Performance Today®

Szymon Laks was a prisoner at Auschwitz, and leader of the prison orchestra. He says music did not offer comfort or peace, that music became a kind of torture, but he played on because his very life depended on it. The story and the music of Szymon Laks, on this edition of Performance Today.

When Emily Pinkerton plays a particular Civil War tune on the banjo, she says it's hard to stop; the melody bubbles and flows like a rippling river. On this episode of Performance Today, we'll hear a movement from "Rounder Songs" by Emily Pinkerton, featuring a lush arrangement for banjo and chamber ensemble.

It's a bit chilling, but in the last piece that Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote, he quotes the Dies Irae ("Day of Wrath") from the ancient Mass for the Dead. Join us for the story behind the music, and hear Rachmaninoff's astonishing final work, on this edition of Performance Today.

Death himself saunters into a graveyard at midnight and plays his fiddle. The clattering bones of dancing skeletons accompany his diabolical tune until the morning rooster scares them all away. On today's show, we'll hear a supernatural take on the Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saens.

On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear Anastasia Kobekina play Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations - a theme with a set of elegant and virtuosic variations for cello and orchestra. Plus, Bruce Adolphe joins us for this week's Piano Puzzler.

Conductor Scott Terrell says he's a proud product of a public school music program. His international conducting career began on the podium of his high school orchestra. On this edition of Performance Today, Scott Terrell leads the Aspen Philharmonic in music by Sergei Prokofiev.

Jaakko Kuusisto has been meaning to write a concerto that would highlight his unique skills on the violin. He hasn't written a concerto for himself yet, but he HAS written one for his friend, violinist Elina Vahala. On this episode of Performance Today, Elina Vahala, backed by the Minnesota Orchestra, play the fiery Violin Concerto by Jaakko Kuusisto.

She was famous as a pianist and had a keen talent for composition. On today's show, hear the power and beauty of Clara Schumann's Piano Trio, from a concert in Atlanta. Plus, Bruce Adolphe joins us for this week's Piano Puzzler.

John Adams says that final movement of "Road Movies" is for four-wheel drives only, and to leave the driving to the musicians. Join us for that musical ride on this episode of Performance Today.