Claude Debussy wanted to offer his friend Erik Satie a little advice. "Your music needs structure and shape," Debussy told him. Satie had a sense of humor. On Wednesday's Performance Today, listen to Erik Satie's response to his friend's advice: "Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear," a collection of seven short, nearly structureless pieces for piano.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Johann Sebastian Bach: Three-part Inventions
Janine Jansen, violin; Maxim Rysanov, viola; Torleif Thedeen, cello
Inventions & Partita
London/Decca 9905
Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major, BWV 1046
Peter McGuire, violin; Michael Gast, horn; Brian Jensen, horn; Minnesota Orchestra; Osmo Vanska, conductor
Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, MN
Piano Puzzler: This week's contestant Mike Freiberg from Golden Valley, MN
Ole Bull: Solitude sur la montagne
Ragnhild Hemsing, violin and Hardanger fiddle; Tor Espen Aspaas, piano
Schwetzingen Festival, Jagdsaal, Schwetzingen, Germany
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Prelude in G Major, Op. 32, No. 5
Alim Beisembayev, piano
Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition, Pepsico Recital Hall, TCU, Fort Worth, TX
Hour 2
Erik Satie: Gnossienne No. 1 from Trois Gnossiennes
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
Satie: The Complete Solo Piano Music
London Decca 473620
Erik Satie: Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear: Movement 1
Anna Petrova, piano; Josu de Solaun, piano
Virginia Arts Festival, Miller Studio, Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, Virginia Beach, VA
Paul Dukas: The Sorcerer's Apprentice
The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, New York
Camille Saint-Saens: Septet in E-Flat Major for Trumpet, Strings and Piano, Op. 65: Movements 1-4
Michael Sachs, trumpet; Martin Chalifour, violin; Jun-Ching Lin, violin; Robert Vernon, viola; Mark Kosower, cello; Timothy Pitts, bass
Strings Music Festival, Strings Pavilion, Steamboat Springs, CO
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About Performance Today®
To find a station near you on our Stations Listings page, click here.
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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