Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

All Episodes

Schumann's horn-heavy concertstuck

Schumann's horn-heavy concertstuck

Robert Schumann wrote a piece that features four horns playing flat out over an orchestra. It's not played very often, because you need four super-talented horn players to pull it off. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear a performance of Schumann's horn-heavy concertstuck from an all-star concert in Aspen, Colorado.

Lang Lang and the piece of the century

Lang Lang and the piece of the century

Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 might be the most popular piece of classical music from the last century and a half. And on Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear it played by a gentleman who might be today's most popular classical pianist - Lang Lang.

Who?

Who?

On Monday's Performance Today, Camerata Pacifica plays a witty trio by 20th century English composer Madeleine Dring. Never heard of her? Join us to explore great music by composers whose work deserves to be heard more often.

YourClassical

Music for improvisation

Matthias Maute loves music from the early 1700s - partly because composers generally didn't write everything out. As he puts it, "you get only the melodies, and everything else must be invented." On this weekend's Performance Today, Maute and the rest of the ensemble REBEL join Fred in the studio for baroque music with a certain amount of improvisation.

Highlights from Paris and New York

Highlights from Paris and New York

On Friday's Performance Today, we'll hear highlights from recent concerts in Paris and New York. From New York, the ethereal Vocalise by Rachmaninoff; and from Paris, a rollicking performance of Dvorak's Violin Concerto.

Bargemusic

Bargemusic

It's a concert hall inside an old barge, floating on the East River in Brooklyn. From your concert seat, you can see the Manhattan skyline and feel the movement of the river. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll go to Bargemusic to hear music by Bach.

YourClassical

Music for improvisation

Matthias Maute loves music from the early 1700s - partly because composers generally didn't write everything out. As he puts it, "you get only the melodies, and everything else must be invented." On Wednesday's Performance Today, Maute and the rest of the ensemble REBEL join Fred in the studio for baroque music with a certain amount of improvisation.

In studio with REBEL

In studio with REBEL

Early music ensemble REBEL joins Fred in the studio to perform early music and to discuss how they find room for improvisation in written scores.

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In remembrance of the Great War

In remembrance of the Great War

On Veterans Day, retired Army bugler Sgt. Major Woodrow English joins us to discuss the history and meaning of "Taps." Plus a full show dedicated to the remembrance of the Great War, including music by Ravel, Butterworth, and Suk.

YourClassical Radio
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