PT Weekend: The Piano Puzzler

So, what is a Piano Puzzler, you might ask? Well, it's a familiar tune that Bruce Adolphe has rewritten in the style of a classical composer. Can you identify the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating? Join us for this week’s Piano Puzzler on this episode of Performance Today.

Sure, it's a flashy showpiece for piano, but Kirill Gerstein says, "If you dig deeper, it's also a sincere expression straight from the heart." On today's show, hear Kirill Gerstein play Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 with conductor Hannu Lintu leading the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

Composer Zoltan Kodály grew up listening to Roma bands in Hungary and later incorporated some of their melodies into his music. On today's show, we’ll take you to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for a performance of Kodály's Dances of Galánta.

Today, we present a captivating performance by one of today's most talented violinists, Alexi Kenney. Accompanied by pianist Inon Barnatan, Kenney explores a rarely heard piece by Romanian composer Georges Enescu.

The acoustics of a concert hall can profoundly shape the sound of an orchestra, for better or for worse. On today's program, we’ll take you to the stunning Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg to hear Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, performed by the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra under the direction of conductor Alan Gilbert.

On today's show, pianist Gabriela Montero performs a groundbreaking piece by Igor Stravinsky: his 1924 Piano Sonata. With this work, Stravinsky intentionally departed from the Romantic era and reimagined the structured forms of the Classical period with a rhythmic, modern sound.

Pianist Stephen Hough describes the music of Federico Mompou as "the music of evaporation." Hough says, "The notes are too simple and the soul too complex for conventional analysis." On today's show, we'll hear Stephen Hough perform Mompou’s Cants Mágìcs (Magical Songs) at a concert in Morrow, Georgia.

Ana María Patiño-Osorio grew up on a small farm in Colombia. As a kid, she took her grandma's knitting needles, turned up Brahms, and dreamed of a future with herself on the podium. Now, Patiño-Osorio has a real baton in hand. On today’s show, Patiño-Osorio leads the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in a performance of José Moncayo’s “Huapango.”

Composer Christopher Gunning often advised emerging composers not to wait to write their symphonies until they were too old and tired to do so, and he followed his advice by completing THIRTEEN symphonies before his death in 2023. On today's show, conductor Kenneth Woods leads the Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra in a performance of Christopher Gunning's Symphony No. 10.

The question of why Franz Schubert never completed his Symphony No. 8 has intrigued music scholars and enthusiasts for generations. There are theories, of course, but does it truly matter? The landmark work has become one of Schubert's most frequently performed works. On today's show, we'll travel to Lugano, Switzerland, to hear Schubert's Symphony No. 8.