Classical Performance Podcast

Anne Akiko Meyers and Anton Nel Play Bach

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EST

Anne Akiko Meyers plays on a violin that, as she describes it, acts like a rocket ship (which is funny considering that the instrument significantly predates the space age). Hear this unique violin and the unique violinist behind it on this week’s podcast.
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J.S. Bach: Air from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D, BWV 1068, “Air on a G String”
Anne Akiko Meyers, violin; Anton Nel, piano.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on June 13, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Sean Chen Plays Bach

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EST

Sean Chen has already made a name for himself as this year’s American Pianist Association Classical Fellow – and now he has also won the Crystal Award at the Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Competition. Hear his skillful embellishments on J.S. Bach’s French Suite No. 5 on this week’s podcast.
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Johann Sebastian Bach: French Suite No. 5
Sean Chen, piano.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on April 26, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

David Russell Plays Weiss and Albeniz

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 00:00:00 EST

David Russell is one of the world’s most famous classical guitarists – so famous that a street in the town where he grew up is now named after him. On this week’s podcast, he plays music from the German Baroque era, and from Spain in the late nineteenth century.
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Sylvius Leopold Weiss: Suite XIV: Allemande, Angloise, Passacaglia
Isaac Albeniz: Granada
David Russell, guitar.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on February 14, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

A Far Cry Plays Mozart

Wed, 29 May 2013 00:00:00 EST

A new conductor can drastically change the sound of an orchestra – but what about an orchestra that has no conductor at all? A Far Cry is a Boston-based, conductorless chamber orchestra that refuses to sit down during performances. Hear their energy and constant communication through their playing on this week’s podcast.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 40
A Far Cry.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on May 23, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Sergey Antonov and Ilya Kazantsev Play Scriabin

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 EST

Cellist Sergey Antonov and pianist Ilya Kazantsev don’t always play together as a duo, but when they do, magic happens. Hear that magic with their transcriptions of solo piano works by Alexander Scriabin on this week’s Classical Performance podcast.
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Scriabin, arr. Kazantsev & Antonov: Prelude, Op. 9, No. 1
Scriabin, arr. Kazantsev & Antonov: Etude, Op. 8, No. 11
Sergey Antonov, cello; Ilya Kazantsev, piano.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on May 17, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

George Li Plays Schumann, Haydn and Debussy

Tue, 14 May 2013 00:00:00 EST

Pianist George Li has been in the public eye for about a decade – which is more than half his life. Hear this incredible young pianist play works by Schumann, Haydn, and Debussy on this week’s podcast.
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Robert Schumann, arr. Franz Liszt: Widmung
Franz Josef Haydn: Sonata in B minor, Hob. XVI/32
Claude Debussy: Images, Book I
George Li, piano.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on May 10, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Duo Sonidos Plays Tributes

Tue, 07 May 2013 00:00:00 EST

Duo Sonidos – guitarist Adam Levin and violinist William Knuth – joined together by happenstance at New England Conservatory. Seven years later, the duo performs music of tribute and homage.
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Georg Friedrich Handel: Sonata No. 4 in D Major, Op. 1, No. 13
Ricardo Llorca: Handeliana
Jorge Muniz: Funk
Eduardo Morales-Caso: Homanajes

Duo Sonidos: Adam Levin, guitar; William Knuth, violin
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on April 30, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Sean Chen Plays Chopin and Scriabin

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EST

Fresh off of his win at the American Pianists’ Association competition, Sean Chen visits Fraser to play some Chopin and Scriabin.
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Alexander Scriabin: Piano Sonata No. 5
Fryderyk Chopin: Mazurka, Op. 59, No. 1

Sean Chen, piano.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on April 26, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Discovery Ensemble Plays Haydn

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EST

Boston is a special place – few cities in the country are home to so many superbly talented young musicians that the city has more than one chamber orchestra whose members are all under 35. Here is one of those orchestras: Discovery Ensemble, conducted by Courtney Lewis.
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Franz Josef Haydn: Symphony No. 92, “Oxford”
Discovery Ensemble; Courtney Lewis, cond.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on February 4, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Xiang Yu and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein Play Dvorak

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EST

Xiang Yu and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein play a Dvorak Sonatine in a preview of a “Music for Food” concert.
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Antonin Dvorak: Sonatine for Violin and Piano
Xiang Yu, violin; Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, piano.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on April 12, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

The Cypress String Quartet Plays Dvorak

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EST

It is Public Radio Music Month here at CNE, and to celebrate we are featuring a different performer or ensemble each day. The featured ensemble for today is the Cypress String Quartet – a quartet whose focus lies in bringing the past and the present together in new ways.
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Dvorak: String Quartet No. 12 in F Major, Op. 96 – “American”
Cypress String Quartet: Cecily Ward and Tom Stone, violins; Ethan Filner, viola; and Jennifer Kloetzel, cello.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on December 8, 2011.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Borromeo String Quartet Plays Bach

