Performance Today®

The Isle of the Dead is a painting of a dark, forbidding island. After viewing it, Sergei Rachmaninoff was inspired to write a symphonic poem; a musical depiction of the journey of a newly departed soul. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear the Nashville Symphony perform Rachmaninoff's Isle of the Dead in concert in Nashville.

If you saw Mickey Mouse in "Fantasia," you might remember the moral of the story: don't try to do too much. French composer Paul Dukas followed that advice. He wrote one opera, one ballet, one symphony, and one famous tone poem - The Sorcerer's Apprentice. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear that piece from a concert in Buffalo, New York.

If you saw Mickey Mouse in "Fantasia," you might remember the moral of the story: don't try to do too much. French composer Paul Dukas followed that advice. He wrote one opera, one ballet, one symphony, and one famous tone poem - The Sorcerer's Apprentice. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll hear that piece from a concert in Buffalo, New York.

Go put on your dancing shoes and your fanciest duds - we're going to the Musikverein in Vienna! The concert hall decked out in gold banners, everyone dressed in their finest, the chandeliers sparkling. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll head to Vienna to hear the Vienna Philharmonic play a sparkling waltz by Johann Strauss Jr.

Classical music is meant to be played - and heard - in concert, and today's concert scene is bursting with creativity, vitality, and talent. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear highlights from concerts across the country.

Hey diddle diddle, a section of fiddles; the horn jumped over the moon. The audience cheered to hear such sport, and the flute ran away with the tune. On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear the New York Philharmonic play Maurice Ravel's Mother Goose Suite in concert at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Sascha Maisky is a fine up-and-coming violinist. His dad, Mischa Maisky is among world's great cellists. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear father and son in concert together in Switzerland, playing the Brahms' Double Concerto.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of our National Park system. On this weekend's Performance Today, composer Stephen Lias joins us to discuss how he discovered a love of the outdoors, and how the National Parks have inspired 20 of his compositions. And we'll hear one such piece; Crown of the Continent, inspired by Glacier National Park.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of our National Park system. On Friday's Performance Today, composer Stephen Lias joins us to discuss how he discovered a love of the outdoors, and how the National Parks have inspired 20 of his compositions. And we'll hear one such piece; Crown of the Continent, inspired by Glacier National Park.