Performance Today®

Daniel Barenboim is both a pianist and a conductor; one of the most versatile, agile, and expressive musical minds of our time. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll explore the many sides of Daniel Barenboim.

In classical music, and probably in the world, there's no one else like her. Truly a woman of the world, Japanese pianist Mitsuko Uchida was educated in Austria and is now a British citizen. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear her interpretation of quintessentially Austrian music by Mozart.

On Friday's Performance Today, pianist Simone Dinnerstein discusses the perfection and poetry of Bach. Plus, we'll hear her perform Bach's French Suite No. 5 in concert in Berlin.

In classical music, and probably in the world, there's no one else like her. Truly a woman of the world, Japanese pianist Mitsuko Uchida was educated in Austria and is now a British citizen. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear her interpretation of quintessentially Austrian music by Mozart.

On Wednesday's Performance Today, Bruce joins us for our weekly Piano Puzzler. Play along and see if you can name the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating.

Once upon a time, there was a clever little boy named Tom Thumb. His parents sent him to live in the woods; a fairly horrible state of affairs. And once upon a time, there was a composer who loved children's stories, but wanted them to sound less brutal. On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear the result: Maurice Ravel's softening of the Mother Goose Tales.

American mandolin virtuoso Mike Marshall is a big fan of both bluegrass and Bach. So when the New Century Chamber Orchestra asked him to write a new piece, he drew on these two musical styles for inspiration. On Monday's Performance Today we'll hear Marshall's Bach-and-bluegrass inspired Mandolin Concerto No. 1.

Italian composer Ottorino Respighi once said, "I wonder why no one has made the fountains of Rome 'sing,' for they are, after all, the very voice of the city." No one else had done it, so Respighi did. On this weekend's Performance Today we'll hear "The Fountains of Rome," Respighi's homage to the unique voice of Rome.

The opening of Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra" is incredibly memorable. You can sing along with every bit of it: the trumpet, the timpani, the big dramatic chords. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll hear the entirety of Strauss' most spine-chilling composition.