Performance Today®

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear it from a concert in Zurich, Switzerland.

Listeners and radio hosts share stories about their favorite Christmas and winter songs.

Felix Mendelssohn had been reading about Italy and was so excited to travel there for the first time. On the day he arrived, he wrote home to his family, saying: "Ahhhh, Italy at last! ...and I am basking in happiness!" In addition to great happiness, his trip inspired something else: his Italian Symphony, which we'll hear on Tuesday's Performance Today.

When Jeremy Denk plays a Mozart Piano Concerto, he never repeats a melody the same way. He likes to add flourishes as he goes. On Monday's PT, we'll hear Jeremy Denk improvising his way through Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20.