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This show features music by French composers Herold, Chaminade and Delibes, including pieces about a crazy pirate and some of the finest ballet works ever composed.

This is the first of three shows dedicated to Fritz Reiner, the "Grumpy Cat" of conductors and one of the most amazing musicians of the 20th century. We'll hear recordings of Wagner, Beethoven and Johann Strauss II from his tenure as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony.

This show features the incredible Ukrainian pianist Sviatoslav Richter, who was revered by audiences and by fellow famous pianists. He was in a class by himself. We’ll hear him in the Dvořák Piano Concerto conducted by another legend, Carlos Kleiber, and in music by Chopin.

Our “appraisers” have done their work and we feature excellent music with the word “antique” in the title. Your ears are in for a treat with music by Ravel, Debussy, Glazunov, and Rutter. All sales final!

No composer wrote more effectively or beautifully for strings than Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. We’ll hear his beloved Serenade for Strings, Op. 48 in a terrific recording that will be new to most of you and truly captures the spirit of the music. We also feature two other excellent Tchaikovsky string works, one of which is guaranteed to surprise you — in a good way.

Surprise symphonies are high quality works that may have escaped your attention, so we showcase them on “From the Archives.” This show features two youthful symphonies by Norwegian composer Johan Svendsen and German operatic dynamo Carl Maria von Weber. It only makes us wish that they had each composed more symphonies.

Some of the greatest and most beloved music for concert band was written by British composers, and this week we showcase another batch. We have virtuoso performances of original music for concert band by Vaughan Williams, Holst, Walton and also by Haydn Wood and Gordon Jacob, all performed by “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. In addition to the Marine Band’s conductors, we have guest conductors Dr. Frederick Fennell and two music directors of Her Majesty’s Royal Marine Bands.

One of the most iconic and popular works of all classical repertoire is Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. But it’s not the only music inspired by the seasons of the year. English composer Frederick Delius wrote the hauntingly beautiful “On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring” and we’ll hear a remarkable performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons incorporating the original sonnets written to accompany each of the four concerti, read masterfully by Sir Patrick Stewart. Combined, it’s a remarkable musical experience.

This week we have a program of orchestral rhapsodies–exciting showpieces by Rachmaninoff, Enesco, Delius, and Liszt. Our first rhapsody features the piano and the final one was originally composed for piano, later being adapted for orchestra. Chances are you’ll hear music that sounds very familiar, and we have dynamic performances full of folk rhythms and real excitement.

Richard Strauss was one of the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th century with incredible tone poems that eclipsed those of the great Franz Liszt. Also a major conductor of operas, Strauss knew how to tell a story, and in 1915 he completed his most epic tone poem, his Alpine Symphony. It’s a glorious and cinematic work that doesn’t often get radio airplay, so we will enjoy it in one of the finest recordings ever.