Performance Today®

Composer Pierre Jalbert recently wrote a piece as a response to Beethoven's Symphony No. 4. But if listeners don't pick up on that connection, that's alright by Jalbert. He's more focused on other goals. On today's show, hear the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's world premiere performance of the Passage, by Pierre Jalbert.

Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich loved music and football, or as we call it, soccer. Dmitri Braginsky writes about it in his book: "Shostakovich and Football - Escape to Freedom." On today's show, Fred Child speaks with Braginsky about the sporty side of Dmitri Shostakovich, and we'll hear music from his Shostakovich's ballet about, yes, a soccer game.

Siblings Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn were both gifted composers and musicians. On this episode of Performance Today, hear Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 2, from a performance at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, NC. Then, in the second hour of today's show, hear a piano trio by Fanny Mendelssohn, from a concert in Bridgehampton, NY.

At the beginning of the new millennium, composer Jennifer Higdon wrote a piece based on the perception that everyone's individual drumbeat is accelerating, adding to the rhythm of our time. On today's show, the US Marine Band celebrates the rhythm and speed of life, with Fanfare Ritmico by Jennifer Higdon.

Writing music can be a tough job, especially when your opinions run counter to the government, you are under constant surveillance and threat of punishment. Composer Dmitri Shostakovich found one thing, across the span of decades, that took him away from that stress and brought him enjoyment: soccer. Musicologist Dmitri Braginsky has written a new book about Shostakovich's obsession with "the beautiful game."

A sheet music store in New York City used to separate music with dividers, one of which was labeled "Women Composers." Composer Missy Mazzoli simply removed that divider. She says that if she writes an opera, she wants it to be shelved with the operas, not in the "Ladies' bin." On this episode of Performance Today, the Aeolus Quartet performs the 'Quartet for Queen Mab' by Missy Mazzoli.

In 1932, Aaron Copland went to an all-night dance hall in Mexico City. He saw a sign that read: "Please don't throw lighted cigarette butts on the floor so the ladies don't burn their feet." On today's show, hear music inspired by that stimulating dance-club from a concert at the Aspen Music Festival and School.

Composer Behzad Ranjbaran says of all the instruments in the orchestra, the viola is the voice of wisdom, moderation, and prudence. On this episode of Performance Today, we'll hear violist Roberto Diaz and the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra perform the concerto that Ranjbaran wrote for the viola's musical voice of wisdom.

In 1930, Maurice Ravel wrote a special concerto for Paul Wittgenstein, a pianist who had lost his right arm in the First World War. On this episode of Performance Today, we'll hear a performance of Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, from a concert in Round Top, Texas.