In the early 1900s, Bela Bartok traveled the dusty back-roads of eastern Europe with a heavy Edison recording machine. He recorded thousands of folk songs that, in turn, inspired his own work. On Wednesday's Performance Today, the Romanian Dances by Bela Bartok, from a concert by the Sinfonietta of Riverdale, New York.
It's a showpiece for the tuba by composer John Williams... an actual concerto for tuba and orchestra. Alan Baer solos, in concert, with the New York Philharmonic, on the Tuesday's Performance Today.
The Olmos Ensemble wants to make classical music accessible for everyone. One way they're doing that is by letting audience members choose how much to pay for tickets. People pay what they can... some a little more, some a little less. On Monday's Performance Today, we'll drop in on a concert in San Antonio, Texas, and hear the Olmos Ensemble perform a quintet by Anton Reicha.
Benny Goodman had a keen interest in classical music. In 1947, he asked Aaron Copland for a new piece. Copland listened to all of Goodman's recordings and tried to write something that was a perfect fit. Copland's jazzy Clarinet Concerto, on Saturday's Performance Today.
In the early 1900s, English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams was editing a collection of hymns when he came across an unpublished melody written in the mid 1500s, and he spun that old tune into a gorgeous new piece. On Friday's Performance Today, we'll hear it: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, by Ralph Vaughan Williams, from a concert at the Grand Teton Music Festival.
Serge Koussevitzky was famous as a 20th century conductor, but he was also a composer... and a virtuoso on the double bass. On Thursday's Performance Today, hear Koussevitzky's double bass Concerto, with Robin Kesselman on double bass, in concert with the Houston Symphony.
In 1895, Richard Strauss composed a musical fairy-tale... a 15-minute orchestral romp that celebrates a crass, anti-establishment prankster. On Wednesday's Performance Today, take a seat at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and hear the LA Philharmonic perform "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks" by Richard Strauss.
Composer Laurence Sherr has dedicated his career to sharing the musical history of the Holocaust. in 2014, Sherr wrote a piece that borrowed melodies from several Jewish resistance songs. On Tuesday's Performance Today, hear 'Myr zaynen do!' (We are here!) by Laurence Sherr.
Leonard Slatkin says conducting gives him a sense of great power and at the same time, a feeling of helplessness. On Monday's Performance Today, Slatkin joins us to talk about the curious art of conducting. Plus, we'll hear him lead this performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 4. in a concert from Warsaw, Poland.
