July 7, 2011
A Hero in His Own Mind
Is it a stupendous work of art, a shameless piece of self-promotion, or a mockery of the music business? Maybe it's all three. "Ein Heldenleben,""A Hero's Life," by (and about) Richard Strauss. Strauss told a friend "I don't see why I shouldn't write a symphony about myself, I find myself as interesting as Napoleon." Whether you take the grandiose plot seriously, or see it as Strauss poking fun at his critics, it's an astonishing and entertaining piece. Bernard Haitink conducts the Chicago Symphony, in concert at Orchestra Hall in downtown Chicago.
Today's Playlist
Performance Today audio is available for seven days following broadcast.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Menuetto from Serenade for Winds in C Minor, K. 388
Festival Musicians
Music@Menlo, Palo Alto, California
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Henry Purcell
Fantasia upon One Note, Z. 745
The Escher String Quartet, Hsin-Yun Huang, viola
Music@Menlo, Palo Alto, California
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Benedetto Marcello
Concerto in C Minor for Oboe and Strings
Kathryn Greenbank, oboe, Daxun Zhang, bass, the Escher String Quartet
Music@Menlo, Palo Alto, California
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Johann Sebastian Bach
Ricercar a 6 from Musical Offering, BWV 1079
Festival Musicians
Music@Menlo, Palo Alto, California
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Felix Mendelssohn
Songs without Words No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 85, and No. 4 in C, Op. 67 (Spinning Song)
Gilbert Kalish, piano
Music@Menlo, Palo Alto, California
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Camille Saint-Saens
The Carnival of the Animals
Festival Musicians
Music@Menlo, Palo Alto, California
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Peter Tchaikovsky
Waltz from Sleeping Beauty
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Morton Gould, conductor
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Felix Mendelssohn
Excerpt from Twelve Fugues for String Quartet
The Shanghai Quartet
Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York City
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Sergei Rachmaninoff
Waltz for Piano, Six Hands
Daniel Gerzenberg, Anton Gerzenberg, and Lilya Zilberstein, piano
Lugano Festival Lugano, Switzerland
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Richard Strauss
Excerpts from Ein Heldenleben
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Bernard Haitink, conductor
Orchestra Hall, Chicago