When Art and Politics Collide

‘Performance Today’ has selected performer and composer Jessie Montgomery as the 2025 Classical Woman of the Year. This annual award recognizes women who have made significant contributions to the classical music art form and have inspired our listeners. Find out more!

Johannes Brahms composed the powerful opening movement of his Piano Concerto No. 1 amid great personal turmoil. The concerto reflects Brahms’s complex emotions about the decline of his mentor, Robert Schumann. On today's show, pianist Yefim Bronfman joins conductor Donald Runnicles and the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra for a performance of this moving piece.

Composer Carlos Simon grew up in the African American Pentecostal Church, where lively worship services featured singing, dancing, and sometimes speaking in tongues. Today, we're highlighting Simon's 'Four Black American Dances'—music inspired by his experiences in the church and community where he was raised.

Gabriela Ortiz's vibrant orchestral work 'Kauyumari' is named after the spiritual guide of Mexico's Huichol people. The piece uses a recurring folk melody to evoke healing and ecstasy. Today, we’ll take you to a concert in Turin, Italy, to hear how Ortiz transforms traditional sounds into a joyful journey through what she calls the "invisible realm."

By the time Mieczyslaw Weinberg composed his second symphony, he had already escaped the Nazis twice. Soon after, he would face the horrors of Stalin's regime directly. However, in 1945, he was relatively safe in Moscow thanks to his friendship with Dmitri Shostakovich. On today's show, we'll hear Weinberg's Symphony No. 2 performed live at the 2025 Salzburg Festival in Austria.

Composer Miguel del Aguila imagined a meeting between two characters: one is Justice, the blindfolded woman holding scales and a sword, and the other is Law, the man holding a book and a gavel. We'll hear Imani Winds play the world premiere of Miguel del Aguila's 'Blindfold Music' on today's show.

In today's episode, we explore the captivating story and tragic history behind Hugo Alfvén's ballet 'The Mountain King.' Learn how Alfvén transformed the story into a dark tragedy after a real-life collaboration was cut short by a terrible accident. Conductor Thomas Søndergård leads the Minnesota Orchestra in the Suite from 'The Mountain King' by Swedish composer Hugo Alfvén.

Today, we'll enter the world of dreams with highlights from Sergei Prokofiev's ballet, Cinderella. Conductor Elim Chan leads the Basel Symphony Orchestra in a suite she arranged herself, capturing the poetic romance at the heart of this timeless story.

Sure, it's a flashy showpiece for piano, but Kirill Gerstein says, "If you dig deeper, it's also a sincere expression straight from the heart." On today's show, hear Kirill Gerstein play Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with conductor Hannu Lintu leading the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

By the time Mieczyslaw Weinberg composed his second symphony, he had already escaped the Nazis twice. Soon after, he would face the horrors of Stalin's regime directly. However, in 1945, he was relatively safe in Moscow thanks to his friendship with Dmitri Shostakovich. On today's show, we'll hear Weinberg's Symphony No. 2 performed live at the 2025 Salzburg Festival in Austria.