Poster View over the Atacama desert
View over the Atacama desert
Photo: Frode, via Wikimedia Commons
Performance Today®

PT Weekend: Impressions of the Puna

The Puna de Atacama (Atacama Plateau) region of Argentina and Chile is a dry landscape with tumbleweeds and animals like alpacas, llamas, and vicuñas. It's both rugged and beautiful. Painters often capture the Puna de Atacama in soft pastels or watercolors. In 1934, Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera expressed this place in music. We'll take you to hear 'Impressions of the Puna' by Alberto Ginastera at this year's Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, California.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Igor Stravinsky: Duo Concertante Movement 4: Gigue
Jennifer Frautschi, violin | Marta Aznavoorian, piano
Album: Stravinsky, Ravel, Jennifer Frautschi, Marta Aznavoorian
Artek 00062

Peter Tchaikovsky: Serenade melancolique in B-flat Minor, Op. 2
Ji Yoon Park, violin | Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra | Mikko Franck, conductor
Auditorium, Radio France Broadcasting House, Paris, France

Piano Puzzler
Contestant: Stephen Farrand from calling from Freeport, ME

Joseph Suk: Piano Quartet in A Minor, Op. 1
George Li, piano | Oliver Neubauer, violin | Paul Neubauer, viola | Sophie Shao, cello
Chamber Music Northwest Summer Festival, Kaul Auditorium, Reed College, Portland, OR

Hour 2

Jean Sibelius: Andante Festivo
Sphinx Virtuosi | Damon Gupton, conductor
Album: Sphinx Virtuosi Live in Concert
White Pine Music 227

Alberto Ginastera: Impresiones De La Puna (Impressions of the Puna)
Alice K. Dade, flute | Scott Yoo and Aurelia Duca, violins | Clinton Dewing, viola | Sterling Elliott, cello
Festival Mozaic, Mission San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, CA

Maurice Ravel: Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello
Adam Golka, piano | Robert Uchida, violin | Madeleine Kabat, cello
Lakes Area Music Festival, Gichi-ziibi Center for the Arts, Brainerd, MN

Jean Sibelius: The Swan of Tuonela No. 2 from Legends, Op. 22
Tamara Winston, English horn | Nashville Symphony | Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
Nashville Symphony, The Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville, TN

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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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