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:00:00 EST

The Borromeo String Quartet has been playing incredible concerts all over the world since 1989 – and at WGBH since 1991. Here is one of their concerts from back in 2009, featuring an arrangement of a piece originally written for the organ.
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J.S. Bach (arr. Nicholas Kitchen): Passacaglia and Fugue for Organ in C minor, BWV 582
Borromeo String Quartet: Nicholas Kitchen and Kristopher Tong, violins; Mai Motobuchi, viola; and Yeesun Kim, cello.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on July 30, 2009.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Jonathan Biss Plays Schumann and Janacek

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST

Pianist Jonathan Biss delves into Robert Schumann’s emotional landscape, and compares it with that of Leos Janacek.
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Robert Schumann: Fantasiestucke, Op. 12: Des Abends
Leos Janacek: On an Overgrown Path: Our Evenings
Jonathan Biss, piano.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on March 22, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Inon Barnatan Plays Bach

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST

Pianist Inon Barnatan is originally from Israel, and now lives in New York. He visited Boston for a concert with the Academy of St. Martin In The Fields, and stopped by WGBH to give us a little taste of Bach before he headed west to Worcester.
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J.S. Bach: Keyboard Partita No. 1 in B-flat Major, BWV 825
Inon Barnatan, piano.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on March 8, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

The Boston Trio Plays Dvorak

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST

The Boston Trio is three powerful ladies with a knack for chamber music. Hear their mastery of Dvorak’s Trio in F minor on this week’s podcast.
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Antonin Dvorak: Piano Trio No. 3 in F minor, Op. 65
The Boston Trio: Irina Muresanu, violin; Denise Djokic, cello; and Heng-Jin Park, piano.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on March 8, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Low and Lower Play Rossini and Bach

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 00:00:00 EST

Yes, classical musicians do have more fun. And we’ll prove it, this week, with bass and cello duo “Low and Lower.”
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Gioacchino Rossino: Duo for Cello and Bass: Allegro
J.S. Bach, arr. Whitehouse: Cello Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012 – Sarabande

Low and Lower: Brooks Whitehouse, cello; Paul Sharpe, bass.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on March 1, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Trio Cleonice Plays Beethoven

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:00:00 EST

Seldom can you hear the absolute joy a trio feels in the music they’re playing – but with Trio Cleonice, you can. Hear their interpretation of Beethoven’s Piano Trio Op. 70, No. 2 on this week’s podcast.
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Beethoven: Piano Trio Op. 70, No. 2 in E-flat Major
Trio Cleonice: Ari Isaacman-Beck, violin; Gwen Krosnick, cello; Emely Phelps, piano.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on February 22, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Miró Quartet Plays Beethoven

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:00:00 EST

The Miró Quartet is a prize-winning string quartet and quartet-in-residence at the Butler School of Music. The quartet was in Boston last week, and they stopped by our Fraser Performance Studio to play some Beethoven.
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Beethoven: String Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59, No. 3
Miró Quartet: Daniel Ching, William Fedkenheuer, violins; John Largess, viola; Joshua Gindele, cello.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on February 13, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Aisslinn Nosky Plays Bach

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:00:00 EST

Aisslinn Nosky plays Baroque music as if it were rock and roll – and she explains why it’s so much fun, on this week’s podcast.
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J.S. Bach: Partita No. 3 in E Major for violin, BWV 1006
Aisslinn Nosky, violin.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on January 24, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

The Borromeo Quartet Plays Dvorak

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:00:00 EST

The Borromeo Quartet epitomizes the contrast of the very old and the very new in classical music – combining the cutting edge technology of using laptops to scroll through pages of a score during their performance, with playing on instruments that have been traditionally passed down through generations of musicians.
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Antonin Dvorak: String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 51
Borromeo Quartet: Nicholas Kitchen, Kristopher Tong, violins; Mai Motobuchi, viola; Yeesun Kim, cello.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on February 1, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

(photo: Eli Akerstein)

The Boston Cello Quartet Plays Rossini, Dejardin, and Rimsky-Korsakov

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 00:00:00 EST

The Boston Cello Quartet: four cellists in the Boston Symphony Orchestra, with a knack for finding the fun in chamber music. This week, they explore Mozart, Rossini, and Rimsky-Korsakov in arrangements for cello quartet.
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Gioachino Rossini, arr. Douglas B. Moore: Overture to “The Barber of Seville”

Blaise Dejardin: The Wolfgang Variations

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, arr. Terry King: Flight of the Bumblebee

