WPR’s Lori Skelton hosts this national series of broadcast concerts by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. The 13-part series will air Sundays starting Jan. 5, 2020, at 2 p.m. on the NPR News and Classical Music Network, and on the Classical HD Network.
Since its founding in 1959, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra has continued to be one of the country’s most artistically vibrant and innovative orchestras. This tradition has been enjoyed by millions nationwide since 1971 with the orchestra’s radio series — the country’s longest-running national classical radio series.
January 6
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Conductor: Ken-David Masur
Soloist: Boris Giltburg, piano
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2
Brahms: Symphony No. 2
January 12
Conductors: Karina Canellakis (Boulanger, Stravinsky); Jader Bignamini (Tchaikovsky, Respighi)
Boulanger: “D’un soir triste”
Stravinsky: “Le Sacre du printemps” (The Rite of Spring)
Tchaikovsky: “Capriccio italien”
Respighi: “The Pines of Rome”
January 19
Conductor: Yaniv Dinur
Soloist: Vadim Gluzman, violin
Wiesenberg: “Jerusalem”
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 12, “The Year 1917”
January 26
Conductor: Johannes Debus
Soloist: Louis Lortie, piano
Wagner: Prelude to “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg”
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 27, K. 595
Saint-Saëns: Symphony No. 3. “Organ Symphony”
February 2
Conductor: Carlos Kalmar
Soloist: Frank Almond, violin
Strauss: “Don Juan”
Bartók: “Deux Portraits”
Dvořák: Symphony No. 6
February 9
Conductor: Joshua Weilerstein
Soloist: Orli Shaham, piano
Still: “Poeme” for Orchestra
Bartók: Piano Concerto No. 3
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6, “Pathetique”
February 16
Conductor: Alexander Shelley
Soloist: Blake Pouliot, violin
Mendelssohn: The Hebrides Overture
Bruch: “Scottish Fantasy” for Violin & Orchestra
Walton: Symphony No. 1
February 23
Conductor: Dima Slobodeniouk
Soloist: Simon Trpceski, piano
Prokofiev: Suite from “Love for Three Oranges”
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 7
March 1
Conductor: Eun Sun Kim
Soloists: Sonora Slocum, flute; Tara Erraught, mezzo-soprano; Stephen Powell, baritone; Milwaukee Symphony Chorus, Cheryl Frazes Hill, director
Reinecke: Flute Concerto in D
Brahms: A German Requiem
March 8
Conductor: Edo de Waart
Mahler: Symphony No. 9
March 15
Conductor: Jeffrey Kahane
Soloists: Jeffrey Kahane, piano; Todd Levy, clarinet
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 14, K. 449
Schubert: Symphony No. 7, “Unfinished”
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto, K. 622
Strauss: Overture to “Die Fledermaus”
March 22
Conductor: Matthias Pintscher
Soloists: Javier Perianes, piano
Matthias Pintscher: “Towards Osiris”
Debussy: “La Mer”
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 5, “Egyptian”
Scriabin: “The Poem of Ecstasy”
March 29
Conductor: Francesco Lecce-Chong
Soloists: Sarah Shafer, soprano; Derrek Stark, tenor; Hugh Russell, baritone; Milwaukee Symphony Chorus; Cheryl Frazes Hill, director; Milwaukee Children’s Choir; Lynn Swanson, director
John Adams: “Doctor Atomic” Symphony
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