Performance Today®

April 21, 1915, Jean Sibelius wrote in his diary: "This morning I saw 16 swans. One of my greatest experiences! ...They circled over me, then disappeared in the solar haze like a gleaming silver ribbon...nature's mystery, and life's melancholy." That flight of swans inspired the expansive theme that returns over and over in the final section of the Symphony No. 5 by Sibelius. Conductor Thomas Dausgaard talks about the "sheer ecstasy" Sibelius felt that morning, and Dausgaard leads the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in Sibelius' Symphony No. 5, from a concert this month at the BBC Proms in London.

Two great young cellists are in the show today. Daniel Mueller-Schott plays a Saint-Saens concerto with the Luxembourg Philharmonic, and Joshua Roman plays the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations at the Bellingham Festival in Washington. Plus, a pair of fascinating Bach transcriptions, from Bach day at the BBC Proms in London.

Conductors who lead the Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 by J.S. Bach generally aim for an amiable blend between the horns and the rest of the ensemble. And then...there's John Eliot Gardiner. When he led the English Baroque soloists at the 2010 Proms in London, he emphasized the difference between the elegant, aristocratic strings and the throaty, rustic sound of the natural horns. It made for a bracing performance -- combining courtly dignity and barnyard slapstick. That entertaining concert was last week at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Pianist Garrick Ohlsson says that whenever he announces a Chopin nocturne as an encore, there's always a collective swoon in the audience, "aaahhhhh." Ohlsson will make us swoon with two by Chopin: a nocturne and a scherzo, from a concert at the Rockport Chamber Music Festival in Massachusetts. Plus, you may have heard a number of Haydn symphonies (he wrote 104 of them). Today, we'll hear how it all began, when the Neuss Chamber Orchestra performs Haydn's Symphony No. 1.

Two great young cellists are in the show today. Daniel Mueller-Schott plays a Saint-Saens concerto with the Luxembourg Philharmonic, and Joshua Roman plays the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations at the Bellingham Festival in Washington. Plus, a pair of fascinating Bach transcriptions, from Bach day at the BBC Proms in London.

Most people have never heard of Canadian composer Andre Mathieu. Mathieu was a rising star in the 1930s and 1940s. But he led a troubled life, dropped out of the music scene, and died in obscurity in 1968. Some call him the Canadian Mozart, although his style is closer to Rachmaninoff, who called Mathieu a genius. On today's show, Alain Lefevre performs Mathieu's fourth piano concerto with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra.

America was a haven for composers fleeing persecution in Europe just prior to World War II. In today's show, we feature several composers living in exile in the United States in the last century. A number of them went to work in the film industry in Hollywood, including Erich Korngold. Korngold, an Austrian Jew, was working on the music to the film "Robin Hood" when conditions at home deteriorated rapidly, making it impossible for him to return to Vienna. Korngold credits "Robin Hood" with saving his life. We'll hear Korngold's expansive and romantic violin concerto, in a performance by violinist Leonidas Kavakos at the BBC Proms two weeks ago in London.

The future of classical music is in good hands. Some of the stars of tomorrow are students at the Aspen Music Festival and School today. They gave standout performances all summer long. PT host Fred Child spent the last two weeks there, broadcasting from the studios of Aspen Public Radio. We wrap up our Aspen coverage this weekend with great performances, including violinist Gil Shaham playing a Mozart concerto. And we'll hear about the art of busking, performing as street musicians. We followed a few students around town as they earned some extra cash plying their trade on the streets of Aspen.

The future of classical music is in good hands. Some of the stars of tomorrow are students at the Aspen Music Festival and School today. They gave standout performances all summer long. PT host Fred Child spent the last two weeks there, broadcasting from the studios of Aspen Public Radio. We wrap up our Aspen coverage this weekend with great performances, including violinist Gil Shaham playing a Mozart concerto. And we'll hear about the art of busking, performing as street musicians. We followed a few students around town as they earned some extra cash plying their trade on the streets of Aspen.