This Week at The Classical Station
by Chrissy Keuper
Friday, 17 October 2025
Happy Friday, Listeners!
Join us for All-Request Friday as we play your requests and special dedications (and do it again tomorrow evening on the Saturday Evening Request Program).
Here are the playlists
Make your requests/dedications here
On this date in the history of classical music:
Susan Davenny-Wyner. (Press photo)
A very Happy Birthday to American soprano, violinist, violist, and conductor Susan Davenny-Wyner, born in 1943 in New Haven, Connecticut (while her father, pianist Ward Davenny, was professor of music at Yale University). Davenny-Wyner trained in childhood as a violinist and violist and trained in music (and English Literature) at Cleveland Institute of Music, Hartford School of Music, and Cornell University. Her career really took off after she began vocal studies and received a Fulbright scholarship and a grant from the Ford Foundation. She made her Carnegie Recital Hall debut in New York in 1974 and her orchestral debut as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and then made her first appearances with the New York City Opera (1977) and the Metropolitan Opera (1981). Davenny-Wyner continued studies at Yale and Columbia Universities; received conducting fellowships at the Tanglewood and Aspen Music Festivals and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute; held conducting positions at the New England Conservatory and at The Cleveland Institute of Music, at Wellesley College, and at Brandeis and Cornell Universities; and she was Assistant Conductor of Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival. Davenny-Wyner has performed and recorded with orchestras and opera companies all over the world and is renowned as an eloquent, thoughtful, and exceptionally intelligent musician, singer, and conductor.
Thursday, 16 October 2025
A very Happy Friday Eve to you all!
We celebrate at 7pm ET with Thursday Night Opera House**, featuring a 2001 recording of Antonio Pappano conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, London Voices, and legendary soloists in Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore. The tale set in 15th-century Spain is a tragic love triangle entanglement of jealousy and vendetta for troubadour Manrico (Roberto Alagna), noblewoman Leonora (Angela Gheorghiu), and Count di Luna (Thomas Hampson).
** (An archival TNOH broadcast from 2004 by the late Al Ruocchio)
On this day in classical music history:
Jan Dismas Zelenka’s memorial in Louňovice pod Blaníkem. (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
It’s the birthdate of Czech composer and bass violist Jan Dismas Zelenka in 1679 in Louňovice pod Blaníkem. Zelenka became known as “the Czech Bach” and was admired for his use and creativity in counterpoint techniques. His earliest musical training was at the Jesuit college Clementinum in Prague. In 1709, he was a musician and music copyist for Baron von Johann Hubert von Hartig (who collected a large library of composers which Zelenka copied for himself and other composers, including J.S. Bach) before joining the royal orchestra in Dresden (now Staatskapelle Dresden). Composition of sacred music for the Catholic court church was his primary function for the orchestra besides performing, and he was one of the most highly paid musicians in the orchestra. Zelenka eventually also became unofficial Kapellmeister and began collecting his own compositions and the works of other composers into what’s called Inventarium (1726 – 1739), considered one of the most important documents in German baroque music. He was named church composer in 1734, a position he held until his death in 1745. Throughout his career, Zelenka was also a teacher and counted some extremely prominent musicians as his students (including Johann Joachim Quantz), and extremely prominent composers as his friends (including Georg Philipp Telemann and Sylvius Leopold Weiss). Zelenka was highly admired and popular during his lifetime, but many of his compositions were lost after his death; composer Bedřich Smetana is largely credited with reviving Zelenka’s popularity.
Wednesday, 15 October 2025
Hello, Listeners!
We’ve got all your classical classics, right here. Join us.
On this date in the history of classical music:
Karl Richter. (Photo by Werner Neumeister – Courtesy of DG)
It’s the birthdate of German keyboardist-extraordinaire and conductor Karl Richter, born in 1926 in Plauen. Richter was a young student in Dresden and sang with the Dresdner Kreuzchor, then Leipzig, where he received his degree in 1949 and was already making a name for himself as a specialist in the many, many works for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. The same year, Richter was appointed cantor and organist at St. Thomas Church Leipzig’s; in 1951, joined the faculty of Munich’s Conservatory of Music and was named conductor of the Heinrich-Schütz-Kreis, which he renamed the Münchener Bach-Chor (Munich Bach Choir) in 1954.
Karl Richter conducting the Münchener Bach-Chor.
Richter conducted, performed, toured, and recorded with the group for decades, and was a conductor for many other ensembles as well until his death in 1981. Many credit Richter’s research into J.S. Bach’s works as a profound part of the development and classical success of Protestant church music. Richter’s broad repertoire included 20th century compositions as well. Though a true keyboard virtuoso (especially harpsichord and organ), the Münchener Bach-Chor is sometimes said to be his true instrument.
Tuesday, 14 October 2025
WCPE The Classical Station is observing
An Ode to Joy in the buildup to our 2025 Fall Membership Drive.
We know that this wonderful music brings joy to your lives, because it brings joy to ours, too. Like you, we are listening and supporting The Classical Station, our home for great classical music since 1978.
Are you a supporter?
