Performance Today®

When art and politics collide, politics usually wins, at least in the short term. It depends on the size of the political hammer being wielded. But art almost always wins out in the end. Gyorgy Ligeti wrote a lively rhapsody on Romanian folk music that had a few too many crunchy, off-color harmonies in it. Officials banned it for 20 years, but couldn't ultimately squash it. We'll hear Ligeti's Concerto Romanesc from a concert in Buffalo. Plus, a rare international tour by a North Korean orchestra, in concert in Paris.

A rocky island, surrounded by black water, with a dark sky overhead. A boatman is rowing toward an out-cropping where, presumably, his ghostly white passenger will spend the rest of time. It's a painting by Arnold Bocklin called "The Isle of the Dead." Sergei Rachmaninoff was so taken with the painting that he wrote a tone poem called "The Isle of the Dead." We'll hear it today, from a concert in Cincinnati.

Geoff Nuttall is the charming and genial host for chamber music concerts at the Spoleto Festival USA. He's there at every concert, introducing every piece of music, injecting wit and humor into every performance. In today's show, Nuttall introduces us to the original waltz king, Austrian composer Josef Lanner. We'll hear music by Lanner from the 2012 Spoleto Festival USA, the first of a number of Spoleto performances on PT this week.

In honor of the Father's Day holiday this weekend, we'll meet Canadian composer Robert Rival. Rival says his new piece, "Lullaby," was inspired by the experience of rocking his son to sleep. The Edmonton Symphony plays Robert Rival's "Lullaby," from a concert last month at Carnegie Hall in New York.

It's hard enough to balance work and family life. But for classical musicians who travel a lot, it can be even more difficult. Today, in honor of Father's Day, we'll talk to pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, and find out how fatherhood has changed his life. Andsnes says, "I'm both crying and laughing more easily than before." We'll hear Andsnes in concert in Poland. And the Edmonton Symphony plays Robert Rival's Lullaby, written last year for his newborn son.

Musically-speaking, pianist Lang Lang came of age long ago. He's been an international star since he was a teen-ager. But at last, all of us who are on the far side of 30 get to welcome Lang Lang into the fold. Today is his 30th birthday. We'll celebrate with highlights from his sold-out concert two weeks ago at Carnegie Hall in New York.

A certain amount of self-doubt is normal. But composer Anton Bruckner always had more than his share. He was notorious for revising his music, never being quite satisfied with the result. Finally, at the end of his life, he had a clear vision of what he wanted his Ninth Symphony to be. There was just one problem. At age 72, he was running out of time. In today's show, the story of Anton Bruckner's Ninth Symphony and a performance by the Berlin Philharmonic.

The International Chopin Piano Competition only comes around once every five years. Pianists practice for years just to earn the right to compete. Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeeva was 25 when she took home the gold medal in the 2010 Chopin Competition. Today, we'll get a chance to meet her. She plays music by Chopin and Bach in the PT studios.

Stefan Jackiw is the man Jean Sibelius wanted to be. Jackiw is immensely talented, a world-class violinist still only in his 20s. At 26, Sibelius was forced to admit that he didn't have either the talent or the nerves to make it as a violinist. Distraught, he turned to his only other option, composing. But in settling for second-best, Sibelius achieved an immortality he never would have known as a performer. Stefan Jackiw plays Sibelius' Violin Concerto in today's show, from a concert in Nashville.