Classical Music Playlist, June 2, 2025
For a lazy afternoon’s idle amusement, composer Edward Elgar improvised a new melody on the piano then explored variations on it that he thought musically resembled some of his friends. His wife, Alice, suggested he should make those tinkerings into a proper composition. And thus were born Edward Elgar’s “Enigma Variations,” today’s Midday Masterpiece.
6:00 a.m.
Johann Friedrich Fasch
Concerto for lute and orchestra in D minor
Musica Antiqua Koln; Reinhardt Goebel, conductor Michael Ducker, lute
6:14 a.m.
Carl Maria Von Weber
Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major Opus 11
Bavarian Radio Symphony; Colin Davis, conductor Gerhard Oppitz, piano
6:36 a.m.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Scherzo in D minor
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; Paavo Jarvi, conductor
6:42 a.m.
Luigi Boccherini
Symphony No. 5 in Bb major Opus 21 G 497
Tafelmusik; Jeanne Lamon, conductor
6:59 a.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Slavonic Rhapsody No. 3 in Ab major Opus 45
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Bohumil Gregor, conductor
7:15 a.m.
Wilhelm Peterson-Berger
Earina Suite
Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra; Michail Jurowski, conductor
7:37 a.m.
Alexander Scriabin
Piano Sonata No. 2 "Sonata Fantasy" in G# minor Opus 19
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, piano
7:49 a.m.
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 2: IV. Allegro con spirito in D major Opus 73
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Georg Solti, conductor
7:59 a.m.
Lars-Erik Larsson
Pastoral Suite Opus 19
CBC Vancouver Orchestra; Mario Bernardi, conductor
8:13 a.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 40: I. Molto Allegro in G minor K 550
Bremen German Chamber Philharmonic; Tarmo Peltokoski, conductor
8:41 a.m.
Camille Saint-Saens
Carnival of the Animals: The Swan (Le Cygne)
Yo Yo Ma, cello; Gaby Casadesus, piano; Philippe Entremont, piano
8:44 a.m.
Edward Elgar
Salut d'amour (Love's Greeting) Opus 12
Yo Yo Ma, cello; Kathryn Stott, piano
8:48 a.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto for oboe and violin in Bb major RV 548
The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, conductor David Reichenberg, oboe; Simon Standage, violin
8:59 a.m.
Edward Elgar
Symphony No. 1 in Ab major Opus 55
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; David Zinman, conductor
9:50 a.m.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Seasons: June
Daniel Hope, violin; Jacques Ammon, piano
9:56 a.m.
Frederic Chopin
Minute Waltz in Db major Opus 64/1
Jon Kimura Parker, piano
10:00 a.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Symphony No. 9: II. Molto Vivace (Scherzo and Trio) in D minor Opus 125
Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
10:14 a.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Piano Trio "Archduke": II. Scherzo in Bb major Opus 97
Esther Abrami Quintet Emanuel Ax, piano; Leonidas Kavakos, violin; Yo Yo Ma, cello
10:18 a.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Serenade for Strings in E major Opus 22
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Hugh Wolff, conductor
10:48 a.m.
Franz Schubert
Rosamunde Overture Opus 26 D 797 (The Magic Harp)
San Francisco Symphony; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
11:00 a.m.
John Field
Piano Concerto No. 3: III. Rondo - Tempo di Polacca in Eb major
Concerto Koln; David Stern, conductor Andreas Staier, fortepiano
11:13 a.m.
Isaac Albeniz
Asturias (Leyenda) - from "Suite Espanola" Opus 47
Xuefei Yang, guitar
11:20 a.m.
Edward Elgar
Cello Concerto in E minor Opus 85
London Symphony Orchestra; John Barbirolli, conductor Jacqueline Du Pre, cello
11:51 a.m.
Giuseppe Verdi
LA FORZA DEL DESTINO Overture
Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Litton, conductor
12:00 p.m.
Francesco Geminiani
Concerto Grosso "La Follia" in D minor
Les Violons du Roy; Bernard Labadie, conductor
12:12 p.m.
