Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

All Episodes

Musical snapshots

Musical snapshots

It's a snapshot of today's classical music scene - we'll have highlights from recent concerts in Paris, Brussels, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, as well as from concert halls across the United States. And, it's day-two with our Young Artist in Residence, 16 year-old violinist Phoenix Avalon, on Thursday's Performance Today.

Phoenix Avalon

Phoenix Avalon

Phoenix Avalon knew he wanted to play the violin before he even really knew how to say it. Meet 16-year-old Phoenix Avalon, PT's Young Artist in Residence, on Wednesday's Performance Today.

Young Artist in Residence: Phoenix Avalon
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Mahler's Symphony No. 6

Mahler's Symphony No. 6

The final movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 6 is epic. 30 minutes of emotional energy that bursts with dramatic tension, culminating in three powerful hammer blows. We'll hear the Boston Symphony perform it in concert, with conductor Andris Nelsons, on Tuesday's Performance Today.

Chopin's homeland

Chopin's homeland

With some reluctance, Frederic Chopin left Poland for Vienna at the age of 20, carrying an urn filled with soil from his beloved home country. He never returned to Poland, but the composer, literally and musically, was never far from his homeland. In 1849, Chopin was laid to rest at the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, and the urn from Poland is still at his side. On Monday's Performance Today, hear Wu Han in concert, playing Frederic Chopin's Polonaise in B-flat Major.

River Oaks Chamber Orchestra

River Oaks Chamber Orchestra

On Saturday's Performance Today, hear the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra's world premiere performance of Jabberwocky, by composer Anthony DiLorenzo. Also featured are performances by the Shanghai String Quartet, Miami String Quartet, the London Symphony Orchestra, and more.

Sibelius's "Intimate Voices" quartet

Sibelius's "Intimate Voices" quartet

After composing his string quartet known as "Intimate Voices", Jean Sibelius wrote, "It's the kind of music that brings a smile to your lips at the hour of death." Sibelius had just been diagnosed with cancer - he believed he had been given a death sentence - yet the composer lived another 48 years. Hear the quartet with a life of its own, String Quartet in D minor 'Voces intimae', on Friday's Performance Today.

A lesson in humility

A lesson in humility

It's a story of revenge. King Frederick the Great tried to humiliate Johann Sebastian Bach by giving him an awkward tune and asking him to improvise around it. The king was good, but Bach was great. The story and Bach's revenge, played by the Los Angeles Philharmonic on Thursday's Performance Today.

Dame Mitsuko Uchida

Dame Mitsuko Uchida

On Wednesday's Performance Today, pianist Mitsuko Uchida plays a quietly dramatic piano concerto by Mozart in concert with the Cleveland Orchestra.

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