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Saint Paul SundayProgram Listings


September 2002

September 1 - September 8 - September 15 - September 22 - September 29


 David Finckel and Wu Han
    David Finckel and
 Wu Han
 Artist Web site

David Finckel, cello; Wu Han, piano
September 1, 2002
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What Makes Russian Music Russian?
What makes Russian music Russian? On Saint Paul Sunday this week, Bill McGlaughlin explores this captivating question with two extraordinary artists who have taken Russian music to heart. Cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han will perform three great twentieth-century sonatas - one each by Sergei Rachmaninov, Sergei Prokofiev, and Dmitri Shostakovich - noting, along the way, how each composer characterizes a unique facet of the Russian musical soul.

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Sonata for cello and piano, Op.19
   -III. Andante
Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata for cello and piano, Op. 119
   -I. Andante grave
Sergey Rachmaninoff: Sonata for cello and piano, Op. 19
   -I. Lento
Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata for cello and piano, Op. 119
   -II. Moderato
Dmitri Shostakovich: Sonata for cello and piano, Op.40
   -II. Allegro
   -III. Largo
   -IV. Allegro

About the Sonatas
by David Finckel and Wu Han
When listening to Russian music you get the feeling that the composer is telling you a story, not just to convey information but to unburden themselves, and to describe and chronicle the human condition as it existed at the time. . .

For information about David Finckel and Wu Han recordings visit Public Radio MusicSource.

 
   eighth blackbird
  eighth blackbird

eighth blackbird
September 8, 2002
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When American poet Wallace Stevens wrote his Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, little could he have known that some 70 years later the enigmatic and beautiful lines of the poem's eighth stanza would be adopted, in spirit and name, by six brilliant young musicians. Happily, eighth blackbird -- an Oberlin-trained sextet of violin, cello, flute, clarinet, piano, and manifold percussion -- did just that. This week Bill McGlaughlin welcomes eighth blackbird into the Saint Paul Sunday studio for a program of three works composed especially for them. Movements from Thomas Albert's kaleidoscopic setting of the poem "Thirteen Ways" conclude the program with poignant evocations of Stevens's imagery and thought.

David Schober: Variations
Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon: Paramo
Thomas Albert: Thirteen Ways (selected movements)


 
  The Eroica Quartet
   The Eroica Quartet

The Eroica Quartet
September 15, 2002
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This week on Saint Paul Sunday, meet the Eroica Quartet, an extraordinary ensemble of four of Britain’s leading period instrumentalists. The group has developed a unique style recalling the mid-nineteenth century. Founded on their belief in intense and careful study of the performance techniques of the Romantic period, the Eroica Quartet will play music by Schumann, Beethoven and Mendelssohn as the first audiences for these works might have heard them; a fascinating discussion further illuminates their chosen style.

Robert Schumann: Quartet in A major, Op. 41, No.3
    -II. Assai agitato
Ludwig van Beethoven: Quartet in Eb major, Op. 74 "Harp"
   -II. Adagio
Felix Mendelssohn: Quartet No. 4 in e minor, Op. 44, No. 2

For information about Eroica Quartet recordings visit Public Radio MusicSource.

 
  Paula Robison
   Paula Robison

The Robison-Lubambo-Baptista Trio
September 22, 2002
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An enchanting collaboration began when renowned flutist Paula Robison-“first lady of the flute"-joined forces with two friends from Brazil, guitarist Romero Lubambo and percussionist Cyro Baptista. The trio visits Saint Paul Sunday this week, conjuring up nights in Rio with Brazilian music from the choro tradition scored for flute, guitar, and a host of unusual percussion instruments. They also take us to Paris on the wings of their own version of Debussy’s “Clair de lune."

Jaco do Bandolim: Noites Cariocas ("Rio Nights")
Waldyr Azevedo: Ve se Gostas ("See if you like it")
Pixinguinha: Segura Ele ("Grab him!")
Edu Lobo: Na Ilha de Lia, no Barco de Rosa ("In Rosa's boat, I dream of Lia")
Claude Debussy: Clair de Lune ("Moonlight")
Cyro Baptista: O Berimbau
Romero Lubambo: P'ro Flavio
Two Birdsongs:
   Altamiro Carillho: Bem-te-vi-tristohno
   Lina Pesce: Bem-te-vi atrevido
Raoul de Barros & Ary dos Santos: Na Gloria ("A party at the Hotel Gloria")
Zequinho de Abreu: Tico Tico no Fubá

For information about Paula Robison recordings visit Public Radio Musicsource.

 
  Lang Lang
   Lang Lang
Lang Lang, piano
September 29, 2002

It’s often assumed that musical maturity comes with age; however, there are those who are meant to break such rules, to the delight of their audience. Chinese pianist Lang Lang, who has just turned nineteen, is this kind of artist, and he is Bill McGlaughlin’s guest this week on Saint Paul Sunday. Lang Lang has won international competitions and performed with leading orchestras from a very young age, and his youthful enthusiasm, great sensitivity and blazing fireworks have been earning him rave reviews around the world. A captivating musical storyteller, Lang Lang will bring us a delightful Haydn sonata, six pieces of Brahms’ Opus 118, and the spectacular “Islamey (Oriental Fantasy)" by Russian composer Mily Balakirev. Tune in for sounds that are guaranteed to thrill.

View photos from Lang Lang's visit to the studio.

Franz Joseph Haydn: Sonata in E major, Hoboken XVI:31
-I. Moderato
Johannes Brahms: Six Pieces, Op.118
   -I. Intermezzo in a minor
   -II. Intermezzo in A major
   -III. Ballade in g minor
   -IV. Intermezzo in f minor
   -V. Romanze in F major
    -IV. Intermezzo in e-flat minor
   -Mily Balakirev: Islamey ("Oriental Fantasy")

For information about Lang Lang recordings visit Public Radio Musicsource.

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