Reverbiage: Stories from NPR tagged 'fred child'

Cellist Haimovitz: Classic Bach, Classic Rock

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 01:38:00 EDT

Haimovitz's idea of the "classics" includes Bach, Beethoven and, yes, classic rock. He talks to Performance Today host Fred Child about taking musical risks, and offers up a passionate studio performance of music by Bach.

The Power Behind 'America The Beautiful'

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:55:00 EDT

Pianist, composer and conductor Robert Kapilow joins Fred Child to explore why this simple and direct song has the ability to touch us so deeply.

Wu Han Plays Tchaikovsky, Month by Month

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:25:00 EDT

In 1876, Tchaikovsky composed musical snapshots of each month of the calendar year for publication in a St. Petersburg magazine. Pianist Wu Han performs the entire cycle, and discusses the music with Performance Today host Fred Child in NPR's studio.

Pierre-Laurent Aimard and the Art of the Etude

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:51:00 EDT

An Etude is basically a practice piece, designed to improve a certain aspect of technique. But the Etudes Claude Debussy composed go far beyond that. Pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard unfolds the layers of colorful detail in Debussy's Etudes, in the studio with host Fred Child.

McDonald: 'What Are You Doing New Year's Eve...'

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 18:47:00 EST

On New Year's Eve, singer Audra McDonald will ask and answer a question at the same time, by singing "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" with the New York Philharmonic. In this video segment, Performance Today host Fred Child talks with McDonald about her last concert of 2006.

Sing It and Wing It: Gabriela Montero

Fri, 27 Oct 2006 12:45:00 EDT

"Sing It and Wing It" is what pianist Gabriela Montero does at the end of most of her concerts. A member of the audience sings her a song and she improvises on it. She does one in the studio for us, as an example. If you'd like to try one, send Fred Child an email at pt@npr.org.

The Art of the Fugue with the Juilliard Quartet

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 14:12:00 EDT

The music world celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Juilliard Quartet Wednesday. Host Fred Child talks with the quartet's first violinist, Joel Smirnoff. And, from a 1987 Juilliard Quartet recording, we hear Bach's Contrapuncti Nos. 2, 7 and 9 from The Art of the Fugue.

Rolf Lislevand: Gentle Music on Baroque Guitar

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 15:27:00 EDT

Rolf Lislevand plays 17th-century music, but in an open, improvisatory style. He joins Fred Child in NPR's Studio 4A to play a set of gentle music on baroque guitar, and to talk about his conviction that improvisation lies at the heart of this music.

Music That Heals: Wu Han and David Finckel

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 12:31:00 EDT

Pianist Wu Han and cellist David Finckel join Fred Child in NPR's Studio 4A for a conversation about the healing power of music. They'll play movements by Rachmaninoff and Brahms -- the third movement from Rachmaninoff's Cello Sonata in G Minor and the first movement from Brahms' Cello Sonata No. 1.

Classical Detour: 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame'

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 12:16:00 EDT

Gabriela Montero joins Fred Child in NPR's Studio 4A for an ingenious Classical Detour. She's not a baseball fan, but she takes us out to the ballgame anyway. How she gets from a Mozartian minor key to a major-key variation on "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" is what makes Gabriela Montero unique.

Garrick Ohlsson: How to Make a Piano Sing

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 10:54:00 EDT

Pianist Garrick Ohlsson performs a sonata Beethoven wrote early in his career, then closes by playing Chopin's Etude in C-Sharp Minor. In addition to those performances, Ohlsson talks to Performance Today host Fred Child about his craft and his practice habits.

Russian National Orchestra, Live in Concert

Sat, 22 Jul 2006 02:18:38 EDT

Fred Child, host of NPR's Performance Today, hosts an exclusive webcast from Festival del Sole, featuring pianist Piotr Anderszewski and violinist Nikolaj Znaider, with Stephane Deneve conducting the Russian National Orchestra.