The Boston Cello Quartet: Blaise Dejardin, Adam Esbensen, Mihail Jojatu, and Alexandre Lecarme.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on January 25, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Sarasa and Les Sirènes Play Handel and Corelli

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 00:00:00 EST

This week, we hear from two Baroque ensembles, performing together: Sarasa, a period instrument ensemble dedicated to bringing music to diverse communities, and Les Sirenes, two sopranos joining together to celebrate the music of the baroque era.
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Handel: “Quel bel labbro,” from “Berenice,” HWV 38
Corelli: Sonata in G Major for Two Violins, Op. 4, No. 10
Handel: “Per abbattere il rigore,” from “Aminta e Fillide,” HWV 83

Sarasa: Beth Wenstrom and Adriane Post, violins; Timothy Merton, cello; Charles Sherman, harpsichord.
Les Sirènes: Kristen Watson and Kathryn Mueller, sopranos.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on January 18, 2013.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Walden Chamber Players Play Mozart

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 00:00:00 EST

Happy Birthday to one of the world’s most well-known composers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart! We’re celebrating on the podcast this week with a piece he wrote specifically for oboist Friedrich Ramm, while Mozart was in Munich writing Idomeneo.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Quartet for Oboe and Strings, K. 370
Walden Chamber Players: Laura Ahlbeck, oboe; Joel Pitchon, violin; Christof Huebner, viola; and Ashima Scripp, cello.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on November 12, 2007.
© 2013 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Xiang Yu Plays Bach (With the Lights On)

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 00:00:00 EST

When Xiang Yu describes his experience recording in Chicago, it feels like you’re there with him. Hear his moving interpretation of Bach’s Chaconne on this week’s podcast.
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J.S. Bach: Partita No. 2 for Violin in D minor, BWV 1004 - Chaconne
Xiang Yu, violin.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on January 4, 2013.
© 2012 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Rudolf Buchbinder Plays Strauss for the New Year

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 EST

Every New Year’s Day in Vienna, the Vienna Philharmonic celebrates with copious waltz music. We’re bringing you some of that waltz music on the air, and also on today’s podcast – but of course, this waltz comes courtesy of the Fraser Performance Studio at WGBH.
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Alfred Grunfeld: Soiree de Vienne, Concert Paraphrase from Strauss’s Waltzes from Die Fledermaus and others, Op. 56
Rudolf Bucbinder, piano.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on November 19, 2008.
© 2012 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Musicians of the Old Post Road Play Gervais

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:00:00 EST

This week’s podcast brings us back to 18th-century France, to Christmas time as heard through the ears of little-known composer Chalres-Hubert Gervais.
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Charles-Hubert Gervais: Suite de noels
Musicians of the Old Post Road: Suzanne Stumpf and Wendy Rolfe, traversos; Julia McKenzie and Lisa Brooke, violins; Shannon Snapp, cello; Douglas Freundlich, theorbo; Daniel Ryan, harpsichord.
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Recorded at WGBH’s FM1 Studio on December 12, 2004.
© 2012 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

David Krakauer and Kathleen Tagg Play Klezmer

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 00:00:00 EST

Join us for latkes and dreidel as we celebrate Hanukkah with klezmer tunes from clarinetist David Krakauer and pianist Kathleen Tagg.
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Abraham Ellstein: Hassidic Dance
David Krakauer: Synagogue Wail
Trad.: Der Heyser Bulgar

David Krakauer, clarinet; Kathleen Tagg, piano.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on September 7, 2012.
© 2012 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

Cassatt String Quartet and Judith Lynn Stillman Play Dvorak

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 00:00:00 EST

Did you ever revise something, only to find you might as well write something completely new? Antonin Dvorak did exactly that, and the product was the Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81. Hear it with the Cassatt String Quartet and pianist Judith Lynn Stillman on this week’s podcast.
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Antonin Dvorak: Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81
Judith Lynn Stillman, piano; Cassatt String Quartet: Muneko Otani and Jennifer Leshnower, violins; Sarah Adams, viola; Nicole Johnson, cello.
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Recorded at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on November 30, 2012.
© 2012 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

The Weilerstein Family Plays Elgar with Roger Tapping

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 00:00:00 EST

Every year around Thanksgiving, families come together to celebrate, and the Weilerstein family is no different. Hear this talented family - mother and father, daughter and son – with special guest Roger Tapping, on this week’s podcast.
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Elgar: Piano Quintet, Op. 84 (II. Adagio)
Donald Weilerstein and Joshua Weilerstein, violins; Roger Tapping, viola; Alisa Weilerstein, cello; Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, piano.
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Recorded at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall on November 19, 2012.
© 2012 WGBH Educational Foundation.
http://www.classicalnewengland.org/podcasts
e-mail: classical@wgbh.org

The Weilerstein Family Plays Elgar with Roger Tapping

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 00:00:00 EST