American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.
Robert Schumann wrote his Piano Concerto in A Major for his great love -- his wife, pianist Clara Schumann. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear Martha Argerich play Schumann's musical poetry of love, from a concert in Switzerland.
Robert Schumann wrote in his diary, "Drums and trumpets have been blaring in my head. I have no idea what will come of it..." On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear what came of it: Schumann's Symphony No. 2 is on the way from a concert in England. Plus, Bruce Adolphe join us with this week's Piano Puzzler.
On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll go to Houston to hear the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra give an energetic performance of Mozart's Haffner Symphony. Plus, flutist Emmanuel Pahud plays Sergei Prokofiev's Flute Sonata in concert in Barcelona, Spain.
Pianist Martha Argerich has a devoted following; fans who will literally follow her from one concert to another. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll take you to a concert in Switzerland to hear her play Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1.
Two hundred and thirty-nine years ago, the Continental Congress of colonial America said, "That's it. We're going our own way." France offered support, followed by Spain and the Netherlands. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear music for Independence Day; patriotic music by Americans and composers from other nations who admired American ideals.
All summer long, we're featuring great music inspired by distinctive American places on our PT Summer Road Trip. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll stop in the Pacific Northwest to hear a piece by Wayne Horvitiz called "Thursday, at Dusk, In Spokane, Washington."
Music can be beautiful -- but it can also be practical. On Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear Norwegian trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth perform a variety of virtuosic music, as well as a serene melody based on the traditional Norwegian cow call.
In instrumentation, the Turtle Island Quartet looks like a typical string quartet: two violins, viola and cello. But in terms of sound, this group is anything but typical. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll go to Seattle to hear The Turtle Island Quartet playing "Alex in A Major," a new piece by their founding violinist, David Balakrishnan.
On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear the epic grandeur and the playful wit of Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition from a concert in Houston. Plus, English pianist Stephen Hough performs music by Claude Debussy.
