Poster Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn at age 12
Wilhelm Hensel
Performance Today®

Felix Mendelssohn

The term child prodigy gets thrown around so often in the musical world that we sometimes forget just how remarkable youthful talent can be. Felix Mendelssohn was writing music that had emotional and spiritual and intellectual depth before he even started shaving. In today's show, Vadim Repin plays Mendelssohn's first violin concerto, the product of an unparalleled 13-year-old mind.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Dmitri Shostakovich: Two Waltzes
The Nash Ensemble

Richard Wagner: Overture to Tannhauser
The London Philharmonic Orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach, conductor
Royal Festival Hall, London, England

Piano Puzzler: This week's contestant is Michele Johnson from Santa Fe, New Mexico

Dmitri Shostakovich: Suite for Jazz Orchestra No. 1
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis, trumpet and leader
Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles

Hour 2

Alexander Borodin: Scherzo from String Quartet No. 2 in D
The Emerson String Quartet

Antonio Lauro: Vals Venzolano No. 3
Odair Assad, guitar
Guitar Alla Grande Festival, Ottawa, Ontario

Antonio Carlos Jobim: Wave
Odair Assad, guitar
Guitar Alla Grande Festival, Ottawa, Ontario

Ennio Morricone: Gabriel's Oboe, from the Mission
Ryan Anthony, trumpet, Gary Beard, organ
Beaches Fine Arts Series, Jacksonville Beach, Florida

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Two movements from String Quartet No. 22 in B-flat, K. 589
The Emerson String Quartet
Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, New York City

Felix Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Minor
Vadim Repin, violin, the Britten Sinfonia, Thomas Gould, conductor
Storioni Festival, Eindhoven, the Netherlands

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About Performance Today®

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American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.

Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.

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