Classical Music Playlist, February 4, 2026
Composer-pianist Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) [old b&w photo colorized by AI]
"No composer has had more scorn heaped on him or greater love bestowed." That's how The Great Soviet Encyclopedia describes the legacy of Russian composer Alexander Scriabin.
During his lifetime his contemporaries noted that he showed signs of mental instability early on: he alienated his teachers like Sergei Taneyev and Anton Arensky who flunked him. Rimsky-Korsakov said he was “self-opinionated, warped, strange and distorted.” He began to announce to friends that he was the Messiah, and his visions grew increasingly bizarre (or simply artistic?). Later in life he planned a multimedia extravaganza at the foothills of the Himalayas to unite all inhabitants of the earth with his music.
Scriabin passed away in 1915 but pianists today praise his only Piano Concerto (1897) as "like a dream" (Kiril Gerstein) and "unbelievably, insanely beautiful” (Nikolai Demidenko). It's today's Midday Masterpiece at 2 pm.
6:00 a.m.
Louis Massoneau
Oboe Quartet in F major
Terzetto Paul Goodwin, oboe
6:14 a.m.
Franz Krommer
Symphony No. 2 in D major Opus 40
London Mozart Players; Matthias Bamert, conductor
6:43 a.m.
Louise Farrenc
Etude No. 10 in F# minor Op 26/10
Lang Lang, piano
6:50 a.m.
Alexander Glazunov
Concert Waltz No. 1 (Valse de Concert) in D major Opus 47
Bamberg Symphony; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
7:00 a.m.
Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto Grosso No. 1 in D major Opus 6
Musica Amphion; Pieter-Jan Belder, conductor
7:13 a.m.
Gustav Holst
The Planets: Mercury, the Winged Messenger Opus 32
Philharmonia Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, conductor
7:19 a.m.
Francisco Tarrega
Memories of the Alhambra (Recuerdos de la Alhambra)
Raphael Feuillatre, guitar
7:23 a.m.
Leo Delibes
Sylvia: Pizzicato Polka
New Philharmonia Orchestra; Richard Bonynge, conductor
7:26 a.m.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor Opus 18
Dallas Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Litton, conductor Stephen Hough, piano
7:59 a.m.
Gabriel Faure
Masques and Bergamasques Opus 112
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
8:14 a.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 94 "Surprise" in G major
Heidelberg Symphony; Thomas Fey, conductor
8:40 a.m.
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Prelude no. 1 in E minor
Julian Bream, guitar
8:44 a.m.
Chilly Gonzales
Prelude in C Sharp Major
Alice Sara Ott, piano
8:48 a.m.
Max Bruch
Swedish Dances Opus 63
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; Kurt Masur, conductor
9:00 a.m.
Mauro Giuliani
Guitar Concerto No. 3 in F major Opus 70
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor Pepe Romero, guitar
9:29 a.m.
Charles Avison
Concerto No. 6 in G major Opus 4/6
Avison Ensemble; Pavlo Beznosiuk, conductor
9:40 a.m.
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 1: IV. Finale in C minor Opus 68
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Georg Solti, conductor
10:00 a.m.
George Friederich Handel
Concerto Grosso No. 4 in F major Opus 3/4a HWV 315
Academy of Ancient Music; Richard Egarr, conductor
10:13 a.m.
Friedrich Witt
Concerto for Two Horns and Orchestra (No. 3) in F major
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; JoAnn Falletta, conductor Jacek Muzyk, horn; Daniel Kerdelewicz, horn
10:33 a.m.
Amy Beach
Piano Quintet: III. Allegro agitato in F# minor Opus 67
Lark Quartet Joanne Polk, piano
10:43 a.m.
Camille Saint-Saens
Concert Piece for harp & orchestra (Concertstucke) in G major Opus 154
Bulgarian National Radio Orchestra; Rossen Milanov, conductor Elizabeth Hainen, harp
10:59 a.m.
Anton Bruckner
Symphony No. 4 "Romantic": I. Bewegt, Nicht Zu Schell in Eb major
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; Karl Bohm, conductor
11:21 a.m.
Andrew York
Spin
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
11:29 a.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
French Suite No. 1 in D minor BWV 812
Andras Schiff, piano
11:43 a.m.
