Performance Today®

The story of Don Juan has all the makings of a gripping melodrama -- love, betrayal, and death. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear the Munich Philharmonic perform Richard Strauss's explosive tone poem based on the legend.

After a holiday weekend, there's often a big clean-up that has to take place. So on Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll help out with a special piece by Malcolm Arnold; his Grand Overture for Vacuum Cleaners, Floor Polisher, and Concert Band.

Long before we became aware of conserving the environment, Johann Sebastian Bach was hard at work conserving his own output: his musical ideas. On today's show, we'll hear Bach's music as he reworked and finessed his favorite melodies in a variety of performances.

On this weekend's Performance Today, composer Bruce Adolphe joins us with our weekly musical game. Play along; see if you can name the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is mimicking. Plus, we'll hear musical highlights from concert halls around the world.

Pianist Martha Argerich has a devoted following; fans who will literally follow her from one concert to another. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll take you to a concert in Switzerland to hear her perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2.

Ray Sanders has become famous for playing a rather unusual instrument - the turkey baster. In celebration of Thanksgiving, we'll hear Sanders and the Dallas Winds perform a very special holiday-related selection on Thursday's Performance Today.

On Wednesday's Performance Today, composer Bruce Adolphe joins us with our weekly musical game. Play along; see if you can name the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is mimicking. Plus, we'll hear musical highlights from concert halls around the world.

On Tuesday's Performance Today conductor, pianist and candid commentator Bill Eddins joins host Fred Child in the studio to take listeners on a tour of his favorite pieces of classical music. He talks about the unappreciated humor in Beethoven's symphonies, the sly keyboard prowess of Alicia de Larrocha, and reveals what he calls "the sexiest piece of classical music ever written."

In 2011, composer Clarice Assad wove together a dozen tunes by Bach. The violas and cellos play the melodies, so it's called the "Suite for Lower Strings, based on themes of Bach." On Monday's Performance Today, we'll hear this 18th century-inspired modern music from a concert in San Francisco.