Performance Today®

Throughout the week, conductor Leonard Slatkin will be our guide for all of Tchaikovsky's symphonies. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear the piece that Slatkin calls the "odd child" of Tchaikovsky's symphonies -- his Symphony No. 3.

There's a gong in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2. And according to conductor Leonard Slatkin, everyone has questions about it. How loud will the gong be? How long will it ring? What kind of stick will be used? On Tuesday's Performance Today, Slatkin joins us with questions, answers, and more Tchaikovsky.

This past season, the Detroit Symphony held a three-week Tchaikovsky Festival in which they played nearly all of the composer's orchestral works. In turn, we were inspired to have our own Tchaikovsky Festival -- or rather, a Tchaikovsky Week. Throughout this week, conductor Leonard Slatkin will join Fred to discuss and introduce the DSO's recent performances of Tchaikovsky's Symphonies. On Monday's Performance Today we'll begin at the beginning, with his Symphony No. 1.

The Detroit Symphony and Music Director Leonard Slatkin have recently released new recordings of all six of Peter Tchaikovsky's symphonies. Slatkin spoke with us about the process of turning live concerts into recordings, the differences between live and studio recordings, and more.

This summer we're featuring great music inspired by distinctive American places. The next stop on PT's Summer Road Trip is Spillville, Iowa, which served as a happy retreat for Antonin Dvorak in the summer of 1893. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll visit Spillville's famous Bily Clocks Museum and hear a performance of Dvorak's American Quartet. Plus, Bruce Adolphe joins us with this week's Piano Puzzler.

This summer we're featuring great music inspired by distinctive American places. The next stop on PT's Summer Road Trip is Spillville, Iowa, which served as a happy retreat for Antonin Dvorak in the summer of 1893. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll visit Spillville's famous Bily Clocks Museum and hear a performance of Dvorak's American Quartet.

Robert Schumann wrote his Piano Concerto in A Major for his great love -- his wife, pianist Clara Schumann. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear Martha Argerich play Schumann's musical poetry of love, from a concert in Switzerland.

Robert Schumann wrote in his diary, "Drums and trumpets have been blaring in my head. I have no idea what will come of it..." On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear what came of it: Schumann's Symphony No. 2 is on the way from a concert in England. Plus, Bruce Adolphe join us with this week's Piano Puzzler.

On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll go to Houston to hear the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra give an energetic performance of Mozart's Haffner Symphony. Plus, flutist Emmanuel Pahud plays Sergei Prokofiev's Flute Sonata in concert in Barcelona, Spain.