Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

All Episodes

Beethoven and borrowing

Beethoven and borrowing

Beethoven borrowed a tune from a popular opera when he wrote his Gassenhauer Trio; it was a song that everybody was singing in Vienna in 1797. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear a performance of Beethoven's Trio from an all-star concert in Bridgehampton, New York.

Hector Del Curto

Hector Del Curto

Hector Del Curto's great-grandfather and grandfather both played tango in Buenos Aires. Now, he carries on that tradition, as one of today's great masters of tango. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll hear Del Curto play the bandoneon in concert at the Aspen Music Festival.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic

The Los Angeles Philharmonic

Sometimes the sound of the L.A. Philharmonic is so big, you would think it could move mountains. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll go to Los Angeles to hear the orchestra perform with earth-shaking results.

Beethoven's Gassenhauer Trio

Beethoven's Gassenhauer Trio

Beethoven borrowed a tune from a popular opera when he wrote his Gassenhauer Trio; it was a song that everybody was singing in Vienna in 1797. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear a performance of Beethoven's Trio from an all-star concert in Bridgehampton, New York.

Simone Porter

Simone Porter

On Tuesday's Performance Today, 20-year-old violinist Simone Porter joins us to perform a piece which she describes as a journey through the five stages of grief: Ernest Bloch's Nigun.

Saint-Saens' Septet

Saint-Saens' Septet

The Trumpet Society of Paris once asked Camille Saint-Saens to write a special piece for them featuring trumpet and small ensemble. Saint-Saens declined; he thought that the trumpet would overpower the group. But a year later, he reconsidered. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear the resulting piece: Saint-Saens' Septet with trumpet.

Mozart's Clarinet Concerto

Mozart's Clarinet Concerto

In 1791, the clarinet was still a work-in-progress; it hadn't fully been accepted as a member of the orchestra. Mozart's Clarinet Concerto helped change that. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear it from a concert in Zurich, Switzerland.

Bruce Adolphe's Chopin Dreams

Bruce Adolphe's Chopin Dreams

Composer Bruce Adolphe writes our weekly Piano Puzzler. But on Friday's Performance Today, he'll tell us about "Chopin Dreams" - a big new piece he's written, imagining Frederic Chopin in 21st century New York.

The New York Philharmonic

The New York Philharmonic

The New York Philharmonic has been in existence since 1842, and their very first concert featured music by Beethoven. They still love to play Beethoven, and they do it so well! On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear conductor Alan Gilbert lead the New York Philharmonic in Beethoven's Symphony No. 1.