Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

All Episodes

Performance Today for Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Performance Today for Wednesday, March 13, 2013

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.

Performance Today for Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Performance Today for Tuesday, March 12, 2013

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.

Onstage with Roberto Plano

Onstage with Roberto Plano

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

35:09
Remembering Marie-Claire Alain

Remembering Marie-Claire Alain

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.

5:25
Martha Argerich

Martha Argerich

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.

Performance Today for Saturday, March  9, 2013

Performance Today for Saturday, March 9, 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 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.

Performance Today for Friday, March  8, 2013

Performance Today for Friday, March 8, 2013

Gustav Mahler never called his Symphony No. 2 the "Resurrection Symphony." But the name has stuck. It has resonated because his subject matter was death, and redemption, and Resurrection. We'll bring you highlights from Mahler's Resurrection Symphony from a concert in New York.

Performance Today for Thursday, March  7, 2013

Performance Today for Thursday, March 7, 2013

When he was growing up in Vienna, nobody in Rudolf Buchbinder's house played music. But for some reason, the family had a piano. It was more of a furniture piece, he says, until he started to imitate music he had heard on the radio on the piano. Very quickly, he became the youngest student ever accepted at the Vienna Conservatory. Buchbinder has grown up to have a tremendous career as a pianist. We'll hear him on the radio, playing Beethoven, on Thursday's Performance Today.

Performance Today for Wednesday, March  6, 2013

Performance Today for Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Many classical musicians practice by doing the same thing over and over again. It limits the risk of something unexpected happening. Recorder player Matthias Maute has a different philosophy: "no risk, no fun." We'll hear Maute improvise with a set of Baroque pieces on Wednesday's Performance Today, from APM.

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