Performance Today®

German composer Otto Nicolai wrote several successful operas during the 19th century. Still, today he’s mostly known for one piece, and he only enjoyed the success of his biggest hit for two months before he died at 38. On today’s show, we’ll take you to Shanghai to hear the overture from The Merry Wives of Windsor by Otto Nicolai.

More than a billion people are ushering in the Year of the Rabbit with food and family celebrations. Join us for music that celebrates the Lunar New Year on this episode of Performance Today.

Every week, composer Bruce Adolphe joins us for a musical game, our Piano Puzzler. Bruce re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a great composer. We get one of our listeners on the phone who tries to guess the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating. Play along with the PT Piano Puzzler on this episode of Performance Today.

They're called the Swiss Orchestra. They've been around since 2018, and they aim to bring back forgotten Swiss music. Join us for highlights from a concert they gave in the heart of the Swiss Alps on this edition of Performance Today.

Forty years ago, conductor Giovanni Antonini helped launch a musical movement by playing works from 300 years ago as we think they might have been originally played. Antonini and his group, Il Giardino Armonico, are on the way in concert on today's episode of PT.

Every week, composer Bruce Adolphe joins us for a musical game, our Piano Puzzler. Bruce re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a great composer. We get one of our listeners on the phone who tries to guess the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating. Play along with the PT Piano Puzzler on this episode of Performance Today.

Argentine bandoneon player JP Jofre remembers hearing music by Astor Piazzolla for the first time. He says, "It was classical, and it was tango, and it had the power of heavy metal. I knew this was what I wanted to do." Join us today to hear JP Jofre and friends play music by Astor Piazzolla from a concert at the Geneva Music Festival in Geneva, NY.

The impact of Dr. Martin Luther King is more important than ever. Join us for this special edition of Performance Today honoring Dr. King through music. We'll hear music he loved and the pieces composed by musicians who loved him.

Mykola Lysenko was a Ukrainian composer and conductor who is considered one of the founders of Ukrainian classical music. On today's show, we'll hear the overture from Lysenko's opera 'Taras Bulba,' from a concert by the Romanian Radio National Orchestra.