When the 12th and 21st Centuries Collide

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 13:34:00 EDT

Marc-Andre Dalbavie is composer-in-residence at this summer's Aspen Music Festival. He's taken words and tunes from 12th-century love songs, then re-set them with a beautiful contemporary twist. Fred Child joined him last week at the Aspen Music Festival.

Sweet Honey in the Rock in Studio 4A

Mon, 19 Jun 2006 12:00:00 EDT

Sweet Honey in the Rock joins Fred Child in NPR's Studio 4A to commemorate "Juneteenth" -- the anniversary of the day when word of the Emancipation Proclamation reached the last state in the union -- with three songs.

Remembering Gyorgy Ligeti

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 10:45:35 EDT

Hungarian-born composer Gyorgy Ligeti died Monday at age 83. Fred Child talks with New Yorker music critic Alex Ross about Ligeti's legacy. And we hear Ligeti's "Old Hungarian Ballroom Dances" from a recent concert performance by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Jam Sessions Become 'Time for Three'

Fri, 02 Jun 2006 12:36:00 EDT

The three young classical string players in Time for Three join Fred Child in Studio 4A to play their ethereal arrangement of the Beatles tune "Blackbird," as well as an original called "Of Time and Three Rivers." Time for Three's debut CD is called, logically enough, Time for Three.

The Academy of Ancient Music in Studio 4A

Wed, 03 May 2006 11:36:00 EDT

The 20-member orchestra from London performs Mozart's Symphony No. 29 in Studio 4A. And first violinist Pauline Nobes speaks with Fred Child about the orchestra's instruments, which pre-date Mozart's symphony.

Yehudi Wyner's Pulitzer Prize-Winning Concerto

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 11:16:00 EDT

Yehudi Wyner, 76, has won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for music for his piano concerto "Chiavi in Mano," which was commissioned by the Boston Symphony. Fred Child speaks with pianist Robert Levin, who played the work's premiere performance.

Really Early Music from the Hilliard Ensemble

Wed, 15 Mar 2006 12:31:04 EST

The Hilliard Ensemble is renowned for their performances of early music. This is really early music, from the year 1198. Hilliard founding member David James speaks with Fred Child, and the group sings Perotin's "Viderunt Omnes" in Portland, Ore.

Montero Delivers High-Quality Album

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 18:36:10 EST

Gabriela Montero is an up-and-coming performer on the world scene, with a newly released CD of piano miniatures and improvisations. Melissa Block and Performance Today host Fred Child critique and mostly praise the high quality of the album.

Norman to Receive Lifetime Achievement Grammy

Wed, 08 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EST

American soprano Jessye Norman will become the fourth opera singer tonight to win a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys. She joins NPR's Fred Child to talk about what the award means to her and to pick a favorite from her lifetime catalogue of recordings.

Soprano Jessye Norman: A Tribute to Coretta King

Tue, 07 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EST

Jessye Norman talks with NPR's Fred Child about her friend, Coretta Scott King. And in tribute to King on the day of her funeral, we hear Norman sing "Beim Schlafengehen," one of the Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss. Kurt Masur conducts the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig.

The Mozarteum Orchestra and the Vienna Symphony

Fri, 27 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST

On the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, NPR's Fred Child wraps up a week of musical celebrations in Salzburg, Austria. The Mozarteum Orchestra, the Camerata Salzburg and the Vienna Symphony perform works from the composer.

Conductor Roger Norrington on Mozart

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST

Sir Roger Norrington joins NPR's Fred Child in Salzburg for Mozart's birthday celebration. He conducts a selection of Mozart masterpieces, including the slow movement of Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G Minor and the famous duet "Bei Maennern" from the opera The Magic Flute.

Pianists Leif Ove Andsnes and Mitsuko Uchida

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST

From Salzburg, pianist Leif Ove Andsnes performs Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 14 with the Vienna Philharmonic. And pianist Mitsuko Uchida joins NPR's Fred Child in Salzburg to discuss the unusual slow movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 18 in F Major, K. 533.