The Kansas City Symphony gets spooky with witches, goblins and a march to the scaffold

By Dan Margolies,

Published October 25, 2023 at 9:19 AM CDT

A water goblin or "Vodník" sculpture by Josef Nálepa, Prague

Celebrate Halloween with two ghastly tone poems by Antonín Dvořák: "The Noon Witch" and "The Water Goblin." Plus, we'll see if The Kansas City Symphony can "embrace the madness" of Hector Berlioz's dark and emotional "Symphonie fantastique." We'll also hear Claude Debussy's "Danse sacree et profane" featuring harpist Katherine Siochi.

An agreement with the Kansas City Symphony allows us to share audio for this program up to four weeks after the program's original air date. You can listen to currently available episodes here.

Hosts

Michael Stern
Dan Margolies

Program

The Noon Witch, Op. 108
by Antonín Dvořák
Jeffrey Kahane - guest conductor
Live performance, June 2016

The Water Goblin
by Antonín Dvořák
Jeffrey Kahane - guest conductor
Live performance, June 2016

Danses sacrée et Danse profane
by Claude Debussy
Katherine Siochi - harp
Streaming performance, April 2021

Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
by Hector Berlioz
Live performance, October 2022