Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his Symphony No. 5 at a time when when honest words could be mortally dangerous. The symphony helped people in the USSR feel and experience what they were not allowed to say. On Wednesday's Performance Today, learn more about Shostakovich's fifth symphony, then hear it performed by the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, from a concert in Birmingham, England.
Episode Playlist
Hour 1
Manuel de Falla: Ritual Fire Dance
Montreal Symphony Orchestra
Essential Ballet Music
London 436658
Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita in D minor, BWV 1004: Chaconne
Xiang Yu, violin
Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, St. Paul, MN
The Piano Puzzler: This week's contestant is Daniel Swartz from Clark Summit, PA
Manuel de Falla: Suite No. 2, from The 3 Cornered Hat
New York Philharmonic; Alan Gilbert, conductor
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York, NY
Hour 2
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Dmitri Alexeev, piano; St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra; Yuri Temirkanov, conductor
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances, Aleko Overture
RCA 62710
Johann Sebastian Bach: Three Fugues from The Well-Tempered Klavier for String Quartet: Nos. 7, 8, 4
Orion String Quartet
Music@Menlo, St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Palo Alto, CA
Anonymous: A New Tune
The Palladian Ensemble
Saint Paul Sunday, Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, Minnesota Public Radio, St. Paul, MN
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47: Movement 3, 4
St. Petersburg Philharmonic; Yuri Temirkanov, conductor
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6
Warner 62354
Ludwig van Beethoven: Rondino in E-Flat for wind octet
Chicago Chamber Musicians
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
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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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