February 16, 2010

Legendary Swan Songs

Legendary Swan Songs: the final concert performances by three 20th century masters. Leonard Bernstein was almost 72 years old in the fall of 1990, conducting a concert by the Boston Symphony. He'd been suffering from emphysema for several years. In the third movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, Bernstein began coughing and couldn't stop. The concert almost came to a halt, but somehow Bernstein controlled his coughing fit, and kept going. We'll hear the final movement from that performance...which turned out to be the last notes of Bernstein's final concert. Also, the final delicate encore from Vladimir Horowitz at age 83 in Hamburg. And highlights from the last concert by violinist Nathan Milstein, in Stockholm in 1986.

Today's Playlist

Performance Today audio is available for seven days following broadcast.

hour 1

Frederic Chopin
Nocturne in E-flat, Op. 56, No. 3
Pianist Vladimir Horowitz
George Frideric Handel
Sonata in A, Op. 1, No. 3
Violinist Nathan Milstein and pianist Georges Pludermacher
Berwaldhallen, Stockholm, Sweden
Niccolo Paganini
Allegro from Caprice for Solo Violin, Op. 1, No. 13
Violinist Nathan Milstein
Berwaldhallen, Stockholm, Sweden
Benjamin Britten
"Four Sea Interludes," Op. 33a, from "Peter Grimes"
The Boston Symphony Orchestra with conductor Leonard Bernstein
Tanglewood Music Festival, Lenox, Massachusetts
Ludwig van Beethoven
Fourth Movement from Symphony No. 7 in A, Op. 92
The Boston Symphony Orchestra with conductor Leonard Bernstein
Tanglewood Music Festival, Lenox, Massachusetts
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Rondo in D, K. 485
Pianist Vladimir Horowitz
Laeiszhalle, Hamburg, Germany
Moritz Moszkowski
"Etincelles" ("Sparks"), Op. 36, No. 6
Pianist Vladimir Horowitz
Laeiszhalle, Hamburg, Germany

hour 2

Robert Schumann
Symphonic Etude No. 9, Variations I and II
Pianist Rudolf Buchbinder
Reitschule des Schlosses, Grafenegg, Austria
William Walton
Overture to "Portsmouth Point"
The BBC Symphony Orchestra with conductor Jiri Belohlavek
Royal Albert Hall, London
Franz Schubert
Impromptu, Op. 90, No. 4
Pianist Rudolf Buchbinder
Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Music Studio, St. Paul
Johann Strauss
"Soiree de Vienne"
Pianist Rudolf Buchbinder
Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Music Studio, St. Paul
Johannes Brahms
First movement from Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat, Op. 83
Pianist Rudolf Buchbinder with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt
The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

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