Farewell, Beaux Arts
Contact: Brad Robideau
(651) 290-1113
brobideau@americanpublicmedia.org
www.americanpublicmedia.org
Farewell, Beaux Arts
American Public Media's Performance Today Presents an Exclusive Podcast of the Legendary Piano Trio's Final American Concert
(St. Paul, Minn.) August 27, 2008—Capping a 53-year career, one of the world's best-loved chamber ensembles, the renowned Beaux Arts Trio, played its final American concert on Thursday, August 21. American Public Media's Performance Today is offering an exclusive podcast of this historic concert. Beginning on Wednesday, August 27, the concert at Massachusetts' Tanglewood Music Festival will be available in its entirety, in two segments, by visiting www.performancetoday.org.
Led for more than half a century by pianist Menahem Pressler, the legendary Beaux Arts Trio will disband after a series of European concerts in September. With the concert at Tanglewood, the ensemble returned to its place of origin—it played its first concerts there in 1955. The occasion also marked a return to repertoire it made American audiences familiar with over the decades: Franz Schubert's magisterial opus 99 and opus 100 piano trios. The group's three encores will also be included in the podcast.
Fred Child, host of Performance Today, served as host for an exclusive live webcast of the August 21 concert, and he'll provide commentary, features and interviews with the members of the trio: pianist Menahem Pressler, violinist Daniel Hope and cellist Antonio Meneses.
"Their playing was searching and soulful, enough to make any evening memorable," said Child. "But what really touched me was the depth of gratitude I felt surrounding the concert that night. How do you thank an ensemble for 53 years of moving performances? And how does an ensemble thank fans for as many years of rapt listening and support? The trio and the audience wanted nothing more than to express warm and heartfelt thanks...and both did."
In addition to the podcast, the Schubert performances will also be broadcast on Performance Today on Wednesday, August 27 and Thursday, August 28. The show is available through streaming audio at www.performancetoday.org for seven days after the initial broadcast.
American Public Media's Performance Today is broadcast on 245 public radio stations across the country and is heard by more than one million listeners each week. Performance Today features live concerts by famous artists in concert halls around the globe and from the American Public Media studios as well as interviews, news and features. Listeners to Performance Today, on any given day, may hear from performances in the great concert halls of New York, Prague, London, Berlin and Paris.
To find out where and when Performance Today is broadcast in your area, please visit www.performancetoday.org.