Classical Music Playlist, May 1, 2026
After its premiere in 1784, Mozart wrote to his father that he considered his Quintet for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon (K452) the best thing he had ever written. It is said to have inspired Beethoven in 1796 to compose his own Quintet in the same key and instrumentation. Mozart’s Quintet is today’s Midday Masterpiece.
6:00 a.m.
Francesco Durante
Concerto No. 8 "La Pazzia" in A major
Concerto Koln
6:13 a.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 102 in Bb major
Philharmonia Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, conductor Matthias Feile, cello
6:38 a.m.
Pierre Attaignant
Renaissance Dance for Lute
Ronn McFarlane, lute
6:49 a.m.
Richard Strauss
Serenade in Eb major Opus 7
Stockholm Philharmonic (members of); Paavo Berglund, conductor
7:00 a.m.
Alexander Glazunov
The Seasons: Autumn Opus 67
Minnesota Orchestra; Edo de Waart, conductor
7:12 a.m.
Alexander Borodin
Symphony No. 2 in B minor
Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz, conductor
7:40 a.m.
Franz Xaver Richter
Sinfonia No. 52 in D major
London Mozart Players; Matthias Bamert, conductor
7:52 a.m.
Gunther Schuller
Suite for Wind Quintet: II. Blues
Reykjavik Wind Quintet
7:54 a.m.
Leonard Bernstein
CANDIDE: Overture
New York Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein, conductor
7:59 a.m.
Richard Wagner
TANNHAUSER Overture
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; Jesus Lopez-Cobos, conductor
8:14 a.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major K 453
Norwegian Chamber Orchestra; Leif Ove Andsnes, conductor Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
8:44 a.m.
Thomas Morley
Now is the month of maying
; John Rutter, conductor Cambridge Singers
8:46 a.m.
William Byrd
This sweet & merry month of May
; John Rutter, conductor Cambridge Singers
8:49 a.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Mandolin Concerto in C major RV 425
Venice Baroque Orchestra Avi Avital, mandolin
8:59 a.m.
Richard Strauss
Don Quixote Opus 35
Berlin Philharmonic; Herbert von Karajan, conductor Pierre Fournier, cello
9:44 a.m.
Santiago de Murcia
Tarantelas
Ensemble Kapsberger; Rolf Lislevand, conductor
9:53 a.m.
Frederic Chopin
"Military" Polonaise in A major Opus 40/1
Jon Kimura Parker, piano
10:00 a.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage Overture Opus 27
London Symphony Orchestra; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
10:12 a.m.
John Knowles Paine
Overture to Shakespeare's "As You Like It" Opus 28
Ulster Orchestra; JoAnn Falletta, conductor
10:24 a.m.
Amy Beach
Piano Quintet in F# minor Opus 67
Takacs Quartet Garrick Ohlsson, piano
10:53 a.m.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
EUGENE ONEGIN: Polonaise
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Litton, conductor
10:59 a.m.
Georg Philipp Telemann
Concerto for trumpet, violin and strings in D major
Musica Antiqua Koln; Reinhardt Goebel, conductor Friedemann Immer, Trumpet; Reinhard Goebel, violin
11:12 a.m.
Mel Bonis
Soir et Matin: II. Matin (Morning) in Bb major Opus 76
Mozart Piano Quartet
11:17 a.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 94 "Surprise" in G major
Concertgebouw Orchestra; Colin Davis, conductor
11:42 a.m.
Elena Kats-Chernin
Russian Rag
Sydney Alpha Ensemble; David Stanhope, conductor
11:47 a.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Concerto in D major: I. Allegro in D major BWV 972
Bamberg Symphony; Jakub Hrusa, conductor Raphael Feuillatre, guitar
12:00 p.m.
Local Artist Feature 100th Episode
Jennifer Reason, host
1:00 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in Bb major BWV 1051
European Brandenburg Ensemble; Trevor Pinnock, conductor
1:16 p.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
Song Without Words: "May Breezes" in G major Opus 62/1
Andras Schiff, piano
1:20 p.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Symphony No. 4 in Bb major Opus 60
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; Riccardo Chailly, conductor
1:51 p.m.
Percy Grainger
Children's March "Over the Hills and Far Away"
Dallas Wind Symphony; Jerry Junkin, conductor Arts District Chorale
2:00 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Quintet for piano & winds in Eb major K 452
Radu Lupu, piano; Han de Vries, oboe; George Pieterson, clarinet; Vincente Zarzo, horn; Brian Pollard, bassoon
2:25 p.m.
Isaac Albeniz
La Vega
London Symphony Orchestra; Elmer Bernstein, conductor Christopher Parkening, guitar
2:41 p.m.
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier
Ballet No. 1 Opus 52
Le Concert Spirituel; Herve Niquet, conductor
2:51 p.m.
Jean Sibelius
Finlandia Opus 26
Philharmonia Orchestra; Vladimir Ashkenazy, conductor
3:00 p.m.
Gabriel Faure
Masques and Bergamasques Opus 112
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
3:16 p.m.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Seasons: May "Starlit Nights" Opus 37
Bruce Liu, piano
3:21 p.m.
Johan Halvorsen
Ancient Suite (Suite ancienne) Opus 31a
Bergen Philharmonic; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
3:48 p.m.
Michael Torke
Sky: I. Lively
Albany Symphony Orchestra; David Alan Miller, conductor Tessa Lark, violin
3:59 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
My Home Overture Opus 62
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Vaclav Neumann, conductor
4:09 p.m.
Robert Schumann
Symphony No. 3 "Rhenish" in Eb major Opus 97
Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
4:40 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Prelude & Fugue No. 1 in C Major (from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1) in C major BWV 846
Mahan Esfahani, harpsichord
4:45 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Cantata No. 29: Sinfonia BWV 29
Brandenburg Consort; Roy Goodman, conductor Paul Nicholson, organ
4:49 p.m.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Piano Concerto No. 1: III. Allegro Scherzando in F# minor Opus 1
San Francisco Symphony; Edo de Waart, conductor Zoltan Kocsis, piano
4:58 p.m.
Maurice Ravel
Le tombeau de Couperin The tomb of Couperin
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Hugh Wolff, conductor
5:16 p.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
5:28 p.m.
Zoltan Kodaly
Hary Janos Suite
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Georg Solti, conductor
5:51 p.m.
John Field
Nocturne No. 9 in E minor H 46
Alice Sara Ott, piano
5:55 p.m.
Karen LeFrak
Habanera Nights
Sharon Isbin, guitar; ...and friends
6:00 p.m.
Local Artist Feature 100th Episode
Jennifer Reason, host
