaby)
Tine Thing Helseth, trumpet; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; Eivind Aadland, conductor
Storyteller
EMI 88328

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 18 in D Major, K. 576: Movement 2
Jonathan Biss, piano
Union College Concert Series, Union College Memorial Chapel, Schenectady, NY

Richard Strauss: Death and Transfiguration, Op. 24
Danish National Symphony Orchestra; Leonidas Kavakos, conductor
Concert Hall, DR Concert House, Copenhagen, Denmark

Traditional: Two Traditional Works: (1) Lydar latt, 'Sounding Melody' (2) Tanzmelodie, 'Dance Melody'
Ragnhild Hemsing, violin and Hardanger fiddle
Schwetzingen Festival, Jagdsaal, Schwetzingen, Germany

Hour 2

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Wind Serenade in C minor: Movement 2
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Night Moods Soulful Serenade
DG 453903

Pietro Mascagni: Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana
Windham Festival Chamber Orchestra; Robert Manno, conductor
Windham Chamber Music Festival, Windham Civic Centre Concert Hall, Windham, NY

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (arr. WindSync): Fantasia in F minor for Organ, K. 608
WindSync
The Schubert Club, Saint Anthony Park United Church of Christ, St Paul, MN

Craig Hella Johnson: Considering Matthew Shepard (excerpts)
Vanguel Tangarov; Thomas Burritt; Mitch Watkins; Craig Hella Johnson; Stephen Redfield; Ames Asbell; Jessica Valls; Conspirare; Craig Hella Johnson, conductor
Considering Matthew Shepard
Harmonia Mundi 80763839

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About Performance Today®

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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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