The Kalevala is the national epic poem of Finland, and composer Jean Sibelius told stories from the Kalevala in music. On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear one of those stories, a piece called Lemminkainen, in concert with the Vienna Philharmonic. Plus, English pianist Stephen Hough plays music by Debussy.
Pianist Martha Argerich has a devoted following; fans who literally follow her from one concert to another. Earlier this month, she gave a concert at the Frederic Chopin Festival in Warsaw, Poland. And on Monday's Performance Today, we'll take you there to hear Argerich play music by Robert Schumann.
Every week on our Piano Puzzler, composer Bruce Adolphe re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a great composer. Then, one of our listeners calls in and tries to guess two things: the tune, and the composer whose style Bruce is mimicking. Play along with our weekly musical game, on this weekend's Performance Today.
Danish composer Carl Nielsen said that his third symphony was music that suggested, "the outward growth of the mind's scope." On Friday's Performance Today, our mission is to try to figure out what Nielsen meant by that. Plus, we'll go to Saint Petersburg, Russia, to hear Valery Gergiev conduct music by Modest Mussorgsky.
Joshua Bell has been among the great violin soloists for the past 25 years. Now, he's taking up the art of conducting. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear Bell solo in and conduct Max Bruch's Violin Concerto at the 2015 Verbier Festival.
Every week on our Piano Puzzler, composer Bruce Adolphe re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a great composer. Then, one of our listeners calls in and tries to guess two things: the tune, and the composer whose style Bruce is mimicking. Play along with our weekly musical game, on Wednesday's Performance Today.
According to conductor Leonard Slatkin, leading an orchestra is a bit like being the coach of a football team. On Tuesday's Performance Today, Coach Slatkin will tell us more about the curious art of conducting; plus, we'll hear from a recent concert featuring Slatkin and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Sergey Taneyev's Symphony No. 4 is a great piece of Romantic Russian music, and it's not played nearly often enough. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra play it in concert in Rotterdam.
The story of Don Juan taps a deep territory in the human psyche: love, betrayal, excess, and death. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear Richard Strauss's explosive tone poem based on the story of Don Juan. Plus, a stunning performance of three traditional Chinese songs arranged for string quartet.
