Classical Music Playlist, January 7, 2026
Johannes Brahms circa 1885
Johannes Brahms was hesitant to compose his first symphony with the shadow of Beethoven looming and inevitable comparisons. It took him over 20 years from first sketches to premiere of his First. But having tackled that challenge, he composed his next three symphonies within nine years. His final symphony and his crowning achievement, his Symphony No. 4, is today's Midday Masterpiece.
6:00 a.m.
Jean-Marie Leclair
Violin Concerto in Bb major Opus 10/1
Arion Monica Huggett, baroque violin
6:13 a.m.
Antonio Salieri
Concerto for oboe and flute in C major
I Solisti Veneti; Claudio Scimone, conductor Clementine Hoogendoorn, flute; Pietro Borgonovo, oboe
6:33 a.m.
Charles Gounod
FAUST: Ballet Music
Boston Symphony Orchestra; Seiji Ozawa, conductor
6:51 a.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
7:00 a.m.
Carl Maria Von Weber
Oberon Overture J 306
Tapiola Sinfonietta; Jean Jacques Kantorow, conductor
7:09 a.m.
Kurt Atterberg
Horn Concerto Opus 28
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; Gerard Oskamp, conductor Albert Linder, horn
7:30 a.m.
Cesar Franck
The Accursed Huntsman (Le Chasseur Maudit)
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; Jesus Lopez-Cobos, conductor
7:45 a.m.
Franz Liszt
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1 in F minor
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra; Sergiu Commissiona, conductor
7:59 a.m.
Franz Von Suppe
Light Cavalry Overture
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Gustav Kuhn, conductor
8:07 a.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Orchestral Suite No. 4 in D major BWV 1069
La Petite Bande; Sigiswald Kuijken, conductor
8:27 a.m.
Alexander Glazunov
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B major Opus 100
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Martyn Brabbins, conductor Stephen Coombs, piano
8:49 a.m.
Florence Price
Dances in the Canebrakes
Chicago Sinfonietta; Mei-Ann Chen, conductor
9:00 a.m.
Albert Dietrich
Symphony in D minor Opus 20
Oldenburg State Orchestra (Oldenburgische Staatsorchester); Alexander Rumpf, conductor
9:45 a.m.
Giuseppe Torelli
Concerto for four violins and orchestra in E minor
Musica Antiqua Koln; Reinhardt Goebel, conductor
9:53 a.m.
Mikhail Glinka
RUSLAN AND LUDMILA: Overture
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Vassily Sinaisky, conductor
10:00 a.m.
George Friederich Handel
Concerto Grosso No. 1 in G major Opus 6/1 HWV 319
Boston Baroque; Martin Pearlman, conductor
10:12 a.m.
Pat Metheny
Last Train Home (Prelude)
Jason Vieaux, guitar
10:16 a.m.
Frederic Chopin
Waltz No. 1 "Grande Valse Brillante" in Eb major Opus 18
Daniil Trifonov, piano
10:22 a.m.
Edvard Grieg
Piano Concerto in A minor Opus 16
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor Garrick Ohlsson, piano
10:54 a.m.
Erik Satie
Gymnopedies Nos. 1 & 3
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
11:01 a.m.
Carl Nielsen
Symphony No. 3 "Sinfonia expansiva" Opus 27
San Francisco Symphony; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
11:37 a.m.
Dieterich Buxtehude
Ciacona for Organ in E minor BUX 160
Simon Preston, organ
11:43 a.m.
Johannes Brahms
Hungarian Dance No. 8 in A minor
Staatskapelle Berlin; Otmar Suitner, conductor
11:47 a.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto for strings in G minor RV 156
The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, conductor
11:54 a.m.
Felix Mendelssohn
A Midsummer Night's Dream: Scherzo
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Yoel Levi, conductor
12:00 p.m.
Wilhelm Stenhammar
Excelsior! Opus 13
Royal Scottish Orchestra; Petter Sundkvist, conductor
12:14 p.m.
