Monday May 31, 2004

Performance Today

Music for Memorial Day

May 31, 2004 • For the American holiday, music written during World War II. The U.S. Marine Band plays "Fanfare for the Common Man," by Aaron Copland. Then the same ensemble play Copland's "Lincoln Portrait," narrated by Fred Child.

Music for Memorial Day

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Sunday May 30, 2004

Performance Today

Pianist Christopher Taylor

May 30, 2004 • Fred Child talks with Taylor about the difficulties of Franz Liszt's music. The we feature Taylor performing the Transcendental Etude No. 9, "Ricordanza," by Franz Liszt, at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Kalamazoo, Mich. For an encore, he plays a modern rag called "Graceful Ghost," by William Bolcom.

Pianist Christopher Taylor

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Saturday May 29, 2004

Performance Today

Pianist Christopher Taylor

May 29, 2004 • Fred Child talks with Taylor about the difficulties of Franz Liszt's music. The we feature Taylor performing the Transcendental Etude No. 9, "Ricordanza," by Franz Liszt, at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Kalamazoo, Mich. For an encore, he plays a modern rag called "Graceful Ghost," by William Bolcom.

Pianist Christopher Taylor

Audio will be available later today.

Thursday May 27, 2004

Hopkinson Smith, Live at NPR

May 27, 2004 • From his visit to NPR in 2002, early-music string virtuoso Hopkinson Smith performs music first published in 16th-century France for solo lute. He also talks with NPR's Fred Child about the instrument's history and significance.

Hear Hopkinson Smith Live

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Tuesday May 25, 2004

Performance Today

Yo-Yo Ma's Baroque Adventures

May 25, 2004 • In a series of four interview segments, NPR's Fred Child talks with cellist Yo-Yo Ma about his recent recording and current tour with conductor Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra.

Yo-Yo Ma's Baroque Adventures

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Monday May 24, 2004

Performance Today

Pianist Christopher Taylor

May 24, 2004 • Fred Child talks with pianist Christopher Taylor about the difficulties of Franz Liszt's music. And we hear Taylor performs the Transcendental Etude No. 9, "Ricordanza," by Franz Liszt, at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Kalamazoo, Mich. Then, for an encore, he plays a modern rag called "Graceful Ghost," by William Bolcom.

Pianist Christopher Taylor

Audio will be available later today.

Tuesday May 18, 2004

Performance Today

PT at the Virginia Arts Festival

May 18, 2004 • NPR's Fred Child is onstage for the Virginia Arts Festival 2004 at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. Child is on hand to introduce flutist Debra Wendells Cross and three members of the Miami String Quartet for a performance of Mozart's Flute Quartet in G, K. 285a. Before the performance, Fred gets a chance to test out his contrarian theory about Mozart's supposedly flute-hating ways with Debra Cross.

PT at the Virginia Arts Festival

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Sunday May 16, 2004

Performance Today

Gilmore Keyboard Fest

May 16, 2004 • Every two years, the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival welcomes some of the world's A-list keyboard artists to Kalamazoo, Mich., for two weeks of concerts and masterclasses. Performance Today was there to capture some of those concerts, and to host of performance of its own. Pianist Angela Hewitt joins Fred Child on stage for conversation, and music by Couperin, Chabrier, and Bach.

Gilmore Keyboard Fest

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Saturday May 15, 2004

Performance Today

Gilmore International Keyboard Fest

May 15, 2004 • Every two years, the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival welcomes some of the world's A-list keyboard artists to Kalamazoo, Mich., for two weeks of concerts and masterclasses. Performance Today was there to capture some of those concerts, and to host of performance of its own. Pianist Angela Hewitt joins Fred Child on stage for conversation, and music by Couperin, Chabrier, and Bach.

Gilmore International Keyboard Fest

Audio will be available later today.

Friday May 14, 2004

Performance Today

Miami String Quartet

May 14, 2004 • We're at the Virginia Arts Festival with the Miami String Quartet. The four play Hugo Wolf's "Italian Serenade," and Fred Child chats with the ensemble on stage about the music.

Miami String Quartet

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Thursday May 13, 2004

Performance Today

Grieg in Norfolk

May 13, 2004 • Fred Child is on location at the Virginia Arts Festival, talking to pianist Andre-Michel Schub (AHN-dray MEE-shel shoob) about composer Edvard Grieg. Grieg is well known for his volumes of piano music, yet he wrote only one Piano Sonata. Schub gives a performance of it, in concert at Old Dominion University's Chandler Hall.

Grieg in Norfolk

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Tuesday May 11, 2004

Performance Today

Gilmore Young Artists

May 11, 2004 • Performance Today recently spent some time at this year's Gilmore International Keyboard Festival in Kalamazoo, Mich. In addition to concerts and masterclasses by major artists, one of the Festival's main activities is choosing two pianists to name as Gilmore Young Artists. This year the winners are Elizabeth Schumann and Christopher Falzone (fal-ZONE). Fred Child talks with each, then we hear Elizabeth play two transcriptions of Schubert songs by Franz Liszt -- "Gretchen at the Spinningwheel," and "The Earl King" -- and then Christopher plays the Impromptu, Op. 90, No. 3 by Schubert.

Gilmore Young Artists

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Monday May 10, 2004

Music Interviews

Angela Hewitt, Live from Gilmore

May 10, 2004 • Every two years, the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival welcomes some of the world's A-list keyboard artists to Kalamazoo, Mich., for two weeks of concerts and masterclasses. Performance Today was there to capture some of those concerts, and to host of performance of its own. Pianist Angela Hewitt joins Fred Child on stage for conversation, and music by Couperin, Chabrier and Bach.

Angela Hewitt, Live from Gilmore

Audio will be available later today.

Gilmore Keyboard Festival

May 10, 2004 • Every two years, the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival welcomes some of the world's A-list keyboard artists to Kalamazoo, Mich., for two weeks of concerts and masterclasses. Performance Today was there to capture some of those concerts, and to host of performance of its own. Pianist Angela Hewitt joins Fred Child on stage for conversation, and music by Couperin, Chabrier and Bach.

Friday May 7, 2004

Performance Today

A Mother's Musical Sacrifice

May 7, 2004 • A woman named Gita Gradova was a rising star of the piano in the 1930s and '40s. She was considered one of the most gifted pianists of her generation, but she gave up her career to raise her son. That son, Dr. Tom Cottle has just published a book about his mother. Fred Child talks with Dr. Cottle about his mother, and his new book, When the Music Stopped: Discovering My Mother. And we feature a rare recording of Gita Gradova playing with the New York Philharmonic in a December, 1940 broadcast concert.

A Mother's Musical Sacrifice

Audio will be available later today.