The beauty of Barber and the seduction of Scheherazade

By Dan Margolies,

Published March 14, 2024 at 12:28 PM CDT

While many composers wrote multiple concertos for violin and piano, Samuel Barber wrote just one for each instrument. This week, in honor of the American composer's birthday, we'll hear those two concertos featuring violinist Philippe Quint and pianist Alessio Bax. Also, we'll hear "Scheherazade," the orchestral warhorse by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsokov, who was also born in the month of March.

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

Violin Concerto, Op. 14
by Samuel Barber
Philippe Quint, violin
Live performance, June 2017

Piano Concerto, Op. 38
by Samuel Barber
David Lockington, guest conductor
Alessio Bax, violin
Live performance, March 2019

Scheherazade, Op. 35
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsokov
Live performance, February 2014