Astor Piazzolla
Adios Nonino
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Ettore Stratta, conductor El Quinteto Buenos Aires
12:21 p.m.
Joaquin Rodrigo
Concierto Serenata for harp and orchestra
Symphony Orchestra of Seville; Edmon Colomer, conductor Isabelle Moretti, harp
12:47 p.m.
Franz Liszt
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 "Carnival in Pest" in D major
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra; Ondrej Lenard, conductor
1:00 p.m.
George Friederich Handel
Concerto Grosso No. 9 in F major Opus 6/9 HWV 327
Boston Baroque; Martin Pearlman, conductor
1:14 p.m.
Olivia Belli
Valse
Olivia Belli, piano
1:17 p.m.
Teresa Carreno
Vals Gayo Opus 38
Clara Rodriguez, piano
1:23 p.m.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Sleeping Beauty Suite Opus 66
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Charles Mackerras, conductor
1:49 p.m.
Arnold Bax
Overture to a Picaresque Comedy
Royal Scottish National Orchestra; David Lloyd-Jones, conductor
2:00 p.m.
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 4 in E minor Opus 98
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Georg Solti, conductor
2:43 p.m.
Clara Schumann
Soirees Musicales: II. Notturno Opus 6/2
Leanne Rees, piano
2:49 p.m.
Georg Philipp Telemann
Concerto for trumpets, oboes, strings and timpani in D major TWV 54:D3
English Chamber Orchestra; Simon Preston, conductor Hannes Laubin, trumpet; Wolfgang Laubin, trumpet; Bernhard Laubin, trumpet
3:00 p.m.
Richard Strauss
Don Juan Opus 20
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; Manfred Honeck, conductor
3:19 p.m.
Teresa Carreno
Un reve en mer A dream at sea
Sarah Cahill, piano
3:27 p.m.
William Grant Still
Symphony No. 1 "Afro-American"
Chicago Sinfonietta; Paul Freeman, conductor
3:49 p.m.
Camille Saint-Saens
Africa-Fantasie Opus 89
Tapiola Sinfonietta; Jean-Jacques Kantorow, conductor Laura Mikkola, piano
4:01 p.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto for 2 trumpets in C major RV 537
English Chamber Orchestra; Raymond Leppard, conductor Wynton Marsalis, trumpet
4:09 p.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Symphony No. 7 in A major Opus 92
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; Riccardo Chailly, conductor
4:48 p.m.
Valerie Coleman
Concerto for Wind Quintet: I. Afro
Imani Winds
4:54 p.m.
Florence Price
Piano Concerto in One Movement: III. Allegretto
Chineke! Orchestra; Leslie Suganandarajah, conductor Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, piano
4:59 p.m.
Lars-Erik Larsson
Pastoral Suite Opus 19
CBC Vancouver Orchestra; Mario Bernardi, conductor
5:13 p.m.
Gerardo Matos Rodriguez
La Cumparsita (Tango)
Xuefei Yang, guitar
5:16 p.m.
Johan Halvorsen
Entry March of the Boyars
Bergen Philharmonic; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
5:21 p.m.
Robert Schumann
String Quartet in F major Opus 41/2
Melos Quartet
5:44 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Othello Overture Opus 93
Janacek Philharmonic; Theodore Kuchar, conductor
6:00 p.m.
Karl Goldmark
Symphony No. 2 in Eb major Opus 35
Rhenish Philharmonic Orchestra; Michael Halasz, conductor
6:34 p.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Cello Concerto in C major RV 399
Il Giardino Armonico; Giovanni Antonini, conductor Christophe Coin, cello
6:42 p.m.
Joaquin Turina
Sevillana Opus 29
Manuel Barrueco, guitar
6:48 p.m.
Max Richter
On the Nature of Daylight
Max Richter Orchestra; Lorenz Dangel, conductor
6:55 p.m.
Olivia Belli
Nocturne IV
Olivia Belli, piano
