Performance Today®

In his later years, Gioachino Rossini scribbled notes on his old manuscripts. On one piece, he wrote, "Six terrible sonatas composed  by me at a most youthful age..." On this edition of Performance Today, hear one of Rossini's "terrible" sonatas—which isn't terrible—composed when he was just 12 years old.

Cristina Cutts Dougherty says the tuba is capable of anything. "We're still figuring out how to play this instrument," she said, "but we're going to take over." Our first tuba-playing Young Artist in Residence, Cutts Dougherty joins us on the next Performance Today, from APM.

In the hands of a great pianist, Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 is romantic, expressive and wildly virtuosic. Powerhouse pianist Simon Trpceski brings this piece to life from a concert in Norway on the next Performance Today, from APM.

Pianist Heng-Jin Park spent her early years living with her large family in Korea. A series of tragedies led her and her mother to emigrate to the U.S., temporarily leaving her three siblings behind with relatives. We’ll hear how music became her consolation on the next Performance Today from APM.

Composer Scott Joplin is known for his rags, but he also left a fascinating opera called Treemonisha. It wasn't fully staged until long after he died. Joplin was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer for the work in 1976. We'll hear highlights from Scott Joplin's Treemonisha from a concert in Italy on the next Performance Today, from APM.

There's a long tradition of music inspired by visual art, and that continues right up to this day. On today's show, hear the world premiere performance the Violin Concerto by French composer Pascal Zavaro — music that Zavaro says was written "under the influence" of images by Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Violinist Hilary Hahn says that music by Bach is like a magical fun house...he takes you in one particular direction, but when you arrive, you're not where you thought you would be. On today's show, Hilary Hahn ushers us into the magical fun house that is the Violin Concerto in E Major, by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Composer Zhou Tian was inspired by a Chinese proverb, that it takes "a thousand years of good prayers to bring about a good relationship." He wrote music that unfolds into a clear and harmonious song — and it's less than ten centuries long. On this episode of Performance Today, hear A Thousand Years of Good Prayers by Zhou Tian, from a recent concert in Melbourne, Australia.

Natalia Koussevitzky was passionate about the arts and music. When she died, her husband, composer and conductor Serge Koussevitzky, established a foundation in her name...and asked a friend to write music in her honor. On today's show, hear Igor Stravinsky's "Ode" to Natalia Koussevitzky, from a recent concert in Berlin.