Ernesto Lecuona
Andalucia Suite: Malaguena
Cincinnati Pops; Erich Kunzel, conductor
12:18 p.m.
Clara Schumann
Piano Concerto in A minor Opus 7
The Women's Philharmonic; JoAnn Falletta, conductor Angela Cheng, piano
12:41 p.m.
Charles Stanford
Irish Rhapsody No. 4 in A minor Opus 141
Ulster Orchestra; Vernon Handley, conductor
1:01 p.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Leonore Overture No. 3 Opus 72
German Chamber Philharmonic; Daniel Harding, conductor
1:14 p.m.
Max Bruch
Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 in G minor Opus 26
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Jakub Hrusa, conductor Nicola Benedetti, violin
1:40 p.m.
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Choros No. 1
Pepe Romero, guitar
1:45 p.m.
Juanjo Mosalini
Toma, Toca (Take it, Play it)
Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston; Gisele Ben-Dor, conductor Juanjo Mosalini, bandoneon
1:51 p.m.
John Field
Rondo for piano & strings in Ab major
London Mozart Players; Matthias Bamert, conductor Miceal O'Rourke, piano
2:00 p.m.
Edward Elgar
Enigma Variations Opus 36
London Symphony Orchestra; Pierre Monteux, conductor
2:30 p.m.
Fanny Mendelssohn
Das Jahr (The Year): 6. June: Serenade
Anna Shelest, piano
2:36 p.m.
Samuel Scheidt
Canzona Bergamasca
The Paramount Brass
2:41 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik in G major K 525 (FROM THE RUSSELL KLETZING COLLECTION)
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor
3:00 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
In Nature's Realm Overture Opus 91
Janacek Philharmonic; Theodore Kuchar, conductor
3:14 p.m.
Josquin des Pres
Ave Maria
Capella Alamire Julia Doyle, soprano
3:20 p.m.
George Enescu
Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A major Opus 11
National Orchestra of France; Cristian Macelaru, conductor Yuja Wang, piano
3:23 p.m.
Robert Schumann
Symphony No. 1 "Spring" in Bb major Opus 38
Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
3:54 p.m.
Florence Price
Piano Concerto in One Movement: III. Allegretto
Chineke! Orchestra; Leslie Suganandarajah, conductor Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, piano
3:59 p.m.
Edward Elgar
Coronation March Opus 65
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Yondani Butt, conductor
4:11 p.m.
Valentin Silvestrov
Bagatelle (Op. 1, No. 1) Opus 1/1
Dmytro Choni, piano
4:14 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Prelude and Fugue (from the Well-Tempered Clavier I:01) in C major BWV 846
Angela Hewitt, piano
4:19 p.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
Symphony No. 4 "Italian" in A major Opus 90
Bergen Philharmonic; Andrew Litton, conductor
4:48 p.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Oboe Concerto No. 12 in C major RV 449
The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, conductor Paul Goodwin, oboe
4:58 p.m.
Josef Suk
Fantastic Scherzo Opus 25
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; JoAnn Falletta, conductor
5:14 p.m.
Engelbert Humperdinck
HANSEL UND GRETEL Overture
London Symphony Orchestra; Andre Previn, conductor
5:23 p.m.
Franz Schubert
Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished" in B minor D 759
Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor
5:49 p.m.
Mikhail Glinka
Valse Fantasie
Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
6:00 p.m.
Edward Elgar
Piano Quintet in A minor Opus 84
Israela Margalit, piano; Alexander Barantschick, violin; Janice Graham , violin; Paul Silverthorne, viola
6:36 p.m.
Grace Williams
Ballads: III. Andante calmante
BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra; Vernon Handley, conductor
6:42 p.m.
Claude Debussy
Rhapsodie No. 1 for clarinet
Cleveland Orchestra; Pierre Boulez, conductor Franklin Cohen, clarinet
6:52 p.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
String Quartet No. 13: V. Cavatina in Bb major Opus 130
Cypress String Quartet
