Performance Today®

Looking back on 2011, one of the big stories we covered was the 200th birthday of Franz Liszt. How to sum up Liszt in just a few words? A musician of such immense skill that people whispered he was in league with the devil. A savvy businessman who encouraged those rumors, knowing that there's no such thing as bad press. A reformed rock star with a wild youth and an intensely spiritual old age. In today's show, the late great poet Bill Holm reading his own poem, based on Franz Liszt's "Forgotten Romance."

All week long, we're taking a look back at some of our favorite shows from 2011. One of the most interesting people we met was PT Young Artist in Residence, pianist Charlie Albright. He's pursuing a music career with all the passion and energy you might expect, but there's more to him than that. In today's show, he performs the starkly beautiful piano sonata "1.X.1905," by Leos Janacek.

From our collection of favorite shows of 2011, we can't overlook a very special festival in rural Vermont. The Marlboro Music Festival, where seasoned veterans and young professionals collaborate side-by-side. Founder Rudolf Serkin called it a "republic of equals." In today's show, festival participants talk about what makes Marlboro so special. And we'll hear a couple of those magical Marlboro performances.

As 2011 winds to a close, we'll be taking this week to look back on some of our favorite shows from the past year. In April, host Fred Child visited a special new rehearsal and performance space in Manhattan, the DiMenna Center. Ivan Fischer and the Orchestra of St. Luke's performed a Beethoven Symphony there. And in August, we met an astonishing young violinist, 15-year-old Simone Porter, at the Aspen Festival in Colorado.

On the way for Christmas, 2011, we'll bring you some of the best and brightest holiday performances from all over the globe. From the magnificent concert halls of Europe, to churches large and small, to a warm and inviting Irish pub, it's our annual tour of Christmas Around the World.

On the way for Christmas, 2011, we'll bring you some of the best and brightest holiday performances from all over the globe. From the magnificent concert halls of Europe, to churches large and small, to a warm and inviting Irish pub, it's our annual tour of Christmas Around the World.

"To shiver, frozen, amid icy snow in the bitter blast of a horrible wind; to run constantly stamping one's feet; and to feel one's teeth chatter on account of the excessive cold." Antonio Vivaldi wrote those words to describe one of his biggest hits. Winter, from "The Four Seasons," is on the way in today's show, in honor of the winter solstice. Plus, PT's annual celebration of Christmas around the Country.

In today's show, harpist Yolanda Kondonassis, flutist Joshua Smith, and violist Cynthia Phelps sit down with host Fred Child for holiday music and conversation. Kondonassis has made a number of lovely arrangements for the trio, including Greensleeves and two arias by Johann Sebastian Bach. Plus, Andre Jolivet's gentle Christmas meditation, Pastorales de Noel.

It's Christmas Eve, and there's a big party. Young Clara gets a special present, a nutcracker. At midnight, the Christmas tree grows magically, the Nutcracker turns into a dashing prince, and takes Clara on a tour of his kingdom. It's "The Nutcracker," by Peter Tchaikovsky. We'll hear highlights, from a concert in Montreal.