Performance Today®

Ralph Vaughan Williams began writing a cello concerto in the 1940s, but never finished. The fragmentary manuscript is in the British Museum in London. Cellist Steven Isserlis was thrilled to get a look at it recently, and asked composer David Matthews to take a peek. This year, Matthews incorporated that 4-minute fragment into a longer original piece that he calls "Dark Pastoral." On Friday's PT, the world premiere performance from a concert two weeks ago at the Proms in London. Steven Isserlis solos with the BBC Concert Orchestra. Also from the 2010 Proms, "Mashup" by Chris Willis, combining tunes from about a dozen and a half classical favorites.

Recording technology has evolved a long way from the early scratchy mono recordings of a century ago. In today's show, PT listeners with surround sound technology can enjoy Franz Schubert coming at them from every direction. The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra plays his Second Symphony, recorded in surround sound. And don't worry. If you don't have surround sound, it will sound just like a regular broadcast. Plus, more celebrations of the Mexican bicentennial: music by Silvestre Revueltas and Juventino Rosas.

"My friends and countrymen: the king exists for us no longer...The moment of our freedom has arrived, the hour of our liberty has struck." Those words marked Mexico's declaration of independence from Spain exactly 200 years ago. Today and tomorrow, PT is celebrating Mexico's bicentennial. We're featuring performances of Mexican music, by two Mexican conductors, and a Mexican symphony orchestra.

Today on PT, we're revisiting some of our favorite performances from earlier this year. 2010 marked Frederic Chopin's 200th birthday, back in March. Of all the celebrations across the globe in his honor, one of the most memorable was from Chopin's home town in Poland. American pianist Garrick Ohlsson gave a very special recital there on Chopin's birthday. He played on an 1848 Pleyel piano once owned by Chopin, in a manor house in Chopin's home town. Plus, we'll return to the Aspen Music Festival to hear stories of Aspen from Joshua Bell, Gil Shaham, Ingrid Fliter, and others. And we'll hear Bell's performance of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto from Aspen.

Today and tomorrow on PT, we're revisiting some of our favorite performances from earlier this year. The great American violinist Midori joins host Fred Child for a full hour of music and conversation. Plus, PT visited the legendary Marlboro Music Festival in Marlboro, Vermont, this past summer. It's a rare "republic of equals," as its founder Rudolf Serkin called it, with young professionals and seasoned veterans playing side-by-side. We'll hear about the magic of Marlboro from the people who made it their home for seven weeks this summer.

Every week, composer Bruce Adolphe joins PT host Fred Child with a Piano Puzzler. Bruce re-writes a familiar tune in the style of classical composer. A PT listener calls in and tries to guess two things: the name of the composer whose style Bruce is imitating, and the name of the hidden tune. Bruce Adolphe has a brand new puzzler this week, play along and see if you can name the composer and the tune. And our most unusual concert highlight of the year (so far!): Thomas Bloch plays his glass harmonica in a limestone cave in northeast Spain. Bloch plays an eerie 2-minute version of "Crystal Silence" by Chick Corea.

The Miro Quartet is quite serious about following Beethoven's musical directions, but we caught them this summer in California violating one of Beethoven's wishes. Beethoven wrote: "this quartet is for a small circle of connoisseurs, and is never to be played in public." And what did the Miros do? They played it at the 2010 Music at Menlo Festival, giving a brilliant performance of Beethoven's Op. 95 Quartet in F-minor. Plus Brian Newhouse joins PT host Fred Child to preview the live broadcast of the Last Night of the Proms from London on Saturday night. And great performances of American violin concertos by Gil Shaham and Leila Josefowicz.

We're looking ahead to the birthday of the great Estonian composer Arvo Part, he turns 75 on Saturday. We'll trace the evolution of his "mystical minimalist" sound, and hear two gorgeous examples of his work from concerts last month at the BBC Proms in London: the final section from his 1982 piece "Passio," and the final section from his Symphony No. 4 from 2008. Plus: a "laugh-out-loud" Flute Trio by Joseph Haydn, from the 2010 Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina. (Spoleto chamber music host Geoff Nuttall told the audience to feel free to laugh during the wacky rondo section, and they did!)

Every week, composer Bruce Adolphe joins PT host Fred Child with a Piano Puzzler. Bruce re-writes a familiar tune in the style of classical composer. A PT listener calls in and tries to guess two things: the name of the composer whose style Bruce is imitating, and the name of the hidden tune. Bruce Adolphe has a brand new puzzler this week, play along and see if you can name the composer and the tune. And our most unusual concert highlight of the year (so far!): Thomas Bloch plays his glass harmonica in a limestone cave in northeast Spain. Bloch plays an eerie 2-minute version of "Crystal Silence" by Chick Corea.