Classical Music Playlist, October 29, 2025
Franz Berwald (1796-1868)
Swedish composer Franz Berwald just couldn't get a break. In his native Sweden his music was met with indifference. He tried Paris; same thing. Vienna liked his music, but that admiration didn't follow him back to Sweden. Music not working for him, he found success in Germany designing pediatric orthopedic devices for children with congenital spinal deformities. And on his return to Sweden he managed a glassworks and a sawmill to make a living. Finally, in his sixties, Sweden began to take notice of his music and he was made a professor of composition in 1867. But sadly, he died the next year. It was only after his death when his music gained wider recognition including his four symphonies. From 1845, just before he was 50 years old but not premiered until ten years after his death, Berwald’s Symphony No. 4 is today's Midday Masterpiece.
6:00 a.m.
Christoph Forster
Horn Concerto in Eb major ICF 6
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor Barry Tuckwell, horn
6:13 a.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Triple Concerto for piano, violin, cello & orchestra in C major Opus 56
Philharmonia Orchestra; Santtu-Matias Rouvali, conductor Nicola Benedetti, violin; Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cello; Benjamin Grosvenor, piano
6:48 a.m.
Alessandro Piccinini
Passacaglia
Ronn McFarlane, lute
6:53 a.m.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Sleeping Beauty: Polonaise from Act III
London Symphony Orchestra; Andre Previn, conductor
6:59 a.m.
Benjamin Britten
Matinees musicales (Suite after Rossini) Opus 24
National Philharmonic Orchestra; Richard Bonynge, conductor
7:14 a.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major BWV 1046
European Brandenburg Ensemble; Trevor Pinnock, conductor
7:34 a.m.
Chilly Gonzales
Prelude in C Sharp Major
Alice Sara Ott, piano
7:37 a.m.
Elena Kats-Chernin
Re-Inventions: Re-Invention No. 1
La Pieta; Angele Dubeau, conductor
7:43 a.m.
Edvard Grieg
Lyric Suite Opus 54
Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz, conductor
8:00 a.m.
Johan Wagenaar
Cyrano de Bergerac Overture Opus 23
Concertgebouw Orchestra; Riccardo Chailly, conductor
8:15 a.m.
Franz Schubert
Symphony No. 5 in Bb major D 485
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor
8:44 a.m.
Henry Litolff
Concerto Symphonique No. 4: II. Scherzo Opus 102
San Francisco Symphony; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor Yuja Wang, piano
8:52 a.m.
Leo Delibes
Sylvia: Pizzicato Polka
New Philharmonia Orchestra; Richard Bonynge, conductor
8:54 a.m.
Aaron Copland
Rodeo: Hoe-Down
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, conductor
9:00 a.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major K 331 (FROM THE RUSSELL KLETZING COLLECTION)
Mitsuko Uchida, piano
9:26 a.m.
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5: Aria
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Kenneth Silito, conductor Alexandre Lagoya, guitar
9:30 a.m.
Sonny Kompanek
Killer Tango
Canadian Brass
9:36 a.m.
Gioachino Rossini
THE BARBER OF SEVILLE: Overture (IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA)
Philharmonia Orchestra; Riccardo Muti, conductor
9:44 a.m.
Franz Liszt
Hungarian Fantasy
London Symphony Orchestra; Jun'ichi Hirokami, conductor Barry Douglas, piano
10:00 a.m.
Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto Grosso No. 7 in D major Opus 6
Tafelmusik; Jeanne Lamon, conductor
10:10 a.m.
Olivia Belli
Limina Luminis Threshold of Light
Anna Lapwood, organ
10:16 a.m.
Margaret Bonds
Simon Bore the Cross: I. Prelude
The Dessoff Choirs & Orchestra; Malcolm J. Merriweather, conductor
10:22 a.m.
Aaron Copland
Appalachian Spring
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
10:49 a.m.
Alexander Borodin
PRINCE IGOR Overture
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
11:00 a.m.
John Field
Piano Concerto No. 2 in Ab major
New Irish Chamber Orchestra; Janos Furst, conductor John O'Conor, piano
11:37 a.m.
Percy Grainger
Molly on the Shore
Dallas Wind Symphony; Jerry Junkin, conductor
11:42 a.m.
