TWO SPECIAL EDITIONS OF PERFORMANCE TODAY: We are pleased to announce that
Performance Today will broadcast two concerts live from Houston on Sunday,
May 30 at 2:00 PM CDT and Monday, May 31 at 8:00 PM CDT. Both concerts
feature Christoph Eschenbach conducting the Houston Symphony in his last
programs as music director of the orchestra. The May 30th program is
Mahler's Symphony No. 3, and the May 31st program is Beethoven's Symphony
No. 9. These concerts will be aired in addition to the regular PT program
on that date. Please check with your local station to determine if they will
be carrying these special programs.
COMING UP ON NPR's WEEKEND PT MAY 29 AND MAY 30, 1999
LISA SIMEONE IS HOST
Saturday, MAY 29
Hour 1-- Milestones of the Millennium--The History of Recorded Sound:
Before 1877, the only way to hear music was to perform it or attend a
concert. But Thomas Edison changed that forever with his invention of a
machine called the phonograph. In today's "Milestones of the Millennium,"
long-time radio announcer and record producer Dennis Rooney joins Lisa to
consider how the ability to record sound has revolutionized the classical
music industry.
Hour 2-- The Sounds of "Star Wars: How does the score to the "Phantom
Menace" measure up to the Oscar-winning music that Williams wrote for the
first three "Star Wars" movies? PT commentator and violist Toby Appel
offers his impressions.
Sunday, MAY 30
Hour 1-- Awe-inspiring Mozart: After first hearing Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart's String Quartet No. 15, fellow composer Franz Joseph Haydn
declared that Mozart was "the greatest composer known" to him. We'll
hear the Juilliard String Quartet perform Mozart's masterpiece, from
a concert they gave last month at Spivey Hall in Morrow, Georgia.
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.
COMING UP ON NPR's PERFORMANCE TODAY MAY 31--JUNE 7, 1999
Monday, MAY 31
MARTIN GOLDSMITH IS HOST
Hour 1-- Performance Today Live from Houston: Tonight marks the end of
an era for the Houston Symphony: Christoph Eschenbach will officially
step down after 11 years as music director. We'll begin with music from
Houston. From the Moores School of Music Opera House at the University
of Houston, Martin talks with the Greenbriar Players, an ensemble made up
of members of the Houston Symphony. They'll play excerpts from the Piano
Quintet, Op. 15, by Gabriel Faure. And American composer Stephan Shewan
introduces his work for strings called "Elegy."
Hour 2-- Eschenbach conducts Mahler: In this hour, Dean Dalton of NPR
member station KUHF offers a profile of Christophe Eschenbach and we'll
hear the finale of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3, performed Sunday night
by Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony.
Tuesday, JUNE 1
Hour 1-- Performance Today Live from Houston: Martin welcomes a live
audience to the Moores School of Music Opera House at the University of
Houston for today's broadcast. We'll spend this hour with Texas-based
artists, including pianist James Dick, who performs music by Franz Schubert
and Franz Liszt. We'll also investigate performances by "Ensemble X,"
which is bringing new music to the Houston area.
Hour 2-Eschenbach conducts Beethoven: On the morning after his final
performance with the Houston Symphony, Christoph Eschenbach talks to host
Martin Goldsmith about his years in Houston and his plans for the future.
And from last night's concert, we'll hear the finale of Ludwig van
Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, including the moving "Ode to Joy."
Wednesday, JUNE 2
Hour 1-- Milestones of the Millennium--The Enlightenment: The European
Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries saw the rise of reason,
religious tolerance, revolution--and great music. In today's "Milestones
of the Millennium," Lisa and author Nicholas Till take an in-depth look at
the Enlightenment and how its political, social, and economic philosophies
affected composers and the music they wrote.
Hour 2-- Happy Birthday, Sir Edward: British composer Edward Elgar was
born on this date in 1857. We'll mark the occasion with a work that was
first played by Fritz Kreisler in 1910--the Violin Concerto. Violinist
Kyoko Takezawa is the soloist, and Peter McCoppin conducts the Charlotte
Symphony
Thursday, JUNE 3
Hour 1-- Digitized Rachmaninoff: "A Window in Time." Reporter Alex van
Oss introduces us to Wayne Stahnke, who's developed a new technology that
transfers and enhances the music Sergei Rachmaninoff recorded onto piano
rolls earlier this century. Stahnke's work has resulted in two CDs of
performances by the Russian virtuoso and composer called "A Window in
Time." (Telarc CD-80489 and CD-80491)
Hour 2-- Basic Gorecki: Ted Libbey joins Lisa for a visit to the
20th-century wing of the PT Basic Record Library. Today Ted discusses
and recommends three outstanding recordings of the Symphony No. 3, the
"Symphony of Sorrowful Songs," by Polish composer Henryk Gorecki.
Friday, JUNE 4
Hour 1-- Beverly Sills and "Baby Doe": Soprano Beverly Sills turned 70
last week, and there's a new CD to mark the occasion. A 1958 recording
of the opera "The Ballad of Baby Doe" by American composer Douglas Moore
has just been released, and PT critic Katrine Ames reviews it for us.
(Deutsche Grammophon 289 465 148)
Hour 2-- In this hour, we'll feature a recent orchestral or chamber music
performance.
MONDAY, JUNE 7
Hour 1-- The tenth incarnation of the Boston Early Music Festival opened
yesterday and Boston Globe critic Richard Dyer offers a perspective on the
worth of this kind of gathering.
Hour 2-- American Orchestras: In this hour, we'll feature an outstanding
performance by a US orchestra.
FOR MORE PROGRAM INFORMATION, COME AND BROWSE PERFORMANCE TODAY'S WEB PAGE:
http://www.npr.org/programs/pt
***NOTE: SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. FOR EXACT BROADCAST TIMES, CONTACT
YOUR LOCAL PUBLIC RADIO STATION OR CALL PERFORMANCE TODAY AT (202) 414-2370.
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