Performance Today®

Pianist Richard Goode can be difficult to work with - not because he's feisty or temperamental, but because he's such a perfectionist. He's never satisfied, always working towards that elusive goal of getting things exactly right. Today, we'll hear him reach that goal as he performs Beethoven's second piano concerto with Ivan Fischer and Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

When French composer Darius Milhaud visited New York in 1923, he made a bee-line for Harlem to hear some great new American music called "jazz." When he got back home, he wrote a piece called "The Creation of the World," and infused it with the jazz rhythms and harmonies he had heard on his trip. Today, we'll hear it played by members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

It's always good to make your exit while you're at the top of your game. In today's show, we'll feature final performances by some of the great classical artists of our time, including conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, pianist Vladimir Horowitz, and violinist Nathan Milstein. Plus, we'll feature John Williams'"Air and Simple Gifts," played at yesterday's presidential inauguration.

Today, the country celebrates the inauguration of the nation's 44th president, Barack Obama. We'll have two hours of inauguration-related music, including early-American political songs from Baltimore, and a performance of Copland's "Lincoln Portrait," with the Atlanta Symphony and narrator Andrew Young. Plus, we'll feature several of the performers scheduled to play at today's inauguration ceremony.

Today's show honors Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. We'll take you to Atlanta to hear last week's King Celebration concert. Given every year at Morehouse College, King's alma mater, this year's concert features performances by the Atlanta Symphony with conductor Robert Spano, and the combined choirs of Spelman and Morehouse colleges.

Astor Piazzolla: Adagio from Suite for Oboe and String Orchestra Oboist Andres Spiller with Camerata Bariloche and conductor Fernando Hasaj

For as long as humans have been around, we've had strong ties to our land. And we've been writing music about it, too. Today's show features an hour of Spanish music, followed by an hour of performances from Atlanta, Georgia. They're two very different worlds, with unique and exciting musical landscapes.

London's Philharmonia Orchestra started its life as a studio orchestra, only occasionally giving live concerts. Over the years, they've transformed into a more typical orchestra, giving up studio headphones in favor of tuxes and gowns. We'll hear them twice today, performing Brahms' Fourth Symphony, and the final two movements of Schubert's Ninth Symphony ("The Great").

German composer Max Bruch had a soft spot in his heart for the music of Scotland. He once said his best work was inspired by folk music. We'll hear one of his most popular works, the "Scottish Fantasy," for violin and orchestra. Violinist Michael Ludwig joins the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and conductor JoAnn Falletta, in concert in Norfolk, Virginia.