Performance Today®

The fall of the Berlin Wall was 20 years ago today. Throughout the show today, we'll revisit those events from 1989, the music that surrounded them, and the lives of performers and composers affected by the Iron Curtain. From cellist Mstislav Rostropovich seated alone at the wall playing Bach, to the amassed forces of an international orchestra and chorus performing Beethoven's jubilant Ninth Symphony on Christmas Day 1989, be sure to join us for an extra-special Performance Today.

Every week on our Piano Puzzler, Bruce Adolphe re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a classical composer. We get one of our listeners on the phone to guess the tune, and the composer Bruce is mimicking. Even if you're not the one calling this week, play along! See if YOU can guess the tune and the composer, in our Piano Puzzler.

A long-forgotten work by Ralph Vaughan Williams is on today's show. Vaughan Williams wrote "Heroic Elegy and Triumphal Epilogue" when he was 28 and a student at London's Royal College of Music. In what was perhaps the first performance of the work in over a century, Mark Elder and the Halle Orchestra performed it last month in Manchester, England. Tune in to the show today to hear that performance of Vaughan Williams' overlooked gem.

There is a flood of new classical recordings this fall, and to help us sort through them, Julie Amacher joins Fred today (and for the next three Thursdays) with "New Classical Tracks," her CD reviews and recommendations. Today Julie's pick is the new trio recording by three renowned soloists playing together for the first time: violinist Vadim Repin, cellist Mischa Maisky, and pianist Lang Lang.

Yesterday, we brought you Part I of Mahler's 8th Symphony, known as the Symphony of a Thousand. Today is the conclusion. Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas leads the massed forces of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Pacific Boychoir, and the San Francisco Girls Chorus. Tilson Thomas calls the work an "allegory of the distressed soul finding its way through trials to...blessedness."

Gustav Mahler's monumental Symphony Number 8 (the "Symphony of a Thousand") is ambitious in almost every way. Not just its size (intended for an amassed orchestra and chorus of 1,000 people), but in its emotional and intellectual content. Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony have just completed a massive recording project, recording all of the Mahler symphonies. We'll feature Tilson Thomas and San Francisco in part one of the Symphony of a Thousand in today's show. Look for part two on Wednesday.

Divorcing couples often have to split up their friends as well as their assets. Johannes Brahms was great friends with violinist Joseph Joachim and his wife, until the couple divorced, and Brahms sided with Mrs. Joachim. Brahms wrote his double concerto for violin and cello as a sort of peace offering to Joseph Joachim, helping to heal the rift in their friendship. Violinist Baiba Skride and cellist Sol Gabetta are our soloists today, in Brahms' musical peace offering.

Earlier this month, we broadcast a performance of "New York Counterpoint," a 1985 minimalist classic by Steve Reich, with parts for 11 clarinets. Performance Today listeners responded in droves: some absolutely loved it, others...not so much. This weekend, Fred has PT listener comments about New York Counterpoint...and composer Steve Reich comments on the comments. Fred talks with Reich, who describes the piece and explains what he had in mind. (And...Reich says he doesn't compose "minimalist music," he simply composes "music.") Of course, we'll hear it again! Richie Hawley in concert in Santa Barbara, California plays "New York Counterpoint."

28 year-old conductor Gustavo Dudamel lights up Disney Hall once again, this time conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic in an incandescent concert performance of the Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz.