Performance Today®

Between Iceland and Norway, there's a collection of small rocky outcroppings - the Faroe Islands. They're home to a system of caves... and a summer concert series. On Thursday's Performance Today, come along for a musical expedition, and hear music from inside the caves of the Faroe Islands.

Composer Carl Nielsen's quartets helped define the national sound of Danish music by drawing inspiration from the Danish countryside. On Wednesday's Performance Today, hear the Danish String Quartet play Nielsen's String Quartet No. 4, from a concert at Lincoln Center.

In 2006, Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov wrote a cello concerto for Yo-Yo Ma. A few years ago, we aired a much-loved performance of the piece (a PT listener favorite) but a recording of the concerto wasn't commercially available until 2016. On Tuesday's Performance Today, hear the anticipated recording of Osvaldo Golijov's "Azul", performed by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and The Knights.

In 1994, Irish composer Bill Whelan wrote a few minutes of music for a TV song contest. A couple of Irish dancers did some choreography to go with it and a massive global hit was born. On Monday's Performance Today, hear the Symphonic Suite, from "Riverdance" by Bill Whelan, performed by the RTE National Symphony Orchestra.

On Saturday's Performance today, we speak with the Matthew Detrick, Artistic Director of the Houston-based Apollo Chamber Players, about the resilience of Houston's artistic scene in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Then hear the Apollo Chamber Players perform music by Darius Milhaud, from a concert recorded in Houston earlier this year.

On Friday's Performance today, we speak with the Matthew Detrick, Artistic Director of the Houston-based Apollo Chamber Players, about the resilience of Houston's artistic scene in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Then hear the Apollo Chamber Players perform music by Darius Milhaud, from a concert recorded in Houston earlier this year.

Every orchestra is part of a community, so, how does an orchestra respond when a natural disaster affects everyone and everything around them? On Thursday's Performance Today, join us for updates and music from the Houston Symphony, in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

In his later years, Giaochino Rossini scribbled notes on his old manuscripts. On one piece, he wrote, "Six terrible sonatas composed by me at a most youthful age..." On Wednesday's Performance Today, hear one of Rossini's "terrible" sonatas, which ISN'T terrible... composed when he was just 12 years old.

Czech composer Bedrich Smetana married his childhood sweetheart; they had four beautiful daughters together... but over the course of two years, three daughters and Smetana's wife all died from illness. On Tuesday's Performance Today, hear dramatic music inspired by Smetana's tragic loss.