Performance Today®

Was he the most talented unknown composer of the 20th century? Some called him the "Canadian Mozart." Andre Mathieu was an astonishing prodigy as a composer and pianist. He played his own compositions at Carnegie Hall when he was 11, he beat the young Leonard Bernstein in a composition competition when he was 13. But he was also deeply troubled. He withdrew from public life before his 20s, and died, already forgotten, at age 39 in 1968. We'll hear the Tucson Symphony in concert, playing a set of Ballet Scenes by Andre Mathieu.

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. The first hour of today's show features performances from unusual locations, including a barge, a night club, and a former power plant.

An hour of folk-flavored fare reaches a climax with a fiery performance of the Dvorak Cello Concerto. At a concert at Budapest's Palace of Arts, Pieter Wispelwey performs one of the great works for his instrument, in the company of conductor Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra.

To this day in Italy, shepherds come down from the hills at Christmas time and play their bagpipes in front of nativity scenes, reenacting the devotion of the shepherds at the birth of Christ. We'll hear a tribute to that ancient custom in Arcangelo Corelli's Christmas Concerto, performed in a place that rarely sees shepherds, New York City. Plus, we'll visit Christmas celebrations around the country and around the world, to hear great holiday performances.

Music for Christmas Eve, from concerts across the country and around the world. Including what may be the most beautiful Christmas song of the 20th century, the Ave Maria, by Franz Biebl. The men of Chanticleer are in concert at Stanford University, in Palo Alto. Also, two contemplative settings of the ancient Latin text "O Magnum Mysterium." One from 1572 by Tomas Luis de Victoria, another from 1994 by American composer Morton Lauridsen. And...a choral curiosity. The Tokyo FM Boys Choir sings "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" in Japanese.

Today, the four women of Anonymous 4 join Fred Child for music and conversation. They tell the Christmas story of the Cherry Tree, a bit of a marital tiff between Joseph and Mary. They'll also sing selected English and American carols. Also in the show, Bruce Adolphe with the Piano Puzzler, and the hauntingly beautiful "Pastorales de Noel," by Andre Jolivet.

On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 1914, German and British soldiers in Belgium had their own informal cease-fire, sang Christmas songs together, and even traded gifts. We'll remember the remarkable Christmas Truce of 1914, as the male vocal ensemble "Cantus" sings highlights from their show "All is Calm."

For many people, Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without a performance of Handel's "Messiah." We'll bring you one of the best, a recent concert by Boston's Handel and Haydn Society Chorus and Orchestra, with Harry Christophers conducting. Handel's "Messiah" has been a hit ever since it premiered in Dublin in 1742. So much so that, in early performances, ladies were asked not to wear hoop skirts and men were advised to leave their swords at home, in order to accommodate more concertgoers in the hall.

"Time for another Piano Puzzler!" Every Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe tickles the PT ivories with one of his keyboard conundrums. Bruce re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a classical composer. One of our listeners calls in and tries to guess the tune, and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating.