Poster Fred Child
Fred Child
MPR

Performance Today®

with host Fred Child

All Episodes

A musical conversation with guitarist paul galbraith

A musical conversation with guitarist paul galbraith

Paul Galbraith plays his classical guitar in an unusual manner - more in the position of a cello than a guitar - and what he creates is some marvelous music. He drops by our Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio in St. Paul for the first half of a two-part conversation that features music by Mozart, Lennox Berkeley and Bach.

The schumann cello concerto

The schumann cello concerto

Dmitri Shostakovich thought Robert Schumann's lone cello concerto to be a bit rough around the edges. So he cleaned it up with a new arrangement. We'll hear it performed by cellist Alexander Ivashkin at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He's joined by conductor Alexander Lazarev and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic.

Rachmaninoff's second symphony

Rachmaninoff's second symphony

We're broadcasting from Los Angeles today. And this week's "Performance Today" will feature several performances by the L.A. Philharmonic at Disney Hall. Today, Paavo Jarvi leads the orchestra in the final three movements of Sergei Rachmaninoff's very dramatic Symphony No. 2.

A week with the l.a. philharmonic

A week with the l.a. philharmonic

We're broadcasting from Los Angeles today, kicking off a week that will feature a performance a day by the L.A. Philharmonic, as well as conversations with music director Esa-Pekka Salonen and some of the orchestra's musicians. Today, Salonen leads them in Haydn's "Bear" Symphony and a piece by Alexander Mossolov at Disney Hall.

Alex ross on Stravinsky

Alex ross on Stravinsky

The classical music writer for the New Yorker magazine reads from his best-selling book, "The Rest is Noise," and talks about Stravinsky before we hear Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic play music from "The Rite of Spring."

Music for martin luther king

Music for martin luther king

On the 40th anniversary of his death, we'll honor the civil rights leader with performances by gospel great Mahalia Jackson, the Atlanta Symphony, soprano Measha Brueggergosman and the Emerson String Quartet. We'll also have reminiscences from King's friend and colleague, Andrew Young, as well as a Joseph Schwantner piece inspired by King, narrated by Vernon Jordan and performed by Leonard Slatkin and the National Symphony.

Beethoven's pastoral symphony

Beethoven's pastoral symphony

Anima Eterna plays Beethoven's Sixth Symphony in a way in which you've likely never heard it before. Striving for a sound as authentic to the composer's era as possible, it's a smaller orchestra that plays on period instruments. The group's founder, Jos van Immerseel, leads them in concert at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Enigma in toronto

Enigma in toronto

Whatever the enigma is behind Sir Edward Elgar's "Enigma Variations" - and we've had theories posited on "Performance Today" - it's still magnificent music, a grand showcase for an outstanding orchestra. Peter Oundjian will lead one, the Toronto Symphony, at a concert in Toronto.

A visit to concerthalle I lego

A visit to concerthalle I lego

We'll go to a new concert hall in Copenhagen, take a tour, and talk with violinist Hilary Hahn and pianist Lang Lang about playing there. Then we'll stay in Copenhagen for a performance of a Haydn symphony by Adam Fischer and the Danish Radio Sinfonietta.

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