Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

All Episodes

Bruckner's Towering 8th Symphony

Bruckner's Towering 8th Symphony

Maybe it's not as popular as Beethoven "Ode to Joy," but Anton Bruckner's towering 8th Symphony does fall among music's greatest symphonic works. We'll hear the last movement performed in Dallas, Texas. And, as a preview of our upcoming young artist in residence series this year, we sample a highlight from last season with violinist Xiang Yu playing the Bach Chaconne. On Monday's Performance Today, from APM.

Taking Composers Off the Pedestal

Taking Composers Off the Pedestal

Pianist Simone Dinnerstein introduces us to a new piece for based on music by songwriter Leonard Cohen. Also, composer Timo Andres discusses his recomposition of Mozart's Coronation Concerto and why we shouldn't always put all composers up on a marble pedestal. This weekend on Performance Today from APM.

Coronation Concerto

Coronation Concerto

When composer and pianist Timo Andres saw a partially incomplete piano score part by Mozart, he jumped at an opportunity. He discusses his own recomposition of Mozart's Coronation Concerto and why we shouldn't always put composers up on a marble pedestal. And for the Rosh Hashanah Holiday, a 21st century concerto for Shofar, Trombone and Orchestra.

Tchaikovsky the Curmudgeon

Tchaikovsky the Curmudgeon

Of all the great composers, Tchaikovsky may have been the biggest curmudgeon to his fellow composers, including Bach, Brahms and Strauss. But he loved Mozart's music so much he wrote an orchestra suite as a tribute: the "Mozartiana." We also hear Nigel Kennedy performing Vivaldi at the 2013 BBC Proms, and we field PT listener comments over his controversial comments on stage. On Thursday's Performance Today, from APM.

Music for The High Holidays

Music for The High Holidays

The sonorous call of the Shofar, a ram's horn, is especially significant for the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. We recognize the start of the high holiday with a performance of Ernst Bloch's Hebraic Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra, which imitates the booming sound of the Shofar. We have this week's Piano Puzzler, plus music from Scandinavia, on Wednesday's Performance Today.

The Enduring Appeal of Leonard Cohen

The Enduring Appeal of Leonard Cohen

Simone Dinnerstein talks about the enduring appeal of songs by Leonard Cohen. She'll introduce us to a new piece for piano based on Cohen's music. Plus we hear from star violinist Leonidas Kavakos on a rarely performed Szymanowski concerto, on Tuesday's Performance Today.

All About Argerich

All About Argerich

In the mid-1500s, astronomer Nicholas Copernicus came up with a radical theory. The idea that the planets go around the sun, not around the earth. The annual summer music festival in Lugano, Switzerland has something similar. There, things don't revolve around a sun, but around Martha Argerich. We'll visit the Martha Argerich Project, a month-long festival where young, up-and-coming players get to rehearse and perform with the living legend of the piano, on Monday's Performance Today.

In Celebration of Labor Day

In Celebration of Labor Day

It's the final weekend of the summer season. Labor Day weekend. We'll hear summertime music from concerts in Dallas, in Minneapolis, and in New York City. Plus, Bruce Adolphe joins us for this week's piano puzzler, on this weekend's Performance Today.

The Final Weekend of Summer

The Final Weekend of Summer

It's the final weekend of the summer season. Labor Day weekend. We'll hear summertime music from concerts in Dallas, in Minneapolis, and in New York City. Plus, a Gold Medal performance from Stanislav Khristenko, winner of the Cleveland Piano Competition. On Friday's Performance Today.

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