Classical Music Playlist, November 20, 2025
Listen for the theme played by clarinets and bassoon at the very opening of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5. It recurs throughout the symphony, expressed in different moods. In the symphony’s opening notes, it sounds positively funereal. At the end of the final movement about 40 minutes later, the theme has transformed into a triumphant celebration. Tchaikovsky wrote in his notebooks that the somber introduction is “a complete resignation before fate.” The exhilarating finale, then, is clearly a conquest of it. Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 is today’s Midday Masterpiece.
6:00 a.m.
Luigi Boccherini
Symphony in B flat, Op 35, No. 6 in Bb major Opus 35 G 514
Cantilena; Adrian Shepherd, conductor
6:18 a.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor Opus 40
Royal Flemish Philharmonic; Phillippe Herreweghe, conductor Martin Helmchen, piano
6:42 a.m.
Agustin Barrios
Vals (Waltz) No. 4 in G major Opus 8/4
Pepe Romero, guitar
6:48 a.m.
Hugo Alfven
Swedish Rhapsody No. 2 "Uppsala Rhapsody" Opus 24
Royal Scottish National Orchestra; Niklas Willen, conductor
7:01 a.m.
Georg Philipp Telemann
Caprice Symphony in G major TWV 50:1
Ensemble Caprice; Matthias Maute, conductor
7:10 a.m.
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 3 in F major Opus 90
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; Riccardo Chailly, conductor
7:45 a.m.
Alexander Scriabin
Etude No. 12 in D# minor Opus 8/12
Van Cliburn, piano
7:49 a.m.
John Williams
STAR WARS - THE FORCE AWAKENS: The Jedi Steps and Finale
Studio Orchestra; John Williams, conductor
7:59 a.m.
Peter van Anrooy
Piet Hein Rhapsody Piet Hein was a pirate
Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra; Kees Bakels, conductor
8:09 a.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor K 466
Norwegian Chamber Orchestra; Leif Ove Andsnes, conductor Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
8:40 a.m.
Joan Ambrosio Dalza
Saltarello
Calliope
8:43 a.m.
Johann Strauss, Jr.
Vienna Blood Opus 354 Wiener Blut
Vienna State Opera Orchestra; Jascha Horenstein, conductor
8:52 a.m.
Elmer Bernstein
The Magnificent Seven
Cincinnati Pops; Erich Kunzel, conductor
8:59 a.m.
Wilhelm Stenhammar
Symphony No. 2 in G minor Opus 34
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
9:43 a.m.
Dorothy Howell
Lamia
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Rumon Gamba, conductor Sophie Langdon, violin; Richard Watkins, horn
9:48 a.m.
Charles Avison
Concerto No. 4 in G minor Opus 4/4
Avison Ensemble; Pavlo Beznosiuk, conductor
10:00 a.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Keyboard Concerto No. 3 in D major BWV 1054
Australian Chamber Orchestra Angela Hewitt, piano
10:17 a.m.
Bernhard Crusell
Clarinet Quartet No. 2 in C minor Opus 4
Allegri String Quartet (members of) Thea King, clarinet
10:36 a.m.
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Choros No. 5: Alma Brasileira
Assad Brothers Sergio Assad, guitar; Odair Assad, guitar
10:42 a.m.
Georg Philipp Telemann
Overture in G minor TWV 55: g4
The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, conductor
11:00 a.m.
Henriette Renie
Trio for harp, violin and cello
Xavier de Maistre, harp; Ingolf Turban, violin; Wen-Sinn Yang, cello
11:27 a.m.
Enrique Granados
Danzas espanolas No. 5 "Andaluza"
Maria Duenas, violin; Raphael Feuillatre, guitar
11:31 a.m.
Gaspar Sanz
Canarios
Chatham Baroque
11:35 a.m.
Ottorino Respighi
Ancient Airs and Dances: Suite No. 1
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra; Jesus Lopez-Cobos, conductor
11:51 a.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major Opus 3/3 RV 310
The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, conductor Simon Standage, violin
11:59 a.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Trumpet Concerto in Eb major
German Chamber Philharmonic; Thomas Klug, conductor Alison Balsom, trumpet
12:15 p.m.
