Performance Today®

Pianist Emanuel Ax has won seven Grammy Awards, an Avery Fisher Prize, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has soloed with the New York Philharmonic more than a hundred times. On this episode of Performance Today, Emanuel Ax and the NY Phil gives a thrilling performance of J. S. Bach's Piano Concerto in D Minor.

Czech composer Bedrich Smetana and his wife had four beautiful daughters. They were a happy family until, over the course of two years, three daughters and Smetana's wife all died from illness. On this episode of Performance Today, hear dramatic music inspired by personal heartbreak: Bedrich Smetana's Piano Trio, Op. 15.

When he was five years old, Avi Avital's mother asked him which instrument he would like to play. His family had an upstairs neighbor who practiced the mandolin; Avi didn't hesitate--that's what he wanted to play. Now he's on top of the classical mandolin world. On this weekend's episode of Performance Today, we'll hear Avi Avital in concert at the University of Georgia.

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.

When composer Joan Tower was a young girl, her father was a mining engineer. The family moved from New York to Bolivia for his work. On this episode of Performance Today, find out how young Joan spent her time while her father was in the mines, then we'll hear her piece called Copperwave.

When he was five years old, Avi Avital's mother asked him which instrument he would like to play. His family had an upstairs neighbor who practiced the mandolin; Avi didn't hesitate -- that's what he wanted to play. Now he's on top of the classical mandolin world. On this episode of Performance Today, we'll hear Avi Avital in concert at the University of Georgia.

In May 2010, the home of the Nashville Symphony suffered nearly $40 million in flood damage. Imagine finding two concert grand pianos floating upside down. Despite losses, the Nashville Symphony became a symbol of recovery, and the concert hall was brought back to life in less than 8 months. On this episode of Performance Today, take a seat and hear the Nashville Symphony perform music by Sibelius, from a concert at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville.

Nadia Boulanger was a composer and teacher who made a huge impact on a generation of composers, but she wasn't the only Boulanger contributing to the classical scene. On this episode of Performance Today, hear music by Nadia's younger sister, French composing pioneer Lili Boulanger.

If pianist Francesco Piemontesi could take a time machine back to any point in history, he'd choose to go back to the 19th century to hang out with Franz Liszt. For now, Piemontesi settles for playing Liszt's music. On this episode of Performance Today, hear Piemontesi in concert, playing a selection from "Years of Pilgrimage," Franz Liszt's set of three suites for solo piano.