Classical Music Playlist, April 3, 2026
Johannes Brahms circa 1885
With the intimidating shadow of Beethoven looming, it took Johannes Brahms fifteen years to compose his first symphony. But having surmounted that daunting obstacle, it took him less than a year to compose his second. A symphony of contrasts of light and dark, lyrical and dramatic, extroverted and introspective, the Brahms Symphony No. 2 is today’s Midday Masterpiece.
6:00 a.m.
Pieter Hellendaal
Concerto Grosso in G minor Opus 3/1
Combattimento Consort; Jan Willem de Vriend, conductor
6:10 a.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Flute & Harp Concerto in C major K 299
Berlin Philharmonic; Claudio Abbado, conductor Emmanuel Pahud, flute; Marie-Pierre Langlamet, harp
6:39 a.m.
Frederick Delius
Over the Hills and Far Away
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Christopher Seaman, conductor
6:53 a.m.
Tobias Hume
Life
Ensemble Galilei
6:56 a.m.
ANONYMOUS
Chacona
Ensemble Caprice; Matthias Maute, conductor
7:00 a.m.
Gioachino Rossini
The Thieving Magpie (LA GAZZA LADRA): Overture
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Yoel Levi, conductor
7:10 a.m.
Camille Saint-Saens
Carnival of the Animals
Philharmonia Orchestra; Sir Charles Groves, conductor Leslie Pearson, piano; Michael Reeves, piano; George Ives, cello; Kenneth Smith, flute
7:34 a.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Easter Oratorio: I. Sinfonia BWV 249
Orchestra of Collegium Vocale Ghent; Philippe Herreweghe, conductor Chorus of Collegium Vocale Ghent; Barbara Schlick, soprano; Kai Wessel, countertenor; Peter Kooy, bass
7:39 a.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 35 "Haffner" in D major K 385
Prague Chamber Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor
8:00 a.m.
Franz Liszt
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 "Carnival in Pest" in D major
Budapest Symphony Orchestra; Andras Korodi, conductor
8:14 a.m.
Johann Strauss, Jr.
Blue Danube Waltz Opus 314
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Fritz Reiner, conductor
8:24 a.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Scherzo capriccioso Opus 66
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor
8:39 a.m.
Alexander Arutiunian
Trumpet Concerto
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Lawrence Renes, conductor Alison Balsom, trumpet
8:56 a.m.
Gabriel Faure
Piano Quintet No. 2 in C minor Opus 115
Domus; Anthony Marwood, 2nd violin
9:29 a.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
Symphony No. 3 "Scottish": II. Vivace non troppo in A minor Opus 56
San Francisco Symphony; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
9:34 a.m.
Paul Hindemith
Symphonic Metamorphosis: IV. March
Kansas City Symphony; Michael Stern, conductor
9:39 a.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major BWV 1050
Berlin Academy of Ancient Music
10:00 a.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto for two violins, Op. 3, No. 8 in A minor Opus 3/8 RV 522
The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, conductor Simon Standage, violin; Elizabeth Wilcock, violin
10:11 a.m.
Claude Debussy
Arabesque No. 1 in E major
Yolanda Kondonassis, harp
10:17 a.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Piano Trio "Ghost" in D major Opus 70/1
Emanuel Ax, piano; Leonidas Kavakos, violin; Yo Yo Ma, cello
10:48 a.m.
Johann Strauss, Jr.
Tales From The Vienna Woods Opus 325 (Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald)
Vienna State Opera Orchestra; Jascha Horenstein, conductor
11:00 a.m.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Capriccio Italien Opus 45
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Vladimir Ashkenazy, conductor
11:16 a.m.
Pietro Mascagni
CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA: Intermezzo
Academy of Saint Cecilia Orchestra; Tullio Serafin, conductor
11:22 a.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 100 "Military" in G major
Orchestra of St. Luke's; Charles Mackerras, conductor
11:45 a.m.
Adolfo Mejia
Bambuco en mi in E minor Bambuco in e minor
Jose Antonio Escobar, guitar
11:49 a.m.
Anton Arensky
Piano Quintet: Scherzo Opus 51
Ying Quartet Adam Neiman, piano
12:00 p.m.
Local Artist Feature: Kyle Stachnik, cello
Jennifer Reason, host
12:14 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 15 in Bb major K 450
English Chamber Orchestra; Jeffrey Tate, conductor Mitsuko Uchida, piano
12:39 p.m.
Franz Schubert
Rosamunde: Entr'acte No. 3 in Bb major D 797
San Francisco Symphony; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
12:47 p.m.
Francisco Tarrega
Memories of the Alhambra (Recuerdos de la Alhambra)
Raphael Feuillatre, guitar
12:51 p.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Violin Concerto No. 11 in D major Opus 4/11 RV 204
Academy of Ancient Music; Christopher Hogwood, conductor Monica Huggett, violin
1:00 p.m.
Paul Dukas
Polyeucte Overture
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Yan Pascal Tortelier, conductor
1:16 p.m.
Frederic Chopin
Nocturne No. 7 in C# minor Opus 27/1
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, piano
1:22 p.m.
George Enescu
Dixtour pour instruments a vent (Dectet for winds) Opus 14
Oslo Wind Soloists
1:43 p.m.
Franz Xaver Richter
Sinfonia No. 4 in C major
Helsinki Baroque Orchestra; Aapo Hakkinen, conductor
2:00 p.m.
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 2 in D major Opus 73
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Georg Solti, conductor
2:46 p.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto for 2 trumpets in C major RV 537
English Chamber Orchestra; Raymond Leppard, conductor Wynton Marsalis, trumpet
2:55 p.m.
Florence Price
Piano Concerto in One Movement: III. Allegretto
Chineke! Orchestra; Leslie Suganandarajah, conductor Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, piano
3:00 p.m.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Russian Easter Festival Overture Opus 36
Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz, conductor
3:16 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Sheep May Safely Graze BWV 208
Canadian Brass
3:23 p.m.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Variations on a Rococo Theme Opus 33
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Mischa Maisky, cello
3:43 p.m.
Cecile Chaminade
Concertpiece (Concertstuck) in C# minor Opus 40
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Rebecca Miller, conductor Danny Driver, piano
3:59 p.m.
Bedrich Smetana
Ma Vlast: II. The Moldau (Vltava)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic; Libor Pesek, conductor
4:12 p.m.
Joaquin Rodrigo
Fantasy for a Gentleman
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor Pepe Romero, guitar
4:35 p.m.
Manuel de Falla
Three-Cornered Hat Suite
Philharmonia Orchestra; Carlo Maria Giulini, conductor
4:55 p.m.
Frederick Delius
KOANGA: La Calinda
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Christopher Seaman, conductor
5:00 p.m.
George Enescu
Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A major Opus 11
National Orchestra of France; Cristian Macelaru, conductor Yuja Wang, piano
5:16 p.m.
Wilhelm Stenhammar
Excelsior! Opus 13
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
5:30 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Violin Concerto No. 2 in E major BWV 1042
Academy of Ancient Music; Andrew Manze, conductor Andrew Manze, violin
5:47 p.m.
Malcolm Arnold
Four Scottish Dances Opus 59
Dallas Wind Symphony; Jerry Junkin, conductor
6:00 p.m.
Local Artist Feature: Kyle Stachnik, cello
Jennifer Reason, host
6:14 p.m.
Franz Schubert
Impromptu No. 2 in Eb major Opus 90/2 D 899
Krystian Zimerman, piano
6:20 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Serenade for Strings in E major Opus 22
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
6:49 p.m.
Aaron Copland
Our Town
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, conductor
