Performance Today®

On today's show, we'll head to Houston to hear the ensemble ROCO play the Overture to the comic opera Jery and Bätely (1872) by Swiss-German composer Ingeborg Bronsart von Schellendorf.

Composer Osvaldo Golijov is drawn to the milonga—a rhythm and dance that's quite similar to the tango. Join us today to hear cellist Alisa Weilerstein and pianist Inon Barnatan play the world premiere of a new milonga by Osvaldo Golijov.

Saul Bitran of Cuarteto Latinoamericano says he loves practicing his violin. He says, "(it's) like filing taxes for accountants or cleaning teeth for a dentist, except my daily practice is fun." On today’s show, we’ll hear Cuarteto Latinoamericano play the String Quartet No. 5 by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Plus, Bruce Adolphe joins us for our weekly musical game.

Joshua Bell says playing the Chaconne from J.S. Bach’s Partita No. 2 is a journey through tragedy, loss, redemption, and spirituality. It’s one of the most iconic works for solo violin played in concert by one of the great violinists of our time: Joshua Bell plays the Bach Chaconne on Today’s show.

In Ukrainian, the word "dumka" means "thought." And in music, a dumka is a somewhat dreamlike dance that often comes back to a bittersweet reflection on the sadness of life. We'll hear a dumka by Rebecca Clarke on today's show from a performance at the Geneva Music Festival in Geneva, New York.

Saul Bitran of Cuarteto Latinoamericano says he loves practicing his violin. He says, "(it's) like filing taxes for accountants or cleaning teeth for a dentist, except my daily practice is fun." On today’s show, we’ll hear Cuarteto Latinoamericano play the String Quartet No. 5 by Heitor Villa-Lobos.

The Chinese lute, or pipa, has been around for more than two thousand years. On today's show, we'll hear a 21st-century composition for pipa performed by Wu Man and the Lexington Symphony at a concert in Lexington, Massachusetts.

After returning to Paris from a working trip in Brazil, French composer Darius Milhaud wrote a piece filled with Brazilian rhythms and styles. We’ll hear it on today's show: The Ox on the Roof by Darius Milhaud, from a concert by the English Symphony Orchestra and conductor Kenneth Woods.

When violinist Augustin Hadelich plays the Violin Concerto by Jean Sibelius, he imagines a herd of galloping horses. He loves the final movement's raw, rollicking energy and dark and dangerous undertones. We'll hear Augustin Hadelich play that Sibelius concerto on today's show. Plus, Bruce Adolphe has this week's Piano Puzzler!