Performance Today®

Usually, overtures are relegated to the start of a concert. They make great appetizers, with the symphonies and concertos forming the entrees for the evening. But sometimes, overtures are so good that you can make a whole meal out of them. We've got three of them in the second hour of today's show, plus a few other tasty morsels.

Sergei Prokofiev was living in Paris when he started writing his second violin concerto. But he suffered an incurable bout of homesickness, and returned to Russia in 1935. On today's show, we'll feature this half-French, half-Russian concerto. Violinist Liza Ferschtman is making her PT debut with this performance, accompanied by the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Yakov Kreizberg.

At age 43, Johannes Brahms completed his first symphony. That was ancient by the standards of the day. Today, we'll hear a first symphony written by a much older composer, the 66-year-old Cesar Franck. Turns out, it was the only symphony he ever wrote. The critics didn't like it much when it premiered in 1889. But the work has endured. Today, we'll hear a performance of the symphony by the Metropolitan Orchestra of Greater Montreal.

Today's show features two great symphonies - the Houston Symphony under Hans Graf, and the Cleveland Orchestra under Alan Gilbert. It also features two great symphonies - Tchaikovsky's second ("The Little Russian") and Dvorak's sixth. Plus, we'll hear an emotionally-charged performance by the young Ukrainian pianist, Alexander Gavrylyuk, playing music by Rachmaninoff.

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.

The Finnish nights were long and cold while Jean Sibelius was working on his seventh symphony. Especially since his wife was angry with him at the time. He turned to a new, more understanding companion - alcohol. Not exactly the prescribed formula for artistic success, but for Sibelius it seemed to have worked. Today's show features a 200 proof performance of the seventh by the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic in Amsterdam.

Many people remember sitarist Ravi Shankar as a figure from the 1960s flower-power era. He was good friends with the Beatles. But he's also a master of Indian classical music. He's still composing and performing at age 88. Today we'll hear the recent world premiere of Shankar's third concerto for sitar and orchestra. Shankar's daughter Anoushka performed on the sitar, along with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

Performance Today is commissioning a new poem about a piece of music. This week on Performance Today, we're airing our nominees for the project, and our listeners will choose the winner. Poet C.K. Williams will be writing the poem, to be aired on the show on April 1. Today's nominee is the second movement of Beethoven's seventh symphony, played by the Minnesota Orchestra.

Today's show features performances that range from about as small as you can get (Jose Franch-Ballester on the solo clarinet) to enormous (the mighty Chicago Symphony Orchestra with the thundering finale from Mahler's first symphony). And yet, there are moments of both intimacy and power in each. Today's show explores the beauty of performances both large and small.