Your secure donations can help us keep this fantastic music flowing for years to come, and you may be giving in the place of someone who just can’t give right now. Your support is bringing 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:
Ernest Pingoud, c. 1920s. (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
It’s the birthdate of Finnish composer Ernest Pingoud, born in Saint Petersburg in 1888. Pingoud was a student of Anton Rubinstein, Alexander Glazunov and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at Saint Petersburg Conservatory, and continued his studies in Germany under music theorist Hugo Riemann and composer Max Reger while also writing as music correspondent for the St. Petersburger Zeitung (until 1914). As Russia underwent the Revolution of 1917, Pingoud moved to Finland; the country was his primary home for the rest of his life. The next year, Pingoud conducted the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert of his own orchestral works, an event still described as the advent of the modernist aesthetic in Finland. He was extremely busy as a composer, conductor, and an administrator for the Helsinki Phil in the 1920s and 1930s; he wrote songs and orchestral works, many of which were forgotten following his untimely suicide in 1942. Having been rediscovered, Pingoud’s works are milestones in the development of modern classical music.
Monday, 13 October 2025
Welcome to the new week! We’re right here with wonderful music.
This evening, join Vince Tillona at 7pm ET for Drop the Needle and the warmth of vinyl. This week’s show is the first of a 3-part series highlighting the historic recordings of Arturo Toscanini.
At 8pm ET, Monday Night at the Symphony is our spotlight on the recordings of the world’s great orchestras. This week features the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lawrence Foster, Louis Fremaux, and Simon Rattle, with works by Edward Elgar, Georges Bizet, Jules Massenet, and pianist Stephen Hough performing Emil von Sauer’s romantic piano concerto. See you at the symphony!
On Tuesday, tune into Classical Café with George Leef for this week’s Legendary Performer:
German conductor Christoph von Dohnanyi.
On Wednesday (between 11am and noon ET), George will give away tickets to the North Carolina Symphony’s Rick Steves’ Europe: A Symphonic Journey.
Tune in to win!
On this date in classical music history:
Melvyn Tan, c. 2022. (Courtesy of melvyntan.com)
A very Happy Birthday to British pianist Melvyn Tan, born in Singapore in 1956. Tan was 12 when he moved to England to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal College of Music. Tan is renowned not just as a performer, but as a keyboard historian; he has a professed passion for the fortepiano and a wide repertoire for the instrument, spanning the full timeline of classical music. He continues to record and to perform worldwide.
Saturday and Sunday, 18-19 October 2025
Hello, Weekend! Join us for great classical music to accompany all of your activities.
Saturday:
Join us at 1pm ET for Saturday On Point, our weekly spotlight on classical music for dancers on the stage. This week’s featured ballet is Anton Arensky’s Egyptian Nights, Op. 50 (1900).
At 6pm ET, Haydn Jones has the Saturday Evening Request Program, chock full of your requests and special dedications. The playlist is here, and you can make requests and dedications for next week right here.
Sunday:
Start your sacred Sunday morning at 8am ET by James Steelmon and Great Sacred Music, featuring Franz Liszt’s Missa choralis.
And at 6pm ET, Preview! features new and recent releases in the world of classical music, including 2025 recordings of Claude Debussy’s Images for Orchestra (the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by JoAnn Falletta) and William Hunt conducting the Magdalena Consort, Fretwork, and His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts in a sacred anthem by Thomas Tomkins.
On these dates in the history of classical music:
Nelson Friere. (Photo by Gregory Favre for Decca)
Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire was born October 18, 1944, in Boa Esperança, and became one of the most celebrated and award-winning pianists of the 20th century who performed and recorded with the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. Freire started playing the piano by ear at age three and gave his first public recital at age four. He was just 12 when he competed in the Rio de Janeiro International Piano Competition (which launched his international career) and received a government grant to study in Vienna, where he won more competitions and medals and began touring and recording. He performed and recorded up to his death in 2021.
Emil Gilels (Photo by Corbis, LA Examiner – Courtesy of USC Libraries)
Russian pianist Emil Gilels was born October 19, 1916, in Odessa, and was quickly recognized for his perfect pitch and musical talent. Gilels began piano lessons at age five. When he was 12, he gave his first public concert and was accepted to the Odessa National Academy of Music; when Arthur Rubinstein visited the conservatory in 1932, the two met and remained friends. By the time Gilels graduated in 1935, he was famous throughout the USSR and had toured and performed all over the country. He continued his postgraduate music studies at the Moscow Conservatory and competed internationally for the first time at the International Vienna Music Academy Competition and then the Ysaÿe International Festival (Queen Elisabeth Competition) in Brussels, where he won first prize. Gilels was scheduled for a performance tour of the US when World War II broke out; he spent the war giving open-air concerts for Soviet troops on the front lines and was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1946. After the war, he toured and performed in the Soviet areas of eastern Europe and joined the faculty of the Moscow Conservatory and was finally able to travel and perform in the West as one of the first Soviet artists allowed to do so. He made his British debut in 1951 and his US debut in 1955, and continued to tour and perform until 1981 when he suffered a heart attack and subsequently declining health; he was still recording when he died in 1985. Throughout his career, Gilels was highly admired as a technically superb pianist with an extremely wide repertoire running from the baroque into the 20th century, and many of his recordings are considered classics, particularly of the composers of the romantic period.