Performance Today®

Join host Fred Child for in-studio interviews with the Vera Quartet, as well as exclusive musical performances.

In 1830, French composer Hector Berlioz finished writing an innovative program symphony, his Symphonie Fantastique. It's an autobiographical work, the story of a young artist and his insatiable love for the perfect woman. On Tuesday's Performance Today, Andres Orozco-Estrada conducts the Houston Symphony in a performance of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique.

In 1904, French composer Florent Schmitt turned a poem by Edgar Allan Poe into an eerie, unsettling orchestral work. On Monday's Performance Today, conductor JoAnn Falletta leads the Buffalo Philharmonic in a concert performance of "The Haunted Palace" by Florent Schmitt.

Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg wrote a collection of 60 short works for piano, his 'Lyric Pieces'. A few years later, a conductor named Anton Seidl orchestrated a few of those pieces ...without asking Grieg's permission. On Saturday's Performance Today, hear the story and the end result: 'Lyric Pieces', composed AND orchestrated by Edvard Grieg.

Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg wrote a collection of 60 short works for piano, his 'Lyric Pieces'. A few years later, a conductor named Anton Seidl orchestrated a few of those pieces ...without asking Grieg's permission. On Friday's Performance Today, hear the story and the end result: 'Lyric Pieces', composed AND orchestrated by Edvard Grieg.

Cynthia Phelps grew up in a musical family. Two of her sisters and her mother all played the violin. In Cynthia's words, "It was WAY too much E string surrounding me." Cynthia escaped by switching to viola. We'll hear Cynthia Phelps play Robert Schumann's Fairytales on Thursday's Performance Today.

Claude Debussy wanted to offer his friend Erik Satie a little advice. "Your music needs structure and shape," Debussy told him. Satie had a sense of humor. On Wednesday's Performance Today, listen to Erik Satie's response to his friend's advice: "Three Pieces in the Form of a Pear," a collection of seven short, nearly structureless pieces for piano.

Fred Child is host of Performance Today. He has an incredible music library, which reflects his appetite for fascinating compositions and unforgettable performances. Fred has chosen his absolute classical favorites from his library for this stream.

Times were good for young Dmitri Shostakovich in 1933. The Soviet government hadn't begun condemning his work quite yet. You can hear his high spirits and youthful exuberance in his 'Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings'. Hear the music of an optimistic Shostakovich on Tuesday's Performance Today.