Alexander Arutiunian
Trumpet Concerto
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Lawrence Renes, conductor Alison Balsom, trumpet
11:59 a.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 104 "London": IV. Spiritoso (Finale) in D major
Orchestra of St. Luke's; Charles Mackerras, conductor
12:07 p.m.
Dmitri Shostakovich
Suite for Variety Orchestra: Waltz No. 2
Concertgebouw Orchestra; Riccardo Chailly, conductor
12:12 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major Opus 81
Takacs Quartet Marc-Andre Hamelin, piano
12:54 p.m.
Dmitri Kabalevsky
Colas Breugnon: Overture
Minnesota Orchestra; Eiji Oue, conductor
1:00 p.m.
Arturo Marquez
Danzon No. 2
Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
1:11 p.m.
Richard Addinsell
Warsaw Concerto
BBC Symphony Orchestra; Hugh Wolff, conductor Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano
1:21 p.m.
Edward Elgar
Enigma Variations Opus 36
London Symphony Orchestra; Pierre Monteux, conductor
1:52 p.m.
Santiago de Murcia
Canarios
The Harp Consort Paul O'Dette, baroque guitar; Andrew Lawrence-King, harp
1:57 p.m.
Samuel Scheidt
Battle Suite: Gailliard Battaglia
Canadian Brass
2:00 p.m.
Alexander Scriabin
Piano Concerto in F# minor Opus 20
London Philharmonic Orchestra; Lorin Maazel, conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
2:28 p.m.
Manuel Ponce
Romantic Sonata: III. Musical Moment (Sonata romantica "Hommage a Franz Schubert")
Marcin Dylla, guitar
2:32 p.m.
Luigi Boccherini
Quintet for Guitar and Strings No. 9: IV. Finale "Retreat from Madrid" in C major G 453
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Ensemble Pepe Romero, guitar
2:40 p.m.
Anton Wilhelm Solnitz
Sinfonia in A major Opus 3/4
Musica Ad Rhenum
2:53 p.m.
Carl Nielsen
Masquerade Overture
Aarhus Symphony Orchestra; Lance Friedel, conductor
2:59 p.m.
Enrique Soro
Three Chilean Airs (Tres aires chilenos)
Chile Symphony Orchestra; Jose Luis Dominguez, conductor
3:10 p.m.
Camille Saint-Saens
Rhapsodie d'Auvergne Opus 73
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Andre Previn, conductor Jean-Philippe Collard, piano
3:22 p.m.
Franz Berwald
Symphony No. 3 "Sinfonie singuliere" in C major
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
3:50 p.m.
Mikhail Glinka
Spanish Overture No. 2
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Vassily Sinaisky, conductor
4:00 p.m.
Franz Liszt
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in D minor
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Georg Solti, conductor
4:11 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor K 491
Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor John O'Conor, piano
4:41 p.m.
Santiago de Murcia
Villanos
Richard Savino, guitar; Mauro ReFosco, percussion; Yousif Sheronick, percussion
4:43 p.m.
Gaspar Sanz
Canarios
Chatham Baroque
4:47 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Symphony No. 8: I. Allegro con brio in G major Opus 88
Los Angeles Philharmonic; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor Time for Three
4:59 p.m.
Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto Grosso No. 5 in Bb major Opus 6
The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, conductor
5:10 p.m.
Georges Bizet
Carmen Suite No. 1
Cincinnati Pops; Erich Kunzel, conductor
5:23 p.m.
Camille Saint-Saens
Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor Opus 33
London Symphony Orchestra; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor Steven Isserlis, cello
5:43 p.m.
Richard Strauss
Don Juan Opus 20
Cleveland Orchestra; George Szell, conductor
6:00 p.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Horn Concerto No. 2 in D major
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor Barry Tuckwell, horn
6:17 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Flute Quartet in G major K 285a
Emerson String Quartet Carol Wincenc, flute
6:29 p.m.
Chris Brubeck
Affinity: Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra
Maryland Symphony Orchestra; Elisabeth Schulze, conductor Sharon Isbin, guitar
6:46 p.m.
Maurice Ravel
String Quartet: II. Assez vif. Tres Rythme in F major
Verona String Quartet
6:52 p.m.
Astor Piazzolla
Spring in Buenos Aires (Primavera Portena)
A Far Cry Jason Vieaux, guitar; Julien Labro, bandoneon
