Performance Today®

If you've ever had a shiny, brand new car, you may have found yourself volunteering to drive a lot more than you used to. Take the kids to soccer practice? Sure. Go pick up a loaf of bread? Love to. Johann Sebastian Bach was in pretty much the same place in 1719. He had just gotten a shiny, brand new harpsichord, and desperately wanted to take it out for a spin. So he wrote a flashy harpsichord part into the piece he was working on, his Brandenburg Concerto No. 5. We'll hear Bach's shiny new set of wheels, from a concert in Germany.

Ukrainian pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk saw everything slip away in an instant, when a car crash led to a month-long coma. Gavrylyuk has fully recovered from that accident, and his playing is more powerful and poetic than ever. We'll hear him in concert in Miami. And another musician who has come back from a devastating injury: violinist Peter Oundjian lost full use of his left hand due to a repetitive stress disorder. So he took up conducting. In today's show, Oundjian leads the Toronto Symphony in excerpts from Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 4.

Johannes Brahms thought he was at the end. He was 58, convinced he was not only done with composing, but maybe even done with living. He put down his pen, got his affairs in order, said his goodbyes, and waited. But life sometimes does funny things just when you think you have it all figured out. Brahms met an amazing clarinetist, heard him play, and decided maybe there was some music left in him after all. Turns out, it was some of the most sublime music he ever wrote. We'll hear one of Brahms' autumnal works, his clarinet trio, from a concert at the Spoleto Festival.

Part of conductor's job is to be a glorified traffic cop, to make sure the music doesn't come apart at the seams. But even more important than that, it's to be a leader and a unifier, to convey an artistic vision to the orchestra. If the first part of the job description seems better-suited to younger people, it's the second part that has historically swung the baton in favor of the senior generation. Krzysztof Urbanski is young conductor who seems to have both halves in good order. Today, he leads the Indianapolis Symphony in Bedrich Smetana's suite, "Ma Vlast."

Caprice, capricious, capriccio. A set of words all meaning whimsical, light-hearted, and free-spirited. As you'll find out today, that can encompass a lot of territory. Everything from the thoughtful, wandering improvisation on a Brahms Capriccio by the amazing jazz pianist Eldar Djangirov (pictured), to the sometimes ferocious yet ultimately playful Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra by Igor Stravinsky. Join us as we explore some of the many facets of the Capriccio in today's show.

To many in the audience sitting in the Champs-Elysees Theater in Paris, what unfolded before them was ghastly, unthinkable, an affront to the senses. Like finding that someone laced your ice cream with jalapeno peppers. Noses wrinkled, ears prickled, and eventually, fists started flying. It was the premiere of the most revolutionary piece of music of the 20th century, Igor Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring." This year marks the centennial of the ballet. We'll revisit that day in Paris 100 years ago, and the riot that ensued. And we'll hear a peaceful performance from New York City.

How often have you listened to a piece of music and thought, "What on earth was the composer thinking when he/she wrote that?" Usually that reaction is reserved for something we don't like. But American composer Kevin Puts took on the question in a serious, thoughtful way. He started with the first movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, and wondered what inspired him to write it. The result is an engaging new piece, "Inspiring Beethoven." We'll hear it from a concert in North Carolina.

American composer Gabriela Lena Frank paid tribute to her Peruvian heritage when she wrote a new chamber piece in 2010. It's called "Hilos," which means "Threads." The title is a reference to the beautiful woven textiles from the Andean region. But the idea of threads also refers to the common language of music, and how different musical styles can be woven together into a common fabric. Gabriela Lena Frank and the Alias Chamber Ensemble join host Fred Child in the PT studios today for a performance of "Hilos."

Music that connects Peruvian and American traditions.