Performance Today®

The nighttime has so many different moods, from passion to loneliness to the delicious tiredness you feel at the end of a long day. Whatever your favorite picture of the darkness, join us for today's show. We'll hear a thunderous performance of Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Variations on a Theme by Paganini," featuring pianist Stephen Hough, the quiet watchfulness of Dvorak's "Silent Woods" for cello and orchestra, and the warm and gentle embrace of "Nights in Bohemia," by Antonio de los Rios.

There are workaholics, and then there's Valery Gergiev. Gergiev maintains an almost break-neck pace of conducting engagements all over the world, rarely taking a day off. One interviewer recently asked him why he works so hard. Gergiev replied, "At some point, I think, it's difficult to stop." In today's show, the man who doesn't know the meaning of down time leads the London Symphony in Brahms' Haydn Variations, from a concert last month in London.

Jordan Dodson, the newest PT Young Artist-in-Residence, wraps up his residency with us today. This week, he's played everything from J.S. Bach to bossa nova to contemporary American music, all with remarkable technique and depth of feeling. Tune in today for Jordan's last day in the PT studios. He'll talk about his plans for the future, and he'll play a Grand Duo for Violin and Guitar by Mauro Giuliani, along with violinist Nadir Khashimov.

Youth is wasted on the young, or so the saying goes. Meaning that some people think they could make better use of all that energy and enthusiasm and fearlessness than the ones who actually possess it. If you're one of those people, you're sure to change your mind today. We'll hear performances by a bunch of twenty-somethings who have youthful energy and mature musicianship bursting from every pore: two soloists from the Van Cliburn Piano Competition, Norwegian trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth (pictured), and the newest PT Young Artist-in-Residence, guitarist Jordan Dodson.

There are workaholics, and then there's Valery Gergiev. Gergiev maintains an almost break-neck pace of conducting engagements all over the world, rarely taking a day off. One interviewer recently asked him why he works so hard. Gergiev replied, "At some point, I think, it's difficult to stop." In today's show, the man who doesn't know the meaning of down time leads the London Symphony in Brahms' Haydn Variations, from a concert last month in London.

The locals call it Fingal's Cave, a glittering cavern in a lonely outcropping off the coast of Scotland, where wind and sky, land and sea all come crashing together. Felix Mendelssohn had heard about it, wanted to see it for himself. But he was a landlubber who was out of his element. He turned a particularly violent shade of green that day. Today, Gustavo Dudamel demonstrates his sea legs, leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the "Hebrides Overture," inspired by Mendelssohn's trip to Scotland in 1829.

How many millions of kids have watched music videos and were absolutely sure that they were going to grow up to be rock guitarists? Probably just about every kid out there. Jordan Dodson was one of them. And like just about every other kid his age, he didn't grow up to be a rock-and-roller. But he did grow up to be a guitarist. And a fantastic one at that. Dodson switched from rock to classical when he was 16, and is now one of the top young guitarists of his generation. Jordan Dodson is our newest PT Young Artist-in-Residence, and joins host Fred Child in the PT studios all week.

Meet our newest Young Artist in Residence: Jordan Dodson. He studies guitar at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia.

The life of a concert artist can be a lonely one, not just socially, but artistically. That's why so many top soloists love playing chamber music as well. Two terrific young soloists recently joined host Fred Child for music and conversation, cellist Alisa Weilerstein and pianist Inon Barnatan. Weilerstein said this about Barnatan, "When you have a really great chamber musician, there's always just so much to bounce off of, to give back, and this is one of the most rewarding things about playing together." This weekend we'll hear their interview and excerpts from a Rachmaninoff cello sonata.