Poster La Symphonie fantastique
Poster for La Symphonie fantastique (1942)
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Performance Today®

Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique

Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique is one part tender love song, one part crazy paranoid hallucination. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear highlights from this unusual piece from a concert in the Czech Republic.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Joseph Haydn: Trumpet Concerto in E-flat Movement: 3 Allegro
Wynton Marsalis, trumpet; English Chamber Orchestra; Raymond Leppard, conductor
Album: Franz Joseph Haydn - Surprise And Farewell
Sony 61700

Wynton Marsalis: At the Octoroon Balls, String Quartet No. 1 (excerpts)
Members of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra: Maureen Nelson, violin; Kayla Moffett, violin; Maiya Papach, viola; Sarah Lewis, cello
Sundin Hall, Hamline University, Saint Paul, MN

Piano Puzzler: This week's contestant is Marc Loudon from New Orleans, LA

Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14: Movements 4 & 5
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra; Ondrej Lenard, conductor
Rudolfinum, Dvorak Hall, Prague, Czech Republic

Hour 2

Edward Elgar: Sospiri
BBC Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Davis, conductor
Edward Elgar: The Music Makers/Short Pieces
Teldec 92374

Edward Elgar: Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85: Movement 4 Allegro, ma non troppo
Santiago Canon-Valencia, cello; Sphinx Symphony Orchestra; Thomas Wilkins, conductor
The Sphinx Organization, Max M. & Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, Detroit, MI

Mason Bates: Elements
Emma Resmini, flute; Hugh Sung, piano
Performance Today Young Artist in Residence, Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, St. Paul, MN

Samuel Barber: Souvenirs
Oregon Symphony; Carlos Kalmar, conductor
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland, OR

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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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