Recent Performance Today Features

Marian McPartland's 'A Child's Christmas in Wales'
For the holiday season, Piano Jazz host Marian McPartland reads Dylan Thomas' collection of holiday memories, A Child's Christmas in Wales. She provides her own musical improvisations to evoke the mood of holidays past.
Friday, December 24, 2004

Harmonies of a 'Chanticleer Christmas'
The twelve men of Chanticleer, one of America's premiere vocal ensembles, present a program of Renaissance Christmas hymns and classic carols at the St. Vincent Church in Petaluma, Calif. Joseph Jennings directs.
Thursday, December 23, 2004

Handel's 'Messiah' from Disney Hall
From the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Quebec City conductor Bernard Labadie leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the singers of his hometown Chapelle de Quebec and four world-class soloists in a production of Handel's masterpiece.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004

The Music and Art Behind 'Portsmouth Point'
In his Portsmouth Point Overture, English composer William Walton captures the colorful, bawdy sights and sounds of an 1811 Thomas Rowlandson painting of the same name. Joann Falletta conducts the Juilliard Symphony at New York's Lincoln Center.
Friday, December 17, 2004

Instruments of the Baroque Period
For the holiday season, Jeanette Sorrel conducts the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, Apollo's Fire, in a performance of Part III of Bach's Christmas Oratorio. Valveless Baroque trumpets and timpani open the cantata.
Wednesday, December 15, 2004

The Dessoff Choirs 'In the Bleak Midwinter'
Sarah Ioannides guest-directs the Dessoff Choirs in a holiday performance of traditional carols at the Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in New York. They sing "In the Bleak Midwinter," and "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming."
Tuesday, December 14, 2004

History of Western Music Series
In the new Oxford History of Western Music, musicologist Richard Taruskin explores the music of Europe and America from the eighth century to the beginning of the 21st. He discusses five pivotal moments in the history of Western music.
Friday, December 10, 2004

The Santa Fe Desert Chorale at the Loretto Chapel
Each summer, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale brings together 20 professional singers from all over the country to perform in New Mexico. One of their most beautiful concert venues is the 19th-century Loretto Chapel, patterned after the Ste. Chapelle in Paris.
Thursday, December 9, 2004

Remembering Conductor Frederick Fennell
A major figure in the American musical scene died on Dec. 7 at his home in Siesta Key, Fla. Frederick Fennell was a legendary conductor and educator known for his musicality and interpretive abilities. We remember him through his music.
Wednesday, December 8, 2004

Ottorino Respighi's 'Botticelli Triptych'
The Italian composer Ottorino Respighi wrote music inspired by the fountains and pines of Rome, and the 'Botticelli Triptych': three Renaissance paintings by Sandro Botticelli that hang in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Monday, November 29, 2004

Thanksgiving à la Rossini: An Operatic Feast
Gioacchino Rossini, the great opera composer, was also a great gourmand. In fact, the man behind The Barber of Seville retired from composition when he was just 37 and spent the rest of his life -- about 40 more years --enjoying food.
Thursday, November 25, 2004

Polly Rhythm, Feathered Prima Donna
With lungs that even the most powerful soprano would envy, Polly Rhythm -- a 37-year-old parrot -- can mimic and sing opera. He sings along with the Queen of the Night's aria from Mozart's The Magic Flute.
Wednesday, November 24, 2004

The Gehry Organ, Voice of Walt Disney Hall
While the Walt Disney Concert Hall has been open since October 2003, the organ, a design collaboration between architect Frank Gehry and organ builder Manuel Rosales, was not ready until this fall. NPR's Fred Child visits the hall.
Monday, November 22, 2004

PT Series: The State of Music Education in America
All this week, NPR's Korva Coleman is reporting for PT on the state of music education in American schools. In today's installment, she speaks with director of the Arts Education Partnership, Richard Deasy.
Friday, November 19, 2004

"Taps" by Sergeant Major Woody English
NPR's Fred Child interviews the trumpet soloist for the U.S. Army Band about the song "Taps." English performed the piece at this year's national memorial service for the late President Ronald Reagan.
Thursday, November 11, 2004

The Aaron Copland Interview
In November 1980, composer Aaron Copland sat down with the late NPR host and producer Fred Calland for a wide-ranging interview. PT celebrates the composer's birthday (Nov. 14) with a week-long presentation of the interview accompanied by Copland's music.

The Galways, Live at NPR
Husband and wife flutists Sir James and Lady Jeanne Galway visit NPR to chat with PT Host Fred Child and perform in Studio 4A. They are accompanied by pianist Vitalij Kuprij.
Friday, November 5, 2004

Elise Kirk's Musical Highlights from the White House
Musicologist Elise Kirk has been writing about music at the White House for more than a decade. She talks with PT Host Fred Child about the role of the President in the musical life of the America.
Wednesday, November 3, 2004

Memories of Aspen
Monday's show featured music from the 2004 Aspen Music Festival, where PT set up shop for a week to be part of the fun. Browse our photo gallery of images from the festival.
Monday, November 1, 2004

Levine Conducts Mahler in BSO Debut
Thursday's show features the epic Symphony No. 8 by Mahler from last Friday night's debut of Boston Symphony Orchestra music director James Levine. More about the Levine era is at www.bso.org.
Thursday, October 28, 2004

Appreciation: Robert Merrill
Host Fred Child has an appreciation of beloved Metropolitan Opera baritone Robert Merrill. Merrill, who sang for the Met from 1945 through 1976, died at his home Saturday, October 23. He was 87.
Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Elamu Castle
A recent show featured a performance recorded at Germany's majestic Elmau Castle. Now a hotel, the castle is about an hour south of Munich. More images of the castle are available at the Hotel Schloss Elmau Web site.

A Mystery for Mozart Mavens
Author Daniel Leeson has written The Mozart Forgeries, a novel that centers on the counterfeit of two Mozart manuscripts. Leeson's two main characters pursue a $20 million payday.
Friday, September 24, 2004

Live at NPR: Le Violons du Roy
The Canadian string orchestra, Les Violons du Roy (The King's Violins) recently stopped by NPR's Studio 4A to play the Symphony No. 5, by Franz Schubert. Fred talks with founder Bernard Labadie.
Thursday, September 23, 2004

PT at La Jolla: Pianist Andre-Michel Schub
Fred Child is on stage at the Bishop's School in La Jolla, Calif., for SummerFest 2004. He talks with pianist Andre-Michel Schub, who plays Chopin and Ravel.
Thursday, August 19, 2004

PT at La Jolla: Cellist Hai-Ye Ni
On stage at SummerFest 2004 in La Jolla, Calif., host Fred Child visits with cellist Hai-Ye Ni. She plays the Sarabande and Gigue from Bach's cello suite no. 3 and music written for her by Bright Sheng.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004

PT at La Jolla: Pianist Naida Cole
On stage at SummerFest 2004 i