Performance Today®

Composer Alexander Borodin didn't quit his day job. He was a chemist, and his work led to some important inventions. In his spare time, he composed great music. Today we'll feature some great chemistry between the French National Orchestra and conductor Tugan Sokhiev, in a performance of Borodin's second symphony from Paris.

William Walton wrote his first symphony while he was in a turbulent romantic relationship. His girlfriend jilted him, and Walton poured his anger and heartbreak into his first symphony. The symphony ends on a happy note, after Walton met a new love. We'll hear the final two movements of the symphony by the Philadelphia Orchestra and conductor Simon Rattle.

Today's show features performers and composers with interesting family ties to one another. From brother and sister Gil and Orli Shaham, to father-in-law and son-in-law Antonin Dvorak and Josef Suk, to cousins (by marriage) Mozart and Weber, to the guitar-playing Romero family. It's all in the family, on Performance Today.

Johann Sebastian Bach: Siciliano from Oboe Concerto in F, BWV 1053 Oboist Heinz Holliger with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and conductor Iona Brown

The phone rang early on a Sunday morning. The conductor of the New York Philharmonic was sick, and the assistant conductor was asked to step in. Never mind that the assistant had a bad hangover, and there was no time to rehearse the orchestra. It was 65 years ago today that the young Leonard Bernstein's career was launched.

Pianist Angela Hewitt just got back from a 14-month all-Bach world tour. She travelled to 25 countries in that time, and performed for thousands. She took a little time off the tour to play concerts in London, including more Bach. Not one to rest for long, Hewitt is already back on the road again, playing an all-Beethoven concert in Italy.

We know Anton Bruckner mostly as a composer of the large scale - enormous symphonies with lots of brass and lots of volume. You'll hear that in today's show, and you'll hear the intimate Bruckner as well. We'll feature part of a string quintet and the final two movements of his fourth symphony.

Composer James "Kimo" Williams went to Vietnam in 1970, and served there for a year. Like many vets, he had a hard time adjusting to life when he got home. He composed "Symphony for the Sons of Nam" as a way to help him deal with the war. Today's show features a performance of his symphony by the Chicago Sinfonietta.

Most people don't think of performing classical music as a life or death proposition. But pianist Jonathan Biss does. He talks about pouring blood, sweat and tears into his performances, in order to do justice to the composer and the music. Today we'll hear Biss performing Beethoven's second piano concerto with the Swedish Radio Symphony.