Classical Music Playlist, November 17, 2025
Perhaps intending them as a unified set, Mozart completed his final three symphonies, 39 through 41, within two months. The middle work has no formal introduction like No. 39, and no finale on the scale of No. 41. And No. 40 is in a minor key unlike the surrounding two symphonies, separating them in feel like contrasting movements as typically heard within a single work. However, late German musicologist Volker Scherliess feels that this difference disproves any claim of unity: “Anyone wanting to interpret them as a group of works that belong together will find that the factor that links them together is precisely how different they are with regard to their individual design.” The debate will likely never end. Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 is today’s Midday Masterpiece.
6:00 a.m.
Georg Philipp Telemann
Concerto for oboe in C minor TWV 51:c1
La Stagione Frankfurt; Michael Schneider, conductor Martin Stadler, oboe
6:10 a.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Symphony No. 4 in Bb major Opus 60
Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor
6:43 a.m.
Camille Saint-Saens
Romance Opus 67
NDR Symphony Orchestra of Hamburg; Christoph Eschenbach, conductor Steven Isserlis, cello
6:51 a.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Horn Concerto No. 1 in D major K 412
Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor Eric Ruske, horn
7:01 a.m.
Johannes Brahms
Academic Festival Overture Opus 80
Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor
7:12 a.m.
Florence Price
Piano Quintet in A minor
Takacs Quartet Marc-Andre Hamelin, piano
7:39 a.m.
Edvard Grieg
In Autumn Overture Opus 11
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
7:52 a.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto for 2 oboes, strings and continuo in A minor RV 536
Tafelmusik; Jeanne Lamon, conductor
7:59 a.m.
Anton Arensky
Piano Quintet: Scherzo Opus 51
Ying Quartet Adam Neiman, piano
8:09 a.m.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Swan Lake Suite Opus 20
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; Herbert Von Karajan, conductor
8:36 a.m.
Mikhail Glinka
RUSLAN AND LUDMILA: Overture
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Fritz Reiner, conductor
8:41 a.m.
James Horner
THE ROCKETEER: Rocketeer to the Rescue/End Title
Studio Orchestra
8:49 a.m.
Arthur Sullivan
HMS Pinafore: Overture
Welsh National Opera Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor
8:53 a.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
MARRIAGE OF FIGARO: Overture K 492
Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor
8:59 a.m.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Scheherazade Opus 35
London Symphony Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor
9:46 a.m.
Claude Debussy
The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (from Preludes, Book I: No. 8)
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, piano
9:50 a.m.
Alessandro Scarlatti
Concerto Grosso No. 2 in C minor
Europa Galante; Fabio Biondi, conductor
10:00 a.m.
Hector Berlioz
King Lear Overture Opus 4
Staatskapelle Dresden; Colin Davis, conductor
10:16 a.m.
Chen Peixun
Autumn Moon on a Calm Lake
Lang Lang, piano
10:20 a.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Piano Quintet No. 2: III. Scherzo (Furiant) in A major Opus 81
Emerson String Quartet Menahem Pressler, piano
10:26 a.m.
Joseph Kraus
Sinfonia in C# minor
Swedish Chamber Orchestra; Petter Sundkvist, conductor
10:47 a.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Overture
London Symphony Orchestra; Claudio Abbado, conductor
11:00 a.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 39 in Eb major K 543
Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor
11:32 a.m.
Isaac Albeniz
Espana: No. 2 Tango Opus 165/2
Jason Vieaux, guitar
11:35 a.m.
Ernesto Lecuona
Andalusia Suite: Malaguena
Richard Cionco, piano
11:40 a.m.
John Williams
STAR WARS - THE FORCE AWAKENS: Rey's Theme
Studio Orchestra; John Williams, conductor
11:43 a.m.
Esther Abrami
Transmissions
Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra; Irene Delgado-Jimenez, conductor Esther Abrami, violin
11:48 a.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor": III. Rondo in Eb major Opus 73
Bavarian Radio Symphony; Kurt Sanderling, conductor Mitsuko Uchida, piano
12:00 p.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto for four violins in B minor Opus 3/10 RV 580
Tafelmusik; Jeanne Lamon, conductor
12:10 p.m.
