American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.
The trombone players in the Buffalo Philharmonic asked composer Eric Ewazen if he would write something especially for them. Ewazen loved the idea and came up with his Triple Concerto for Three Trombones and Orchestra. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll go to Buffalo to hear it in concert.
On Thursday's Performance Today, listen to music from a concert at the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga. It's an inspiring location... the museum sits on a majestic 80-foot bluff looking down on the Tennessee River. Hear Gloria Chien at the piano, alongside clarinet soloist Jose Franch-Ballester, with music by Francis Poulenc.
A new musical era began 216 years ago, with the premiere of Beethoven's Symphony No. 1. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear it from a concert in Houston, as fresh and lively as ever.
German composer Johannes Brahms was partial to the sound of the viola. In 1882, Brahms brought out the dark, rich texture of the violas in his String Quintet No. 1. Hear this quintet and more, on Tuesday's Performance Today.
Christina and Michelle Naughton are identical twins. They began taking piano lessons when they were 4 years old, and one could say they took it pretty seriously. These days, they tour the world as duo piano partners. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear Christina and Michelle Naughton perform Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos, in a performance from the 2016 Grand Teton Music Festival.
Felix Mendelssohn was so excited to travel to Italy for the first time. On the day he arrived, he wrote home to his family, saying: "Ahhhh, Italy at last! I am basking in happiness!" Hear the London Symphony Orchestra play Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony, in a concert from London, on Saturday's Performance Today.
The Paris Trumpet Society asked Camille Saint-Saens to write something for small ensemble, featuring trumpet. Saint-Saens... well, he declined. He thought the trumpet would overpower the group. A year later, he reconsidered. On Friday's Performance Today Saint-Saens' Septet, featuring the trumpet, from a concert in Lugano, Switzerland.
Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, by Richard Strauss, is a musical fairytale... a 15-minute orchestral romp that celebrates a crass, anti-establishment prankster. Hear the Los Angeles Philharmonic perform the piece, as well as other concert highlights from around the world, on Thursday's Performance Today.
In 1914, things were going well for Danish composer Carl Nielsen... so well that he quit a good conducting job so he could focus on writing music. At that time, events in Europe were taking a dark turn, and Nielsen poured his energy into a new piece of music. It's a fervent symphony that expresses his belief that, despite horrific darkness, life and light can prevail. On Wednesday's Performance Today, hear a concert performance of Symphony No. 4, "The Inextinguishable", by Carl Nielsen.
