December 12, 2012
A Box Full of Possibilities
The piano is essentially a percussion instrument. You press a key, a hammer hits the corresponding string, and a note is produced. But is that all there is? There must be more to playing the piano than that. Today, we'll hear one of the great pianists of our time, Garrick Ohlsson. He weighs in on the difficulties of the piano, calling it "a box full of diminuendos." But with Ohlsson in the driver's seat, we prefer to think of it as a box full of exquisite possibilities. Garrick Ohlsson plays a Chopin concerto with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony.
Today's Playlist
Performance Today audio is available for seven days following broadcast.
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Jean Sibelius
Valse Triste, Op. 44, No. 1
The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor
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Antonio Vivaldi
Gloria in D, RV 589
Karina Gauvin, soprano, Maarten Engeltjes, countertenor, the B'Rock Belgian Baroque Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Chorus, Peter Dijkstra, conductor
Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium
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The Piano Puzzler
This week's contestant is Ellen Ciompi from Durham, North Carolina
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Sergei Rachmaninoff
Virgin, Mother of God, from Vespers, Op. 37 (All-Night Vigil)
The Swedish Radio Chorus, Peter Dijkstra, director
St. James' Church, Stockholm, Sweden
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John Playford
An Italian Rant
The Baltimore Consort
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Anonymous Scottish
The Scotch Cuckold
The Baltimore Consort
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Traditional (arranged by Arthur Harris and William Silvester)
Deck the Halls
The Dallas Wind Symphony, Jerry Junkin, conductor
Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas
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Frederic Chopin
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21
Garrick Ohlsson, piano, the San Francisco Symphony, Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco
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Traditional (arranged by Steven Stucky)
Lulajze, Jezuniu
Chanticleer, Dale Warland, director
St. Vincent de Paul Church, Petaluma, California
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John Playford
Excerpts from the English Dancing Master
Les Ambassadeurs, Alexis Kossenko, director
Mazovia Goes Baroque Festival, Warsaw, Poland