Performance Today®

We'll go to London's Royal Albert Hall to hear a perfect piece for the BBC Proms. Edward Elgar's celebration of an ideal London--without care, without want, and without restrictions--the Cockaigne Overture. Charles Mackerras leads the BBC Philharmonic.

While he was composing it, the working title for one of Aaron Copland's most beloved works was simply, "Ballet for Martha." Martha was Martha Graham, and just before it premiered, the ballet got its name, "Appalachian Spring." We'll hear music from "Appalachian Spring" on today's show, courtesy of the Marlboro Music School and Festival in the southern hills of Vermont.

Conductor John Eliot Gardiner says there's one Bach motet that has a special "zing.""Sing to the Lord a New Song," or in German: "Singet dem Herrn," with a "zzz" sound in the word "Singet." Gardiner talks about the visceral fun for singers of that "zzz," which creates an almost percussive effect in the music. And we'll hear Gardiner conduct his Monteverdi Choir in concert two weeks ago at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Bach's motet "Singet dem Herrn," from the 2009 BBC Proms.

The gentlemanly American pianist Richard Goode has never cared for the hype and hyperbole of the music business. Which is one of several reasons he's perfectly suited to his role as co-artistic director of Marlboro Music, the unique artistic retreat in the hills of Vermont. Richard Goode joins us to talk about the value of time and silence at Marlboro, a place that cultivates musical depth over sheer virtuosity. And we'll hear Richard Goode team up with two Marlboro friends for a ravishing performance of the Brahms Horn Trio.

Leonard Bernstein was a brash young New Yorker when he wrote the music for "West Side Story," mixing classical with jazz and Latin American rhythms. We'll hear a group of brash young *21st century* New Yorkers playing the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story: The Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, founded by 28 year-old conductor Alondra de la Parra. Their concert was this spring at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Every Friday, Performance Today features 21st century music. This week, the Symphony No. 4 by Arvo Part, dedicated to a man currently imprisoned in Siberia, a political opponent of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Part says "With my composition, I would like to reach out my hand...to the prisoner, and...to all those imprisoned without rights in Russia." Cem Monsur conducts the Helsinki Philharmonic, in concert in Helsinki.

Leonard Bernstein was a brash young New Yorker when he wrote the music for "West Side Story," mixing classical with jazz and Latin American rhythms. We'll hear a group of brash young *21st century* New Yorkers playing the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story: The Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, founded by 28 year-old conductor Alondra de la Parra. Their concert was this spring at Lincoln Center in New York City.

This week's Piano Puzzler is on today's show. Composer Bruce Adolphe takes a familiar tune and re-writes it in the style of a great classical composer. A PT listener calls in, tries to guess the hidden tune, and the composer whose style Bruce is imitating. This week, a listener from Lawton, Oklahoma plays his piano right back at Bruce, over the phone!

They were there the whole time -- two newly-discovered works by the boy Mozart. Theya€™re in his fathera€™s handwriting, so they were ignored for years. But now that someone actually *looked* at them, ita€™s clear theya€™re not in the pedantic style of Mozarta€™s father, theya€™re the work of a much more adventurous mind. Wea€™ll hear the unveiling of these two newly discovered pieces by Mozart, from a concert (that was also a news conference) in Salzburg on Sunday.