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March 22, 2010

Chopin Winner Rafal Blechacz

The Chopin Piano Competition happens once every five years, and hadn't had a winner in 15 years. But in 2005, a young Polish pianist walked away with every prize the jury had to give. Rafal Blechacz was just 20 when his life changed forever. On today's show, he joins host Fred Child to talk about, and play, music of Chopin and Mozart.

Today's Playlist

Performance Today audio is available for seven days following broadcast.

hour 1

  • Frederic Chopin
    Prelude in C-sharp Minor, Op. 45
    Pianist Rafal Blechacz
  • Johann Sebastian Bach
    Excerpts from Cantata No. 12 (Weeping, Lamenting, Worrying, Fearing)
    The Stuttgart Bach Collegium with conductor Helmuth Rilling
    Arts Center, Seoul, South Korea
  • Johann Sebastian Bach
    Fugue No. 9, from the Well-Tempered Clavier, BWV 878
    The Emerson String Quartet
    Alamo Heights United Methodist Church, San Antonio, Texas
  • Perfchat with Rafal Blechacz
  • Frederic Chopin
    Mazurkas Op. 17, No. 4, and Op. 50, No. 2
    Pianist Rafal Blechacz
    NPR Studios, Washington, D.C.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    Third movement from Sonata in B-flat, K. 570
    Pianist Rafal Blechacz
    NPR Studios, Washington, D.C.
  • Jean Sibelius
    Lemminkainen's Return, from Lemminkainen Suite, Op. 22
    The Los Angeles Philharmonic with conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen
    Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles

hour 2

  • Jacques Ibert
    First movement from Concerto for Flute and Orchestra
    Flutist Emmanuel Pahud with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra and conductor David Zinman
  • Li Huan Zhi
    Spring Festive Overture
    The Hong Kong Sinfonietta with conductor Edwin Outwater
    City Hall, Hong Kong, China
  • Johann Sebastian Bach
    Flute Sonata in B Minor, BWV 1030
    Flutist Emmanuel Pahud and harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock
    Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, Athens, Georgia
  • Johann Sebastian Bach
    Concerto for Violin and Oboe, BWV 1060
    Violinist Brian Lewis and oboist Alecia Lawyer with the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra and conductor Tanya Ratner
    St. John the Divine Episcopal Church, Houston
  • Stephen Sondheim
    Pretty Lady, from Pacific Overtures
    The London Symphony Orchestra with conductor Don Sebesky
  • Philharmonic and conductor Andrew Litton Sondheim
    The Ballad of Sweeney Todd
    George Hearn and Company with the New York Philharmonic and conductor Andrew Litton
    Avery Fisher Hall, New York City
Program Archive



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