Performance Today®

The Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 by Johann Sebastian Bach moves along nicely until everything stops for a surprise solo from the harpsichord, usually the foundation of ensemble. That was unheard of in 1719, but Bach had a brand new harpsichord that he wanted to showcase. And he might have wanted to showcase the harpsichord soloist... who also happened to be the composer. This weekend on Performance Today, we'll go to San Francisco to hear members of the San Francisco Symphony play the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 while Robin Sutherland takes a star turn at the harpsichord. Plus, music for this weekend's celebration of all things Irish.

The Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 by Johann Sebastian Bach moves along nicely until everything stops for a surprise solo from the harpsichord, usually the foundation of ensemble. That was unheard of in 1719, but Bach had a brand new harpsichord that he wanted to showcase. And he might have wanted to showcase the harpsichord soloist... who also happened to be the composer. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll go to San Francisco to hear members of the San Francisco Symphony play the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 while Robin Sutherland takes a star turn at the harpsichord. Plus, music for this weekend's celebration of all things Irish.

Beethoven revolutionized the writing of symphonies, string quartets, and sonatas. And there's at least one other area where he is the measure of every composer who follows: the Piano Trio, music for piano, violin, and cello. Beethoven wrote a dozen piano trios full of seductive melodies, with harmonies of surprising tension and resolution. On Thursday's Performance Today we'll hear one of those revolutionary piano trios by Beethoven, from a special concert at the Music@Menlo Festival in Menlo Park, California.

In 1764, the Mozart family went on a tour of Europe. While they were in London, Papa Mozart came down with strep throat, so the family took a room in the Chelsea neighborhood for a while so he could recover. Little Wolfgang was 8 years old. There was no TV, there were no game consoles. To pass the time, little Wolfgang amused himself by trying something he'd never done before: writing a symphony. We'll hear the Symphony No. 1 by the 8 year-old Wolfgang Mozart on Wednesday's Performance Today from APM.

Leonard Bernstein's friends knew him as a virtuoso procrastinator. One day when he was working on his show "Candide," Bernstein claimed he was having trouble putting some lyrics to music. The director knew better. "You were waterskiing all day," he said. "Now will you please sit down and write this music?" Coming up, we'll hear some of what Bernstein finally got around to writing. We'll hear Bernstein's Overture to Candide on Tuesday's Performance Today from APM.

Pianist Roberto Plano talks with Fred about the discoveries of his recent musical sleuthing.

Marie-Claire Alain was the first French female organist to record the collected works of J.S. Bach. She also championed the music of her brother who died in World War II. Michael Barone talks with Fred Child about her legacy.

She has fans who follow her around the globe. She's one of the most revered and sought-after pianists of our time. She's Martha Argerich, and we'll hear her play two concertos from Lugano, Switzerland. Schumann's Piano Concerto and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 on today's show.

Every week on our Piano Puzzler, composer Bruce Adolphe re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a classical composer. We get one of our listeners on the phone to try to guess the tune, and the composer Bruce is mimicking. Is it "Stand by Your Man" in the style of Tchaikovsky? Or maybe "Do Re Mi" in the style of Arnold Schoenberg? Play along, see if you can guess the tune and the composer in this week's Piano Puzzler.