Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

All Episodes

An unusual duet

An unusual duet

In 1824, Gioachino Rossini wrote an unusual string duet. It was played once, and then disappeared for nearly 150 years. The manuscript re-emerged in 1968 and is now back in circulation. On Wednesday's Performance Today, hear Rossini's Duet for Cello and Double Bass, from a concert in Atlanta.

Amy Beach

Amy Beach

Amy Beach, nee Cheney, debuted with the Boston Symphony at the age of 17. She married two years later, and her husband forbade her from having a career on stage, so... Amy Beach became a great composer. A story of perseverance and the power of music, on Tuesday's Performance Today.

A piano concerto for the left hand

A piano concerto for the left hand

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 Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear a performance of Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, from a concert in Round Top, Texas.

A glimpse into the NY Phil archives

A glimpse into the NY Phil archives

Barbara Haws has been the New York Philharmonic's Archivist/Historian since 1984. On this weekend's Performance Today, Haws shares stories and memories of the great American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein.

Images of Bernstein

Images of Bernstein

Barbara Haws has been the New York Philharmonic's Archivist/Historian since 1984. On Friday's Performance Today, Haws shares stories and memories of the great American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein.

Music by a teenage amateur

Music by a teenage amateur

Franz Schubert composed his fourth symphony in his spare time... when he was just 19 years old. The symphony wasn't performed by an orchestra until 20 years after his death. On Thursday's Performance Today, Louis Langree conducts the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Schubert's Symphony No. 4.

Ferde Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite

Ferde Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite

When composer Ferde Grofe was in his twenties, he went camping at the Grand Canyon, and later translated his experience into music. Experience the wonder of the Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofe, from a concert in Buffalo, on Wednesday's Performance Today.

The power and danger of art

The power and danger of art

In the 1930's, artistic expression in the Soviet Union could be a very risky proposition. On Tuesday's Performance Today, tune in for a story about the danger of art, with evocative music by composer and survivor Dmitri Shostakovich.

The Brazilian Mozart

The Brazilian Mozart

Mozart Guarnieri's father was an opera buff who named his kids after composers... his brothers were named Rossine and Verde. On Monday's Performance today, take a seat at Lincoln Center for a performance of "Three Dances for Orchestra" by Brazilian composer Mozart Camargo Guarnieri.

YourClassical Radio
0:00
0:00