Performance Today®

Every Friday, PT features 21st century music. Today, the Turtle Island Quartet joins Fred in the studio to play a new piece called "Tree of Life," by Turtle Island violinist David Balakrishnan. Members of the quartet demonstrate their unusual string techniques (the chop, the shuffle bow, the bow slap, walking bass on the cello, etc.), and play Balakrishnan's exuberant new piece, which draws on a wide range of styles: classical, bluegrass, swing, Indian classical, and more.

Peter Tchaikovsky loved to visit Florence, Italy, especially in the winter. After one trip to the warm, sunny Tuscan city, he returned home with the idea for a new work. "Souvenir of Florence" was born of that winter getaway. Douglas Boyd leads the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in concert, on a chilly January evening in St. Paul.

Outside, there is a great view of the Manhattan skyline. Inside, there is a cozy concert space with 130 seats. So what if the concert hall rocks when a ship goes by? Bargemusic is a concert space inside a barge moored below the Brooklyn Bridge, in New York City. From the cozy confines of Bargemusic, we'll hear a small-scale but spirited version of the Concerto for Two Violins, by Bach. And as a follow-up, a high-octane 2-minute version of the same piece, infused with bluegrass and jazz, from the trio "Time for Three."

Sergei Rachmaninoff once said he had neither the ability nor the desire to write a symphony. Not long after saying that, he wrote an epic: his Symphony No. 2, full of grand romance. We'll go to a concert in Gothenburg, Sweden to hear Mark Wigglesworth conducting the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Plus: the most famous tango ever written: "La Cumparsita." Even if you don't know it by name, you'll recognize the tune, and you might have a hard time NOT singing along. The Cuarteto Latinoamericano played La Cumparsita in concert at the Strings Music Festival, in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Whatever the enigma is behind Sir Edward Elgar's "Enigma Variations" - and we've had theories posited on "Performance Today" - it's still magnificent music, a grand showcase for an outstanding orchestra. Peter Oundjian will lead one, the Toronto Symphony, at a concert in Toronto.

Our weekly Piano Puzzler is on the way, as composer Bruce Adolphe takes up residence at the PT Piano. Bruce re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a classical composer. A Performance Today listener calls in, tries to name the hidden tune, and the composer whose style Bruce is mimicking.

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.

Today just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without some turkey. We'll serve up some "Turkey in the Straw" and other great American fiddle tunes, courtesy of Time for Three, in concert in Athens, Georgia. Plus, an all-American favorite, Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring," performed by the Cleveland Orchestra. And we wrap up our week of cello concertos with the Schumann, performed by Maria Kliegel and the RTE National Symphony in Dublin.

Our festival of cello concertos continues with the PT debut of 32 year-old English cellist Natalie Clein. Clein was the BBC's "Young Musician of the Year" as a 16 year old, and had lucrative contract offers from managers and record companies. She could have cashed in as the next young classical darling, but chose to pursue 10 years of rigorous schooling in London and Vienna. She's now re-emerging as a soloist. We'll hear Natalie Clein in concert in Dublin, playing Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra.