Performance Today®

When the Washington National Cathedral approached him to write a new work, Dominick Argento said no. He was grieving the death of his wife, and was done composing. They persisted, suggesting he write a memorial for his wife. The result was "Evensong - Of Love and Angels." Today we'll go to the premiere performance of Argento's loving tribute to his wife.

Sharp objects and sharp performances, in honor of Halloween. Josef Haydn was frustrated with a dull razor one morning, and offered to give his best string quartet for a decent shave. Someone produced one, and the "Razor" quartet was born. If that's not scary enough, we'll have music from Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd," the demon barber of Fleet Street.

Rachmaninoff was only 22 when he wrote his first symphony, but conductor Valery Gergiev believes it can hold its own against any of the composer's later, more famous works. He says the symphony is filled with "emotional power and beautiful lyricism." Gergiev leads the London Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Rachmaninoff's First Symphony.

They didn't have organized fan clubs back in the 1800s, but if there had been one for Wagner, Anton Bruckner would have been the president. He idolized Wagner, and wrote his seventh symphony as a tribute to him. We'll hear the Adagio from Bruckner's seventh symphony, performed by the Cleveland Orchestra and conductor Franz Welser-Most.

Pianist Andras Schiff joins the Budapest Festival Orchestra today for Dvorak's only piano concerto, with Ivan Fischer at the podium. It's a rare treat to hear a relatively unknown work by a famous composer, brought to life by one of the hottest pianists working today, in the composer's native country. You won't want to miss it.

When the Washington National Cathedral approached him to write a new work, Dominick Argento said no. He was grieving the death of his wife, and was done composing. They persisted, suggesting he write a memorial for his wife. The result was "Evensong - Of Love and Angels." Today we'll go to the premiere performance of Argento's loving tribute to his wife.

Pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard's career is on the upswing. He's been busy making a name for himself with some great concerts lately. His recording of Bach's "Art of the Fugue" is a hot seller. Today we'll hear him in a performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Of all the works Max Bruch wrote, his most popular by far is his first violin concerto. Bruch himself was a little annoyed that the concerto seemed to eclipse his other works. Today we'll bring you a performance of the concerto with violinist Gil Shaham and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Mariss Jansons conducts.

Cellist Alban Gerhardt shares his thoughts on his performances with listeners through his blog - even his self-doubts. That kind of openness is a rarity these days. We'll hear a stunning peformance of Gerhardt performing Robert Schumann's cello concerto, from a concert with the KBS Symphony in Seoul, South Korea.