Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

All Episodes

Performance Today for Saturday, March 30, 2013

Performance Today for Saturday, March 30, 2013

Conductor Harry Christophers says for him, Handel strikes every emotion in his body. At times it reduces him to tears, but most of the time it leaves him smiling like a Cheshire Cat. We'll have highlights from the Easter sections of Handel's Messiah on this weekend's Performance Today. Plus Harry Christophers talking (and grinning like a Cheshire Cat) about the music by Handel.

Performance Today for Friday, March 29, 2013

Performance Today for Friday, March 29, 2013

In all of Johann Sebastian Bach's musical output, the St. John Passion is probably the boldest experience in terms of dramatic expression. Conductor Bernard Labadie calls it a work filled with lava-like strings and brass sections that pierce like swords. We'll hear Labadie conduct the St. John Passion in a performance by Les Violins du Roy for Good Friday 2013.

YourClassical

Performance Today for Thursday, March 28, 2013

One of the most meaningful concerts in the life of Josef Haydn took place in a darkened Spanish cathedral. It was music he wrote for a Good Friday service. Recently, poet Michael Dennis Browne wrote his own words to accompany Haydn's deeply thoughtful Good Friday music. "I surprised myself," he said, "just as the great Haydn surprised himself." We'll hear Haydn's "Seven Last Words of Christ," music with with new poetry by Browne, on Thursday's Performance Today.

Performance Today for Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Performance Today for Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Stephen Hough is a poet at the piano and on the page. He's also quite open about his weaknesses. Hough has written about questioning his career choice, battling ego issues, fighting his nerves, and overcoming moments when he says he fails to reach his own high standards. Nevertheless, Hough keeps trying. We'll hear this heroic pianist, from a live concert in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday's Performance Today.

Performance Today for Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Performance Today for Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Argentine composer and tango master Astor Piazzolla wrote dozens of pieces inspired by tango, but none more ethereal than the one we'll hear called Oblivion. We'll go to a concert by the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, in Houston for music by the tango master on Tuesday's Performance Today from APM.

Performance Today for Monday, March 25, 2013

Performance Today for Monday, March 25, 2013

Robert Schumann wrote a remarkable Arabesque for solo piano, but he certainly wasn't the only composer to use the title Arabesque. We'll hear Yefim Bronfman play the Schumann, in concert in New York as well as Arabesques by two other composers on Monday's Performance Today from APM.

Performance Today for Saturday, March 23, 2013

Performance Today for Saturday, March 23, 2013

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 whose style Bruce is mimicking. Play along, see if you can guess the tune and the composer. Today's Puzzler contestant is Shawn Hampton from Round Rock, Texas.

Performance Today for Friday, March 22, 2013

Performance Today for Friday, March 22, 2013

I'll take you back to some of the great events of classical music in the 20th century: the Carnegie Hall comeback of pianist Vladimir Horowitz, the bookends to Leonard Bernstein's career: his surprise debut and his historic finale at the Berlin Wall. And Mstislav Rostropovich going home. Great musical moments of the 20th century on Friday's Performance Today from APM.

Performance Today for Thursday, March 21, 2013

Performance Today for Thursday, March 21, 2013

Why does the Golden Hall at the Musikverein in Vienna sound so good? Is it the hollow space under the stage? The exact proportions of the dimensions of the hall? Whatever the reason, the acoustics are incredible. We'll go to the Golden Hall in Vienna to hear Lang Lang play Chopin on Thursday's Performance Today from APM.

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