Performance Today®

The young Beethoven borrowed a song that everybody was singing in Vienna, a tune from a popular opera. Beethoven made it very much his own by writing nine playful variations. On today's show, hear an all-star performance of Beethoven's Gassenhauer Trio, from a concert in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Clara Schumann was one of the great pianists of her time. She was also a talented composer, but sadly she chose to stop writing music... a male-dominated society had led her to believe that women shouldn't be composers. On Today's show, hear one of the last things Clara Schumann wrote: Three Romances for violin and piano, from a concert presented by the Seattle Chamber Music Society.

Her name was Dulcinea, and she is the inspiration in one of the great stories of all time: Don Quixote by Cervantes. Dulcinea doesn't even appear in the novel, but just the idea of her fuels everything that Don Quixote does. On this episode of Performance Today, tune in for "Don Quixote y Dulcinea" by Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ranki.

American composer Michael Abels has been getting a lot of attention in the past few years; in particular, for his movie music. He's in high demand after scoring Jordan Peele's satire horror films Get Out and Us. On today's show, hear one of Abels's orchestral pieces: Delights and Dances, from a concert presented by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

In 2013, Lee Pringle founded the Colour of Music Festival. The festival highlights the significance and impact of composers and musicians of African descent. On today's show, hear Voices Shouting Out by American composer Nkeiru Okoye, performed by the Colour of Music Festival Orchestra.

Composer Marc Mellits was inspired by trees when he wrote a piece called Splinters. Each movement, each "splinter" as he calls it, is based on a different kind of tree. On Today's show, we'll hear from Mellits's musical forest, played by the Akropolis Reed Quintet at a concert in San Antonio, Texas.

Sisters Katia and Marielle Labeque have been playing as a piano duo for more than 50 years, and their playing and approach is as fresh as ever. On today's show, hear the Labeque sisters perform a new concerto for two pianos by Bryce Dessner.

In 2013, Lee Pringle founded the Colour of Music Festival. The festival highlights the significance and impact of composers and musicians of African descent. On today's show, hear Voices Shouting Out by American composer Nkeiru Okoye, performed by the Colour of Music Festival Orchestra.

There's a musical puzzle at the heart of the Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar. Cryptographers have been working on cracking the code for a century. On this episode of Performance Today, we'll share some of the many possible solutions... and enjoy a great performance of the Elgar's Enigma Variations, from the Aspen Festival.