Performance Today®

In 1952, Composer Margaret Bonds wrote and premiered a piece based on a spiritual. The music was finally published in 2020. On today's show, pianist Lara Downes plays "The Bells,” from the Spiritual Suite by Margaret Bonds.

It's a piece that isn't played very often these days, but it's a lot of fun and has a fascinating backstory. Hear it on today’s show: the Suite for two violins, cello and piano left hand, by Erich Korngold, from a concert at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Imagine a festive sleigh ride through a winter evening: horses trotting, bells jangling in rhythm. The air is frosty, but we're warm and toasty in all of our winter gear. We'll go on a Sleigh Ride with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra on this episode of Performance Today.

It's one of the greatest endings in all of classical music. After a hard life and a fiery death, this brilliant symbol of the unquenchable thirst for life rises from the ashes. The Classical Tahoe Orchestra plays the Firebird Suite (1919), by Igor Stravinsky on today's show.

Capriccio Espagnol by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1887. Rimsky-Korsakov conducted the orchestra himself, and the musicians made it clear that they LOVED his new work. To this day, orchestras love playing this piece, and we get to hear it on today's show: Capriccio Espagnol by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

Composer Osvaldo Golijov wrote a piece, a lullaby and variations, for a 2002 film called "The Man Who Cried." The film never really found an audience, but that piece by Golijov has become a favorite 21st-century work for chamber ensembles. On today's show, hear Golijov's "Lullaby and Doina", from the Mizmorim Festival in Basel, Switzerland.

It's one of the greatest endings in all of classical music. After a hard life and a fiery death, this brilliant symbol of the unquenchable thirst for life rises from the ashes. The Classical Tahoe Orchestra plays the Firebird Suite (1919), by Igor Stravinsky on today's show.

Violist Beth McNinch used to like jumping out of planes and scuba diving. Now, she snuggles her dog, plays dominos with her family, and runs a chamber music collective called Musici Ireland. On today's show , hear the group Musici Ireland, from a concert in Wexford, Ireland.

In 2018, composer Michael Daugherty wrote a piece inspired by the iconic photography of O. Winston Link (1914-2001), whose work chronicled the last days of steam-powered locomotives in the United States. Join us today to hear conductor JoAnn Falletta lead the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Night Owl, by Michael Daugherty.