Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

All Episodes

A massive, ambitious piece of music

A massive, ambitious piece of music

Ferruccio Busoni's Piano Concerto is a massive, ambitious piece of music for full orchestra, 48 male singers, and a really, really good pianist. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear it from a concert in Warsaw, featuring Garrick Ohlsson and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.

A lesser-known Bach

A lesser-known Bach

Over the span of two centuries, the Bach family produced more than 50 musicians and composers. On Friday's Performance Today, we have music by Bach -- but not the guy who immediately comes to mind when you hear that name. We'll travel to Denmark to hear an overture by Johann Bernhard Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach's lesser-known second cousin.

A massive, ambitious piece of music

A massive, ambitious piece of music

Ferruccio Busoni's Piano Concerto is a massive, ambitious piece of music for full orchestra, 48 male singers, and a really, really good pianist. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear it from a concert in Warsaw, featuring Garrick Ohlsson and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Piano Puzzler

The Piano Puzzler

Every week, composer Bruce Adolphe joins us for a musical game. Play along; see if you can name the tune, and the composer whose style Bruce is mimicking. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll play the Piano Puzzler, plus we'll hear highlights from concert halls around the world.

Show-stealing timpani

Show-stealing timpani

Ostensibly, the piano is the featured instrument in Richard Strauss' Burlesque for Piano and Orchestra -- but the timpani often steal the show. It's a wild, audacious, entertaining piece by the young Strauss, and on Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear it from a concert in Hamburg, Germany.

Violinist Hannah White

Violinist Hannah White

Violinist Hannah White was 14 years old when she took home the gold medal in the Junior Division of the 2015 Sphinx Competition. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear her prize-winning performance of a Mozart Violin Concerto from Orchestra Hall in Detroit.

A notorious aria

A notorious aria

The aria "Ah! mes amis" from the opera Daughter of the Regiment is notoriously difficult to sing; there are nine high Cs in the final minute. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear our current Young Artist in Residence, American tenor Jack Swanson, hit every single one of them.

Nine high Cs

Nine high Cs

The aria "Ah! mes amis" from the opera Daughter of the Regiment is notoriously difficult to sing; there are nine high Cs in the final minute. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll hear our current Young Artist in Residence, American tenor Jack Swanson, hit every single one of them.

Heartfelt emotion in abstract music

Heartfelt emotion in abstract music

Creating heartfelt emotion in abstract music is no small task. According to tenor Jack Swanson, it requires finding an internal place of relaxation capable of tapping into the same emotions the music evokes. On Thursday's Performance Today, Swanson joins Fred in the studio for music and conversation as our latest Young Artist in Residence.