Poster Blue candles on a birthday cake
Candles on a birthday cake
Joey Gannon/Wikimedia Commons
Performance Today®

A gift like no other

It's an incredibly romantic and real story: a husband wrote a piece for his wife to honor their newborn boy. He secretly hired musicians to play it outside her bedroom door on the morning of her birthday (which also happened to be Christmas). Join us to hear that piece, the Siegfried Idyll by Richard Wagner, on this edition of Performance Today.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Richard Wagner: Romanza (Albumblatt)
Elissa Lee Koljonen, violin | Robert Koenig, piano
Album: Heartbreak, Romantic Encores for Violin
Dorian 90268

Gilad Cohen: Trio for Spry Clarinet, Weeping Cello, and Ruminating Harp: Movement 1
Berginald Rash, clarinet | Sinead O'Halloran, cello | Dianne Marshall, harp
Musici Ireland, Wells House, County Wexford, Ireland

Camille Saint-Saens: String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, Op. 112: Movement 3: Molto adagio
Mia Cooper, violin | Joanna Quigley, violin | Beth McNinch, viola | Adrian Mantu, cello
Musici Ireland, Wells House, County Wexford, Ireland

Piano Puzzler
Contestant: Duston Suits calling from Loami, IL

Richard Wagner: Siegfried Idyll
Romanian Radio National Orchestra | Nicolae Moldoveanu, conductor
ROROR, Mihail Jora Concert Hall, Bucharest, Romania

Hour 2

Michael Fine: Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet: I. Andante lyrico
Anton Rist, clarinet | Scott Yoo, violin | Erik Arvinder, violin | Maurycy Banaszek, viola | Jonah Kim, cello
Album: Five for Five: Chamber Music
Evidence Classics

Muzio Clementi: Sonata in F-sharp Minor, Op. 25 No. 5
Jon Nakamatsu, piano
Southeastern Piano Festival, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Columbia, SC

Jean Francaix: Octet: Movement 2
Anton Rist, clarinet | Conrad Cornelison, bassoon | Kaitlyn Resler, horn | Abigel Kralik, Aurelia Duca, violins | Jessica Oudin, viola | Dariusz Skoraczewski, cello | Robert Franenberg, double bass
Festival Mozaic, Harold J. Miossi Cultural and Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo, CA

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Septet for Piano Trio and String Quartet
Geoffrey Herd, Jinjoo Cho, Eric Wong, violins | Ettore Causa, viola | Max Geissler and Clive Greensmith, cellos | Henry Kramer, piano
Geneva Music Festival, Smith Opera House, Geneva, NY

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Latest Performance Today® Episodes

VIEW ALL EPISODES

Latest Performance Today® Episodes

Music from a summer home

Music from a summer home

We'll hear the Philadelphia Orchestra in concert at their summer home in Saratoga Springs, New York, on today's show. Conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin leads a performance of the Prelude to Act One of Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin.

1:59:00
Elsa Barraine

Elsa Barraine

French composer Elsa Barraine lived through the Nazi occupation of Paris, where she organized concerts to support morale and promote resistance. She also supported Jewish musicians whose very lives were in danger. Barraine believed in music as a force for good in this world. On today's show, we'll take you to a concert in Paris to hear Elsa Barraine's Symphony No. 2.

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MLK

MLK

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s impact is more important than ever. Join us for a special edition of ‘Performance Today’ honoring King through music. We'll celebrate his legacy with a piece dedicated to Dr. King in 1963: Montgomery Variations by Margaret Bonds. Join us for music honoring Dr. Martin Luther King on today’s show.

1:59:00
PT Weekend: The Piano Puzzler

PT Weekend: The Piano Puzzler

Every week on our Piano Puzzler, composer Bruce Adolphe re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a great composer. One of our listeners calls in and tries to guess the tune and the composer whose style Bruce is mimicking. Tune in and play along with our weekly musical game: the Piano Puzzler.

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Bringing fractals to live

Bringing fractals to live

Composer Jessie Montgomery found inspiration in nature's infinitely repeating patterns: fractals. Her fascination with these natural wonders led her to write a captivating new piece that brings fractals to life through sound. On today's show, we'll hear "Rounds" by Jessie Montgomery, a musical exploration of nature's boundless beauty.

1:59:00
Juantio Becenti: The Glittering World

Juantio Becenti: The Glittering World

We'll hear fascinating new music from Navajo composer Juantio Becenti on today's show. Becenti found a unique parallel between the Navajo creation story and his own musical journey. Join us to hear the ensemble A Far Cry perform Juantio Becenti's The Glittering World at a concert in Rockport, Massachusetts.

1:59:00
The Piano Puzzler

The Piano Puzzler

Every week on our Piano Puzzler, composer Bruce Adolphe re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a great composer. One of our listeners calls in and tries to guess the tune and the composer whose style Bruce is mimicking. Tune in and play along with our weekly musical game: the Piano Puzzler.

1:59:00
Irish composer Howard Ferguson

Irish composer Howard Ferguson

Irish composer Howard Ferguson only published twenty pieces before retiring from composition to take up cooking. Later in life, he even wrote a popular cookbook. We have music by Howard Ferguson on this edition of Performance Today.

1:59:00
Missy Mazzoli's Sinfonia for Orbiting Spheres

Missy Mazzoli's Sinfonia for Orbiting Spheres

The hurdy-gurdy has strings like a violin, a keyboard, and a hand crank that produces a wheezing drone. Composer Missy Mazzoli was fascinated by this sound and wanted to make a whole orchestra sound like a big hurdy-gurdy.  Tune in for the Sinfonia for Orbiting Spheres by Missy Mazzoli on today’s episode.

1:59:00
PT Weekend: Leila Josefowicz

PT Weekend: Leila Josefowicz

Violinist Leila Josefowicz has forged a tremendous career specializing in 20th and 21st-century music. At times, Josefowicz has faced reluctance or resistance from what she sees as the somewhat stodgy traditions in some parts of the classical music world. Still, she believes that the greatest music happens when one overcomes fear and pushes the traditional boundaries.  On today's show, Leila Josefowicz plays Stravinsky's Violin Concerto in D Major, backed by conductor Donald Runnicles and the Grand Teton Festival Orchestra.

1:59:00
VIEW ALL EPISODES

About Performance Today®

To find a station near you on our Stations Listings page, click here.

American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.

Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.

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