Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

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Corelli's Christmas Concerto

Corelli's Christmas Concerto

If you're ever in Rome in December, you'll see bagpipers playing in the piazzas; it's an old Christmas tradition in Italy. But to really see the bagpipers in action, go to Mass. They play in front of nativity scenes, re-enacting the devotion of the shepherds at the birth of Christ. On Friday's Performance Today we'll hear Arcangelo Corelli's Christmas Concerto, his tribute to this Italian custom.

The Nobel Prize Concert

The Nobel Prize Concert

The Nobel Prizes were given out this week in Stockholm, Sweden. Every year since 1994 there has also been a Nobel Prize Concert, which features both a big-name soloist and a big-name guest conductor leading the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic. Coming up on Thursday's Performance Today, we'll hear a couple of highlights from the 2012 Nobel Prize Concert, including Christoph Eschenbach conducting the triumphant final movement of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 1.

A warm concerto in the Minnesota chill

A warm concerto in the Minnesota chill

January is not an ideal time to travel from London to Minnesota with delicate baroque instruments. Finely crafted instruments are not made to withstand Minnesota's wintery low humidity; bows can buckle and bridges can crack. As the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment quickly learned, there is nothing to do except to glue, humidify, and persevere. Coming up on Wednesday's Performance Today, Rachel Podger and members of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment play a warm concerto by Antonio Vivaldi in concert in the Minnesota chill.

Debussy's patriotic sonata

Debussy's patriotic sonata

When war broke out in 1914, French composer Claude Debussy refused to go near a piano or compose any music; he said that France could neither laugh nor weep while so many of her sons were dying. As the war continued, however, Debussy decided to write music with an especially French feel as a way to "give proof, however small it may be...that French thought will not be annihilated." On Tuesday's Performance Today we'll hear Debussy's very French Sonata for Flute, Harp, and Viola from a concert in Oslo, Norway.

Beethoven's beginnings

Beethoven's beginnings

Beethoven is a musical giant; a composer who revolutionized music for piano, string quartet, and orchestra. Coming up on Monday's Performance Today we'll hear his first symphony, which Beethoven wrote back when he was primarily known as a performer, not a composer.

Prokofiev's Symphony No. 1

Prokofiev's Symphony No. 1

In 1916, critics complained that 26-year-old Sergei Prokofiev's music was too modern, too hard on the ears, and lacking a sense of history. So that summer Prokofiev left for vacation with a plan. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear Prokofiev's classically-inspired rebuttal, his Symphony No. 1. Plus, composer Bruce Adolphe has this week's Piano Puzzler.

A musical portrait of the Seine

A musical portrait of the Seine

If you walk through the city of Paris at night, the river is a brooding presence. American composer Virgil Thomson wrote that the Seine is "so deep and its face so quiet that it scarcely seems to move." On Friday's Performance Today, we'll hear Thomson's musical portrait of the river Seine performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Unconventional ways to practice music

Unconventional ways to practice music

Performance Today has invited musicians from the top American music conservatories to perform in the PT studios. On Thursday's show, clarinetist Sang Yoon Kim is back as young artist in residence to play music by Charles-Marie Widor and share some unconventional ways to practice music.

Clarinetist Sang Yoon Kim

Clarinetist Sang Yoon Kim

We're excited to showcase our third young artist in residence for the season, clarinetist Sang Yoon Kim. On Wednesday's Performance Today, we'll hear a virtuosic suite by Sarasate based on music from Carmen. Plus, composer Bruce Adolphe has this week's Piano Puzzler.

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