Stephen Hough is a poet, novelist, essayist, painter, and composer, but he's best known for playing the piano. On Thursday's Performance Today, hear Stephen Hough play Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Sergei Rachmaninoff, from a concert with the Aspen Festival Orchestra.
On Wednesday's Performance Today, we celebrate Venezuelan Christmas traditions. Pianist Gabriela Montero and flutist Marco Granados share Venezuelan carols, dances, and their own Christmas memories.
Some pieces of music just don't get played as often. Conductor Carlos Kalmar calls them "step-children." On this edition of Performance Today, we'll hear from a "step-child" by Gustav Mahler, his Symphony No. 7, from a concert by the Oregon Symphony.
Pianist Rodolfo Leone is Performance Today's current Young Artist in Residence. Rodolfo joins Fred Child in the studio for conversation and music, and you can hear it all here!
In 1829, composer Felix Mendelssohn went on a walking tour of Scotland. He sent a musical sketch in a letter back to his family, and those notes turned out to be the beginnings of his "Scottish Symphony." On this edition of Performance Today, join us for a Nashville Symphony performance of Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3.
Not many orchestras even try to play the Variaciones Concertantes by Alberto Ginastera. It's not because musicians or audiences don't like the music. They do. It's just really hard to play well. On this episode of Performance Today, the Spoleto Festival Orchestra gives a thrilling performance of this challenging piece from a concert in Charleston, South Carolina.
In Plato's Symposium, seven men get together for a party and, when the topic of love comes up, each man weighs in with his own soliloquy. Those speeches inspired a piece of orchestral music by Leonard Bernstein. On Friday's Performance Today, hear Bernstein's Serenade after Plato's Symposium, from a concert in Nashville.
Jean-Marie Leclair was a famous violinist and composer in 18th century Paris. But one October morning in 1764, he was found murdered at the entrance to his home. Who wanted him dead? We'll investigate a murder most foul on Thursday's Performance Today. Jade Simmons guest-hosts.
The young Franz Schubert wrote in his diary: "O...immortal Mozart! What countless impressions of a brighter life you've impressed upon our souls!" So, when Schubert borrowed one of Mozart's tunes and used it for his own symphony, was it a tribute? Music by Mozart's No. 1 fan, on Wednesday's Performance Today. Jade Simmons guest-hosts.
Share your question or comment about Performance Today. Individual questions and themes may be answered or incorporated into future episodes or digital updates.
