Discovering Bartok
July 3, 2010

We open a Bartók-featured program with András Schiff playing the first of Three Rondos on Folk Tunes, Sz. 84. The second movement of Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, an excerpt from the middle movement of his String Quartet No. 4, and the final movement of the composer's Piano Concerto No. 1 will anticipate a performance of Bartók's For Children, selections of which will be played by the composer himself.


Expert Collaborations
June 26, 2010

Featuring musicians in collaboration performing the Military March in G Major of Schubert, "Das Wandern" and "Mein!" from Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin, and the Rondo finale of Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61. Also, pianist Gerald Moore discusses the art of accompaniment.


Inspired by Nature
June, 19, 2010

Includes "Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea" from Debussy's La Mer; "Night Music" from Bartók's Out of Doors; "Cedar Breaks and the Gift of Awe" from Messiaen's From the Canyon to the Stars; and the final, Rondo movement of Beethoven's "Pastorale" Piano Sonata, Op. 28.


Favorite Schubert
June, 12, 2010

This program explores favorite Schubert recordings of your host. Who can resist the unforgettable lieder performances of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, the vastly different approaches to Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony, and the expressively delicate genius of pianist Richard Goode. Join me as we discover these unmatched Schubert interpretations: "Auf dem Wasser zu singen" and "Der Musensohn," the opening movement of Schubert's Symphony No. 8, and the Piano Sonata in D Major, D. 850 (finale).


Keyboard Giants
June, 5, 2010

This program is devoted to legendary performances of past generations in "Keyboard Giants." We will hear historical recordings from the early 1930s through the late 1970s by pianists of such familiar names as Martha Argerich, Edwin Fischer, Dinu Lipatti, Wilhelm Kempff, and William Kapell.


Musical Storms
May 29, 2010

This program features composers' depictions of thunderstorms: Antonio Vivaldi's famous "Spring" Concerto, opening movement; Franz Liszt's "Orage" from the first Years of Pilgrimage; an excerpt of the "Royal Hunt and Storm," from the opera Les Troyens of Berlioz; the movement "hailstones for rain" from Handel's Oratorio Israel in Egypt; Stravinsky's "The Flood" based on the biblical story of Noah; and the fourth-movement "Thunderstorm" from Beethoven's "Pastoral" Symphony No. 6.


Inspired by Beethoven
May 22, 2010

In his book The Symphony, Michael Steinberg writes of composers "Inspired by Beethoven:" "For his successors, Beethoven was a presence both scary and inspiring." Each composer responded to Beethoven's overwhelming presence in different ways; we will study how two of Beethoven's compositions influenced the music of later composers: Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" theme from the Ninth Symphony and Brahms' Symphony No. 1 (finale); Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto (slow movement) and the Concertino for two pianos by Dmitri Shostakovich.


Making It New
May 15, 2010

In this program, we will listen to composers "making it new"-works inspired by preexisting models that proved to be useful creations. Featuring selections from music by Handel (Judas Maccabaeus), Beethoven (Variations on a Theme of Judas Maccabaeus for piano and cello), J.S. Bach (Cantata No. 51, "Jauchzet Gott in Allen Landen"), Dufay (L'homme armé Mass), and Karel Husa (Slovak Dance) in this program of "Making It New."