COMING UP ON NPR's WEEKEND PT MAY 15 AND MAY 16, 1999
LISA SIMEONE IS HOST
Saturday, MAY 15
Hour 1-- Milestones of the Millennium--William Shakespeare: In today's
edition of "Milestones of the Millennium," we'll take a look at the impact
the Bard has had on the world of music, and how his plays have inspired
great composers to write everything from madrigals to ballets to Broadway
musicals.
Hour 2-- Books on Berlin: PT commentator, pianist and entertainer Max
Morath reviews two new biographies --"Irving Berlin: American Troubadour"
by Edward Jablonski (Henry Holt & Company) and "Irving Berlin: A Life in
Song" by Philip Furia (Schirmer Books).
Sunday, MAY 16
Hour 1-- Schubert for three: Franz Schubert lived most of his professional
life in the shadow of Beethoven, and when he died at the age of 31, most
of his music was still unpublished. We'll hear one of the masterpieces
uncovered after his death--the Piano Trio in B-flat, an emotional piece
that's now one of the most popular works in the chamber music repertory.
It's performed by the Eroica Trio--violinist Adela Pena, cellist Sara
Sant'Ambrogio, and pianist Erika Nikrenz--from a recital last month in
Boston, Massachusetts.
Hour 2-- Basic Transcendentalism: PT critic Ted Libbey joins Lisa for a
visit to the 20th-century wing of PT's Basic Record Library. Today Ted
adds three outstanding recordings of the Piano Sonata No. 2, the "Concord"
Sonata, which is Charles Ives' response to the transcendentalist ideas of
19th century American thinkers such as Thoreau and Emerson.
COMING UP ON NPR's PERFORMANCE TODAY MAY 17--MAY 24, 1999
Monday, MAY 17
Hour 1-- Krystian Zimerman: The outstanding Polish pianist has just driven
across America; he'll share his impressions and we'll hear music from his
latest recording of Piano Concertos by Maurice Ravel on the Deutsche
Grammophon label.
Hour 2-- PT Awards 1999--Judith Ingolfsson: Icelandic violinist Judith
Ingolfsson finished first at the 1998 International Violin Competition in
Indianapolis. And she's one of the five contenders for PT's "Debut Artist
of the Year" award. We'll hear one of Ingolfsson's performances at the
Indiana competition that helped her come out on top. She plays Mozart's
Violin Concerto No. 5 with the Suzuki and Friends Chamber Orchestra,
conducted by Hidetaro Suzuki.
Tuesday, MAY 18
Hour 1-- An Award-Winning Hour: The 1999 Performance Today Awards, which
recognize classical music-makers for their significant contributions to
music in America, were announced last night at Lincoln Center in New York
City. Lisa checks in with Martin Goldsmith, who hosted the ceremonies and
will fill us in on this year's winners.
And Performance Today was a winner, too. At the George Foster Peabody
Awards ceremony yesterday afternoon in New York, PT was recognized for
"more than a decade of entertaining and enlightening listeners and making
serious music both contemporary and accessible." We'll hear excerpts from
one of the programs that the judges heard--our tribute to George Gershwin
that aired last September.
Hour 2-- Coming to Terms with strings: Have you ever wondered about
the strings on a violin? In today's edition of "Coming to Terms," PT
commentator and violist Miles Hoffman and Lisa Simeone talk about strings,
including what they're made of (and what they're NOT made of) and how they
produce sound.
Wednesday, MAY 19
Hour 1-- Milestones of the Millennium--Claudio Monteverdi: We continue
our countdown to the year 2001 with PT's "Milestones of the Millennium,"
a two-year series of essays that will create a picture in sound of the
pivotal events, places, movements, artists and musical works of the
past 1000 years. Today, commentator Jan Swafford looks at the life and
contributions of a man who revolutionized opera and created a bridge from
the Renaissance to the Baroque --16th century Italian composer Claudio
Monteverdi.
Hour 2-- The Sounds of "Star Wars: Fans of the "Star Wars" movies
have something to cheer about: "The Phantom Menace," the first of the
long-awaited "prequels," opens today. And with the movie comes a score
that composer John Williams describes as "90 percent new." How does it
measure up to the Oscar-winning music that Williams wrote for the first
three "Star Wars" movies? PT commentator and violist Toby Appel has seen
"The Phantom Menace," and he talks with Lisa about his impressions of the
score.
Thursday, MAY 20
Hour 1-- The Bolton School Project: There's been a lot of talk about
classical music building babies' brains. But what about older kids? In
North Carolina, a five-year collaboration between an elementary school
and the Winston-Salem Piedmont Triad Symphony has produced some amazing
academic results. Reporter Michelle Johnson takes us to Bolton Elementary
School for a first-hand look at a unique curriculum that uses music to
teach courses like reading and math.
Hour 2-- Basic Debussy: Ted Libbey joins Lisa for a visit to the 20th
century wing of the PT Basic Record Library, where Ted adds three
outstanding recordings of Claude Debussy's "La Mer" to the collection.
Friday, MAY 21
Hour 1-- Winning women: Earlier this month, three violinists--Sarah Chang,
Pamela Frank and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg - became the first women to win
the Avery Fisher Prize in the award's 25-year history. PT commentator
Katrine Ames talked to all three and she reflects on what this prize will
mean for their careers.
Hour 2-- Live in Studio 4A--A Tribute to Robert Casadesus: 1999 marks
the 100th anniversary of the birth of French pianist and composer Robert
Casadesus. In this hour, Lisa welcomes violinist Elisabeth Adkins and
pianist Edward Newman to NPR's Studio 4A, where they'll reprise some of the
music they played last night in a concert tribute to Casadesus at La Maison
Francais in Washington, DC. And they're joined by the composer's daughter,
Therese Casadesus Rawson, who'll share some memories of her father with us.
MONDAY, MAY 24
Hour 1-- Barto and Bartok from Houston: After 11 years at the helm, the
Music Director of the Houston Symphony, Christoph Eschenbach, is stepping
down at the end of this season. From now through June 1, we'll hear music
from Eschenbach's final performances with the orchestra, beginning with
excerpts from last night's "Barto and Bartok" concert featuring pianist
Tzimon Barto and music by Bela Bartok, Sergei Prokofiev, and Bright Sheng.
Hour 2-- Rebel in Studio 4A: ...and these Rebels have a cause. The members
of the Baroque ensemble Rebel (pronounced reh-BEL) are our newest PT Young
Artists-in Residence, and all this week they'll join Lisa in Studio 4A for
music-making and conversation. Today we'll meet the members of the group,
and they'll perform a selection of Venetian and Neapolitan works written
for the recorder--including "Les Elements" by their namesake, French
Baroque composer Jean-Fery Rebel.
FOR MORE PROGRAM INFORMATION, COME AND BROWSE PERFORMANCE TODAY'S WEB PAGE:
http://www.npr.org/programs/pt
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