Olivia Belli
Limina Luminis Threshold of Light
Anna Lapwood, organ
12:22 p.m.
William Grant Still
Symphony No. 1 "Afro-American"
Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
12:48 p.m.
Bedrich Smetana
LIBUSE: Overture
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Gianandrea Noseda, conductor
12:59 p.m.
Carl Maria Von Weber
Oberon Overture J 306
Tapiola Sinfonietta; Jean Jacques Kantorow, conductor
1:08 p.m.
Edvard Grieg
Symphonic Dances Opus 64
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra; Paavo Berglund, conductor
1:39 p.m.
Amy Beach
Piano Concerto: II. Scherzo (Perpetuum mobile) in C# minor Opus 45
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Rebecca Miller, conductor Danny Driver, piano
1:45 p.m.
Alexander Glazunov
Symphony No. 5: II. Scherzo in Bb major Opus 55
BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra; Tadaaki Otaka, conductor
1:51 p.m.
Giuseppe Verdi
NABUCCO Overture (Sinfonia)
Philharmonic of La Scala; Riccardo Muti, conductor
2:00 p.m.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 5 in E minor Opus 64
London Symphony Orchestra; Igor Markevitch, conductor
2:44 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Poetic Tone Pictures: I. Twilight Way Opus 85
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
2:51 p.m.
Orlando di Lasso
Alma redemptoris Mater
; Peter Phillips, conductor The Tallis Scholars
2:54 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
MASS IN B MINOR: Cum Sancto Spiritu in B minor BWV 232
English Baroque Soloists; Monteverdi Choir; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
2:59 p.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Leonore Overture No. 3 Opus 72
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; Riccardo Chailly, conductor
3:12 p.m.
Fanny Mendelssohn
Piano Trio in D minor Opus 11
Nash Ensemble
3:38 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Serenade No. 10 for winds "Gran Partita" in Bb major K 361 (FROM THE RUSSELL KLETZING COLLECTION)
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor
3:45 p.m.
Charles Stanford
Irish Rhapsody No. 1 in D minor Opus 78
Ulster Orchestra; Vernon Handley, conductor
4:00 p.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 100 "Military" in G major
Orchestra of St. Luke's; Charles Mackerras, conductor
4:23 p.m.
Emmanuel Chabrier
Danse Slav (from Le Roi Malgre Lui)
L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
4:28 p.m.
Emmanuel Chabrier
Joyous March (Joyeuse Marche)
L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
4:34 p.m.
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 4: I. Allegro non troppo in E minor Opus 98
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Georg Solti, conductor
4:47 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major BWV 1047
Berlin Academy of Ancient Music Friedemann Immer, baroque trumpet
5:00 p.m.
Richard Wagner
TANNHAUSER Overture
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; Jesus Lopez-Cobos, conductor
5:15 p.m.
Carl Maria Von Weber
Andante and Hungarian Rondo Opus 35
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor Klaus Thunemann, bassoon
5:26 p.m.
Franz Liszt
Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major
Budapest Festival Orchestra; Ivan Fischer, conductor Zoltan Kocsis, piano
5:47 p.m.
Gustav Holst
Suite No. 2 in F major Opus 28
North Texas Wind Symphony; Eugene Corporon, conductor
6:00 p.m.
Fanny Mendelssohn
String Quartet in Eb major
Nash Ensemble
6:19 p.m.
Aleksandra Pakhmutova
Trumpet Concerto
Moscow Chamber Orchestra; Constantine Orbelian, conductor Bibi Black, trumpet
6:35 p.m.
Rebecca Clarke
Rhapsody for Cello and Piano: III. Allegro ritmico, and IV. Lento
Raphael Wallfisch, cello; John York, piano
6:44 p.m.
Clarice Assad
Sin Fronteras Without Borders
Chicago Sinfonietta; Mei-Ann Chen, conductor
