Pianist Jonathan Biss loves playing for a concert audience. But playing by himself in a quiet, antiseptic studio while making a CD? Not so much. On Friday's Performance Today, Jonathan Biss joins us to discuss the joys and travails of his 9-year Beethoven project.
He was one of the most amazing child prodigies in history. Mahler and Strauss and Puccini were all huge fans. We're not talking about Mozart; we're talking about 20th century composer Erich Korngold. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear his Piano Quintet from a concert in Charleston, South Carolina.
Tchaikovsky wrote his Variations on a Rococo Theme in homage to his favorite composer, Mozart. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear American cellist Joshua Roman perform this blistering set of variations in concert with the Bellingham Festival Orchestra.
In 1964, pianist Leon Fleisher's right hand simply stopped working. He went from being one of the world's great pianists, to being a man with a tragic tale. Thankfully, his story has a happy ending; through the use of Botox, he eventually regained the use his right hand. On Tuesday's Performance Today, we will hear the now 86 year-old pianist playing music by Debussy in concert this season.
Mozart Week is a big celebration that takes place every January in Mozart's hometown of Salzburg, Austria. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll travel to the festival to hear the Vienna Philharmonic play Mozart's Haffner Serenade.
Every week on our Piano Puzzler, composer Bruce Adolphe re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a classical composer. Play along on this weekend's Performance Today to see if you can guess the tune and the composer whose style Bruce is mimicking.
On Friday's Performance Today, we have something old and something new. We'll go to Paris to hear the French National Orchestra in concert, then we'll head to New York to hear a new piece for two marimbas by Argentine composer Alejandro Vinao.
On the picturesque hills of Lausanne, Switzerland, leafy grapevines scramble down the slopes to the waters of Lake Geneva, directly across from the snow-capped Alps. On Thursday's Performance Today we'll go to Lausanne to hear music perfect for the setting: Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony.
Every week on our Piano Puzzler, composer Bruce Adolphe re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a classical composer. Play along on Wednesday's Performance Today to see if you can guess the tune and the composer whose style Bruce is mimicking.
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