Mel Bonis
Suite for Flute, Violin, and Piano Opus 59
Michael Faust, flute; Sandrine Cantoreggi, violin; Sheila Arnold, piano
12:21 p.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 83 "The Hen" in G minor HOB I:83
Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra; Thomas Fey, conductor
12:46 p.m.
Alexander von Zemlinsky
Symphony No. 2: IV. Moderato (Finale) in Bb major
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra; Riccardo Chailly, conductor
12:59 p.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
Symphony No. 4 "Italian" in A major Opus 90
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; Charles Mackerras, conductor
1:29 p.m.
Fanny Mendelssohn
Sonata Movement (Sonatensatz) in E in E major (1822, age 16) H44
Leanne Rees, piano
1:36 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Concerto for oboe and violin in C minor BWV 1060
Academy of Ancient Music; Christopher Hogwood, conductor Stephen Hammer, oboe; Catherine Mackintosh, violin
1:51 p.m.
John Field
Rondo for piano & strings in Ab major
London Mozart Players; Matthias Bamert, conductor Miceal O'Rourke, piano
2:00 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 40 in G minor K 550
Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor
2:35 p.m.
Percy Grainger
Irish Tune from County Derry (Danny Boy)
Dallas Wind Symphony; Jerry Junkin, conductor
2:41 p.m.
Camille Saint-Saens
Piano Trio No. 2: I. Allegro non troppo in E minor Opus 92
Neave Trio
2:53 p.m.
Elena Kats-Chernin
Re-Inventions: Re-Invention No. 1
La Pieta; Angele Dubeau, conductor
2:59 p.m.
Maurice Ravel
Bolero
Berlin Philharmonic; Pierre Boulez, conductor
3:15 p.m.
George Friederich Handel
Concerto Grosso No. 12 in B minor Opus 6/12 HWV 330
Aradia Ensemble; Kevin Mallon, conductor
3:27 p.m.
Dorothy Howell
Piano Concerto in D minor in D minor
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Rebecca Miller, conductor Danny Driver, piano
3:48 p.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
Fair Melusina Overture Opus 32
London Symphony Orchestra; Claudio Abbado, conductor
4:00 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Scherzo capriccioso Opus 66
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor
4:15 p.m.
Aaron Copland
Appalachian Spring
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Robert Spano, conductor
4:40 p.m.
Florence Price
Symphony No. 4: III. Juba Dance in D minor
Philadelphia Orchestra; Yannick Nezet-Seguin, conductor Raphael Feuillatre, guitar
4:43 p.m.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Prelude in G minor in G minor Opus 23
Yuja Wang, piano
4:47 p.m.
Alexander Borodin
PRINCE IGOR Overture
Philharmonia Orchestra; Geoffrey Simon, conductor
4:59 p.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral" in F major Opus 68
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic; Charles Mackerras, conductor
5:39 p.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Rustic Concerto (Concerto "alla Rustica") in G major RV 151
Academy of Ancient Music; Christopher Hogwood, conductor
5:44 p.m.
Florence Price
Dances in the Canebrakes
Althea Waites, piano
5:54 p.m.
Igor Stravinsky
The Firebird: Finale (1911)
Orchestre de Paris; Klaus Makela, conductor Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano
5:59 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Clarinet Quintet in A major K 581
Pacifica Quartet Anthony McGill, clarinet
6:31 p.m.
Bela Bartok
Allegro Barbaro for piano SZ 49
Zoltan Kocsis, piano
6:33 p.m.
Isaac Albeniz
The Crimson Tower (Torre Bermeja) Opus 92/12
Jason Vieaux, guitar
6:39 p.m.
Enrique Soro
Three Chilean Airs (Tres aires chilenos)
Chile Symphony Orchestra; Jose Luis Dominguez, conductor
6:50 p.m.
Philip Glass
Piano Concerto No. 3: I.
A Far Cry Simone Dinnerstein, piano