John Ireland
Epic March
London Symphony Orchestra; Richard Hickox, conductor
11:52 a.m.
Claude Champagne
Rustic Dance (Dance Villageoise)
Quebec Symphony Orchestra; Yoav Talmi, conductor
11:58 a.m.
Benjamin Britten
Gloriana: Courtly Dances
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Andre Previn, conductor
12:10 p.m.
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Prelude No. 1
Orchestre de Paris; Klaus Makela, conductor Xuefei Yang, guitar
12:16 p.m.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Opus 43
Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Litton, conductor Stephen Hough, piano
12:41 p.m.
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 5: III. Scherzo in C# minor
Berlin Philharmonic; Claudio Abbado, conductor Gerd Seifert, horn
1:00 p.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 100 "Military" in G major
Orchestra of St. Luke's; Charles Mackerras, conductor
1:23 p.m.
Fanny Mendelssohn
Melodie (Allegretto) No. 2 in C# minor Opus 4/2
Betty Ann Miller, piano
1:25 p.m.
Teresa Carreno
Nocturne, "Souvenirs de mon pays"
Alexandra Oehler, piano
1:33 p.m.
John McLaughlin
"The Mediterranean" Concerto for Guitar: 1st movement
London Symphony Orchestra; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor John McLaughlin, guitar
1:47 p.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Overture
Boston Symphony Orchestra; Seiji Ozawa, conductor
2:00 p.m.
Franz Berwald
Symphony No. 4 in Eb major
San Francisco Symphony; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
2:31 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Prelude & Fugue No. 2 in C Minor (from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1) in C minor BWV 847
Mahan Esfahani, harpsichord
2:36 p.m.
Georges Bizet
L'Arlesienne Suite No. 2
Ulster Orchestra; Yan Pascal Tortelier, conductor
2:53 p.m.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
EUGENE ONEGIN: Polonaise
New York Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein, conductor
3:00 p.m.
Leo Delibes
Coppelia: (Suite from the ballet)
Philadelphia Orchestra; Eugene Ormandy, conductor
3:15 p.m.
Johann Christian Bach
Quintet for flute, oboe, violin, viola & continuo in C major Opus 11/1
The English Concert
3:34 p.m.
Dorothy Howell
Lamia
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Rumon Gamba, conductor Sophie Langdon, violin; Richard Watkins, horn
3:49 p.m.
Arnold Bax
Overture to a Picaresque Comedy
London Philharmonic Orchestra; Bryden Thomson, conductor
4:01 p.m.
Edvard Grieg
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 Opus 46
San Francisco Symphony; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
4:18 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major K 313
Boston Baroque; Martin Pearlman, conductor Jacques Zoon, flute
4:42 p.m.
Fanny Mendelssohn
Sonata Movement (Sonatensatz) in E in E major (1822, age 16) H44
Leanne Rees, piano
4:50 p.m.
Mikhail Glinka
Spanish Overture No. 1 "Jota aragonesa"
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Vassily Sinaisky, conductor
5:00 p.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Four Seasons: Autumn (L'Autunno) in F major Opus 8 RV 293
...and friends Janine Jansen, violin
5:12 p.m.
Carel Anton Fodor
Symphony No. 2 in G major Opus 13
Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra; Anthony Halstead, conductor
5:38 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Fantasia and Fugue in A minor in A minor BWV 904
Vikingur Olafsson, piano
5:48 p.m.
Tomaso Albinoni
Concerto No. 11 for oboe and strings in Bb major Opus 9/11
Collegium Musicum 90; Simon Standage, conductor Anthony Robson, oboe
6:00 p.m.
Alberic Magnard
Symphony No. 4 in C# minor Opus 21
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Jean-Yves Ossonce, conductor
6:37 p.m.
Aaron Copland
The Tender Land: Finale: The Promise of Living Living
Cincinnati Pops; Erich Kunzel, conductor
6:43 p.m.
Sergei Prokofiev
Violin Concerto No. 1: III. Moderato in D major Opus 19
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra; Klaus Makela, conductor Janine Jansen, violin
6:47 p.m.
Agustin Barrios
Maxixe
Xuefei Yang, guitar
6:51 p.m.
George Gershwin
Lullaby
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, conductor
