Performance Today®

A Chinese folk tale became music in the hands of composers Chen Gang and He Zhanhao. And violinist Gil Shaham decided that he wanted to share this beautiful piece with the world. He's joined by Lan Shui and the Singapore Symphony for the "Butterfly Lovers" Violin Concerto.

The lush sound of the Philadelphia Orchestra is an ideal fit for Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony. We'll go to the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia to hear Christoph Eschenbach conduct the final three movements of this emotionally turbulent masterpiece.

It just wouldn't be New Year's Day without some Strauss from Vienna. Daniel Barenboim conducts the Vienna Philharmonic in two works: the march from "The Gypsy King," and "Roses from the South," from last year's New Year's Day concert in Vienna. Plus, some of the greatest party music of the last three centuries, Handel's Water Music, adds to the celebration. Jeanne Lamon conducts the Tafelmusik Baroque ensemble in Toronto.

Does wine taste better when you're listening to classical music? A study by a Scottish scientist argued that it does. We decided to put this theory to the test in a special broadcast, a Performance Today music listening and wine tasting party. Jason Kallsen, founder and owner of Twin Cities Wine Education, provided some wine recommendations to accompany our playlist.

The lush sound of the Philadelphia Orchestra is an ideal fit for Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony. We'll go to the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia to hear Christoph Eschenbach conduct the final three movements of this emotionally turbulent masterpiece.

Was he the most talented unknown composer of the 20th century? Some called him the "Canadian Mozart." Andre Mathieu was an astonishing prodigy as a composer and pianist. He played his own compositions at Carnegie Hall when he was 11, he beat the young Leonard Bernstein in a composition competition when he was 13. But he was also deeply troubled. He withdrew from public life before his 20s, and died, already forgotten, at age 39 in 1968. We'll hear the Tucson Symphony in concert, playing a set of Ballet Scenes by Andre Mathieu.

Most classical music concerts take place inside the concert hall, essentially a glorified box. Many of those boxes are rightly revered and cherished for their history, architecture, and acoustics. But today, we'll go outside the box. The first hour of today's show features performances from unusual locations, including a barge, a night club, and a former power plant.

An hour of folk-flavored fare reaches a climax with a fiery performance of the Dvorak Cello Concerto. At a concert at Budapest's Palace of Arts, Pieter Wispelwey performs one of the great works for his instrument, in the company of conductor Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra.

To this day in Italy, shepherds come down from the hills at Christmas time and play their bagpipes in front of nativity scenes, reenacting the devotion of the shepherds at the birth of Christ. We'll hear a tribute to that ancient custom in Arcangelo Corelli's Christmas Concerto, performed in a place that rarely sees shepherds, New York City. Plus, we'll visit Christmas celebrations around the country and around the world, to hear great holiday performances.

Music for Christmas Eve, from concerts across the country and around the world. Including what may be the most beautiful Christmas song of the 20th century, the Ave Maria, by Franz Biebl. The men of Chanticleer are in concert at Stanford University, in Palo Alto. Also, two contemplative settings of the ancient Latin text "O Magnum Mysterium." One from 1572 by Tomas Luis de Victoria, another from 1994 by American composer Morton Lauridsen. And...a choral curiosity. The Tokyo FM Boys Choir sings "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" in Japanese.