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Celebrate the birthday of Sergei Prokofiev by listening to the Kansas City Symphony perform three of his works: the invigorating suite from "Love of Three Oranges," his third piano concerto and an epic cantata comprised of music from his score to the Sergei Eisenstein film "Alexander Nevsky." We'll also hear Beethoven's portentous tone poem "Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage."
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Celebrate the 292nd birthday of Franz Joseph Haydn by hearing the Kansas City Symphony perform three of the prolific composer's works. We'll also hear Nikolai Rimsky-Korsokov's rousing "Russian Easter Festival Overture" and the first of Sergei Rachmaninoff's four genre-defining piano concertos.
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Nearly two-hundred years after a twenty year old Frédéric Chopin composed his first piano concerto, the work still delights. This week, we'll hear rising piano star George Li perform the piece, plus the eminent violinist Gil Shaham performs Alban Berg's melancholy concerto. We'll also hear the Kansas City Symphony in a recent performance of Jean Sibelius' swan-inspired Symphony No. 5.
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Acclaimed pianist and writer Jeremy Denk speaks with Brooke Knoll about his early life as a self-proclaimed "weird kid," overcoming musical obstacles and coming to Kansas City to perform. We'll hear Jeremy's recordings of music by Johann Sebastian Bach and Camille Saint-Saëns.
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Christian Won is a talented pianist and composer from Grandview, MO. Christly L'Esperance speaks with Christian about his musical inspirations, finding balance between practice and teenage fun, his next steps and more.
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The birthday celebration for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart continues with two of his piano concerti and his profound "Jupiter" symphony. Co-hosts Michael Stern and Dan Margolies explore Mozart's frame of mind during each compositional period and offer insights on performing these great works.
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The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is one of Europe's great ensembles. Brooke Knoll speaks with Royal Philharmonic violinists Erik Chapman and Sali-Wyn Ryan about the history of the orchestra, its "royal" name and coming to Kansas City to perform with renowned pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason. We'll hear music by Maurice Ravel, Ernő Dohnányi, Sergei Prokofiev and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
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Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center musicians are collaborating with the Friends of Chamber Music Kansas City for a performance at The Folly Theater. Classical KC's Brooke Knoll speaks with Friends co-artistic director and Society cellist, Dmitri Atapine, and Society pianist Gloria Chien about joining forces for this concert. We'll hear music by Johannes Brahms, Frédéric Chopin, Antonín Dvořák and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
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The husband and wife duo of piano masters Alessio Bax and Lucille Chung love performing together. Brooke Knoll speaks with both of them about the unique piano four hands art form, the family business and performing in Kansas City. We'll hear their recordings of music by Francis Poulenc, Johannes Brahms, Igor Stravinsky and Astor Piazzolla.
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This week, we'll hear an astounding array of soloists. Pinchas Zukerman and Noah Geller play Bach's "Concerto for Two Violins," and the husband and wife team of Jamie Loredo and Sharon robinson play André Previn's "Double Concerto for Violin and Orchestra." Superstar violinist Augustin Hadelich takes a solo turn in a concerto written by Thomas Adés, and local piano hero Kenny Broberg performs Sergei Rachmaninoff's challenging and lyrical second piano concerto.
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It turns out that Ludwig van Beethoven was having a bit of fun during and following the harried premiere of his third piano concerto. Co-hosts Dan Margolies and Michael Stern recount that story and sing the praises of soloist Emanuel Ax. We'll also hear Felix Mendelssohn's puffin-inspired "Hebrides Overture," Frederick Delius' beautiful and foreboding "Walk to the Paradise Garden" and the inner struggle of Peter Tchaikovsky's "Symphony No. 4."
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The premiere of Aaron Copland's piano concerto was his mother's proudest moment and — as she said — "made all those music lessons worthwhile!" We'll hear that work, plus Copland's "Three Latin-American Sketches," a "Chacony" by Henry Purcell (as arranged by Benjamin Britten), Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's suite from his ballet "Hiawatha" and Stravinsky's timeline altering "Rite of Spring."