Performance Today®

Is it a stupendous work of art, a shameless piece of self-promotion, or a mockery of the music business? Maybe it's all three. "Ein Heldenleben,""A Hero's Life," by (and about) Richard Strauss. Strauss told a friend "I don't see why I shouldn't write a symphony about myself. I find myself as interesting as Napoleon." Whether you take the grandiose plot seriously or see it as Strauss poking fun at his critics, it's an astonishing and entertaining piece. Bernard Haitink conducts the Chicago Symphony, in concert at Orchestra Hall in Chicago.

Historically, the residents of Great Britain haven't always gotten along. Scotland and England, in particular, have a long and bloody history together. But never mind all that. There was a very friendly Scottish invasion in London recently. Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti, Scottish conductor Donald Runnicles, and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland gave a concert at the Proms. We'll hear highlights, including Benedetti playing Max Bruch's Scottish Fantasy.

Where does genius come from? Sometimes, it seems to be a combination of nature and nurture. And yet, there are great musicians who seem to spring from out of nowhere. Pianist Rudolf Buchbinder was a child prodigy who was raised in a non-musical household, a place where the family piano was nothing more than a piece of furniture. In today's show, Buchbinder plays a Beethoven sonata, from a concert in Germany.

The average worker in this country changes careers 3 to 5 times over the course of lifetime. Musicians tend to be far below that average. With the intense amount of time and energy invested in getting a job, few are inclined to walk away from it. But it's not unheard of. In today's show, the story of cellist Susanna Malkki, who gave up a big orchestra job and became conductor Susanna Malkki. She leads a performance of Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" from a concert in London.

Even though she's only 9 years old, Elizabeth Aoki was one of the standouts at the 2012 Aspen Music Festival and School. You can hear this extraordinary young violinist as she gives her first-ever interview and plays part of a Wieniawski concerto, a piece that's challenging for soloists of any age.

Evolutionary theory holds that life evolves from the simple to the complex. Over the course of eons, new life forms weave in and, more often than not, out of existence. Composer Fung Lam knew this when he wrote his new piece for orchestra, "Endless Forms." The title is a quote from Charles Darwin. Lam creates a number of musical ideas, some of which don't survive. Others, he says, "blossom into very different and contrasting creatures." We'll hear the world premiere, from a concert last month in London.

Evolutionary theory holds that life evolves from the simple to the complex. Over the course of eons, new life forms weave in and, more often than not, out of existence. Composer Fung Lam knew this when he wrote his new piece for orchestra, "Endless Forms." The title is a quote from Charles Darwin. Lam creates a number of musical ideas, some of which don't survive. Others, he says, "blossom into very different and contrasting creatures." We'll hear the world premiere, from a concert last month in London.

Maurice Ravel was 31 when he began writing a piece that he called simply, "La Valse," a light tribute to carefree Viennese waltzes. He set the piece aside, then saw the agony of World War I firsthand. When the 45-year-old Ravel came back to his waltz, the world was different place. He was a different man. And La Valse was no longer a light tribute. In 13 minutes, you can hear the waltz slowly go delirious, spin out of control, and finally, fly apart into chaos.

How to sum up Claude Debussy in just a few words? A man who revolutionized 20th century music. Who broke all the rules for composing. Who said, in fact, that there was only one rule, and that was pleasure. A man who explored musical moods and colors and textures in a way no one ever had before. Today is Claude Debussy's 150th birthday. We'll celebrate with some of his greatest works, including a performance of La Mer from San Francisco.