Performance Today®

It took Johannes Brahms almost two decades to finish his first symphony; the great German composer was afraid he couldn't live up to standards set by Ludwig van Beethoven. But Brahms did eventually find his answer to the looming shadow of Beethoven, which we'll hear on Monday's Performance Today.

On this weekend's Performance Today, Bruce Adolphe has this week's Piano Puzzler. Play along with our musical game; see if you can name the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating.

If you find out that the great Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes is coming to your town, you should book your ticket right away. Recently, Andsnes played an incredible, sold-out solo concert at Carnegie Hall in New York; a highlight of the season for piano fans in the big city. On Friday's Performance Today we'll hear one of his encores from that concert - a Spanish Dance by Enrique Granados.

Maurice Ravel wrote his Mother Goose Suite as piano pieces for children. But then he realized that fairy tales aren't just for children, and he turned the music into a lush piece for full orchestra. On Thursday's Performance Today we'll hear a Ravel's Mother Goose Orchestral Suite performed by the New York Philharmonic.

On Wednesday's Performance Today, Bruce Adolphe has this week's Piano Puzzler. Play along with our musical game; see if you can name the hidden tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating. And we'll drop in on a concert in Dallas, for music by Richard Wagner.

Fred Child is out leading fifty PT listeners on a musical tour of London, so we'll be joined by guest host Bill Morelock this week. On Tuesday's Performance Today, we'll hear Bach's Oboe and Violin Concerto from the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina.

Every year conductor Charles Dutoit goes to Walt Disney Concert Hall to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic. This year's trip was memorable; he conducted Daphnis and Chloe by Maurice Ravel, and did it during an earthquake. We'll hear that performance and more on Monday's Performance Today.

On this weekend's Performance Today, the Anderson and Roe Piano Duo join Fred in the studio. They'll discuss the thrills and dangers of sharing a piano bench with a dynamic duet partner, and play highlights from Stravinsky's Rite of Spring.

On Friday's Performance Today, we'll hear Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes play Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 in concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, from a concert celebrating conductor Gustavo Dudamel's 10th anniversary with the LA Phil.