Performance Today®

Scientists tell us life on earth evolved from a murky, primordial stew. Oxygen and hydrogen from the early atmosphere, iron and calcium from the bellies of exploding stars, a dusting of carbon from wayward meteors. At the dawn of the 20th century, Richard Strauss wrote an extravagant piece of music depicting the evolution of humanity, beginning in that murky darkness. We know "Also Sprach Zarathustra" for its 90-second opening. Today, we'll hear the entire half-hour-long tone poem, from a concert in London.

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. Today's very special contestant is Alan Fletcher, president and CEO of the Aspen Music Festival and School in Colorado. Tune in to see if he managed to decipher this week's Piano Puzzler.

The music world was saddened to learn of the death late last week of Romanian pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa. She was only 33, and died of an apparent brain hemorrhage. Mihaela Ursuleasa stopped by the PT studios in 2008 for music and conversation with host Fred Child. PT staffers remember her as being smart and talented and engaging. In today's show, we'll rebroadcast portions of that 2008 interview, and her performance of music by Rachmaninoff and Chopin.

In 1999, conductor Daniel Barenboim and his good friend, author Edward Said, decided to found an orchestra made of up both Israeli and Arab musicians. Lots of people said they were crazy. Others said it might lead to peace in the Middle East. Barenboim is too much of an optimist and just enough of a pessimist to believe either argument. Still, he says what it can do is open up the dialogue between the two sides of the conflict. All this week, we'll hear Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in symphonies by Beethoven, from the Proms in London.

La Follia is an ancient tune, at least 500 years old. Over the centuries, hundreds of composers have tried their hand at arranging it. Roberto Sierra just might be the most recent in that long line of tunesmiths. His version is only about a decade old. We'll hear guitarist Celil Refik Kaya in Sierra's Folias, which earned him the gold medal at the 2012 JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Competition.

The most compelling stories to come out of the London Olympics are the ones of triumph over adversity. Hard-fought victories, athletes overcoming setback or injury to win medals. Sergei Rachmaninoff battled overwhelming criticism and self-doubt when he was writing his second piano concerto. He even did what many athletes do to improve their mental game. He consulted a hypnotherapist. Today, we'll visit the other big event going on in London right now, the Proms. Kirill Gerstein plays Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2.

The music-making at Marlboro is so terrific that at times it almost seems other-worldly. In today's show, the story of one Marlboro resident who truly is from another dimension. That is, if you believe in ghosts. We'll share the story of Emily Mather, the ghost of Marlboro, and hear a performance of Beethoven's Ghost Trio.

Every summer, something strange and magical happens at Marlboro Music in Vermont. Festival co-director Mitsuko Uchida says, "Time passes very slowly in Marlboro, and at the same time very fast. You blink, and seven weeks are gone. But it seems as if you had eternity in your hands." In today's show, highlights from one of Mitsuko Uchida's Marlboro performances, teaming up with two young string players for a Schubert Adagio.

Most classical music concerts take place inside the concert hall, essentially a glorified box. Many of those boxes are rightly revered and cherished for their history, architecture, and acoustics. But today, we'll go outside the box. Today's show features performances from unusual locations, including a barge, a night club, and a decommissioned power plant.