Poster Minnesota Orchestra performing to an empty audience
The Minnesota Orchestra performing to an empty audience. March 13, 2020.
Joseph Scheller/Minnesota Orchestra
Performance Today®

...and no lines for the restrooms!

The Minnesota Orchestra played a concert in the middle of March, with no audience in the house, but live on stage and live on the radio. On today's show, we have the story, then hear pianist Kirill Gerstein play Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 2 with the Minnesota Orchestra and conductor Juanjo Mena, all for an empty hall.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Franz Schubert: Scherzo from Sonata in B-flat Major: Scherzo
Inon Barnatan, piano
Franz Schubert - Inon Barnatan
Bridge 9197

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No. 1, "Ghost"
Phillippe Quint, violin; Alisa Weilerstein, cello; Inon Barnatan, piano
Aspen Music Festival and School, Harris Concert Hall, Aspen, CO

Gustav Holst: The Perfect Fool, Ballet Music
Battle Creek Symphony; Anne Harrigan, conductor
The Music Center of South Central Michigan, W. K. Kellogg Auditorium, Battle Creek, MI

Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber: Passacaglia in G minor for Solo Violin: The Guardian Angel, from The Mystery Sonatas
Yura Lee, violin
Seattle Chamber Music Society, Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA

Hour 2

Robert Schumann: Carnaval: Movements 1 & 2
Kirill Gerstein, piano
Kirill Gerstein: Imaginary Pictures
Myrios 13

Felix Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66: Movement 4
Emily Daggett Smith, violin; Ani Aznavoorian, cello; Adam Neiman, piano
Manchester Music Festival, Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT

Joseph Achron: La Romanesca for Violin and Piano
Danbi Um, violin; Orion Weiss, piano
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York, NY

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 2 in C minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 18
Kirill Gerstein, piano; Minnesota Orchestra; Juanjo Mena, conductor
Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, MN

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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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