Performance Today®

Composer John Adams was astonished at the reaction to his sprawling 1982 piece for two pianos, three singers and orchestra, his "Grand Pianola Music." Adams says the "piece genuinely upset people...I meant it neither as a joke...nor as a provocation of any kind. It was rather, in its loudest and most hyperventilated moments, a kind of Whitmanesque yawp, an exhilaration of good humor, certainly a parody and therefore ironic." We'll hear it in all its yawping glory, from a concert last month by the London Sinfonietta at the Proms in London.

American composer Christopher Theofanidis says it was "almost embarrassing" to compose a piece with "three happy movements." But he'd written a series of works with dark undercurrents, and wanted to create what he calls "uplifting, happy-to-be-alive music." The result was "Visions and Miracles," his 1997 piece for string orchestra. We have a concert performance from the 2009 Strings Festival, in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

We remember Cincinnati Pops conductor Erich Kunzel, who died Tuesday at age 74. Plus, Purcell from the Proms in London. Robert Spano guest-conducts the Cleveland Orchestra in a concert performance of the Mathis der Maler Symphony by Paul Hindemith. And Bruce Adolphe joins Fred in the studio for this week's Piano Puzzler.

Two weeks ago, Joshua Bell played the Brahms Violin Concerto for an audience of 5-thousand at the BBC Proms in London. Reviewers in London used words like "memorable,""magic,""stunning," and "triumph." You can come up with your own superlatives after you hear it. Joshua Bell, with conductor Osmo Vanska the BBC Symphony Orchestra, playing Brahms at the Proms.

Poet Rita Dove has a new book about Beethoven, his best friend in 1803, and the piece they premiered together. Beethoven wrote an astonishing sonata inspired by the virtuosity of mulatto violinist George Bridgetower. But over drinks the two friends got into a fight, Beethoven took Bridgetower's name off the music...and they never spoke again. Rita Dove has re-imagined their relationship in her new book, "Sonata Mulattica." She joins Fred to guide us through their story, and through the piece that's become known as Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata.

We remember Cincinnati Pops conductor Erich Kunzel, who died Tuesday at age 74. Plus, Purcell from the Proms in London. Robert Spano guest-conducts the Cleveland Orchestra in a concert performance of the Mathis der Maler Symphony by Paul Hindemith. And Bruce Adolphe joins Fred in the studio for this week's Piano Puzzler.

American mezzo-soprano Susan Graham sang at the funeral of Senator Ted Kennedy this past weekend. She joins Fred to talk about the experience. And we'll hear Graham at the 2009 BBC Proms, the summer music festival in London, sing a heart-breakingingly beautiful love song by Reynaldo Hahn, "A Chloris."

In Ravel's Bolero, the lead snare drummer plays a simple pattern 168 times in a row, gradually getting louder for 16 minutes. It's a study in deep concentration, and percussionist David Corkhill has it mastered. From a concert two weeks ago at the Royal Albert Hall in London, rock-solid David Corkhill and the rest of the Philharmonia Orchestra give a riveting performance of Bolero.

Karen Geoghegan was 19 years old, and bored. So she signed up to take part in "Classical Star," a TV talent show for young classical musicians in England. As a bassoonist, her expectations were low...but to her surprise she made the final round, and came in second during a live national TV broadcast. She's become something of a celebrity in the UK, she has a record contract, and three weeks ago made her debut at the big summer music festival in London, the Proms. We'll hear the now 21 year-old Karen Geoghegan give a knockout performance of Mozart's Bassoon Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Every Friday, Performance Today features 21st century music. This week: "Lunar Reflections" by 35 year-old Canadian composer Heather Schmidt. It's not in five movements, Schmidt says it's in five "moons." From the delicate beauty of a "February Snow Moon" to the clangorous energy of a "July Thunder Moon." We'll hear the world premiere, from a concert in Toronto by the Gryphon Trio.