Performance Today®

When Ralph Vaughan Williams' Sixth Symphony premiered in 1948, everyone rushed to find a deeper meaning in it. Vaughan Williams was amused at first, but when one critic tried to call it the "War Symphony," he got miffed, saying, "It never seems to occur to people that a man might just want to write a piece of music." Years later, though, Vaughan Williams did allow as how maybe, just maybe, the last movement could be summed up by these words from Shakespeare's Tempest: "We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep." The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic performs it, in concert in Amsterdam.

The most romantic birthday present in the long history of birthday presents: the Siegfried Idyll, by Richard Wagner. An achingly beautiful 20-minute piece he wrote for his new wife, rehearsed in secret, and unveiled with a small orchestra playing in front of her bedroom on the morning of her 33rd birthday. Our concert is from a slightly larger space -- Avery Fisher Hall, at Lincoln Center in New York City. Alan Gilbert conducting the New York Philharmonic. Plus a set of music and musicians from San Francisco, including a slapstick orchestral march written by Michael Tilson Thomas, played by the San Francisco Symphony.

Composer Bruce Adolphe returns to the PT studios with our weekly classical music game, the Piano Puzzler. Every week he re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a classical composer. One of our listeners calls in and tries to name the tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating. Also -- the Orion Quartet plays the opening section from the Art of Fugue, by Bach, in concert at the 92nd Street Y in New York. And Valery Gergiev leads the London Symphony Orchestra in a thrilling performance of...a piece we can't name, because it would give away the answer to the puzzler!

Great music, like great cooking, is interesting when just the right flavors come together. And some dishes are most surprising not for what's in them, but for what's left out (think flourless chocolate cake). Johannes Brahms left out the flour when he wrote his second orchestral serenade. In this case, that translates to a large-scale symphonic work with no violins. We'll hear the San Francisco Symphony and music director Michael Tilson Thomas, in a performance where the violins were relaxing backstage. Who knows - maybe they were noshing on flourless chocolate cake.

Raduz and Mahulena, two young lovers whose families despise each other. Sound familiar, Shakespeare fans? But unlike Romeo and Juliet, these legendary Slovakian lovers overcome all obstacles and live happily ever after. JoAnn Falletta leads the Buffalo Philharmonic in a performance of a musical re-telling of their story, "A Fairy Tale" by Josef Suk. Plus the "Children's Fairy Tale" by Johann Kaspar Mertz, played by guitarist Adam Holzman. And Maurice Ravel's musical version of the story of a beautiful Princess whose century-long slumber could only be broken by a kiss of true love. Listen for the arrival of the handsome Prince and the moment of the kiss, in the "Fairy Garden" from the Mother Goose Suite, by Maurice Ravel. Myung-Whun Chung conducts the Seoul Philharmonic, in concert in Brussels, Belgium.

Composer Bruce Adolphe returns to the PT studios with our weekly classical music game, the Piano Puzzler. Every week he re-writes a familiar tune in the style of a classical composer. One of our listeners calls in and tries to name the tune and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating. Also -- the Orion Quartet plays the opening section from the Art of Fugue, by Bach, in concert at the 92nd Street Y in New York. And Valery Gergiev leads the London Symphony Orchestra in a thrilling performance of...a piece we can't name, because it would give away the answer to the puzzler!

Last week, Gustavo Dudamel opened his second season as Music Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. It was a celebratory concert with music by Rossini and several Latin-American composers. We'll sample a few highlights, including Rossini's La Gazza Ladra Overture, the Danzon No. 2 by Arturo Marquez, and several performances featuring the sparkling tenor voice of Juan Diego Florez. (And yes, we'll hear both of his encores!)

In Hungarian lore, anything you say after a sneeze can be taken as gospel truth. Hence, the musical "sneeze" at the beginning of the Hary Janos Suite, by Zoltan Kodaly. The piece tells the story of a legendary liar, bragging about his extraordinary, but fictional, exploits. ("I singlehandedly defeated the French! Napoleon was on his knees, begging for mercy!") But...he vows that every word is true. Gilbert Varga leads the Central German Radio Symphony, in concert in Leipzig.

Three musical heroes make an appearance today. Lohengrin was the mysterious knight of the Holy Grail, who rescued a damsel by riding in a boat drawn by swans. We'll hear the prelude to Act III of Wagner's "Lohengrin." Don Quixote was the mad anti-hero who tilted at windmills and waged war against armies of sheep. Georg Philipp Telemann brought him to life in a suite for strings, performed at New Mexico's Music from Angel Fire. And finally, the hero of the bullfight, the torero. The Jupiter String Quartet plays Joaquin Turina's "Bullfighter's Prayer" at Music@Menlo. Plus, the hero of the Piano Puzzler, composer Bruce Adolphe.