Performance Today®

Saul Bitran of Cuarteto Latinoamericano says he loves practicing his violin. He says, "(it's) like filing taxes for accountants or cleaning teeth for a dentist, except my daily practice is fun." On today’s show, we’ll hear Cuarteto Latinoamericano play the String Quartet No. 5 by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Plus, Bruce Adolphe joins us for our weekly musical game.

Joshua Bell says playing the Chaconne from J.S. Bach’s Partita No. 2 is a journey through tragedy, loss, redemption, and spirituality. It’s one of the most iconic works for solo violin played in concert by one of the great violinists of our time: Joshua Bell plays the Bach Chaconne on Today’s show.

In Ukrainian, the word "dumka" means "thought." And in music, a dumka is a somewhat dreamlike dance that often comes back to a bittersweet reflection on the sadness of life. We'll hear a dumka by Rebecca Clarke on today's show from a performance at the Geneva Music Festival in Geneva, New York.

Saul Bitran of Cuarteto Latinoamericano says he loves practicing his violin. He says, "(it's) like filing taxes for accountants or cleaning teeth for a dentist, except my daily practice is fun." On today’s show, we’ll hear Cuarteto Latinoamericano play the String Quartet No. 5 by Heitor Villa-Lobos.

The Chinese lute, or pipa, has been around for more than two thousand years. On today's show, we'll hear a 21st-century composition for pipa performed by Wu Man and the Lexington Symphony at a concert in Lexington, Massachusetts.

After returning to Paris from a working trip in Brazil, French composer Darius Milhaud wrote a piece filled with Brazilian rhythms and styles. We’ll hear it on today's show: The Ox on the Roof by Darius Milhaud, from a concert by the English Symphony Orchestra and conductor Kenneth Woods.

When violinist Augustin Hadelich plays the Violin Concerto by Jean Sibelius, he imagines a herd of galloping horses. He loves the final movement's raw, rollicking energy and dark and dangerous undertones. We'll hear Augustin Hadelich play that Sibelius concerto on today's show. Plus, Bruce Adolphe has this week's Piano Puzzler!

For three decades, Nathalie Stutzmann had a flourishing career as a contralto (singer). When she felt she'd accomplished most of her dreams in that field, she decided to pursue conducting full-time. She is now in her second season as the Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony. On today's episode of PT, Nathalie Stutzmann leads the Atlanta Symphony in a performance of J.S. Bach’s Orchestra Suite No. 3.

It's a portrait painted with music, an incredibly colorful and inventive picture of the sea: La Mer by Claude Debussy. On today's episode, we'll hear a chamber orchestra performance of La Mer at a concert presented by ROCO in Houston, Texas.