Performance Today®

Violinist Nikolaj Znaider is a big name in the world of classical music. And yet, he says there's nothing harder than playing Mozart. Many artists would agree. The legendary pianist Artur Schnabel said that Mozart is too easy for children, but too difficult for professionals. Meaning that it's not the notes that are the problem, it's bringing out the beauty of the notes in just the right interpretation. On today's show, Znaider proves he's up to the task, performing Mozart's fifth violin concerto with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

Quartet San Francisco is Jeremy Cohen's way of combining his two great loves in life: classical music and non-classical music. Their new project is Cohen's arrangements of jazz classics by Dave Brubeck. We'll stop in at a legendary jazz club in San Francisco, Yoshi's, to hear the Quartet San Francisco, play "Take Five." And Jeremy Cohen talks about the challenge of arranging and playing jazz for string quartet.

"Brooklyn Rider" is musically omnivorous. Every member of this string quartet is classically-trained, but having toured with Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk Road Ensemble for ten years now, they're open to musical flavors from around the world. They'll join Fred in the studio for day two of music and conversation. Brooklyn Rider will play the final movement from Dvorak's "American" Quartet, a set of hauntingly beautiful Armenian folk songs, and a wildly eclectic piece by a member of the group, Colin Jacobsen.

According to Greek Mythology, Orpheus was the first poet-musician, combining the two art forms into something more powerful than either alone could achieve. Franz Liszt loved the myth of Orpheus. On today's show, we'll hear his tone poem, "Orpheus," and hear the words Liszt wrote about him. And another, more modern, musician-writer appears on the show. Noted blogger and pianist Jeremy Denk performs with violinist Ani Kavafian and cellist Gary Hoffman, in a New York City performance of Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 2.

Is it a 40-minute joke? It certainly has humor, but the 1903 Symphonia Domestica by Strauss is a serious symphony...that just happens to be inspired by an average day at home with the family. It has musical descriptions of putting the baby to sleep, the alarm clock going off in the morning, playful fights between husband and wife, etc. Our concert was three weeks ago at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Donald Runnicles leads the BBC Scottish Symphony.

Dante's "Inferno" tells the story of Dante's journey to hell, guided by the poet Virgil. He visits the nine circles of hell, and sees all the suffering souls there. At the second circle, a woman named Francesca da Rimini tells Dante her story of her love for Paolo, her marriage to Paolo's evil brother, and the adulterous affair that ensued. Tchaikovsky's tone poem, "Francesca da Rimini," paints vivid pictures of swirling windstorms, remembered love, and eternal, unfulfilled longing. David Robertson leads the BBC Symphony in a performance, from a recent Proms concert.

As the Los Angeles Philharmonic gets ready to welcome new music director Gustavo Dudamel to the podium next month, it's easy to forget that other conductors deliver exciting, powerhouse performances with the Philharmonic. One such memorable concert occurred last season. Spanish conductor Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos led the L.A. Philharmonic in Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 at Disney Hall. We'll take you there, on today's show. And we'll have highlights from Dudamel's debut concert, coming up on our October 9th show.

Is it a 40-minute joke? It certainly has humor, but the 1903 Symphonia Domestica by Strauss is a serious symphony...that just happens to be inspired by an average day at home with the family. It has musical descriptions of putting the baby to sleep, the alarm clock going off in the morning, playful fights between husband and wife, etc. Our concert was three weeks ago at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Donald Runnicles leads the BBC Scottish Symphony.

The great American guitarist Jason Vieaux is back for day two of music and conversation. Vieaux plays the Spanish classic "Capriccio Arabe" by Francisco Tarrega, Variations on Mozart's Magic Flute by Fernando Sor...and his own classical-style arrangement of a tune by jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. Vieaux also talks about meeting and playing with Pat Metheny. (He says: "It was like meeting a Beatle!")