Performance Today®

We began March with a tribute to Frederic Chopin on his 200th birthday, and we've been bringing you great Chopin (and Chopin-inspired) performances all month. Today, we wrap up the celebration. Pianist Rafal Blechacz performs Chopin's second piano concerto with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra in Warsaw, Poland. And pianist Garrick Ohlsson plays the first concerto at a gala concert on Chopin's birthday in Warsaw.

We've been celebrating Frederic Chopin's 200th birthday all month with great performances of his music. In the first hour, nothing by Chopin himself, but a full hour of music inspired by him. Plus, the Pittsburgh Symphony got rave reviews for their performances on a recent European tour. We'll hear them in Dvorak's 8th Symphony, from Bonn, Germany. Manfred Honeck conducts.

Pianist Murray Perahia's playing has been described using words like "flawless" and "transcendent." In today's show, Perahia joins host Fred Child for an in-studio conversation about Bach and Chopin. He shares his thoughts on Bach's music ("full of emotions, but not Romantic"), and the ways that Bach influenced Chopin. He'll play part of a Bach partita and two Chopin works.

Simon Rattle has been Principal Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic since 2002. Despite some ups and downs in his relationship with the orchestra, the players recently voted to extend his contract through 2018. The Berlin Philharmonic is sounding as lush and sweet as ever under Rattle, as we'll hear from a concert they gave last month in Berlin. Rattle conducts the Symphony No. 3 by Jean Sibelius. Also: Bruce Adolphe has a brand new Piano Puzzler. This week's caller is from San Antonio, Texas.

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 Friday.

Simon Rattle has been Principal Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic since 2002. Despite some ups and downs in his relationship with the orchestra, the players recently voted to extend his contract through 2018. The Berlin Philharmonic is sounding as lush and sweet as ever under Rattle, as we'll hear from a concert they gave last month in Berlin. Rattle conducts the Symphony No. 3 by Jean Sibelius. Also: Bruce Adolphe has a brand new Piano Puzzler. This week's caller is from San Antonio, Texas.

Is it true? Well...it's a great story. Domenico Scarlatti's "Cat's Fugue" got the name because the strange rising six-note theme was plunked out by his cat, Pulcinella, walking up the keyboard of his harpsichord. The Georgia Guitar Quartet plays the Cat's Fugue, in concert in Athens, Georgia. Plus, violinist Nikolaj Znaider on the passion expressed, and the passion repressed, in Johannes Brahms' Violin Concerto. (Znaider thinks the restrained passion is more interesting.) Znaider joins the Cleveland Orchestra for a concert in Miami.

The Chopin Piano Competition happens once every five years, and hadn't had a winner in 15 years. But in 2005, a young Polish pianist walked away with every prize the jury had to give. Rafal Blechacz was just 20 when his life changed forever. On today's show, he joins host Fred Child to talk about, and play, music of Chopin and Mozart.