Performance Today®

Today is French composer Erik Satie's 150th birthday. In celebration, we'll hear pieces composed by Satie, and pieces that he inspired. Plus, pianist David Kadouch will share his take on Satie's legacy.

For students at the Aspen Music Festival and School, the experience is not just about the music. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll hear cellist Alisa Weilerstein's take on the Aspen experience. Plus, we'll hear her play a cello solo by Osvaldo Golijov live from Aspen's Harris Hall.

Julian Barnes' new novel, "The Noise of Time," is based on the story of composer Dmitri Shostakovich, and tackles the conflict between art and power. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear more from both Barnes and Shostakovich.

Julian Barnes' new novel, "The Noise of Time," is based on the story of composer Dmitri Shostakovich, and tackles the conflict between art and power. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll hear more from both Barnes and Shostakovich.

Acclaimed novelist Julian Barnes has published a new book about composer Dmitri Shostakovich, which explores the most turbulent years of Shostakovich's life under the regimes of Joseph Stalin and Nikita Khrushchev.

The story of Don Juan taps a deep territory in the human psyche: love, betrayal, excess, and death. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear Richard Strauss's explosive tone poem based on the story of Don Juan.

When Claude Debussy wrote music for the ballet "Jeux," he was picturing a game of tennis between two women and one young man. In tennis, "love" means nothing; in Debussy's music, love is everything. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear romance and seduction on the courts, from a concert by the New York Philharmonic.

Mitsuko Uchida loves playing Mozart concertos without a conductor; being conductor-less means that the orchestra players have to listen more carefully, and the resulting collaboration is much closer. On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear Uchida collaborating with the Cleveland Orchestra.

Richard Wagner's operas are so dramatic, they're sometimes an inch away from self-parody. On Monday's Performance Today, the Cleveland Orchestra gives a serious (and seriously great) performance of the Ride of the Valkyries. Plus, we'll hear a bit of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd's take on Wagner's music.