This Week at The Classical Station
by Chrissy Keuper
Saturday and Sunday, 25-26 October 2025
Welcome to the Weekend, Listeners!
This Week at The Classical Station will be on hiatus until Monday, 3 November, so that we can put all of our energy into the WCPE 2025 Fall Membership Drive.
Please support the wonderful classical music that we bring to you 24 hours-a-day, wherever you may be, by donating here, by calling us (starting at 8amET) at 800.556.5178, or by texting FALL 25 to 707070. We cannot thank you enough for the support that you’ve shown since 1978; we can only remind you that we are here, your funding is imperative to our station, and we love the music just like you do.
Friday, 24 October 2025
Happy Friday, Listeners!
We thank you for listening and for all the support you’ve shown The Classical Station over the 40+ years that we’ve been broadcasting (since 1978). It’s Day One of our 2025 Fall Membership Drive: An Ode to Joy, and along with all of our other Thank You Gifts, we’re offering an Early Bird CD Special:
Ode to Joy: Choral Classics, a Decca CD compilation of some of the most iconic and uplifting choral works in classical music, anchored by Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, famously known as Ode to Joy, which has become a global symbol of unity and hope. Donate TODAY ONLY for that thank you gift.
All-Request Friday is on hiatus until after the Fall Membership Drive, but we’ll still be playing your requests and special dedications on the Saturday Evening Request Program.
Tune in to hear your (and your fellow listeners’) favorites.
Here are the playlists
Make your requests/dedications here
On this date in the history of classical music:
Marius Casadesus, c. 1930. (Photo by Lipnitzki – Courtesy of casadesus.com)
It’s the birthdate of French violinist and composer Marius Casadesus in Paris in 1892 into the famed, musical Casadesus family (he was brother of Henri Casadesus; uncle of Robert Casadesus; grand-uncle of Jean Casadesus). Casadesus attended the Conservatoire de Paris and graduated in 1914 with a first prize in violin. He followed that up with performance tours throughout Europe and the U.S., as well as many recitals with his nephew Robert, a pianist. Casadesus was among the founding members of the Société Nouvelle des Instruments Anciens, which aimed to revive the use of early string instruments, and he also composed works for the violin, and some choral music and songs. He gained notoriety for a composition (1931) called the Adelaide Concerto, a work he “discovered” and attributed to W.A. Mozart; Casadesus admitted in 1977 that he had written the piece himself.
Thursday, 23 October 2025
Happy Friday Eve to you, Listeners!
We celebrate at 7pm ET with Thursday Night Opera House, featuring a 1979 recording of Georges Pretre conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of the Paris National Opera, along with legendary soloists in Charles Gounod’s Faust. Join Dr. Jay Pierson for this classic tale about a deal with the devil – perfect for the Halloween season!
Our 2025 Fall Membership Drive starts tomorrow, and we’re looking forward to hearing from all of you.
Maybe you’re a listener who has never donated to The Classical Station, or perhaps you’re a Sustaining Member who automatically donates every month. Whomever (and wherever) and you may be, we are so grateful that you’re listening.
We ask you to take the extra step and donate to keep this wonderful music on the air and online and available to listeners worldwide, especially those listeners who just can’t afford to donate.
On this day in classical music history:
Eun Sun Kim. (Photo by Marc Olivier Le Blanc – Courtesy of ARSIS Artist Management)
A very Happy Birthday to South Korean conductor Eun Sun Kim, born in Seoul in 1980. Kim began piano lessons as a very young child and quickly developed an interest in composition. She attended Yonsei University in composition, while also serving as an accompanist and beginning her journey into conducting. Kim went on to study at the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart; won the 2008 Lopez Cobos International Opera Conductors Competition; was assistant conductor to Jesús López Cobos at the Teatro Real, Madrid; and made her professional conducting debut in 2012 with Oper Frankfurt. The San Francisco Opera appointed Kim as music director in 2021 and recently extended her contract through the 2030-2031 season.
Wednesday, 22 October 2025
Hello, All! Join us for some wonderful Wednesday music.
Just two days until our 2025 Fall Membership Drive. We are looking forward to hearing from you!
On this date in the history of classical music:
Federico Ricci in an aquafortis by Saro Cucinotta, c. 1869. (Courtesy of Wikmedia Commons)
It’s the birthdate of Italian composer Federico Ricci in Naples in 1809 (his older brother was composer Luigi Ricci). From age nine, Ricci was a student at the Naples Conservatory. His first performed composition (1835, an opera, Il Colonello) was the first of many collaborations with his brother, Luigi. A few years later, he composed the incredibly popular La prigione di Edimburgo, then devoted himself almost exclusively to composing comic operas until his retirement in 1876 (with the exception of a 16-year hiatus while he taught in St. Petersburg).
Tuesday, 21 October 2025
WCPE The Classical Station’s 2025 Fall Membership Drive starts Friday and our theme is
An Ode to Joy.
Your support brings joy to everyone who listens.
Just text CLASSICAL or FALL25 to 707070, or donate here.
We thank you!
On this date in classical music history:
Malcolm Arnold.
It’s the birthdate of English composer Malcolm Arnold, born in 1921 in Northampton into a family of musicians and shoemakers. When he was 12, Arnold saw Louis Armstrong perform in Bournemouth and was inspired to study the trumpet; he won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music a few years later, where he studied trumpet and composition. He joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra as second trumpet in 1941 and in 1943, he was named principal trumpet and was with the LPO off and on until 1948 (he spent a season as principal trumpet with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and did some military service, though he was registered as a Conscientious Objector), when he began composing full time. Beyond Arnold’s highly popular orchestral and chamber works, he was also a much sought-after film music composer. He wrote scores for more than 100 films (including his Oscar-winning score for the 1957 film, The Bridge on the River Kwai), as well as ballets for the Royal Ballet, two operas, and a musical.
Monday, 20 October 2025
New week, wonderful music. Come and get it.
Wrap yourself in the warmth of vinyl at 7pm ET with Vince Tillona and Drop the Needle, this week celebrating the lush romanticism of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2.
At 8pm ET, Monday Night at the Symphony is our spotlight on the recordings of the world’s great orchestras. This week features the National Symphony Orchestra and works by Aaron Copland, Antonin Dvorak, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky, conducted by Leonard Slatkin, Mstislav Rostropovich, and the ensemble’s current Music Director, Gianandrea Noseda.
See you at the symphony!
Tune into Classical Café this Wednesday as Chrissy Keuper fills in and gives away two tickets (between 11am and noon ET) to NC Master Chorale’s Gates of Justice. Tune in and win!
On this date in classical music history:
Joanna Simon (right) with Walter Kronkite, c. 2007. (Photo by Amy Sussman)
American mezzo-soprano Joanna Simon was born in New York City in 1936 and grew up in the Bronx. While she was studying philosophy at Sarah Lawrence College, Simon got involved in musical theatre and started taking voice lessons; after graduating in 1962 with her philosophy degree, she trained at Switzerland’s International Opera Studio and Italy’s Spoletto Festival (under Gian Carlo Menotti); made her debut with the New York City Opera; and won the Marian Anderson Award. Simon performed and recorded with the world’s most renowned orchestras and opera companies into the late 1990s and is featured on a number of premiere recordings; she was an Emmy Award-winning arts correspondent for PBS’s MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour from 1986 to 1992; and in 2006, she qualified as a real estate broker in New York State.