Performance Today®

Conductor, composer, pianist Michael Tilson Thomas says few people realize how rooted Leonard Bernstein was in Jewish Theater. Thomas says that shared interest created an immediate bond between them.

Ignacy Jan Paderewski was a dashing, virtuoso pianist around the turn of the 20th century. In 1919, he was the Prime Minister of Poland (his signature is on the Treaty of Versailles). On Thursday's Performance Today, hear Paderewski's Piano Concerto No. 1 from a concert in his hometown of Warsaw, Poland.

In 1982, Charlie Harmon was hired to be Leonard Bernstein's assistant. The first meeting did not go exactly smoothly, but for four years, Harmon had a first row seat to the thrilling, jet set, creative and exhausting career and life of Bernstein. Harmon has written a new book about their work together called On the Road and Off the Record with Leonard Bernstein.

In 1989, just a month after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Leonard Bernstein performed a concert in East Germany for the world to see. They played Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, based on Schiller's Ode to Joy poem, but Bernstein changed one important word. Journalist Stephanie Griffith was there, reporting for the Los Angeles Times.

In Beethoven's 9th Symphony, the chorus sings the Ode to Joy. But for a special concert right after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Leonard Bernstein changed the words. Join us for Beethoven, Bernstein, the Berlin Wall, and the Ode to Freedom, on Wednesday's Performance Today.

Leonard Bernstein took a keen interest in helping many of his fellow musicians. He launched dozens of careers, including that of pianist Andre Watts. Less than a week after Watts debuted on stage with Bernstein and the NY Philharmonic, they made what became a best-selling recording. Hear it on Tuesday's Performance Today.

"It was as if Bernstein handed me a big platter with 'Career' on it and said, 'Hey kid! You want it?'" Andre Watts said yes. The pianist describes the 1963 concert that changed his life.

Conductor JoAnn Falletta was a student at the Juilliard School when the august composer, conductor and pianist Leonard Berstein walked into the classroom, lit cigarette in hand. Smoking inside was not allowed at Juilliard. But in this instance, and in so many other ways, she said Bernstein existed above the rules. Falletta shares her favorite memories of Leonard Bernstein on Monday's Performance Today.

Leonard Bernstein didn't impress just Americans. He impressed the world. Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra's Music Director JoAnn Falletta remembers the music lessons and cigarette ashes Bernstein left in her Juilliard School conducting classes.