Performance Today®

Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 5 is often interpreted as an expression of immense sadness. But Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conductor Manfred Honeck says that what Mahler meant was entirely different; he was writing a tender love song to the woman who was about to become his wife. On Thursday's Performance Today we'll hear Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony in concert in Berlin playing Mahler's Symphony No. 5.

Watch Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra perform Mahler's Symphony No. 5 at the Berlin Philharmonie.

In 1964 Leon Fleisher was one of the greatest young pianists in the world. But over the course of that year the ring and pinky fingers of his right hand began curling up tight. For decades there wasn't anything that doctors could do to help. Fleisher dealt with the situation by taking up conducting and teaching, but now he's back at the piano — with both hands. More with Leon Fleisher, on Wednesday's Performance Today.

Turkish composer Fazil Say's Symphony No. 1 sounds like a nice Romantic symphony...until the foghorn comes in! Then we're suddenly transported to the vibrant port city of Istanbul. On Tuesday's Performance Today we'll hear a piece Say calls the "Istanbul Symphony;" a composition for full orchestra and Turkish folk instruments.

When Gustavo Dudamel conducts, it's like his body is inhabited by the music; his physical expression of the music often has a energizing effect on the orchestra and the audience. Coming up on Monday's Performance Today, Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic play Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in London.

Every year for the past decade, Chinese pianist Lang Lang has played a solo concert at Carnegie Hall. He's performed a huge range of music, but until recently he had never played any music by Bach. On this weekend's Performance Today, we'll hear Lang Lang open a solo concert at Carnegie Hall with Johann Sebastian Bach's Partita No. 1.

Every year for the past decade, Chinese pianist Lang Lang has played a solo concert at Carnegie Hall. He's performed a huge range of music, but until recently he had never played any music by Bach. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll hear Lang Lang open a solo concert at Carnegie Hall with Johann Sebastian Bach's Partita No. 1.

On Thursday's Performance Today we'll remember the late great conductor Claudio Abbado with stories and, of course, with music. For a dozen years, Abbado was Principal Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic; coming up we'll hear from a concert he led in Berlin featuring pianist Maurizio Pollini.

At first glance, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky might seem like opposite ends of a musical spectrum. But Stravinsky loved Tchaikovsky's music, and in 1928 he borrowed some of Tchaikovsky's music for his ballet 'The Fairy's Kiss.' The themes are mostly Tchaikovsky's, but the rhythmic energy and wit are pure Stravinsky. Coming up on Wednesday's Performance Today, Alan Gilbert conducts the New York Philharmonic in Stravinsky's musical homage to Tchaikovsky.