Poster Composer Iva Bittova plays for the Dalai Lama
Violinist and vocalist Iva Bittova performs for His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Artists own personal photo
Performance Today®

PT Weekend: Iva Bittova

Iva Bittova is a Czech violinist, singer, and composer. Her work these days is mostly focused on playing violin and singing, but she is still strongly influenced by her background in acting and dance. On today's episode, learn more about Iva Bittova and hear a performance of her composition "Divna Slecinka."

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Walter Piston: Symphony No. 4: IV. Energico
American Symphony Orchestra | Leon Botstein, conductor
Album: Piston: Symphony No. 4 - EP
American Symphony Orchestra

Johann Strauss Jr.: Kaiser-Walzer, Op. 437 Emperor Waltz
Festival Orchestra | Richard Rosenberg, conductor
National Music Festival, First United Methodist Church, Chestertown, MD

Piano Puzzler: Contestant: Andy Zerman from New York, NY
Music: 7:09

Egon Wellesz: Prospero's Incantations: Movements 1, 3-5
The Orchestra Now | Hans Graf, conductor
Bard College, The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

Hour 2

Gabriel Faure: Cello Sonata No. 1 in A Major, Op. 13 Movement 4 Allegro quasi presto
Yo-Yo Ma, cello | Kathryn Stott, piano
Album: Paris La Belle Epoque - Faure, Massenet, Etc / Ma, Stott
Sony 87287

Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in C major, Op. 20, No. 2
Simone Porter, violin | Karen Gomyo, violin | David Harding, viola | Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir, cello
Seattle Chamber Music Society, Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA

Iva Bittova: Divna Slecinka
James Austin Smith, oboe | Matthew Lipman, viola
Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach, The Gold Room - The Breakers, Palm Beach, FL

Gabriel Faure: Suite from Pelleas and Melisande
The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra | JoAnn Falletta, conductor
The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, NY

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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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