Classical Music Playlist, May 18, 2026
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948)
Composer Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876–1948) was born in Venice to a German father and an Italian mother. Having spent much of his life in Munich and Venice created a unique duality in the sound of his music.
Initially intent on becoming a painter like his father, his art studies took him to Venice and Rome and when he went to Munich for further study, music attracted him and became his life's focus. Wolf-Ferrari became known for his comic operas and from about 1902 until the outbreak of World War I were among the most performed in the world. These witty and lighthearted operatic comedies are built on the formal structure of his rigid musical training in Germany. These dual qualities are also present in his 1901 Piano Quintet, today’s Midday Masterpiece.
6:00 a.m.
Francesco Veracini
Overture No. 5 in Bb major
Musica Antiqua Koln; Reinhardt Goebel, conductor
6:14 a.m.
Niels Gade
Symphony No. 8 in B minor Opus 47
Stockholm Sinfonietta; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
6:42 a.m.
Johannes Kapsberger
Canario for chitarrone
Paul O'Dette, baroque guitar
6:43 a.m.
ANONYMOUS
Gallarde Faraboscho
Ensemble Galilei
6:45 a.m.
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Choros No. 1
Eduardo Fernandez, guitar
6:50 a.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
Prelude & Fugue No. 1 in E minor Opus 35/1
Joanne Polk, piano
6:59 a.m.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Capriccio Espagnol Opus 34
London Symphony Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor
7:15 a.m.
Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Trumpet Concerto in Eb major
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor Hakan Hardenberger, trumpet
7:34 a.m.
Gabriel Faure
PELLEAS ET MELISANDE: Sicilienne Opus 80
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
7:38 a.m.
Gabriel Olafs
Melodia Suite: Absent Minded & Filma
Reykjavik Orchestra; Viktor Orri Arnason, conductor Gabriel Olafs, piano
7:46 a.m.
Gioachino Rossini
SEMIRAMIDE: Overture
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Yoel Levi, conductor
7:59 a.m.
Ralph Vaughan Williams
English Folk Song Suite
University of Texas Wind Ensemble; Jerry Junkin, conductor
8:12 a.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 36 "Linz" in C major K 425
Bremen German Chamber Philharmonic; Tarmo Peltokoski, conductor
8:41 a.m.
Earl Wild
Grand Fantasie on Porgy and Bess: Summertime (After G. Gershwin)
Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano
8:44 a.m.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
MAZEPPA: Gopak
Minnesota Orchestra; Eiji Oue, conductor
8:49 a.m.
Luigi Boccherini
Quintet for guitar and strings No. 4: III. Fandango in D major G 448
Pacifica Quartet Sharon Isbin, guitar
8:58 a.m.
Johannes Brahms
Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor Opus 15
Cleveland Orchestra; George Szell, conductor Leon Fleisher, piano
9:46 a.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Slavonic Dance No. 4 in F major Opus 46
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Vaclav Neumann, conductor
9:54 a.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Overture in D major Hob 1a:7
Heidelberg Symphony; Thomas Fey, conductor
10:00 a.m.
Georg Bohm
Overture a Cinq in D major
Parley of Instruments; Roy Goodman, conductor
10:15 a.m.
Joseph Kraus
Sinfonie in D major VB 143
Concerto Koln
10:35 a.m.
Florence Price
Fantasie Negre No. 4
Lara Downes, piano
10:39 a.m.
Philip Glass
Etude 2
Vikingur Olafsson, piano
10:47 a.m.
Edward Elgar
Serenade for string orchestra in E minor Opus 20
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
11:00 a.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
Symphony No. 1 in C minor Opus 11
Bergen Philharmonic; Andrew Litton, conductor
11:31 a.m.
Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto Grosso No. 3 in C minor Opus 6
The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, conductor
11:42 a.m.
Franz Schubert
Octet for strings & winds: I. Adagio - Allegro in F major Opus 166 D 803
Academy of Ancient Music Members of...
11:58 a.m.
Charles Stanford
Irish Rhapsody No. 2 in F minor Opus 84
Ulster Orchestra; Vernon Handley, conductor
12:16 p.m.
Agustin Barrios
Danzas Paraguayas
David Russell, guitar
12:22 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major K 467 (FROM THE RUSSELL KLETZING COLLECTION)
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor Alfred Brendel, piano
12:50 p.m.
Georg Philipp Telemann
Polish Concerto (Concerto Polonois) in G major
The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, conductor
12:59 p.m.
Ernest Chausson
Poeme
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; Mikko Franck, conductor Hilary Hahn, violin
1:17 p.m.
Fanny Mendelssohn
Song Without Words Opus 8/1
Sarah Cahill, piano
1:23 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Lute Suite No. 2 (Partita) in C minor BWV 997
Paul Galbraith, guitar
1:44 p.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Leonore Overture No. 3 Opus 72
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Georg Solti, conductor
2:00 p.m.
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari
Piano Quintet in Db major Opus 6
Munich Leopolder Quartet Wolfgang Sawallisch, piano
2:32 p.m.
Heitor Villa-Lobos
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5: Aria
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Kenneth Silito, conductor Alexandre Lagoya, guitar
2:38 p.m.
Bedrich Smetana
Ma Vlast: II. The Moldau (Vltava)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic; Libor Pesek, conductor
2:52 p.m.
Georg Philipp Telemann
Overture in D major
Berlin Academy of Ancient Music
3:00 p.m.
Carl Maria Von Weber
DER FREISCHUTZ: Overture Opus 77 J 277
Tapiola Sinfonietta; Jean Jacques Kantorow, conductor
3:09 p.m.
Joaquin Rodrigo
Concierto Madrigal
Internationale Philharmonie; Horst-Hans Backer, conductor Amadeus Guitar Duo
3:42 p.m.
VARIOUS
Renaissance Dances I
Piffaro Renaissance Band; Joan Kimball, conductor
3:50 p.m.
Amy Beach
Gaelic Symphony: II. Alla siciliana - allegro vivace - andante in E minor Opus 32
Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
3:59 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Keyboard Concerto No. 2 in E major BWV 1053
Australian Chamber Orchestra Angela Hewitt, piano
4:20 p.m.
Philip Glass
String Quartet No. 3 "Mishima": VI. Mishima Closing
Kronos Quartet
4:23 p.m.
William Grant Still
Lyric Quartet: III. The Jovial One
Catalyst Quartet
4:27 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
The Wood Dove (Die Waldtaube) Opus 110
Scottish National Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
4:48 p.m.
Margaret Bonds
Spiritual Suite: III. Troubled Water
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, piano
4:53 p.m.
Edward MacDowell
Piano Concerto No. 2: II. Presto Giocoso in D minor Opus 23
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Walter Hendl, conductor Van Cliburn, piano
5:00 p.m.
George Friederich Handel
ALMIRA: Suite of instrumental music
Berlin Academy of Ancient Music
5:15 p.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 88 in G major
Tafelmusik; Bruno Weil, conductor
5:35 p.m.
Percy Grainger
Lincolnshire Posey
"The President's Own" United States Marine Band; Gerard Schwarz, conductor
5:51 p.m.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
The Tsar's Bride overture
Kirov Orchestra; Valery Gergiev, conductor
5:59 p.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor" in Eb major Opus 73
Minnesota Orchestra; Osmo Vanska, conductor Yevgeny Sudbin, piano
6:38 p.m.
Anton Webern
Im Sommerwind (In the Summer Wind)
Concertgebouw Orchestra; Riccardo Chailly, conductor
6:52 p.m.
Ryuichi Sakamoto
The Sheltering Sky
Ryuichi Sakamoto
